Church Podmatics

When Prayer Goes Wrong: A Negative Theology of Prayer

Church Podmatics Season 1 Episode 14

This week Andrew Errington & Matt Wilcoxen look at Ashley Cocksworth’s article "When Prayer Goes Wrong: A Negative Theology of Prayer" (Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol. 7, Issue 1), which critically examines the tendency to introduce the practice of prayer as the answer to everything. Cocksworth argues that we need also a thick account of how prayer goes wrong and can be used to sustain injustice. He suggests that Karl Barth’s theology, though itself susceptible to this criticism, has resources for such an account.