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The act of prayer is attested in written sources as early as 5000 years ago.[11] Some anthropologists, such as Sir Edward Burnett Tylor and Sir James George Frazer, believed that the earliest intelligent modern humans practiced something that we would recognize today as prayer.[12] Various spiritual traditions offer a wide variety of devotional acts. There are morning and evening prayers, graces said over meals, and reverent physical gestures. Some Christians bow their heads and fold their hands. Some Native Americans regard dancing as a form of prayer.[13] Some Sufis whirl.[14] Hindus chant mantras.[15] Jewish prayer may involve swaying back and forth and bowing.[16] Muslims practice salat (kneeling and prostration) in their prayers. Quakers keep silent.[17] Some pray according to standardized rituals and liturgies, while others prefer extemporaneous prayers. Still others combine the two. Friedrich Heiler is often cited in Christian circles for his systematic Typology of Prayer which lists six types of prayer: primitive, ritual, Greek cultural, philosophical, mystical, and prophetic.[18] |
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