THE ROADS OF PRAYER

Prayer traditionally is the mark of the active member of the religious community, and the absence of prayer is, just as traditionally, the characteristic of what the religious community regards as ""the world."" In this brief treatise, Father Miskotte discusses this specific difference between the spiritual and the secular, explaining the various kinds of prayer--of petition, of thanksgiving, of avowal, of intercession, etc.-- and speculating on the various ways in which prayers are answered. The book is clearly, if somewhat effusively, written and translated, and, once the reader overcomes his initially adverse reaction to the author's tendency toward pietism, he will find it to be an intelligent and thorough treatment the value of which is somewhat diminished only by the multitude of competing volumes which treat of the same subject equally well and with similar comprehensiveness.