Quote#God & Faith
But petitional prayer is only one department of prayer; and if we…
Quote byWilliam James · 1842–1910
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), Lecture XIX, "Other Characteristics".
English (original)
But petitional prayer is only one department of prayer; and if we take the word in the wider sense as meaning every kind of inward communion or conversation with the power recognized as divine, we can easily see that scientific criticism leaves it untouched. Prayer in this wide sense is the very soul and essence of religion.
— William James
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