The Sayings of Jesus

"When I was translating these logia, it kept occurring to me that Yeshua was, in one sense, a fusion of Heraclitus (for whom there is an ethics to be discovered in nature) and Diogenes, who, like Yeshua, was a street preacher and for whom ethics was a minute-by-minute exercise of moral rectitude. When I heard from Benjamin Urrutia that he was working on a scholarly book about the logia of Yeshua, I suggested that he also do a little book ... of] the sayings each by itself, without theological directing and without their biblical contexts. We would simply be locating a figure on the ground, lifting it out, and giving it a new change for recognition and study. We would also make our own translation." --from the Introduction by Guy Davenport Jesus was a street preacher who taught through story and aphorism. Antedating the Gospels, these 105 sayings were recorded by his followers during and shortly after his lifetime. Through the immediacy of direct quotation, Guy Davenport and Benjamin Urrutia's bold translation shakes our preconceptions, reintroducing us to the west's greatest teacher whose powerful words ring anew. Featuring a prologue by Urrutia and an Introduction by Davenport, The Sayings of Jesus is a refreshing representation of his words.