Sunday, August 16, 2020

An Extra-Biblical Prayer Tradition

There is nothing about consistent prayer before meals that is contrary to Christian theology, but praying before meals is in no way a requirement of Biblical morality.  In fact, it is contra-Biblical to treat these prayers as morally mandatory (Deuteronomy 4:2), as if the Bible does not repeatedly emphasize that it is erroneous to add to God's commands.  To say otherwise is to say that God intentionally did not provide sufficient moral revelation in the Bible, not that the Bible ever even suggests that God is displeased if someone does not pray out loud before starting a meal in the first place.

Somehow, prayer before eating, especially in a public place or in the presence of others, has nevertheless become seen as a core expression of commitment to Christianity by many inside and outside of the church.  It is not only pointless and asinine to consider these prayers an expression of Christian life, but it there is also hardly anything bold about this kind of prayer (unless a person is subjectively anxious about doing so) in the way that some seem to imply.  Few show any signs of disapproval or hostility to such prayers, after all!

Many pre-meal prayers are formulaic, repetitive, shallow, and gratuitous as it is, for there is neither much to say that is of any relevance in that context nor any reason to pray at such times other than personal preference or a desire to appease others.  Even Christians mired in the fallacies of evangelicalism have likely at least heard of what Jesus says about performing acts like prayer in order to be accepted by others.  Such displays are hollow when they are motivated by this desire and are entirely irrelevant to Biblical morality.

No Christian needs to be aware of anything other than the fact that Christian morality is solely tied to the moral obligations revealed in the Bible (mainly in Mosaic Law) and the logical extrapolations that strictly follow from those commands to see that mealtime prayer is not morally obligatory.  It is certainly supererogatory to pray at meals, but even this cannot justify the legalistic slander of looking down on those who abstain from such unnecessary acts because they know that traditions, preferences, and feelings have nothing to do with being upright.

If a Christian feels spiritually fulfilled or benefited by specifically praying before eating, either alone or with others, he or she is free to do so.  If a Christian does not feel any desire to pray in this way, he or she has not sinned by forgoing it.  These feelings are a subjective matter and do not reflect a person's moral and spiritual standing.  However, it is fallacious, legalistic, and superficial to demand that someone else choose to pray or abstain from praying in this particular context.

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