Atheist anti-theist Jonathan M. S. Pearce is the main writer on the blog, A Tippling Philosopher. His “About” page from his former site states: “Pearce is a philosopher, author, blogger, public speaker and teacher from Hampshire in the UK. He specialises in philosophy of religion, but likes to turn his hand to science, psychology, politics and anything involved in investigating reality.”
He has encouraged me to visit his site and offer critiques. Before he departed his former site at Patheos, he wrote under a post dated 12-14-21: “I even need to thank the naysayers. Some of them have put up with a lot of robust pushback and still they come. Bravery or stupidity – it’s a fine line. But they are committed, and there is something to be said for taking that commitment into the lion’s den. Dave, you are welcome at my new place. Come challenge me. All the best to you and thanks for your critiques of my pieces. Sorry I couldn’t get to more of them.”
Again, at his new site (under a post dated 1-27-22), after a vicious attack by a commenter, calling for me and indeed all Christians to be banned, Jonathan offered an honorable and principled refusal: “I do welcome disagreements because I don’t want [my blog] to [be] just an echo chamber. As long as it is good faith . . . someone like Armstrong does give me ammunition for some of my pieces! As long as they aren’t trollish.”
His words below will be in blue.
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This is a reply to a portion of his post, “Gambling on prayer: Getting addicted to blind hope” (2-4-22).
I’ve made it clear that prayer does not change God’s mind. It can’t. God is immutable,
So far so good. That is orthodox Christian theology.
and his predictions or knowledge about the universe (and his own actions) are set in stone from causally before the creation of the universe. It’s all down to his infallible foreknowledge.
That’s true, too, although He allows us free will, and this is incorporated into His providence and sovereignty. No one is predestined to hell, and no one gets to heaven without cooperating with saving God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross on our behalf: without which no one would be saved.
It’s a bit like children playing on a hill that has steep cliffs on all sides. Putting a fence around the edges prevents them from getting hurt and “constricts” their free will in a sense. That’s like God’s will in some ways. But the children feel free to run around as they wish and take no thought of possible harm. In fact, the fence (ostensibly a “restriction”) makes them feel *more* free, because they don’t have to worry about falling over the edge.
So in one sense they are free, and in another they are not (at least not totally or in an unlimited sense). That’s how we are with God.
So prayer isn’t about changing God’s mind. But people still do it. Believers believe (because that’s what they do!), somehow and for some reason, that their prayer will enact change away from God’s divinely foreknown course. The trolley is on the railroad, but they think they have the lever in their hands to change tracks for that God-driven cart.
This is where you fail to understand the immensity and wondrous nature of God’s sovereignty. What you neglect to see is that God, from all eternity, knowing everything that will happen or even what would happen differently, given different conditions (scientia media: “middle knowledge”) chooses to incorporate our prayers into His perfect will and sovereignty. They then become part of the whole mix.
The idea is that He wants us to participate in His workings: not that we are controlling Him or giving Him orders, but willingly participating with what He does and wishes to do.
God doesn’t need anything. He’s not sitting up in heaven waiting for us to summon Him so He can act (as if He is our mere robot). He urges us to pray in order to involve us in His actions. That’s how He likes it to be. Prayer helps us (i.e., it’s a good and pious thing to pray), and helps recipients of prayer. The world was designed to be a place where people helped each other. Prayer is a means of helping others by involving the power of God. The Bible has many indications of this notion of “working with” God. For example:
1 Corinthians 3:9 (RSV) . . . we are God’s fellow workers . . . (KJV: “labourers together with God”)
2 Corinthians 6:1 Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain.
2 Corinthians 13:3 . . . Christ is speaking in me . . .
Philippians 2:13 for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Prayer is the same. We also participate in our own salvation by cooperating with God, and He includes us in His plan to save as many people as He can. Prayer is part of this whole package. For much more on all this, see my article:
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Photo credit: Old Flanders (1915), by Theophile Marie Francois Lybaert (1848-1927) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]
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Summary: I explain to atheist Jonathan MS Pearce the Christian and biblical rationale for prayer: participating with God in His great works, & being “co-workers”: by God’s choice.
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