Jesus Before God: The Prayer Life of the Historical Jesus by Hal Taussig

Jesus Before God examines new ways the historical Jesus can teach us to pray. The prayer that emerges is very different from the prayers of Jesus' contemporaries, from traditional church prayers, and from new fashions of spirituality. The surprise that awaits the reader may be as unsettling as that experienced by Jesus' audience two thousand years ago.

Hal Taussig is a skilled biblical scholar who pursues a trail of evidence leading closer and closer to the historical Jesus. At the end he finds the Q Jesus Prayer—the earliest known form of the so-called Lord's Prayer. In analyzing this prayer he discovers fragments that may well come from Jesus himself.

"Through shrewd textual detective work as well as imaginative storytelling, the author offers an interpretation of Jesus' prayer that is exciting, challenging and provocative. It teaches us what we don't know—what we have imagined and projected—about Jesus' prayer and dares us to go deeper into our spiritual work in the world." —Matthew Fox, President of the University of Creation Spirituality, author of Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh

"Hal Taussig is a rare combination of scholar, writer, and religionist. He not only knows that textual analysis needs fiction to make it dance, he calls the tune on every page. The result is a Jesus whose prayers do not fit any of the current notions or practices.— Burton Mack, author of Who Wrote the New Testament

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