Sunday, July 24, 2016

Challenge to Christians

Hello Grafted In Readers,

This past weekend, I heard a sermon delivered based on the account recorded in Luke chapter 11, where the disciples ask Yeshua to teach them to pray. He did. The issue is that most clergy may fail to mention that Yeshua based this on Jewish prayer of the time. I found the following excerpt, short in length, from a 2010 article in the Jerusalem Post. Pasted here for convenience.

I would challenge you as Christians to ask your pastors, priests and teachers to share things that are a part of your faith practice that come from Judaism. Many are reluctant to do so even though they claim to have learned this in their education process.
LOS ANGELES -- The Lord’s Prayer, widely considered to undergird the foundation of Christianity, “is utterly, totally, fully Jewish -- there’s nothing in it that is particularly Christian,” a theological expert said.

John Dominic Crossan, a former Catholic priest and now professor at DePaul University, articulates this thesis in the latest of his 26 books, “The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord's Prayer,” released last week by HarperOne. Crossan is one of the foremost theological interpreters of the historical Jesus.


Kevod Yeheveh, His presence is with us on earth as well as in heaven.
Mellow Roc