Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
EUR 5,02
Intelligent reflections on prayer - Lewis s letters to a friend address many of the perplexities about prayer and inhibitions to prayer likely to plague anyone who s ever thought much about it, and his writing is, as always, a pleasure to read.I m from a non-religious background and found the practice of verbal prayer attractive but hard to make any sense of. This book helped me to get over some of my intellectual blocks to prayer and actually pray.(Two other recommendations for the prayer-impaired or anyone wanting to enrich their understanding of prayer: Ann and Barry Ulanov s Primary Speech and Karl Rahner s The Need and the Blessing of Prayer.)
an intimate exploration of the nature and process of prayer - The format of this book is in short letters to a friend on prayer. We are presented with only Lewis side of the conversation, but his references to his friend s response or counterpoints is clear. I loved this book because it encourages us to pray, not to provide God with a grocery list of our problems or desires, but to draw into communion with God...and through that conversation we learn about God and ourselves. Like other of Lewis books (Mere Christianity)this book is short in length but long in wisdom. Also like Mere Christianity, you ll want to keep it in your library and read it again.
Good, But Incomplete - I enjoyed this book, but was somewhat dismayed by lack of introductory material. For example, who is the Malcolm of the title? Malcolm X? Malcolm McDowell? It was only once I checked the customer reviews at Amazon.com that I learned it s Malcolm Muggeridge. Also, where are Muggeridge s replies to Lewis letters? However brilliant it may be, it s difficult to put Lewis correspondence into context without reading the other side of the discussion.
An Exchange Between Friends - This book by C. S. Lewis offers something his other books do not. Rather than being a work of fiction or an exploration of his thoughts on religion, this is an intimate exchange of letters between C.S. Lewis and his longtime friend, Malcolm Muggeridge. They discuss the nature of prayer, among other things, and the letters give us a glimpse into Lewis at his most thoughtful. He s not attempting to entertain or to present his case to an audience. He s exploring, with a friend, the most intimate feelings he has about religion. His frustrations, his most sublime moments communing with God, his feelings of inadequacy and much more are revealed in the form of letters to a dear friend. We can put ourselves in Lewis s place and travel the paths he travels, much as we would if we were writing the letters. This is Lewis at his most accessible. He s not the lecturer, the professor or the famous novelist. He s a man on the same search as the rest of we Christians.Muggeridge is a perfect foil. More of a curmudgeon and skeptic, he nevertheless responds to Lewis s questions and wonderings with respect and sincerity.Along with the Screwtape Letters, I find this to be one of Lewis s finest books about religion.
Meditations on prayer life - Letters to Malcolm was the last book that C.S. Lewis wrote, and consists of twenty two letters written to a fictitious character named Malcolm, mostly concerning Lewis s thoughts about prayer. This may be the most personal glimpse of Lewis s spiritual side, and many have enjoyed his relaxed, warm dialogue in these epistles. For those wishing to meditate on the various aspects of praying (content of prayer, petitionary prayers - does God grant requests?, prayer as worship, penitential prayer, the Lord s prayer, or prayer for the dead) this book will give plenty of food for thought. Personally, I like most of Lewis s other books better than this one, but if you are studying the subject of prayer, pondering worship in prayer, or musing about whether or not praying does any good, this book will be a good purchase for you.