Thread by @_BenMyers_

Apparently some pastors out there are teaching people that the correct way to pray is always “to the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit.” Two quick responses:

1. Please read St Basil, “On the Holy Spirit”
2. Arianism is one of the worst sins so please stop doing it

They seem to picture the Father as infinitely remote from us and the Son as a mediating bridge that connects us to the Father, while the Spirit is even closer to us and helps us get on the bridge. That’s called Arianism. It’s an Arian idea of God and an Arian idea of salvation

When we call Christ “the mediator” we don’t mean that he’s a bridge halfway between humanity and God. We don’t mean that he’s closer to us than the infinitely distant Father. We mean that he’s both human AND God; he is God dwelling fully on our side of the creator-creature divide

This is why the Christian life isn’t about using Christ as a way to get to God. It’s about dwelling “in Christ” and therefore in God. We pray not as if we were reaching out across a distance to God but as those who are located on the inside of the divine life (Rom 8; Jn 17).

So in prayer we can address the Father or the Son or the Spirit. But we’re never “using” one of the three persons to try to get to the others. It’s not like the Son gives us a letter of introduction. The Son knits us into himself so that we’re as close to God as he is: “in God”

Leaving the theology to one side, it’s incredibly unseemly to lay down any correct method or formula for prayer. The mark of Christian prayer is meant to be boldness, not ceremonial correctness. We’re meant to pray in the same way Jesus did: with audacious frankness (parrhesia)

I’ve replied to several people who want to defend the formula “to the Father through the Son etc”. So I’ll add this comment to the main thread just to be as clear as possible: yes this is a great way to pray! It’s in the Bible and the liturgy! It’s just not the *only* right way!