Ama Namin

"Just when we think we have understood the prayer that Jesus taught us, along comes a book that unveils the wealth of wisdom that makes the ""Our Father"" a perennial path to holistic spirituality. The authors and editors of this book have wisely chosen to work on the 1593 Tagalog version of the Lord's Prayer. Combining intimate exegesis, prophetic hermeneutics, and even linguistics and statistics, they surprise us with new insights, not just on such staple concepts as kapwa and loob but also kanin, uwi, tukso, and walang bahala. The book is rightly dedicated to the ""evangelical stalwarts and advocates of holistic mission,"" John R. W. Stott, Isabelo Magalit, and Melba Padilla Maggay. It also pays tribute to the early missionaries who, despite the odds, submitted their loob so that ""Mauwi sa Amin ang Pagkahar. Mo."" Albert E. Alejo SJ Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Italy This book represents an authoritative and delightfully contextual study of the Lord's Prayer. Firmly based on its Jewish and Old Testament foundations, the prayer opens up onto the new world that Christ came to establish. And praying it with intention and regularity, when informed by this book, will put one squarely in the center of the movement toward that new creation. William Dyrness, PhD Fuller Theological Seminary, California, USA Meaning and appreciation are sometimes lost when we become too familiar with something, even with prayer. Ama Namin gives us a fresh look at a prayer that most of us grew up memorizing and reciting. This is the fruit of collaborative work among seasoned Bible scholars and theologians who have brought to the fore the beauty and richness of a well known and well loved prayer. The book is scholarly yet it is also a good companion for personal reflection and group study. This is a must-read for those who desire to deepen their prayer lives and relationship with God. Through its pages, one is reminded that God is constantly inviting us to be in communion with him, to experience him as our powerful yet loving, caring, and faithful Father in heaven. Maloi Malibiran-Salumbides Lord Heal Our Land Prayer Ministry Ama Namin brings together some of the brightest Filipino minds in Christian theology to reflect on the prayer first spoken by Christ that has since been echoed by his followers throughout generations. The result is an obra that is not only biblically and theologically robust, but also socioculturally significant. This important work is sure to resonate with Filipino believers who are seeking to faithfully follow and model Christ here and now. Ama Namin, more than being a collection of reflections, is in itself a prayer in our unique Filipino voice: a firm and resolute confession of who our God the Father is and a hopeful vision of who we are as his people. Marie Joy Pring, PhD Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary, Philippines I grew up reciting the Lord's Prayer as an altar boy in our hometown. It was a religious incantation whose meaning was understandable but not what my heart wanted to say to God. In high school, when I became part of an evangelical church, I was more attracted to free-flowing conversation with God as a prayer punctuated by ""In Jesus's name, Amen!"" I thought I could say what my heart really wanted to tell God. Because of that, I began to ask, ""What does God want of me?"" The Lord's Prayer became a guide to understand what God wants of me and what I can tell God about my life. This book has added so much wisdom to what I already understood. Bishop Cesar Vicente P. Punzalan III, PhD Asian Theological Seminary, Philippines"