Theme Study: Prayer

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By Arthur W. Lindsley on July 1, 2009 ,

Theme Study: Prayer

When Karl Barth came to the section in his massive Church Dogmatics that dealt with the Christian life, he considered various options. His most basic question was, “What does a Christian life mean?” Various ideas were then considered as the central concept integrating them all. Some of these – freedom, repentance, faith, thanksgiving, faithfulness – were all given serious consideration, then for various reasons dismissed. The one Barth chose as the central concept was “invocation” – prayer – calling on His name. Then Barth proceeds to discuss the Christian life by using each petition of the Lord’s Prayer. Some 250 pages later, he had only covered up to “Thy kingdom come.”

It is reasonable to say that invocation – calling on the Lord’s name – is the center of our spiritual lives. Without it we have a faith of mere mental assent, an intellectual faith without power or life. Prayer is central in both the Old and New Testaments. . .

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Arthur W. Lindsley

Senior Fellow for Apologetics, CSLI Arthur W. Lindsley is the Vice President of Theological Initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Works, & Economics. He has served at the C.S. Lewis Institute since 1987 both as President until 1998 and currently as Senior Fellows for Apologetics. Formerly, he was director of Educational Ministries at the Ligonier Valley Study Center, and Staff Specialist with the Coalition for Christian Outreach. He is the author of C.S. Lewis's Case for Christ, True Truth, Love: The Ultimate Apologetic, and co-author with R.C. Sproul and John Gerstner of Classical Apologetics, and has written numerous articles on theology, apologetics, C.S. Lewis, and the lives and works of many other authors and teachers. Art earned his M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.  

COPYRIGHT: This publication is published by C.S. Lewis Institute; 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 301; Springfield, VA 22151. Portions of the publication may be reproduced for noncommercial, local church or ministry use without prior permission. Electronic copies of the PDF files may be duplicated and transmitted via e-mail for personal and church use. Articles may not be modified without prior written permission of the Institute. For questions, contact the Institute: 703.914.5602 or email us.

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