The Best Christian Books on Prayer - Logos is missing 15 of 17.
HuffPost Religion recently asked some of their Christian bloggers about the books on prayer that have helped them most on their spiritual journey. They came up with a list of The Best Christian Books On Prayer. Logos has only two of the books on the list (The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence and The Spirituality of the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann). Please get some of the rest of the titles (asterisk * besides the ones I think are the highest priority). Not all of the ones they listed are ones that I think would be of interest to Logos users, so I've removed some of them from the list.
- *Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove & Enuma Okoro (Zondervan)
- Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels (Vyrso has a study guide for this, but not the book itself)
- *Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard (I know Vyrso has an edition of this intermingled with a women's devotional by a contemporary author, but couldn't you provide just the basic classic by itself, please; stuff this well known deserves to be available in Logos uncontaminated by later authors' accretions)
- God and You: Prayer As a Personal Relationship by William A. Barry (Paulist Press)
- *Inner Compass: An Invitation to Ignatian Spirituality by Margaret Silf (Loyola Press)
- *Finding Grace At The Center: The Beginning of Centering Prayer by M. Basil Pennington & Thomas Keating (Skylight Paths Publishing)
- *The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer by Evagrius Ponticus (Cistercian Publications)
- *Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home by Richard Foster (HarperCollins)
- *Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton (Image)
- Disciplines of the Spirit by Howard Thurman (Friends United Press)
- *Dorothee Soelle: Essential Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters) (Orbis)
- *Life of the Beloved by Henri J. M. Nouwen (Crossroad)
*EDITED
Comments
-
[y]
0 -
Rosie Perera said:
HuffPost Religion recently asked some of their Christian bloggers
I guess it depends on who is doing the asking and who they are asking. I would trade the whole list for one Logos resource;
An Exposition on Prayer in the Bible by Dr James E. Rosscup
Logos 7 Collectors Edition
0 -
Super.Tramp said:
I guess it depends on who is doing the asking and who they are asking.
Good point. And I'd add this quote as a caution about any list of books on prayer: “Why do I always want to read about the spiritual life and not really live it?” (Henri Nouwen, The Genesee Diary, June 7)
The best way to learn about prayer is to do it.
0 -
Super.Tramp said:
I guess it depends on who is doing the asking and who they are asking.
Agreed. That list just persuaded me I'm probably not going to enjoy HuffPost Religion. No Dick Eastman or E.M. Bounds?
This is my personal Faithlife account. On 1 March 2022, I started working for Faithlife, and have a new 'official' user account. Posts on this account shouldn't be taken as official Faithlife views!
0 -
Rosie Perera said:
They came up with a list of The Best Christian Books On Prayer.
I must say I've read a lot of books on prayer and with the exception of Hybels I haven't read any of these. I recognize a few of the other authors (Hurnard, Foster, Merton, and Nouwen). Some of them sound downright new-age. (They may not be but the titles suggest that.)
I would probably not buy a single book on this list, if that is any comfort to the folks at Logos.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
0 -
Mark Smith said:
I would probably not buy a single book on this list, if that is any comfort to the folks at Logos.
Sorry - same is true for me.
Blessings,
FloydPastor-Patrick.blogspot.com
0 -
Super.Tramp said:
I would trade the whole list for one Logos resource;
Doesn't it make more sense to hold out for the two oddly missing resources?
- Prayer by Timothy Ware (title may be misremembered ... first read in the early 70's)
- Writings from the Philokalia: On Prayer of the Heart by E. Kadloubovsky and E. M. Palmer
or the less odd
- Art of Prayer - An Orthodox Anthology by Igumen Chariton of Valamo, Timothy Ware, E. Kadloubovsky and E. M. Palmer
I'm familiar with 7 on the list ... items very well known in the 70's and 80's.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
0 -
Rosie Perera said:
The best way to learn about prayer is to do it.
I did not intend to be rude or say these books have no value. They may possibly be described as value-yet-undiscovered, I don't know.
I am very surprised E.M. Bounds did not make the list.
Logos 7 Collectors Edition
0 -
Mark Smith said:
I must say I've read a lot of books on prayer and with the exception of Hybels I haven't read any of these. I recognize a few of the other authors (Hurnard, Foster, Merton, and Nouwen). Some of them sound downright new-age.
I agree on this and have edited the initial list I posted to remove the most questionable ones. The New Zealand Prayer Book is not at all new agey but of interest probably to only New Zealanders, so I removed that too. I happen to own a copy because a dear sister in Christ from New Zealand gave it to me. But it's probably not of general interest, and to be honest I wouldn't buy it in Logos since I already own the hard copy.
Nouwen and Foster are not new-agey at all and are read and respected by a lot of evangelicals.
Thomas Merton is also read and respected by some evangelicals, though others are suspicious of him. I've read a couple of his books and find him a bit "out there" for me, but he's still an important author.
Vyrso carries other books by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. He's at the center of the new monasticism movement, which builds on the ideas of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Logos carries the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, a long-standing Jesuit tradition of discerning God's guidance in our lives. I'm not that familiar with Margaret Silf, though I do own a couple of books of hers. In addition to Ignatian spirituality, she writes on Celtic Christianity, which might seem new-agey to those who are not familiar with it. But it's a way of seeing God as present and involved in the ordinary everyday. Logos does carry a book by David Adam which is also in that same vein, if you want to get an idea of what it's about: The Edge of Glory: Prayers in the Celtic Tradition. Silf is probably on the edge for me in terms of her "new-age" leaning. She publishes with Eerdmans, most of whose books which Logos carries I highly regard, but the title of her book with them is Roots and Wings: The Human Journey from a Speck of Stardust to a Spark of God. Hmm...
Evagrius Ponticus (Evagrius of Pontus) was an important, though not completely orthodox, monastic writer from the 4th century, significant in the history of Christianity. From the Introduction to the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: "Evagrius of Pontus (c. 345–399). Disciple and teacher of ascetic life who astutely absorbed and creatively transmitted the spirituality of Egyptian and Palestinian monasticism of the late fourth century. Although Origenist elements of his writings were formally condemned by the Fifth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople II, A.D. 553), his literary corpus continued to influence the tradition of the church."
I was not familiar with the name Howard Thurman, but he was an African American, an ordained Baptist minister. He studied philosophy under Rufus Jones, an influential Quaker historian, theologian, and philosopher, co-founder of the American Friends Service Committee (the social justice arm of the Quakers, akin to MCC for Mennonites). Evidently Thurman must have been influenced by Jones towards Quaker spirituality, as his works are published by Friends United Press, a Quaker publishing house.
I was also not familiar with Dorothee Soelle, but MJ Smith had requested this book of hers before along with the rest of the Modern Spiritual Masters series, so I figured I should include it for completeness and another plug.
Probably the most controversial on this list, though I'm leaving it on intentionally, is the book by M. Basil Pennington & Thomas Keating. They and their work on "centering prayer" are viewed askance by many evangelicals. I'm not as fearful of it as some might be, but I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea. However it is an important work. Logos does carry other books by Pennington and Keating (a whole collection of his works), and this one should be included IMO.
Super.Tramp said:I did not intend to be rude or say these books have no value. They may possibly be described as value-yet-undiscovered, I don't know.
Understood.
Super.Tramp said:I am very surprised E.M. Bounds did not make the list.
Me too! And Andrew Murray (With Christ in the School of Prayer) and Alexander Whyte (Lord, Teach Us To Pray) and C.S. Lewis (Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer), and P.T. Forsyth (The Soul of Prayer).
Of course any list of books on any topic is necessarily going to be idiosyncratic and will depend on who contributed to it. I don't recognize the names of most of Huffington Post's Christian bloggers, though I'm aware most of them are quite liberal/progressive (not that that's always objectionable to me; I find a lot of affinity with Jim Wallis, for example). But they've also got a gem in the poet and Orthodox writer Scott Cairns, who is not afraid to speak boldly of the truth of the Resurrection and other such topics. (He is a friend of mine. I took a couple of poetry writing workshops with him.)
0 -
It would be interesting to see whose works those on this forum think are the most important books or influential writers on prayer.
I'll have to gather my own list.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
0 -
Mark Smith said:
Some of them sound downright new-age.
The ones I am familiar with are very traditional ... think desert fathers with some medieval influences. Not very new age.[;)]
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
0 -
Rosie Perera said:
The New Zealand Prayer Book is not at all new agey but of interest probably to only New Zealanders, so I removed that too.
Next to the Grail Psalter, this is likely the most popular psalm translation for English speakers who use the Psalter in prayer. It's justifiably been a best seller when it came out and had steady sales since.
Rosie Perera said:Roots and Wings: The Human Journey from a Speck of Stardust to a Spark of God.
Sounds like a Hasidic/Kabbalistic title to me.[;)]
EDIT: I looked at the bibliography for this book and found it filled with many books I don't respect - science, theology and new-age ... she did have some sources I trust and I don't know whether she agreed or disagreed with the books I don't respect.
Rosie Perera said:is the book by M. Basil Pennington & Thomas Keating. They and their work on "centering prayer" are viewed askance by many evangelicals.
Mostly because they didn't make the effort to understand what was being said (at least the critiques and paraphrases showed a complete misunderstanding) ... although Pennington & Keating definitely lean towards the Eastern/Orthodox side of the Christian prayer tradition. They simply repackaged 1800 years of tradition to sell to the contemporary world - in my experience Episcopalians were especially fond of them.
The elephant in the room for this forum thread is the understanding of the purposes of prayer - an area in which Foster's book is by far the best at describing.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
0 -
Mark Smith said:
I would probably not buy a single book on this list, if that is any comfort to the folks at Logos.
That's unfortunate ... it's 1800 years across 4 or 5 continents of cumulative living faith's wisdom you're missing out on[:P]
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
0 -
I would second the 5 volume work on prayer by Rosscup. It is one of the treasures of my logos library.
i personally have a low regard for E.M. Bounds, but likely am not in the majority on that (i read a compilation of his works several years ago).
the book i would most enjoy seeing added to logos is Prayer:Does it Make any Difference by Ohilip Yancey
0 -
MJ. Smith said:
That's unfortunate ... it's 1800 years across 4 or 5 continents of cumulative living faith's wisdom you're missing out on
I would expect that of you, Martha. I wonder how poor Paul managed without those 1800 years of cumulative wisdom you hold in such high regard?
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
0 -
Mark Smith said:
I wonder how poor Paul managed without those 1800 years of cumulative wisdom
He had a slight advantage ... direct experience while on a little jaunt to Damascus, the Apostles themselves rather than writings ... but he did have an education in 1800 years or so of Jewish cumulative wisdom under one of the better known teachers of all time before he ran into Jesus.
Mark Smith said:cumulative wisdom you hold in such high regard?
Yup, I use it in math, science, language, cooking, programming and yes relationship with God ... some with longer histories, some with shorter ... leaves me free to make novel and interesting mistakes rather than repeating the mistakes well-trod. I find novel mistakes far less embarrassing[:P]
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
0 -
Rosie Perera said:
*EDITED
Has the content of http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/20/christian-prayer-books_n_4481053.html changed. Two not on your list are:
- The Practice of the Presence of God & the Spiritual Maxims by Brother Lawrence
- Spirituality of the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann
Not likely to be considered "potentially new age" in the sense of Cynthia Bourgeault, Mike Flynn or Doug Gregg ...
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
0 -
MJ. Smith said:Rosie Perera said:
*EDITED
Has the content of http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/20/christian-prayer-books_n_4481053.html changed. Two not on your list are:
- The Practice of the Presence of God & the Spiritual Maxims by Brother Lawrence
- Spirituality of the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann
Not likely to be considered "potentially new age" in the sense of Cynthia Bourgeault, Mike Flynn or Doug Gregg ...
No, but those are the two that Logos already has. I mentioned them both in parentheses in my original post. They were never in my list of requests (since Logos already has them), and thus I didn't delete them after reconsidering my list.
0 -
Got it ... I just assumed the original list was complete without reading what you wrote carefully. More embarrassingly, I made the assumption based on my posting style not yours. Ouch! [:$]
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
0 -
MJ. Smith said:
More embarrassingly, I made the assumption based on my posting style not yours. Ouch!
No worries. How could you be expected to know everyone's individual posting style when responding to them?
0
