p. 154 | Oratory in Prayer

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 29, 1873

Oratory in Prayer.

THE subject of “speech-making in prayer,” is thus deprecated by the Christian Advocate, New York:

Should prayer offered in public be an oration? A few months ago, we went to church on a Sunday evening, in a large country town, and heard something which so impressed us that we have since thought about it very often. It was not the sermon; there was nothing memorable in that. It was a prayer, or, at least, when the minister began, he said, “Let us pray,” and the people bowed their heads as if in supplication. Then we heard a brief eulogy on human nature, setting forth its dignity and independence. Then there was a description of the horrible, enslaving effects of superstition, and of false views of the character of God, which have always been entertained in the Christian church. After this the result of modern theological criticism was summed up, the prayer concluded with a sketch in outline of the “good time coming, when a man will be emancipated from the bondage of traditions, and rites, and superstitious usages, and will reverence and worship only the divine in his own nature.” This is no caricature; it is an accurate report of what we heard on the occasion referred to, and in important respects it is much like what we have often heard in our own denomination and in others. There is a great deal of praying in public that closely resembles speech-making. Of course we intend no criticism of the obvious ideas and opinions of the minister whom we heard; we only ask whether such an oration can properly be termed a prayer?