Does prayer "work?" I don't know. But probably not the way we think it does. The causal pathways are certainly more complex than the oversimplifications that float around Christendom today. "Prayer moves the hands of God" is almost definitely a gross oversimplification of the matter.
May we say that "prayer doesn't work"? I don't think so. God is God who has chosen to love and therefore to be affected by the ones He loves. The possibility of being affected by our prayers must at least be kept open.... What does prayer change? In terms of certainty, I think prayer changes us, the world and (maybe) God. That is, prayer certainly changes us. And if it does more, it changes the world. i.e. our prayers are variables in what occurs in the world. And if it does more than that, then in some unimaginable way, prayer changes God. Secondly, these questions about prayer rest (partly) on certain assumptions that might be fallacious.
He's right to put his finger on, as he goes on to do, the quasi-gnostic dualisms we tend to erect when we think about God and the so-called supernatural.
up, up and away: On Prayer.
Filed in: prayer, spirituality, Christian, nondualist, causality
1 comment:
I liked the piece on lifestyle player you told me about. Might use that soon. I'm glad you liked my piece on prayer althought I do think it needs a lot of tying up. There'll be a new post on prayer within a week. It never ceases to blow me away that real-life adult people visit my blog. :)
Post a Comment