The tom-tom business in Africa and Christian prayers for rain, are on a dead level with each other.
Sinner.—Is God infinite in his wisdom?
Parson.—He is.
Sinner.—Does he at all times know just what ought to be done?
Parson.—He does.
Sinner.—Does he always do just what ought to be done?
Parson.—He does.
Sinner.—Why do you pray to him?
Parson.—Because he is unchangeable. (“Ingersoll’s Interviews,” p. 83.)
Prayer is simply supplication to God. God is a mystery; a mystery so profound that nothing is known of him, save that he is a mystery. Even his existence cannot be demonstrated. His non-existence is equally undemonstrable, because no man has a definite conception of him to use as a starting point for investigation. Some claim that he is a person, others that he is omnipresent. Both of these cannot be; for personality and omnipresence are incompatible. Prayer is based on the supposition of his personality. It implies necessarily a person in a certain place, and possessed of certain attributes. He must be omnipotent, omniscient, unchangeable, and all-good. Nothing less than this will come up to the conception of what a God should be. Christians tell us God possesses all these attributes. We accept their statement because it is impossible to prove the contrary. On this basis, then let us examine prayer.