A Prayer to Our Father: Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer, Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson, Hikkiah Press, 2009.
What an amazing little book!
As a Christian with Jewish ancestry, it always warms my heart when members of these two traditions are willing to set aside their prejudice and discover their common roots.
In this book, a Jewish scholar and a African-American Christian pastor become friends and begin a quest to understand the Jewish roots of what is commonly referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer.”
The book has three primary strengths.
First, those who thirst for knowledge about Lord’s prayer will find this book helpful. Especially, I believe, those Christians who look to the words of this prayer as a model for their own Christian devotion.
Second, the story of how the two authors met and developed their friendship can be a model for developing more interfaith dialogue. It has certainly challenged me to seek more opportunities to connect to those of other faiths and traditions in my own community.
Finally, the book put a hunger in this reviewer’s heart to rediscover the joy of studying scripture in its original language. I honestly believe I have forgotten more Hebrew and Greek in the last twenty years since seminary then I had originally been taught. As a result, I have less to offer in preaching and teaching than I should.
Just went and purchased a software program to help start refreshing my knowledge of Greek. Hebrew will be next. Maybe one of the Rabbis in my community might become my tutor.
This review is also posted at http://viralbloggers.com/2009/08/a-prayer-to-our-father-hebrew-origins-of-the-lord%e2%80%99s-prayer-by-nehemia-gordon-and-keith-johnson/comment-page-1/#comment-409
