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Author Clark, Stephanie, 1975- author

Title Compelling God : theories of prayer in Anglo-Saxon England / Stephanie Clark
Published Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2018]

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Description 1 online resource (x, 318 pages)
Contents Cover; Copyright; Epigraph; Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1 The Anglo-Saxon Inheritance; 2 Gratiam pro gratia: Bede on Prayer; 3 Does Prayer Work? The Prayers of King Alfred; 4 Ã#x86;lfric and the Community of Prayer; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index
Summary "While prayer is generally understood as "communion with God" modern forms of spirituality prefer "communion" that is non-petitionary and wordless. This preference has unduly influenced modern scholarship on historic methods of prayer particularly concerning Anglo-Saxon spirituality. In Compelling God, Stephanie Clark examines the relationship between prayer, gift giving, the self, and community in Anglo-Saxon England. Clark's analysis of the works of Bede, Ælfric, and Alfred utilizes anthropologic and economic theories of exchange in order to reveal the ritualized, gift-giving relationship with God that Anglo-Saxon prayer espoused. Anglo-Saxon prayer therefore should be considered not merely within the usual context of contemplation, rumination, and meditation but also within the context of gift exchange, offering, and sacrifice. Compelling God allows us to see how practices of prayer were at the centre of social connections through which Anglo-Saxons conceptualized a sense of their own personal and communal identity."--! Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed March 7, 2018)
Subject Bede, the Venerable, Saint, 673-735.
Alfred, King of England, 849-899.
Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham.
SUBJECT Bede, the Venerable, Saint, 673-735 fast
Alfred, King of England, 849-899 fast
Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham fast
Subject English literature -- Old English, ca. 450-1100 -- History and criticism
Christian literature, Latin (Medieval and modern) -- England -- History and criticism
Prayer -- Christianity -- History.
Prayers, Early Christian.
Prayer in literature.
LITERARY CRITICISM -- European -- English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh.
Christian literature, Latin (Medieval and modern)
English literature -- Old English
Prayer -- Christianity
Prayer in literature
Prayers, Early Christian
England
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781487514372
1487514379