lisa@phs.UUCP (Jeff Gillette) (03/13/85)
<> As recent interest has turned to the subject of prayer, let me offer for consideration the explanation put forth by Iamblichus, a 4th Century theologian: I therefore affirm that the first kind of prayer is that which brings [God and man] together, since it brings about the association with the divine and gives us the knowledge thereof. The second establishes a bond of fellowship founded upon likemindedness and calls down gifts sent by the gods, which arrive before we can ask for them and perfect our efforts even without our knowledge. The third and most perfrect form finally seals the secret union, which hands over every decision privately to the gods and leaves our souls completely at rest in them. In these three stages, which embrace all that is divine, prayers gain for us harmonious friendship of the gods and also a threefold advantage from the gods: the first has to do with illumination, the second with fellowship in a common task, the third with the state of being filled with the [divine] fire [i.e. Spirit]. ... No sacral act can be effective without the supplication of prayer. Steady continuance in prayer nourishes our mind, enlarges the soul for the reception of the gods, opens up to men the realm of the gods, accustoms us to the splendor of the divine light, and gradually perfects in us [our] union with the gods, until at last it leads us back to the supreme heights. Our mode of thinking is drawn gently aloft and implants in us the spirit of the gods; it awakens confidence, fellowship, and undying friendship [with them]; it increases the longing for God; it inflames in us whatever is divine within the soul; it banishes all opposition from the soul, ... it creates good hope and trust in the light. In brief, it gives to those who engage in it intercourse with the gods. Iamblichus' words have a familiar ring to them. Unless I am mistaken, most of his themes find their counterpart in sermons I heard growing up in a fairly conservative church in the midst of the "Bible belt", USA. The question that Iamblichus raises for me is this: is there a uniquely Christian (or Judaeo-Christian) understanding of prayer, or is my prayer to Jesus and Iamblichus' prayer to Zeus identical in all respects except for the deity addressed? Jeffrey Gillette ...!duke!phs!lisa The Divinity School Duke University
mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) (03/19/85)
Thomas Merton, in _No Man Is an Island_, puts fortha theory of prayer that is more in line with the western mystical tradition. He claims that there are important forms of prayer which are not petitionary; so are not verbal in any sense. Some stem from action rather than thought. In this sense, I do not think you can just c /Jesus/Zeus/. Charley Wingate umcp-cs!mangoe