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B O O K REVI EW S 471
Body Pray er: The Posture of Intimacy with God. By Doug Pagitt and
Kathryn Prill. Colorad o Springs, Colo.: Waterbrook, 2005. 150
pp. $15.99 (cloth).
Forthe uninitiated, Body Prayeroffers a window into the spiritual prac
tices of emerging church communities and some of the theology behind
them. The primary purpose ofthis text, however, is not to inform but to stim
ulate devotional life. It is in this sense a profoundly practical guide for in
corporating the physicality of the human condition into the all-too-often
otherworldly emphasis ofcontemporaryspirituality. With thirty different pos
tures and accompanying sample prayers the book lends itselfto a month-longdevotional cycle.
Designed to be used by groups as well as individuals, it includes several
suggestions for use in public worship or to initiate creative or contemplative
experiences. Each chapter includes a picture ofthe posture, an introductory
reflection, a short poetic prayer, a description of how the prayer relates to the
posture, and blank space for journaling. Each ofthe prayers has been classi
fied according to one of three categories represented by symbols above the
chapter title: meditative prayers (a face looking forward), requesting prayers
(a face looking up), and prophetic prayers (a face looking to the side). The
book also includes three helpful appendices: a collection of references, an
index of prayers by category, and an alphabetical list ofthe postures.
Although the chapters themselves are both clear and stimulating, some
of the broader editorial choices are downright confusing. For instance, it is
not clear why the appendix of "Bible References" cites different passages
than the "Notes," or why a creed and an ancient Irish prayer are included in
the former. Additionally, some prayers use an individual " while others use
an inclusive "we" without an apparent intent to convey a theological distinction. Finally, although the conceptual categories "meditative," "reflecting,"
and "prophetic" are interesting, it is sometimes difficult to understand the
difference between them, especially since they do not correspond with an in
tuitive grammatical distinction between "of" and "for." A prayer of refresh
ment is Usted as a request rather than a meditation and a prayerfor Gods
activity in the lives of others is listed as a meditation rather than a request.
Among the six prophetic prayers, only one takes the form of an imperative.
Readers seeking to apply these categories strictly would benefit from furtherelaboration orreorganization, but they nevertheless serve as a useful vantage
i f hi ki b h i f h
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472 Anglican Theological Review
prayer for beauty is framed in terms of participation in the boundless beauty
of Godboth as the result of God s creative act and as bearers of God s pres
ence in the world. It thus serves subtly to deconstruct the egocentric aesthetics of the advertisement industry. By comparing forgiveness to breathing,
another prayer portrays this grace as both readily accessible and also an on
going need. It closes by asking for help to extend forgiveness to others with
the same fluidity. Readers sensitive to gendered language about God will ap
plaud the predominant use of gender-neutral terms. Those cautious about a
tendency towards Christocentric prayers will likewise appreciate infrequent
reference to specific members of the Trinity, balanced by the inclusion of the
entire Nicene Creed in an appendix.
The final test of any book on prayer is, of course, whether it leads peo
ple to pray. And for those willing to get off their pews and experiment, it
certainly will.
R. KEELAN DOWNTON
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Faith and Order Commission
Washington, D.C.
Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel beyond the West. By
Lamin Sanneh. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 2003. xii + 138 pp. $12.00 (paper).
Christianity has survived the Christendom guilt complex of the West
and today thrives as a post-Western religion in the global South. Not only has
the population of Christians in the South overtaken those in the North, this
development also has had major implications for world Christianity. This is
the primary argument in this short but important book. The subtitle might be
misleading, however, since the book s focus is primarily on Africa and not the
whole of the global South.
A quick glance at this book and one might think that this is simply a popular version of the authors earlier, award-winning book Translating the
M Th Mi i I C l Alth h Wh R li i i
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