Lost Bible Books
@ Amazon.com

Did the Lord's Prayer exist
before the birth of Jesus?

Lost Bible Books
@ Amazon.co.UK

Lost Bible Books
@ Amazon.Canada

I was delighted to discover The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden among my father's old books. Before he passed away in 1992, he had been a Lutheran Minister in what is now the ELCA, and I was happy to keep some of his old books. I highly recommend The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden to anyone interested in reading other religious books that may very well have been written about the same time as the books in the Bible.

One of the "forgotten books" is an ancient book written by an unknown Egyptian author, The First Book of Adam and Eve (also called "The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan"). This book was originally written in Arabic, then it was later translated into Ethiopic. I found this prayer at the end of the 23rd chapter of Adam and Eve 1. The translator's comment states that this prayer was in use at least 150 years before the birth of Jesus:

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, be gracious unto us, O Lord our God, hallowed be Thy Name, and let the remembrance of Thee be glorified in Heaven above and upon earth here below.

Let Thy kingdom reign over us now and forever. The Holy Men of old said remit and forgive unto all men whatsoever they have done unto me. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil thing; for Thine is the kingdom and Thou shalt reign in glory forever and forevermore. AMEN.

Later, I found a web reference that states that the above prayer is found in the Talmud, a Jewish collection that I think might be called a rabbinical commentary on the Torah and other Jewish books, including what the Christians call the Old Testament. Here is that web article: http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/christ/xt-oste.htm. However, I should add that a Rabbi has told me that it is not in the Talmud in substantially the same form.

To give you an idea how long "The First Book of Adam and Eve" is, Cain doesn't even get born until chapter 74. It also has what might be a better explanation of the conflict between Cain and Abel. And, this seems important to me, it also explains where Cain's wife and Seth's wife came from. (No, there wasn't a second creation over in the next county, which is what my dad tried to tell me when I asked him where Cain's and Abel's wives came from.) You can find the Books of Adam and Eve on the web at http://www.bible2000.org/lostbooks/1adam.htm and http://www.bible2000.org/lostbooks/adameve2.htm.

If you enjoy interesting reading, do try to find The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden. Your church library might have a copy. Your minister very likely has one of them left over from his seminary days. You can find this book on the web at http://www.bible2000.org/forgottenindex.htm.

"The Forgotten Books of Eden" was originally edited by Rutherford H Platt Jr. in 1927. "The Lost Books of The Bible" was first collected in 1926. This particular edition of The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden is an even later edition of the book edited by Frank Crane. They are both very interesting reading. The fact that there are similar prayers in two different books also goes to show that OTHER religions have some of the same things in them that Christianity does. I enjoy that reading, and especially enjoy the thought that other religions have part of the truth also.

Good Luck with your studies. Read up on all the religions that you can. I bet you learn a lot.

John Knoderer, D.D., Ms.Ed., Universal Spiritual Philosopher (ordained)
Multidenominational Cafeterealist
Founder, www.GodLovesEveryone.org

Where does my term "Multidenominational Cafeterealist" come from? (I invented the term to describe my personal system of faith.)

• Multidenominational: I believe that every religion worships the same God, every point of view honors the same supreme being.
• Cafeteria: I look for things I can agree with in each religion I study. Remember, just like in a real cafeteria, just because I don't take the spinach doesn't mean the spinach is wrong. The spinach is still right for someone else today, and might be right for me on a different day.
• Realist: It is not realistic that 70% of the people on earth are wrong, simply because they disagree with the 30% that is Christian.
  • Since my multi-faceted belief leads me to know that God Loves Everyone, I decided against creating thousands of mazes that say Jesus Loves (firstname). Instead, you will find thousands of mazes that say God Loves (yourname) at <www. GodLovesEveryone.org>. This way, the page can be enjoyed by almost everyone.