This study is driven by the following Hypothesis: Although the intent of the author in including a suggested prayer of response in evangelistic literature may be to help people express their response to the Christian Gospel, a thorough evaluation demonstrates that it could lead to, false impressions as to ,what is involved in conversion, misleading assumptions regarding assurance of salvation, and less professional practices in evangelism. The unique aspect of this study is that it is restricted to evangelistic 'literature published or used in Britain. The historical enquiry makes a fresh contribution to this area of research by revealing that suggested prayers first appeared in British evangelistic literature written by Anglicans in the 1950s. The scholarly investigation engages with the issues raised by the statements of the hypothesis and form the foundation for qualitative research. An analysis of current evangelistic literature asks whether the content and context of suggested prayers could support the hypothesis. This results in mixed conclusions with some indications of how to avoid the negative aspects of the hypothesis. Literature which does not contain a prayer is also examined and it is found possible that this, too, could support the hypothesis. Fourteen writers of evangelistic literature are interviewed. A group of seven who include prayers in their writings are compared with an equal number who do not include prayers. These interviews are facilitated by a questionnaire developed from the findings of the scholarly investigation. These interviews I provided insights and suggestions regarding how evangelistic literature might be improved. The conclusion of this study is that if the practice of including a suggested prayer in evangelistic literature is to be continued safeguards would need to be put in place to that the reader does not misunderstanding the relevance of such a prayer. Therefore, the findings of the qualitative research form the basis for recommendations as to how this might be achieved.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:612601 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Bennett, David Robert |
| Publisher | Bangor University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/an-evaluation-of-adopting-or-excluding-suggested-prayers-of-response-in-evangelistic-literature-used-by-british-christians-with-particular-reference-to-authorial-intention(e9b67be6-ef31-40ae-9d85-3b2fdbb7e7fc).html |
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