Why do we say "Amen" after a prayer?

Answer 1

"Amen" is a Hebrew word, meaning 'let it be so'. It is a plea to God for a response to prayer, an affirmation of what will be done by God, a 'Yes' to God's vision, and a statement of confidence in God. In African-American and Pentecostal circles, amen is a celebration of what will come from God, even before God gives it. It also has an adverbial form that means 'truly' or 'it is so'.

Answer 2

The "so be it" meaning is basically how it is used today, and this is the only meaning of the word known by most Christians. However, this was not the original meaning. This can be seen by the fact that occasionally Jesus would say "Amen" prior to teaching something to his disciples.

The original meaning of "amen", as it was used by Jesus, was to denote a secret or hidden truth. When Jesus said "amen" before a teaching, he was telling his disciples that he was going to share something special with them that was largely unknown by anyone else.

This meaning of "amen" was originally derived from the Egyptian god Amen. The god Amen was the "hidden" god of the Egyptians. Unlike all the other gods that were believed to have been visible in some way or another, Amen was believed to never have been visible because he was the non-incarnate being that composed all of the unseen and unknowable "stuff" that the universe was actually constructed of. Thus, since the god Amen was the "hidden truth" underlying the universe, the word "amen" came to denote any sort of hidden truth.

The Jews may have picked up the word "amen" during their time of captivity in Egypt. However, the Jews always had a lot of interaction with Egypt throughout their history, so it may have entered into their lexicon at a later date, as well.

Answer 3

The word is commonly said to be of a Hebrew origin. Greek theologians introduced it in Western languages after the translation of the Bible. It was also used in pre-Islamic Arab culture as it's semitic etymology is shared with Hebrew. Yet in none of these languages (Hebrew, Arabic, Greek) can be found contemporarily the least trace of the word “Amen”. The only language which offers a clear explanation and confirms the meaning of “Amen” is the Berber language.

In Kabyle (one of the various dialects of Berber), there is the phrase “am-in” that means synchronically, in common speech, “like that”. However, if “am-in” is put in the context of a prayer, it means “so be it”; with “it” referring here to what has been said before.

It has also been proposed that the religious term Amen is a derivative of the name of an Egyptian god, Amun.[5]

Answer 4

DreamStuff, i point out again you are brilliant, your question and your answers show that clearly. i will give you a simple answer that i use with little kids when they ask the same question. if you have a clump of mud and a clump of chocolate and you put both in the sun, what happens. the kids immediately say, the mud gets as hard as rock, and the chocolate melts. so it is with the hearts of men. when exposed to the revelation of God through Jesus, men's hearts soften or they harden. ask a child why the mud gets hard and the chocolate gets soft and they can't tell you why, not understanding what is made of, but they know that each is made of different stuff. people don't eat mud as a rule. again, so it is with the hearts of men. some respond, some do not. this is where the doctrine of irresistible grace comes from. it is also the birth place for the doctrine of election and predestination. prayer works by affecting the hearts of men to respond to the grace of the LORD. how you respond determines your future in eternity. the workings of prayer per se are known only to God himself, but we see the effects. funny thing about you, Dream Stuff, you may well be one of the best minds and most coherent person who is in this forum.

Answer 5

Depends on who you ask and how religiously biased they are. Many things have been adopted by Christianity, such as most holidays, fables and geneology of people. For instance, Jesus wasn't born in winter but we still celebrate Christmas as his birthday. It is all very twisted and you're never supposed to know the truth, only what they tell you. As for Amen, it stems from Amen Ra, the egyptian sun god, who was the most powerful and praised god. Christianity adopted many Egyptian gods and their stories. They obviously changed it to support Jesus's fictional three years of priesthood miracles, but nonetheless it was an assimilation.

Answer 6

Copied from the Old Testament (Judaism).

Sometimes Judaism would use a double Amen as do the
Southern Baptists/some others do today.

Answer 7

Why Do We Say Amen

Answer 8

Because whatever we have petitioned God for in prayer, we have the confidence of knowing that He has heard us and "amen" means so be it!

Answer 9

The Hebrew word ’a·men′ has the basic meaning of “surely.” McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopedia explains that the significance of saying “Amen” at the end of prayers is “to confirm the words which have preceded, and invoke the fulfilment of them.” Thus, by concluding with a sincere “Amen,” the one praying indicates his earnest feelings about what he has just said.

Answer 10

From what I have learned, if we don't say Amen after a prayer, he won't know we were ever praying, and he won't get our message.