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Revision as of 03:55, 9 January 2002 by RK (talk | contribs) (New entry on prayer)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Prayer is the religious act of communicating with God (for monotheists) or the gods (for polytheists).
The existence of prayer is attested to in written sources as early as 5000 years ago; anthropologists believe that the earliest intelligent humans engaged in some sort of activity that we today would recognize prayer.
The Biblical views of prayer
= Philosophical re-interpretations of prayer
Both theologians and religious anthropologists note that there are many types of prayer.
The philosophical paradoxes of prayer
There are a number of philosophical paradoxes involving prayer to an omnipotent God, namely:
- If a person deserves God to give him the thing he prays for, why doesn't God give it to him, even without prayer? And if a person is not deserving of it, then even if that person does pray and request it, should it be given just because of his prayer?
- Why should it be necessary to pray with speech? Doesn't God know the thoughts of all people?
- If God is omniscient (all-knowing) then doesn't God know what we are going to ask Him for even before we pray?
- How can a human being hope to change God's mind? Why should human prayers affect God's decisions?
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