Timeline for What was the early Church's understanding of the practice of "praying in the Spirit" during the ante-Nicene period?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
24 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2021 at 19:49 | comment | added | Lesley | I have to sign off for tonight. Let me sleep on that and I will get back to you on Wednesday. | |
| Jul 20, 2021 at 17:28 | comment | added | user50422 | @Lesley - do you believe that the type of prayer you are describing is commonplace among Christians nowadays? Is it the exception or the norm today? | |
| Jul 20, 2021 at 16:32 | comment | added | Lesley | Ah, yes. Unfortunately, I only saw your question 3 hours ago and I regret I was unable to do the question justice. Perhaps I've missed the point you want to make, because it is my understanding from reading the New Testament that praying in the Spirit was a common experience to all of those early Christians who had undergone the "new birth" - the spiritual rebirth that had transformed their lives. Those who are indwelt by the Spirit are guided and prompted by the Spirit who speaks through them. The power of the Holy Spirit swept through the early Church as He drew attention to Christ Jesus. | |
| Jul 20, 2021 at 16:20 | comment | added | user50422 | @Lesley - I mean, sure, writings from those authors would meet the requirements of the question, but I'm not that sure if they exhaust all the possibilities. | |
| S Jul 20, 2021 at 15:05 | history | bounty ended | CommunityBot | ||
| S Jul 20, 2021 at 15:05 | history | notice removed | user50422 | ||
| Jul 20, 2021 at 12:55 | answer | added | Lesley | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jul 20, 2021 at 12:27 | comment | added | Lesley | Do you mean writings from Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria? | |
| Jul 18, 2021 at 13:24 | history | edited | user50422 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 334 characters in body
|
| Jul 12, 2021 at 18:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackChristian/status/1414645738253000707 | ||
| Jul 12, 2021 at 17:25 | comment | added | Nigel J | @GratefulDisciple Thank you. My own experience is that my own prayers are selfish, unwise, ineffectual and deeply ungodly, unless I walk in the Spirit and pray in the Spirit. Only He, himself, from within, in union with my own spirit, can direct my being in Christ, towards God and the Father, in a spiritual manner. | |
| Jul 12, 2021 at 17:17 | comment | added | GratefulDisciple | @NigelJ I tend to agree with your interpretation. A commentary on Eph 6:18 (by William Klein) says: And they ought to pray “in the Spirit,” suggesting prayers that are consistent with the Spirit’s desires and are energized by the Spirit. Schnackenburg, 282, puts it well: “Our human praying only achieves power and effectiveness in the strength of the divine Spirit.” So it's not necessarily praying in tongue or mindless speech or under ecstasy. I'm hoping for church fathers references to back up this interpretation. | |
| Jul 12, 2021 at 16:56 | comment | added | user50422 | @GratefulDisciple - I bolded 'extra-biblical writings' to emphasize that that's something I'm especially interested in. | |
| Jul 12, 2021 at 16:53 | history | edited | user50422 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 4 characters in body
|
| Jul 12, 2021 at 16:46 | comment | added | GratefulDisciple | +1 This is a very good patristics question. Possible answer is a list of quotations from Patristic commentary on those verses, and/or letters / sermons / essays on the topic of praying. To sharpen this question, how about explicitly excluding answers that cites other NT texts only? Answers that include both NT and ante-Nicene sources are ok. | |
| S Jul 12, 2021 at 15:19 | history | bounty started | CommunityBot | ||
| S Jul 12, 2021 at 15:19 | history | notice added | user50422 | Draw attention | |
| Jul 7, 2021 at 7:27 | comment | added | Nigel J | Yes. One can utter words of 'prayer' in the flesh. And one will not be heard. Yes, indeed. And one may be carnal and worldly and fleshly : and be dead towards God. Yes, indeed. I was alive without the law, once. Praying, fasting, bible-reading : but not alive to God and the Father. | |
| Jul 7, 2021 at 4:59 | history | edited | user50422 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 305 characters in body
|
| Jul 7, 2021 at 4:09 | comment | added | user50422 | @NigelJ - meaning that it is possible to pray without the Spirit, just like it is possible not to be full of the Holy Spirit or it is possible not to be 100% out of the flesh, correct? | |
| Jul 7, 2021 at 3:51 | comment | added | Nigel J | . . . For the same reason as the followers of Christ are exhorted to love another and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ : we need constant encouragement and exhortation to stay out of the flesh and to be always full of the Holy Spirit. | |
| Jul 6, 2021 at 22:10 | comment | added | user50422 | @NigelJ - if everyone is already praying in the Spirit at all times, what is the point of encouraging them to do something that they are already doing? | |
| Jul 6, 2021 at 21:48 | comment | added | Nigel J | If Paul's readers are to 'at all times' pray in the Spirit, how could it be a 'special kind of prayer' and not the only possible way to pray ? | |
| Jul 6, 2021 at 21:15 | history | asked | user50422 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |