2nd Annual Academic Symposium - Jonathan Lee

In considering Christian prayer and its connection to the spiritual life of the church, two important questions arise: 1) what possibilities actually exist for communication between humanity and God, and 2) how can such communication actually approach the divine reality? To address these questions, this paper will examine Origen's treatise On Prayer in the context of his other writings. It shall be argued, in light of the spirit of Origen's thought, that proper prayer ultimately requires a language, knowledge, and purification that comes from a source other than the pray-er—the Triune God. Therefore, reflection on prayer invites reflection on the reality of the divine economy of salvation, which then directs one past the present reality of faith toward the eschatological vision of hope.