Why do many Christians place their hands together like a book when praying?
Some interlink their fingers, I know. But I want to know the origin of the former gesture.
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We don't. At least not all of us. Only Protestants do. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some traditional Roman Catholic Churches, our prayer is always complemented with the sign of the cross so our right hand is always left free for that purpose. There is no required use for our left hand, though per tradition many of us keep it on our heart for reasons I can't quite remember at the moment.