Bönens praktik : en teoretisk analys av Sarah Coakleys, Margareta Melins och Wilfrid Stinissens texter om bönens praxis

Sammanfattning: In this essay Sarah Coakley’s, Margaret Melin’s and Wilfred Stinissen’s texts on the use of prayer are analyzed with the help of Justin Barret’s theory of theological correctness and DZ Philips’ ideas on prayer. The essay is focused on finding out how useful they are to the study of prayer in practice. Parallels are also drawn between theological correctness and political correctness. The analyses show that Barret’s theories are useful, but not in the way formulated by him. Examination of the theologians’ writings in this essay shows that Barret’s theory is too narrow concerning how theologically correct thought develops. The theologians all had different theories on achieving a paradigmatic prayer, but not correctly from a theological point of view according to Barret. It seems that the social context plays a greater part in how theologians reach prayer in a manner that is correct to them, than the manner in which Barret formulates context in his theory. If cognitive context is interpreted in a wider concept, his theory becomes more easily applicable. DZ Phillip’s ideas about prayer is also useful to relate to the theologians’ texts, as they all assume that prayer is total dedication to God. But the theologians realize the challenges of prayer differently from the way that Philips does. The parallel between theological and political correctness raises discussion, as all the theologians, consciously or unconsciously, indicate norms for prayer that in a religious context can be interpreted as “politically incorrect” and represent norms for correctness that should be regarded critically.