The Magic of Prayer - by M Faber (Hardcover)

About the Book

This comprehensive, psychological, and naturalistic analysis of prayer offers an alternative to William James's model of prayer, represented in his work The Varieties of Religious Experience, which links supplication to the divine or supernatural realm. Through his examination of prayer, and its connection to faith, Faber also analyzes religious faith psychologically and anthropologically, concluding that subjective prayer is finally an instance of homeopathic magical conduct. It ritualistically conjures up, according to the author, a version of the first, primal, biological situation, in which the dependent little one cries out to a parental big one for physical and emotional nourishment. Eventually, religion...and its expression of faith through prayer, provides us with a magical protective presence that is natural in its return to the primal, rather than supernatural, as James argues, in its presence and existence.

The very instructional details of individual prayer, Faber argues, are unconsciously designed to recreate the magical alliance through which our existence on the planet commences and goes forward. Over and over again, dozens of times each day, thousands of times each year, the little one asks and the big one sees to it that the little one receives. Such asking and receiving is the central feature of a child's existence. As we internalize this reality and seek to re-create it in our adult lives, religious conviction and faith--as it comes through prayer--helps us to achieve a sense of security and a psychic return to the parental alliance. Faber's compelling arguments will challenge readers to consider prayer and faith as a magical circle of religious belief and to examine afresh the underlying nature of supplication.

Book Synopsis

This comprehensive, psychological, and naturalistic analysis of prayer offers an alternative to William James's model of prayer, represented in his work The Varieties of Religious Experience, which links supplication to the divine or supernatural realm. Through his examination of prayer, and its connection to faith, Faber also analyzes religious faith psychologically and anthropologically, concluding that subjective prayer is finally an instance of homeopathic magical conduct. It ritualistically conjures up, according to the author, a version of the first, primal, biological situation, in which the dependent little one cries out to a parental big one for physical and emotional nourishment. Eventually, religion...and its expression of faith through prayer, provides us with a magical protective presence that is natural in its return to the primal, rather than supernatural, as James argues, in its presence and existence.

The very instructional details of individual prayer, Faber argues, are unconsciously designed to recreate the magical alliance through which our existence on the planet commences and goes forward. Over and over again, dozens of times each day, thousands of times each year, the little one asks and the big one sees to it that the little one receives. Such asking and receiving is the central feature of a child's existence. As we internalize this reality and seek to re-create it in our adult lives, religious conviction and faith--as it comes through prayer--helps us to achieve a sense of security and a psychic return to the parental alliance. Faber's compelling arguments will challenge readers to consider prayer and faith as a magical circle of religious belief and to examine afresh the underlying nature of supplication.

Review Quotes

"M. D. Faber's The Magic of Prayer covers an immense expanse of literature and conceptual issues, and it does so with profound intellectual acumen, grace, and wit. This work will have to be studied and reckoned with for many years to come by anyone who seeks to analyze the deeper motivations that drive people to prayer and to religion. This is on the individual level, as well as on the societal or cultural level. At the same time, Faber's carefully crafted argument helps us to understand, if not forgive, the forms of madness that religious faith and practice have taken throughout history and until today, including the conflicts in the Balkans and in the endless wars between Israelis and Palestinians. I hope this fine book will gain the recognition that it deserves in undermining the hold of forces of illusion in favor of the progress of the span of reason."-Kenneth L. Brown Professor Emeritus of Anthropology University of Manchester

?[C]overs an immense expanse of literature and conceptual ideas with profound intellectual acumen and wit....This work will have to be studied and reckoned with for many years to come.?-The Journal of Psychohistory

?[I]t requires someone from outside the field to remind scholars of religion of the sort of thing we should be doing.?-Studies in Religion

?[P]rovocative, fascinating book....will interest object-relational psychologists of religion.?-Contemporary Psychology APA Review of Books

?There are some thought-provoking nuggets here for those interested in psychological development and religious practice, and adament rationalists will find a fearless spokesman in Faber.?-Religious Studies Review

?This book is extremely well-written, well-argued, and scholarly. It is a major contribution to the psychoanalytic tradition of studying religion and to the psychological study of religion.?-International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

"ÝC¨overs an immense expanse of literature and conceptual ideas with profound intellectual acumen and wit....This work will have to be studied and reckoned with for many years to come."-The Journal of Psychohistory

"ÝI¨t requires someone from outside the field to remind scholars of religion of the sort of thing we should be doing."-Studies in Religion

"ÝP¨rovocative, fascinating book....will interest object-relational psychologists of religion."-Contemporary Psychology APA Review of Books

"[C]overs an immense expanse of literature and conceptual ideas with profound intellectual acumen and wit....This work will have to be studied and reckoned with for many years to come."-The Journal of Psychohistory

"[I]t requires someone from outside the field to remind scholars of religion of the sort of thing we should be doing."-Studies in Religion

"[P]rovocative, fascinating book....will interest object-relational psychologists of religion."-Contemporary Psychology APA Review of Books

"There are some thought-provoking nuggets here for those interested in psychological development and religious practice, and adament rationalists will find a fearless spokesman in Faber."-Religious Studies Review

"This book is extremely well-written, well-argued, and scholarly. It is a major contribution to the psychoanalytic tradition of studying religion and to the psychological study of religion."-International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

About the Author

M. D. FABER is Professor Emeritus of English Language and Literature at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and a psychoanalytic commentator on religion, philosophy, literature, and art. He has recently published a trilogy on modern religion including the titles Modern Witchcraft and Psychoanalysis (1993), New Age Thinking: A Psychoanalytic Critique (1996), and Synchronicity: C. G. Jung, Psychoanalysis, and Religion (Praeger, 1998).