Relating through Prayer

This book investigates the interplay between prayer and identity formation and the socializing character of Christian prayer: how prayer established a relationship between the individual and God; how other social relations were reinforced by prayer; and how the individual Christian was connected to his/her own self in prayer.

This book analyses early Christian texts on prayer. These texts provide a rich perspective on the formation of Christian identity in the early church. The primary sources investigated are the four earliest known treatises on prayer in Christian history, written by Clement, Origen, Tertullian and Cyprian in the beginning of the third century. Prayer and identity have both individual and collective expressions, and theological treatises reveal an interplay between these phenomena. The book examines the relational character of Christian prayer: how prayer establishes a relationship between the individual and God; how other social relations are reinforced by prayer in direct and indirect ways; and how individual Christians are connected to their own self in prayer.

Autorentext

Maria Louise Munkholt Christensen studied Protestant Theology at Aarhus University, Denmark, and earned her PhD degree at the same university in 2015. She is presently engaged in postdoctoral research at the Collaborative Research Centre «Education and Religion» at the University of Göttingen, Germany. In her current project she investigates late antique Christian texts that feature women as teachers.

Inhalt

Christian prayer Identity formation Self-formation Relations Early Christianity Early Church Patristics Spirituality - Theology