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Author: Ian Olver
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461445701
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 155
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Book Description
This book relates the experience of researching, planning, and conducting a scientific study into intercessory prayer (prayer for others). The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether the impact of prayer could be measured in a formal study, based on the large number of anecdotal reports of efficacy. The study was a prospectively randomized double-blind trial that added prayer by an established Christian prayer group to conventional therapy for cancer. The unique design feature was that the primary endpoint was a change in a validated scale of spiritual well-being. The patients were informed that they were participating in a study about spiritual well-being and quality of life but remained blinded to the intervention. The initial observation from the baseline data was that spiritual well-being made a unique contribution to quality of life. The final outcome of the study was that there was a statistically significant difference in spiritual well-being favoring the prayer group. The background includes a fascinating review of the medical literature on the topic, which contains positive and negative studies that each attracts a vigorous debate about methodology, endpoints, and whether metaphysical phenomena can or should be studied using scientific methodology. The complementary and alternative medicine literature is also equivocal as to whether prayer, arguably the most common complementary medical therapy, should be included in the range of interventions grouped under that heading. In addition to reporting the background and results of the study, the book explores the reactions of a range of individuals to the trial, all of which help reflect on the nature of prayer.
Author: Ian Olver
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461445701
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 155
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book relates the experience of researching, planning, and conducting a scientific study into intercessory prayer (prayer for others). The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether the impact of prayer could be measured in a formal study, based on the large number of anecdotal reports of efficacy. The study was a prospectively randomized double-blind trial that added prayer by an established Christian prayer group to conventional therapy for cancer. The unique design feature was that the primary endpoint was a change in a validated scale of spiritual well-being. The patients were informed that they were participating in a study about spiritual well-being and quality of life but remained blinded to the intervention. The initial observation from the baseline data was that spiritual well-being made a unique contribution to quality of life. The final outcome of the study was that there was a statistically significant difference in spiritual well-being favoring the prayer group. The background includes a fascinating review of the medical literature on the topic, which contains positive and negative studies that each attracts a vigorous debate about methodology, endpoints, and whether metaphysical phenomena can or should be studied using scientific methodology. The complementary and alternative medicine literature is also equivocal as to whether prayer, arguably the most common complementary medical therapy, should be included in the range of interventions grouped under that heading. In addition to reporting the background and results of the study, the book explores the reactions of a range of individuals to the trial, all of which help reflect on the nature of prayer.
Author: Scott Alan Davison
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198757743
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 198
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Book Description
This volume explores the philosophical issues involved in the idea of petitionary prayer, where this is conceived as an activity designed to influence the action of the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfectly good God of traditional theism. Theists have always recognized various logical and moral limits to divine action in the world, but do these limits leave any space among God's reasons for petitionary prayer to make a difference? Petitionary Prayer: A Philosophical Investigation develops a new account of the conditions required for a petitionary prayer to be answered by employing the notion of contrastive explanation. With careful attention to recent developments in metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory, Scott A. Davison surveys the contemporary literature on this question. He considers questions about human freedom and responsibility in relation to different views of divine providence, along with the puzzles inherent in Christian teachings concerning petitionary prayer. Davison develops new challenges to the coherence of the idea of answered petitionary prayer based upon the nature of divine freedom, the limits of human knowledge, and the nature of those good things that require a recipient's permission before they can be given. He proposes new defenses, building upon careful analysis of the shortcomings of previous proposals and clarifying the issues for future debate.
Author: Candy Gunther Brown
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674064860
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 385
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Book Description
In Candy Gunther Brown's view, science cannot prove prayer's healing power, but what scientists can and should do is study prayer's measurable effects on health. If prayer benefits, even indirectly, then more careful attention to prayer practices could impact global health, particuarly in places without access to conventional medicine.
Author: Giuseppe Giordan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351961489
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 223
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Book Description
Prayer is a central aspect of religion. Even amongst those who have abandoned organized religion levels of prayer remain high. Yet the most basic questions remain unaddressed: What exactly is prayer? How does it vary? Why do people pray and in what situations and settings? Does prayer imply a god, and if so, what sort? A Sociology of Prayer addresses these fundamental questions and opens up important new debates. Drawing from religion, sociology of religion, anthropology, and historical perspectives, the contributors focus on prayer as a social as well as a personal matter and situate prayer in the conditions of complex late modern societies worldwide. Presenting fresh empirical data in relation to original theorising, the volume also examines the material aspects of prayer, including the objects, bodies, symbols, and spaces with which it may be integrally connected.
Author: Bernard Spilka
Publisher: Guilford Press
ISBN: 146250695X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 242
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Book Description
Reviewing the growing body of scientific research on prayer, this book describes what is known about the behavioral, cognitive, emotional, developmental, and health aspects of this important religious activity. The highly regarded authors provide a balanced perspective on what prayer means to the individual, how and when it is practiced, and the impact it has in people's lives. Clinically relevant topics include connections among prayer, coping, and adjustment, as well as controversial questions of whether prayer (for oneself or another) can be beneficial to health. The strengths and limitations of available empirical studies are critically evaluated, and promising future research directions are identified.
Author: Katharina Limacher
Publisher: Vienna University Press
ISBN: 9783847109792
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
What is it like to be young and religious in migration society? This volume presents research at the intersection of religion, age and race. The chapters’ foci range from methodological challenges to conceptual work and empirical case studies. The authors present research on various religious traditions including contributions on young Alevis, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims, and apply an array of theoretical angles among them feminist, post- and de-colonial perspectives. Furthermore, the volume engages in the debate over novel conceptual frameworks attuned to investigate contemporary manifestations of youth religiosity, for example in digital spaces. The methodological chapters advocate for reflexivity in the context of empirical research on religion in migration society and promote a self-evaluative assessment of researchers’ positionalities.
Author: Candy Gunther Brown
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674069714
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308
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Book Description
When sickness strikes, people around the world pray for healing. Many of the faithful claim that prayer has cured them of blindness, deafness, and metastasized cancers, and some believe they have been resurrected from the dead. Can, and should, science test such claims? A number of scientists say no, concerned that empirical studies of prayer will be misused to advance religious agendas. And some religious practitioners agree with this restraint, worrying that scientific testing could undermine faith. In Candy Gunther Brown’s view, science cannot prove prayer’s healing power, but what scientists can and should do is study prayer’s measurable effects on health. If prayer produces benefits, even indirectly (and findings suggest that it does), then more careful attention to prayer practices could impact global health, particularly in places without access to conventional medicine. Drawing on data from Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, Brown reverses a number of stereotypes about believers in faith-healing. Among them is the idea that poorer, less educated people are more likely to believe in the healing power of prayer and therefore less likely to see doctors. Brown finds instead that people across socioeconomic backgrounds use prayer alongside conventional medicine rather than as a substitute. Dissecting medical records from before and after prayer, surveys of prayer recipients, prospective clinical trials, and multiyear follow-up observations and interviews, she shows that the widespread perception of prayer’s healing power has demonstrable social effects, and that in some cases those effects produce improvements in health that can be scientifically verified.
Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698161408
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 334
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Book Description
Renowned pastor and New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet Timothy Keller explores the power of prayer. Christians are taught in their churches and schools that prayer is the most powerful way to experience God. But few receive instruction or guidance in how to make prayer genuinely meaningful. In Prayer, renowned pastor Timothy Keller delves into the many facets of this everyday act. With his trademark insights and energy, Keller offers biblical guidance as well as specific prayers for certain situations, such as dealing with grief, loss, love, and forgiveness. He discusses ways to make prayers more personal and powerful, and how to establish a practice of prayer that works for each reader. Dr. Keller’s previous books have sold more than one million copies. His Redeemer Presbyterian Church is not only a major presence in his home base of New York, it has also helped to launch more than two hundred fifty other churches in forty-eight cities around the world. His teachings have already helped millions, the majority of whom pray regularly. And with Prayer, he’ll show them how to find a deeper connection with God.
Author: Albert J. Coetsee
Publisher: AOSIS
ISBN: 1779952740
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
Prayer is a major topic within Christian theology. The biblical text has various references to various recorded and reported prayers. In fact, references to prayer are found within the rich diversity of the various books, corpora and genres of Scripture. As can be expected, much has been written about prayer in the biblical text. However, a comprehensive Biblical Theology dealing with the concept of prayer in Scripture has not been published before, and this book intends to fill this gap, assuming that such an approach can provide a valuable contribution to the theological discourse on prayer and related concepts. This book aims to investigate prayer and its related elements – including worship, praise, thanksgiving, adoration, petition, intercession, lament and confession – in the Old Testament on a book-by-book or corpus-by-corpus basis. The investigation follows a Biblical Theological approach, reading the Old Testament on a book-by-book basis in its final form to uncover the Old Testament’s overarching theology of prayer, understanding the parts in relation to the whole. By doing this, the discrete nuances of the prayers of the different Old Testament books and corpora can be uncovered, letting the books and corpora speak for themselves. In addition, the advantage of this approach is that it provides findings that can benefit the modern Christian community and contribute to the practice of Reformed theology in Africa. This book is of significant value to scholars. It will inspire scholars to think about prayer and use the Bible as the major ‘prayer handbook’ in their spiritual lives.
Author: Edward J. Bardon
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 1598586335
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 254
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Book Description
The Knowledge Drive is an optimistic book that demonstrates how new, more accurate information conveys survival value and inevitably supplants our dysfunctional mythological beliefs. Before there was time for the accumulation of knowledge, early man created legends and religious myths to "understand" the world and ease the paralyzing awareness of his own mortality and the fear of natural forces beyond his control. We are increasingly aware of how these magical beliefs can lead to divisive religious practices, violence, and mans' continuing inhumanity to fellow man. Change is clearly needed. Now, rapid advances in many fields are giving us the techniques to modify our evolution and curtail our virulence. We can establish a more universal, equitable morality based on more accurate intelligence about our origins and place in the universe. Nevertheless, it is up to us as a species to choose our own future directions. We are thus in charge of our own destiny, a threatening thought to many. No prayers or appeals to magical forces will help. Dr. Bardon analyzes how our quest for knowledge is a basic human drive similar to the sex and nourishment drives. It arises from our survival instinct and is not based on moral or altruistic factors. Along with establishing knowledge as a source of power, the author discusses the Knowledge Drive from many other perspectives: its various motivations; the fact that it can be used for many purposes, even destructive ones; how it learns from adversity; how it often exacerbates inequality; and how it does not solve social problems unless given the necessary direction. Dr. Bardon looks at the multiple forces aligned against our efforts to obtain more reliable information. He shows how the Knowledge Drive not only triumphs over but also learns from these negative elements. Warnings about the fragility of our search for knowledge are misguided-it is rather the people mired in mythology who are vulnerable and need our compassion.
