The Lord's Prayer Through Middle Eastern Eyes: An Introduction
Time Magazine recently listed the shift to viewing Jesus in a Jewish context as one of the Top 10 ideas that is changing the world. I agree, and that context is, now, widely considered by most Christian academics as necessary. But there is another context that is not yet so widespread and not especially trumpeted in this day and age. Yes, Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew. But he was also something else, something which is imperative to realize if we are to properly interpret his words and actions. Jesus was a Middle Easterner. Yes, viewing Jesus of Nazareth as a first century Jew is imperative for understanding the message He was relaying, the life He was living, the death He was dying, and... But we must never loose sight of one context when concentrating on another. Kenneth Bailey has spent a lifetime reminding us that Jesus was not only a Jew, He was a Middle Eastern Jew. And that fact brings to the table a entire world of cultural, linguistic, historical and, perhaps most importantly,...