Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T06:20:00.838Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Divine goodness and the efficacy of petitionary prayer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2018

JONATHAN REIBSAMEN
JONATHAN REIBSAMEN*
Affiliation:
Columbia International University, 7435 Monticello Road, Columbia, South Carolina, 29203, USA
*
E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Is divine goodness incompatible with efficacious petitionary prayer? Scott Davison has recently argued that prayer cannot make a difference in what God would do since a good God must always do what is best. I examine Davison's presentation of the divine goodness problem for petitionary prayer, and argue that the argument fails. I go on to argue that, since there are certain relational benefits uniquely made available through responding to petitionary prayer, divine goodness leads us to expect that God would at least sometimes respond to petitionary prayer – even prayers for third parties.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 131 - 144
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Augustine, (1888) On the Sermon on the Mount, Findlay, William (tr.), in Schaff, Philip (ed.) Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 6 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co.), revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight, <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/16012.htm>..>Google Scholar
Basinger, David (1983) ‘Why petition an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good God?’, Religious Studies, 19, 25–41.Google Scholar
Bruce, Vicki & Young, Andy (2012) Face Perception (New York: Psychology Press).Google Scholar
Clifford, Sally & Dissanayake, Cheryl (2009) ‘Dyadic and triadic behaviors in infancy as precursors to later social responsiveness in young children with autistic disorder’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39, 1369–1380.Google Scholar
Cohoe, Caleb Murray (2014) ‘God, causality, and petitionary prayer’, Faith and Philosophy, 31, 24–45.Google Scholar
Davison, Scott A. (2009) ‘Petitionary prayer’, in Flint, Thomas P. & Rea, Michael C. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 286–305.Google Scholar
Geivett, R. Douglas (2012) ‘Forgiveness’, in Austin, Michael W. & Geivett, R. Douglas (eds) Being Good: Christian Virtues for Everyday Life (Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans), 204–241.Google Scholar
Hobson, R. Peter (2005) ‘What puts jointness into joint attention?’, in Eilan, Naomi, Hoerl, Christoph, McCormack, Teresa, & Roessler, Johannes (eds) Joint Attention (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 185–204.Google Scholar
Howard-Snyder, Daniel & Howard-Snyder, Frances (2010) ‘The puzzle of petitionary prayer’, European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2, 43–68.Google Scholar
Hughes, Paul M. (2015) ‘Forgiveness’, in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.) The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2015 Edition), <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/forgiveness/>..>Google Scholar
Leekam, Susan & Ramsden, Christopher (2006) ‘Dyadic orienting and joint attention in preschool children with autism’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 185–197.Google Scholar
Naber, F. B. A., et al. (2008) ‘Joint attention development in toddlers with autism’, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 17, 143–152.Google Scholar
Parker, Ryan Matthew & Bradley, Rettler (2017) ‘A possible worlds solution to the puzzle of petitionary prayer’, European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 9, 179–186.Google Scholar
Reddy, Vasudevi (2005) ‘Before the “third element”’, in Eilan, Naomi, Hoerl, Christoph, McCormack, Teresa, & Roessler, Johannes (eds) Joint Attention (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 85–109.Google Scholar
Smith, Nicholas D. & Yip, Andrew C. (2010) ‘Partnership with God: a partial solution to the problem of petitionary prayer’, Religious Studies, 46, 395–410.Google Scholar
Stump, Eleonore (1979) ‘Petitionary prayer’, American Philosophical Quarterly, 16, 81–91.Google Scholar
Stump, Eleonore (2010) Wandering in Darkness (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar