Successful Argumentation in Prayer to God
Should we present arguments before God in prayer? I believe that our prayer life can be enriched by offering argumentative prayers as taught in the scriptures. Dr. Srader has a unit in his Argumentation and Debate course on why we should use argumentation in prayer. In it, he offers three examples of stories from the Bible where successful argumentatuve prayers that convince God to change His mind are offered. To expand this teaching, I presented Dr. Srader with another such example in the story of Abraham. I suggested this as an example of argumentative prayer which convinced God to change His mind as he argued for the lives of the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah. In this talk I will present what Dr. Srader had before my suggested addition. Next, I chronicle our conversations on the issue, which were argumentative. I then discuss how Abraham’s form of argumentation with God fits into Dr. Srader’s definition of an argument, and we crescendo by practicing. I will offer an argumentative prayer asking God to help us to lead a meaningful life based on John 15:12-17. Then we will discuss the talk together.
COMM 325, Argumentation and Debate
Doyle Srader
L203
Click here to view the live stream
1 – 1:30 PM