Vincent Brummer on God as Absolute Good and Answering Prayers

Praying to God might seem incompatible with God as the Absolute good. Having formulated that prayer is a personal relation between man and God, Vincent Brummer tried to resolve this incompatibility. Brummer has suggested three phases for the issue: firstly, prayer, in general, depends on God’s being the absolute good. Having corrected Aquinas’ view, Brummer goes of the view that God treats man as a “person”, rather than a “thing”. The second phase concerns God’s sovereignty which, he holds, is not unilateral, but bilateral and symmetrical. Divine sovereignty goes established only when embraced by human beings. The third phase is when somebody prays for another person i.e. intercession. In such a situation despite his prayer and anxiety for another person, the intercessor gets a new meaning of responsibility and concern which indeed provide for his own good. The main impression behind that intercession is the spiritual authority and therapeutic effect existing in beseeching God. The critical study and revision of Brummer’s ideas in an Islamic sphere affords the opportunity for comparative and richer studies on prayer in the Islamic and Shiite culture.