Amen in Christianity
The use of "amen" has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns and express strong agreements. The liturgical use of the word in apostolic times is attested by the passage from 1 Corinthians cited above, and Justin Martyr (c. 150) describes the congregation as responding "amen" to the benediction after the celebration of the Eucharist. Its introduction into the baptismal formula (in the Greek Orthodox Church it is pronounced after the name of each person of the Trinity) is probably later. Among certain Gnostic sects Amen became the name of an angel.
In Isaiah 65:16, the authorized version has "the God of truth," ("the God of amen," in Hebrew. Jesus often used amen to put emphasis to his own words (translated: "verily"). In John's Gospel, it is repeated, "Verily, verily." Amen is also used in oath (Numbers 5:22; Deuteronomy 27:15–26; Nehemiah 5:13; 8:6; 1 Chronicles 16:36). "Amen" is further found at the end of the prayer of primitive churches (1 Corinthians 14:16).
In some Christian churches, the amen corner or amen section is any subset of the congregation likely to call out "Amen!" in response to points in a preacher's sermon. Metaphorically, the term can refer to any group of heartfelt traditionalists or supporters of an authority figure.
Amen is also used in standard, international French, but in Cajun French Ainsi soit-il ("so be it") is used instead.
Amen is used at the end of Our Lord's Prayer, which is also called the Our Father or the Pater Noster.
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Famous quotes containing the words amen and/or christianity:
“Put an amen to it. There’s no more time for praying. Amen.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)
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—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)