2:2 Early Judaism and the roots of Christian Prayer

Christian prayer begins with the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is 100% an early Jewish prayer.  And so it is that in order to understand the roots of Christian prayer, we need to look at prayer within early Judaism. In this episode, we explore how exactly ancient Judaic communities prayed, and how these prayers contributed to their sense of identity. Texts are taken from multiple biblical and early Judaic sources: the Psalms, the prophets, Tobit, Enoch, Sibylline oracles, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the prayers of the synagogue.  A common theme throughout is the idea universality and particularity. The prayers of early Judaism convey the idea that Israel is the one nation chosen by the one true God. This is understood as particularity. But their prayers also express the belief that through them, YHWH would reveal Himself to the nations. This is the idea of universality. Universality and Particularity form the foundation and ancient Jewish identity, and the foundation of early Christian identity as taught by Jesus.