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The God Named Hallowed: The Lord's Prayer for Today
In this enlightening book, one of America’s favorite preachers shows us the deepest, richest meanings of the Lord’s Prayer. In a clear, lively style, John Killinger teaches new things about this very old prayer as, step by step, he takes us on an illuminating journey through this treasured invocation. Focusing, one by one, on each phrase of the prayer, Killinger provides lay readers, Sunday school teachers, Bible study groups, and clergy new insights into Christianity’s most beloved and important prayer.
90 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
5 people want to read
About the author
John Killinger
90 books3 followersThe Rev. Dr. John Killinger lives with his wife, Anne, in Warrenton, Virginia. A former pastor in Baptist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches, he also taught for fifteen years at Vanderbilt Divinity School and was Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Samford University in Birmingham. He is the author of over 50 books, among them God, The Devil, and Harry Potter. Because Dr. Killinger's interests are broad, his writings have touched on many subjects: Christian history, personal spirituality, world religions, preaching, worship, church politics, a female Christ figure, the Gospels as devotional literature, secular writers and artists, the nature of pastoral ministry, and the relationship between theology and contemporary culture. His prayers and utterances often find their way into Sunday church bulletins and other ministers' sermons. You will find inspiration and spiritual sustenance within.
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January 13, 2018
Arrrrggggghhhhh. This is one of those books that's super hard to review because its theology is interesting and good and its topic is great and its delivery is just awful.
Here's the thing: Killinger is very much an author of his time and place. He's writing in the 80s in the South (he comes from Kentucky and was a professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee), and it shows. He has a whole page lamenting how we've forgotten the sacredness of God's name (all but shaking his cane at those damn kids these days) and takes a momentary side tour to drop an offhand comment about how homosexuality is the result of such godlessness (arg). Then he has several comments peppered throughout the book that talk about women who are in any kind of relationship other than straight, married ones are wanton hussies--he actually uses the word "tramp" at one point, but just floored me. And his whole section on forgiveness just makes me want to set things on fire because it completely disregards the justice aspect of sin and makes it seem (because it's a short section and he simplifies things greatly) that victims of abuse must forgive their abusers and continue to be in relationship with them or at least pray for them in order to be in right relationship with God themselves. I am not here for that, and there's a great book that breaks down why that's a horrible way for the Church to present the concept of forgiveness and it has been doing damage for decades ("Telling the Truth: Preaching about Domestic and Sexual Violence," edited by John McClure and Nancy Ramsey. There's a free PDF download from Ministry Matters here).
All that said, Killinger has some really interesting things to say as he breaks down the Lord's Prayer, one of the most well-known recitations in Christendom. I like the way he's structured the chapters around phrases so that you don't take the whole thing at a run--when you memorize something, it's hard to think about it in chunks anymore. I like his inclusion of language (talking about the Greek and Hebrew aspects) even while this whole thing is written in incredibly accessible language (no dry lectures here). And I appreciated his connections to Old Testament verses and other New Testament pieces while discussing the prayer itself.
You do have to be familiar with the prayer and at least some of the context of where it comes from (in terms of it having been a teaching moment with Jesus) for this; Killinger definitely assumes you aren't coming to this cold. But it's a useful starting point for discussion about the Lord's Prayer--if, that is, you can get past the terrible ideological overlay that is not at all hallowed. I recommend doing so, but can totally understand if you can't.
Here's the thing: Killinger is very much an author of his time and place. He's writing in the 80s in the South (he comes from Kentucky and was a professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee), and it shows. He has a whole page lamenting how we've forgotten the sacredness of God's name (all but shaking his cane at those damn kids these days) and takes a momentary side tour to drop an offhand comment about how homosexuality is the result of such godlessness (arg). Then he has several comments peppered throughout the book that talk about women who are in any kind of relationship other than straight, married ones are wanton hussies--he actually uses the word "tramp" at one point, but just floored me. And his whole section on forgiveness just makes me want to set things on fire because it completely disregards the justice aspect of sin and makes it seem (because it's a short section and he simplifies things greatly) that victims of abuse must forgive their abusers and continue to be in relationship with them or at least pray for them in order to be in right relationship with God themselves. I am not here for that, and there's a great book that breaks down why that's a horrible way for the Church to present the concept of forgiveness and it has been doing damage for decades ("Telling the Truth: Preaching about Domestic and Sexual Violence," edited by John McClure and Nancy Ramsey. There's a free PDF download from Ministry Matters here).
All that said, Killinger has some really interesting things to say as he breaks down the Lord's Prayer, one of the most well-known recitations in Christendom. I like the way he's structured the chapters around phrases so that you don't take the whole thing at a run--when you memorize something, it's hard to think about it in chunks anymore. I like his inclusion of language (talking about the Greek and Hebrew aspects) even while this whole thing is written in incredibly accessible language (no dry lectures here). And I appreciated his connections to Old Testament verses and other New Testament pieces while discussing the prayer itself.
You do have to be familiar with the prayer and at least some of the context of where it comes from (in terms of it having been a teaching moment with Jesus) for this; Killinger definitely assumes you aren't coming to this cold. But it's a useful starting point for discussion about the Lord's Prayer--if, that is, you can get past the terrible ideological overlay that is not at all hallowed. I recommend doing so, but can totally understand if you can't.
Displaying 1 of 1 review