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If Darwin Prayed: Prayers for Evolutionary Mystics
These prayers spark the spiritual imagination back to life and reorient us to a mystical unity with the universe, Spirit, and all of creation. Emerging out of the conversation between the science of evolution and spirituality, these prayers continually surprise with their earthy wisdom and a profound celebration of life. They awaken in us a sacred impulse to evolve in and toward the heart of the divine. For worship leaders, the prayers follow the season of the Christian year. You'll find prayers for every season of the year as well as for special occasions. As an aid to private devotional practice, they stir the soul to awaken to a cosmic identity - being the presence of the evolving universe in human form. The prayers are also being used as devotions to open sacred gatherings and meetings. A collection of prayers like If Darwin Prayed comes along once in a very long time.
- GenresSpiritualityPrayer
250 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2010
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 13, 2012
Darwin did pray, at least early in life, and he would have appreciated Sanguin’s “prayers for evolutionary mystics”. What holds this collection together, however, is not a focus on ‘evolution’ per se, nor is ‘cosmic’ the best description, with plenty of content on environmental stewardship and more emotion than most science-faith text. The first prayer seems to capture the book’s sentiment best: “I wonder…” (xxix) Whereas Darwin studied the mysteries that govern nature, Sanguin gives us a worthy book expressing and celebrating the wonder of nature itself.
The sectional introductions are well written, unapologetically liberal Christianity-—we live in a “kin-dom” (xxiii) of God as the “interconnected system of nature” (xxv), personal but not a ‘person’ (xxvi). The prayers seemed formulaic and awkward on my first glance (maybe my own expectations), but read aloud, they are poetic and occasionally beautiful. Some can fit very well in any worship setting, even with the distinctly natural language-—consider the prayer that begins, “God of galaxies and gerbils…” (56) For others, the liturgy may be helped by replacing a few of the most technical phrases, such as ‘matrix’ or ‘cosmic web’. For one’s own devotions, however, the language is clever and inspirational, honoring the words of Scripture and science, such as “All creation rejoices with Mary, that you choose to be born and not remain Pure Being” (7) or “home is… as large as a cosmos, as close as our hearts.” (31)
The sectional introductions are well written, unapologetically liberal Christianity-—we live in a “kin-dom” (xxiii) of God as the “interconnected system of nature” (xxv), personal but not a ‘person’ (xxvi). The prayers seemed formulaic and awkward on my first glance (maybe my own expectations), but read aloud, they are poetic and occasionally beautiful. Some can fit very well in any worship setting, even with the distinctly natural language-—consider the prayer that begins, “God of galaxies and gerbils…” (56) For others, the liturgy may be helped by replacing a few of the most technical phrases, such as ‘matrix’ or ‘cosmic web’. For one’s own devotions, however, the language is clever and inspirational, honoring the words of Scripture and science, such as “All creation rejoices with Mary, that you choose to be born and not remain Pure Being” (7) or “home is… as large as a cosmos, as close as our hearts.” (31)
February 19, 2013
Who says a belief in evolution is incompatible with Christianity? Bruce Sanguin proves in this marvellous collection of prayers and reflections that it is anything but - indeed evolution is the very mechanism of divine creativity and we can reflect on this process to discover deeper and more creative ways in which to express our own spirituality.
The book is divided up into sections appropriate for the different seasons of the liturgical calendar so it can be taken in small chunks as you go through the year.
Definitely one of the best - and most original - works of Christian spirituality I've read in a very long time.
The book is divided up into sections appropriate for the different seasons of the liturgical calendar so it can be taken in small chunks as you go through the year.
Definitely one of the best - and most original - works of Christian spirituality I've read in a very long time.
July 26, 2011
Great book, artfully written.
December 15, 2023
My immersion into Celtic / Ecological / Cosmic / Christianity began in my Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), which closed in 2023. At the Presbyterian church to which I transferred, spiritual formation opportunities continue this journey. We studied several books this year: Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening To What Our Souls Know by J. Phillip Newell and Healing the World; Church of the Wild and How Nature Invites Us Into the Sacred by Victoria Loorz; Darwin, Divinity. The pastor put me onto further reading in lieu of a class I couldn’t attend: Darwin, Divinity and the Dance of the Cosmos: An Ecological Christianity and If Darwin Prayed: Prayers for Evolutionary Mystics, both by Bruce Sanguin.
February 1, 2016
If Darwin Prayed appears to be a resource book. I'm not sure it's one I will use. Written by Bruce Sanguin, it is subtitled Prayers for Evolutionary Mystics.
Bruce offers prayers for every season in Church life. Are you looking for something that hasn't been overused for Christmas, Easter and everything in between? You'll find that here. But you may not like what you find.
Bruce begins by offering an explanation for what he has offered. He's just a pastor trying to ensure that prayers and liturgy offered up match what he believes to be true. But he's done a lot more than change 'thee' and 'thou' to 'you'. Convinced that Darwin was on to something and offered theology a gift when he made Christians consider how science and theology match up, Bruce decries that it's taken too long for our worship to catch up. Thus, the new prayers.
I'm sensing that my own bias is starting to come through. Yes, I believe I may have to differ with Bruce on his conclusions for what Darwin has offered as well as the veracity of evolution. But that's not my problem with this book.
The idea that other Christians may not believe exactly as I believe or live exactly as I live is not a scary thought. After all, if God can be creative enough to make all this diversity, I am small enough to celebrate it and not decry it.
My problem is that the focus of these prayers may not be on God.
It would seem that a resource like this that offers itself as beneficial to evolutionary mystics is more focused on the evolutionists and the mystics than it is God. What I mean is that, when we pray, if our prayers only remind us of what we already believe to be true, then it makes me wonder if that prayer is really a prayer. Perhaps it is. But maybe it is another manifesto of what we think.
It might be like the Calvinist who thanks God for being predestined or the Wesleyan who thanks God for potlucks. While those both may be true, should we pray details about us...or God?
Ever so slightly, the focus turns inward rather than God-ward. After reading several of the prayers, I couldn't shake the word agenda from my mind. The prayers themselves, if I heard them without the commentary of this book, might seem harmless. Having the author's purpose clearly in mind, however, it was hard to get past phrases like evolutionary grace, oneness with the Universe, and the constant pushing of a billion-year universe that has evolved over time.
While I enjoyed reading of a different perspective, I would have to search carefully before using anything in a worship service I was leading.
I received this book from my good friends over at SpeakEasy. They give me books and I say things about it. That's just what friends do.
Bruce's helpful companion site: http://ifdarwinprayed.com/
A YouTube introduction to the site, and book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGV1ZE...
#SpeakEasyDarwinPrayer
Bruce offers prayers for every season in Church life. Are you looking for something that hasn't been overused for Christmas, Easter and everything in between? You'll find that here. But you may not like what you find.
Bruce begins by offering an explanation for what he has offered. He's just a pastor trying to ensure that prayers and liturgy offered up match what he believes to be true. But he's done a lot more than change 'thee' and 'thou' to 'you'. Convinced that Darwin was on to something and offered theology a gift when he made Christians consider how science and theology match up, Bruce decries that it's taken too long for our worship to catch up. Thus, the new prayers.
I'm sensing that my own bias is starting to come through. Yes, I believe I may have to differ with Bruce on his conclusions for what Darwin has offered as well as the veracity of evolution. But that's not my problem with this book.
The idea that other Christians may not believe exactly as I believe or live exactly as I live is not a scary thought. After all, if God can be creative enough to make all this diversity, I am small enough to celebrate it and not decry it.
My problem is that the focus of these prayers may not be on God.
It would seem that a resource like this that offers itself as beneficial to evolutionary mystics is more focused on the evolutionists and the mystics than it is God. What I mean is that, when we pray, if our prayers only remind us of what we already believe to be true, then it makes me wonder if that prayer is really a prayer. Perhaps it is. But maybe it is another manifesto of what we think.
It might be like the Calvinist who thanks God for being predestined or the Wesleyan who thanks God for potlucks. While those both may be true, should we pray details about us...or God?
Ever so slightly, the focus turns inward rather than God-ward. After reading several of the prayers, I couldn't shake the word agenda from my mind. The prayers themselves, if I heard them without the commentary of this book, might seem harmless. Having the author's purpose clearly in mind, however, it was hard to get past phrases like evolutionary grace, oneness with the Universe, and the constant pushing of a billion-year universe that has evolved over time.
While I enjoyed reading of a different perspective, I would have to search carefully before using anything in a worship service I was leading.
I received this book from my good friends over at SpeakEasy. They give me books and I say things about it. That's just what friends do.
Bruce's helpful companion site: http://ifdarwinprayed.com/
A YouTube introduction to the site, and book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGV1ZE...
#SpeakEasyDarwinPrayer
December 21, 2014
Interesting as an expression of a sort of scientifically questing Christianity, but not entirely satisfying as prayers for those who may be both spiritual or mystically inclined, but also grounded in the rational.
Want to read
June 1, 2011Rec's by A Church for Starving Artists at http://www.achurchforstarvingartists....
March 31, 2019
Not the kind of book you read and analyse. I use it frequently when I am struggling with praying in public and using phrases that now seem trite or untrue in a larger sense. It is a must for those of us who are itinerant preachers or who lead groups and / or small worship services and want to stay solidly rooted in the truth.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews