To utter a declarative sentence is to say it. But the saying of a declarative sentence need not be an asserting of it or its content. Suppose I want to give an example of a declarative sentence in a language class. I say, "The average temperature on Mars is the same as on Earth." I have not made an assertion in saying this (false) sentence, but I have said something. So saying and asserting are not the same.
That's one argument. Here is another. One says one's prayers but in so doing one does not make assertions. Ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae is not an assertion.
But this is not quite right. Allahu akbar -- God is great -- said by someone would constitute an assertion. And the same goes for the 'Who art in heaven' clause of the first sentence of the Pater Noster. It looks form these examples as if assertions can be part of prayer. So perhaps I should say the following. What is specifically prayerful about prayers is nothing assertive but something entreating, supplicatory, and the like.
But even this is not quite obvious. The contemplation of the existence and attributes of God is by itself arguably a form of prayer, a form free of supplication and entreaty. And then there is this marvellous quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Prayer that craves a particular commodity, -- anything less than all good, -- is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul. It is the spirit of God pronouncing his works good. But prayer as a means to effect a private end is meanness and theft. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and consciousness. As soon as the man is at one with God, he will not beg. He will then see prayer in all action. The prayer of the farmer kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke of his oar, are true prayers heard throughout nature, though for cheap ends.
So my second argument may not work. But the first one does.
Hello Bill,
Good post. Clearly, saying is not identical to asserting, nor is praying identical. As you know, one might also note the distinction between assertions and propositions: an assertion is an act that refers to a subject and predicates something of that subject; a proposition is the meaning-content of or meaning-bearer behind the corresponding assertion.
But praying can include entreaty, and entreaty can imply assertion and thus meaning.
I agree that the contemplation of God is a form of prayer. This form as such may lack explicit entreaty and assertion. But in one who desires harmony with God, as Emerson’s praying man does, contemplation can lead to recognition of and gratitude for God’s goodness, and to a specific type of entreaty. The man might entreat God to make him whole (wise, good, etc). This entreaty implies assertions -- with corresponding meanings -- such as “I recognize the greatness of God”, “I recognize the value of this recognition”, “I am grateful”, “I desire harmony with God”, and “I desire wholeness”. For example, the man may assert his desire to understand as God does and to will as God wills, insofar as this is possible.
Consider the second line of the Pater Noster (Mt. 6:10). Jesus teaches his students to pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. This line suggests some thought-provoking points: that God's will is not done on earth *in the same way* that it’s done in heaven; that God wills that we will what he wills; that man should recognize these points; and that man should desire harmony with God in mind and will.
Posted by: Elliott | Monday, August 11, 2014 at 08:58 AM