George Pattison is a retired Anglican priest and scholar. He has held posts in Cambridge, Aarhus, Oxford, and Glasgow universities and has published extensively on existential philosophy, especially Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Tillich, and Russian religious philosophy. His previous books include A Metaphysics of Love: A Philosophy of Christian Life, Part III; A Rhetorics of the Word: A Philosophy of Christian Life, Part II; and A Phenomenology of the Devout Life: A Philosophy of Christian Life, Part I.
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Preface xi 1 Annihilation 1 2 Unknowing 17 3 Mystery 34 4 Words 51 5 Preaching 68 6 Promise 83 7 Height 96 8 Homecoming 110 9 Humility 123 Postscript 141 Notes 143 Select Bibliography 163 Index 171
This is a work that deserves a wide readership, not only of scholars, but of all looking to think about the life of prayer in searching ways that avoid simplistic answers.-- "Theology Journal" In this stimulating collection of essays, the Anglican priest and distinguished academic George Pattison takes up the challenge posed by Immanuel Kant, that "praying, conceived of as an inner ritual service of God and hence as a means of grace, is a superstitious delusion."-- "The Church Times" Sometimes silence is a clearer statement than many words. Sometimes prayer is a clearer witness than political activism. In this important collection of essays spanning two decades, George Pattison demonstrates his mastery of listening to silence and the voices of those who give silence a meaning without which human life is impossible. His philosophy of prayer is an impressive continuation of his groundbreaking phenomenology of the devout life in conversation with 19th and 20th century thinkers. Anyone who wants to engage with prayer and praying in our secular world can only learn from the wealth of observations, insights and ideas in these studies. This important contribution to the philosophy of prayer will leave its mark.---Ingolf Dalferth, Danforth Professor Emeritus of Philosophy of Religion at Claremont Graduate University