Prayer in a Violent World

Andrew Prevot

Andrew Prevot
md传媒国产剧 College

顿补迟别:听September 25, 2018
Location:听Boisi Center, 24 Quincy Road

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Abstract

One prays to God to make the violence cease, and nothing seems to happen. Prayers have been on the lips of crusaders, slaveholders, gangsters, suicide bombers, presidents, and predatory priests, and the fact that they pray does not forestall their violent behavior. Predictable calls for 鈥渢houghts and prayers鈥 in response to violent events ring hollow, since clearly what is needed is meaningful, collective action. Is prayer, then, irrelevant to the task of resisting violence or, worse still, a mere instrument of violence? In his lecture, Prevot will propose a method of understanding the true nature of prayer that prioritizes the prayers of victims and the prayers of those who are working to bring about peace and justice. His talk will emphasize ways that prayer allows suffering to speak, encourages critical self-examination and moral formation, and strengthens one for political struggle. His lecture will also insist that one must think rigorously about the implications of praying to a just and loving God in order to avoid the many forms of violent performative contradiction that all-too-often bedevil the practice of prayer. Prevot does not rule out the possibility that God may hear and answer, but this will not happen if our "hands are full of blood" (Isaiah听1:15).听 听

Speaker Bio

Andrew Prevot

Andrew Prevot听is associate professor of theology at md传媒国产剧 College who writes and teaches at the intersection of spiritual, mystical, systematic, and liberation theologies; phenomenology; and continental philosophies of religion. Recent publications include,听Thinking Prayer: Theology and Spirituality Amid the Crises of Modernity听(University of Notre Dame Press, 2015) and 鈥淚gnacio Ellacur铆a and Enrique Dussel: On the Contributions of Phenomenology to Liberation Theology鈥 which appeared in听A Grammar of Justice: The Legacy of Ignacio Ellacur铆a, edited by. J. Matthew Ashley and Kevin Burke (Orbis, 2014). Prevot has a new book entitled听Theology and Race: Black and Womanist Traditions in the United States听(Brill, 2018) expected July 2018. He earned his B.A. from Colorado College and his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

Event Photos

Andrew Prevot

Andrew Prevot, associate professor of theology at md传媒国产剧 College, speaks about the practice and necessity of prayer in a violent world.

Andrew Prevot

Photos by MTS Photography

Event Recap

On Tuesday, September 25th, the Boisi Center hosted Andrew Prevot, md传媒国产剧 College Associate Professor of Theology, for a luncheon colloquium on 鈥淧rayer in a Violent World鈥. Based on his first publication, Thinking Prayer: Theology and Spirituality Amid the Crisis of Modernity (South Bend, IN: Notre Dame Press, 2015), Prevot deconstructed the concern that prayer causes more harm than good and perpetuates violence against others, arguing instead that prayer can play a powerful role in opposition to violence.

Prevot began his presentation by outlining the most common objections to prayer. A basic argument against prayer is that it does not prevent violence from occurring. Prevot noted, however, a stronger grievance in opposition to prayer: claims that it is an 鈥渋nstrument鈥 that directly causes violence or encourages perpetrators to do so. Prevot outlined several possible reasons for holding these arguments. First, praying may induce greater victimization, especially when the victim feels that God is not listening. Second, many perpetrators of violence pray and are yet responsible for horrendous acts against humanity, sometimes crediting that act to prayer or God鈥檚 will, as in modern religious violence. Finally, many people view prayer as not producing, or even as inhibiting, tangible action and change to combat violence, as with the call for 鈥渢houghts and prayers鈥 in response to American gun violence. This call is often unaccompanied by meaningful steps to address the problem.

In response to these objections, Prevot presented two ways that prayer plays a role against violence: victims often rely on prayer as a refuge, and prayer can be essential in the shaping of moral character. Many European Jews, for instance, held onto prayer in the midst of suffering in concentration camps, prayer playing a critical role in providing hope and comfort to those otherwise left bereft of recourse. Prayer has been known to play a critical role in shaping the moral character of major actors in liberation movements across the world. Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer have all famously attributed their perseverance and desire for justice to experiences in prayer. Prevot concluded that one way to begin to make a tangible difference against violence in the modern world is to cultivate a prayerful state of mind; one not absent of the desire for change, nor ignorant of the potential harms of prayer, but is instead a 鈥渢hinking prayer鈥.

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Books

叠谤补肠办濒别测,听顿别补苍.听The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times: New Perspectives on the Transformative Wisdom of Ignatius of Loyola.听New York: Crossword, 2004.

Coakley, Sarah.听God, Sexuality, and the Self. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013.听

Cone, James.听God of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury Press, 1975.

顿补测,听顿辞谤辞迟丑测.听The Long Loneliness.听San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1981.

骋耻迟颈别谤谤别锄,听骋耻蝉迟补惫辞.听On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent.听Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1987.

Laird, Martin.听Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation.听Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Metz,听Johann Baptist听 and Karl Rahner.听The Courage to Pray.听Trans.听Sarah O'Brien Twohig.New York: Crossword, 1981.

Prevot, Andrew.听Thinking Prayer: Theology and Spirituality Amid the Crises of Modernity. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2015.

Townes,听Emilie.听In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness.听Nashville: Abingdon Press. 1995.

Articles

Bade, Mary K., and Cook, Stephen W. 2008. 鈥淔unctions of Christian Prayer in the Coping Process.鈥 Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.听

Clanton, J. Caleb. "George Santayana and the Problem of Petitionary Prayer."听American Journal of Theology & Philosophy听35, no. 2 (2014): 108-28.听

Danaher, James. "Contemplative Prayer & the 21st Century."听New Blackfriars,听vol. 93 (1046), July 2012, 446-456.

Hanek, Kate J. et al. 鈥淧olitical Orientation and the Psychology of Christian Prayer: How Conservatives and Liberals Pray.鈥澨The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion听21, no. 1 (2011).听

Robinette, Brian D. "The difference nothing makes: creatio ex nihilo, resurrection, and divine gratuity."听Theological Studies, vol. 72, no. 3 (2011).听

Other

Egan, Timothy.听听The New York Times, December 4, 2015.

Leibovich, Mark.听听The New York Times Magazine, October 13, 2015.

Willingham, AJ.听听CNN, May 19, 2018.

In the News

According to a September 2018 New York Times听, Pope Francis declared in a homily that when confronted with conflict, the best response is 鈥渟ilence and prayer.鈥 This calls into question what a proper Catholic response should be regarding such controversial issues as sex abuse and gun violence.