Praying for the Dead: Reasons Why We Can

In Part 3 of this series, Praying for the Dead, we shall look at the reasons why Christians might say prayers for the dead and the experience that they have had in doing such activities. We shall briefly explore a range of Christian traditions and the reasons they pray for the deceased. Whilst you may not agree with them, it is important to read wider than our traditions to try and see the diversity in Christian belief and practice.

If you’ve landed directly at this page, we advise you to read through the previous two articles, which follow the first two parts of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, Scripture and Tradition. Here are the links:

• Part 1 – Objections and Scriptural Evidences
• Part 2 – Beliefs, Theology and Practice of the Early Christians

As we begin this article, let’s look briefly at two types of prayers for the dead, which most churches across the broad spectrum of Christian traditions recognise.

Death and Funeral Prayers

Prayers for the dead are commonplace in all forms of pastorally-minded Christianity. Many don’t realise they are prayers for the dead, but they are!

Prayers at the Point of Death

Most older Christian traditions have liturgical prayers, which are performed at the time of departure from this earthly plane, handing them over to God for safekeeping. These can be as simple as the prayer of Simeon (also called the Nunc Dimittis) recorded in Luke:

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Luke 2:29-32 (NKJV)

A prayer at the departure of a loved one is one of the last acts you can perform for them as they transition between this realm and the next.

Studies have shown that hearing is the last of our senses during the final journey into the valley of the shadow of death.¹ One can only imagine the effect of these last comforting words as the departed experiences the opening of the veil into the next realm².

Prayers for the dead: Commendation / Committal

These are words of prayer spoken over the deceased’s coffin before they are either committed to burial in the earth or cremation. Most major Christian traditions include words of commendation/committal in their formal funeral services. They are a prayer that hands the spirit of the person over to God’s safekeeping for the next stage of their journey in the afterlife. Whilst there may already have been a prayer at the time of death, it’s not always the case, and the prayer of committal allows all present at the funeral to pray alongside the deceased for their safekeeping in God.

Space permits only a brief look at modern Church prayers for the dead in the funeral service, but here are two examples from the Protestant traditions which are of note:

The Church of England:

God our creator and redeemer,
by your power Christ conquered death
and entered into glory.
Confident of his victory
and claiming his promises,
we entrust N to your mercy
in the name of Jesus our Lord,
who died and is alive
and reigns with you,
now and for ever.

Common Worship: Death and Dying

The Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB)
BUGB recognises prayer for the dead in its published guidelines on how to organise a funeral service, saying:

For now let it be registered that the funeral service would not be happening if someone who was alive had not died. The service is to mark that reality and to offer a life back to God for blessing and redemption….

We rightly hold in our hearts and prayers those who have been closest to …… offering prayers of remembrance for those who have died before —- (names and relationships may be appropriate here). But we also pray for those who remain to mourn his/her death…

When it seems appropriate there may be a brief prayer for forgiveness for unspecified wrongs done to or by the person who died.

Baptists Together: Guidelines for Funeral Ministry

“Rest in Peace”

While these words may trip off the tongue or appear on gravestone epitaphs, we should realise this isn’t some sentimental, fluffy message. It has meaning. It is a prayer to God for the person or even a prayer of blessing to the person! We don’t often think about this being a prayer, possibly because it doesn’t have an “Amen” after, but it is a prayer. We’ve seen this prayer etched into the epitaphs of the early Christians in the second part of this series.

However, if you really don’t think “Rest in peace” is a prayer, what do you think it is, and what does its purpose serve? Are they really just meaningless words?

Prayers for the Dead: One Body of Christ

Having seen Scripture and Tradition view prayers for the dead positively, you might still be concerned about this. In the best Christian tradition of reasoning one’s faith, there are two things to consider:

• Prayer for those who die outside of Christ.
• Prayer for those who die in Christ.

In this article, we won’t deal with prayer for those who die outside of Christ, as postmortem salvation is a massive subject and needs a whole series dedicated to exploring its reasons. I am sure that the series will be published in due course. Still, in the meantime, I point you to the works of Beilby and Trumbower for an incredibly detailed analysis of early Christian beliefs and practices, together with scriptural backing for such activities. A video by Beilby explaining this concept can be seen here.

For now, we shall look at prayer for those who die in Christ and invite you to consider the following questions…

• Do you pray for other people? If you do, then you’re following the commands of scriptures such as James 5:16; 1 Timothy 2:1; Colossians 1:9; Matthew 5:44; Romans 15:30 and many others.

• Do you believe there is only one Body of Christ, called the Church? If so, then you’re in harmony with scriptures such as 1 Romans 12:5-4; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Ephesians 4:4-6; Colossians 1:18, together with the Apostles Creed, which describes this as the “Communion of the Saints”.

• Are all in Christ alive in the afterlife? If you believe this, then again, you’re in harmony with scriptures such as Exodus 3:6; Matthew 17:1-13; Luke 20:37-38; John 11:23-27; 1 Corinthians 15:22. If not then I recommend working through some of the articles on this site to study Scripture at a deeper level on this subject, then come back here.

If you have answered ‘yes’ to all three of the above questions, why would you not pray for those in God’s safekeeping? After all, we are told to pray for others, and the Church is one body, whether in or out of the flesh; why should we stop praying for the departed so that they may enjoy God’s peace and blessing? Why would this be a “waste of time”, as some suggest praying for the dead is?

The Apostle’s Creed statement about the ‘Communion of the Saints’ is a highly regarded doctrine within all mainstream Christian traditions and says that the body of Christ, the Church, is one, whether in or out of the flesh.

In the Roman Catholic Church, there are all sorts of understandings regarding the afterlife for those in Christ, whether in purgatory or heaven. We shall avoid discussion about the theologies of purgatory here. Still, we merely show that another major part of the Body of Christ considers prayer for the deceased efficacious. We cite scriptures in parts 1 and 2 of this series to back up their theological stance. This stance has existed since its creation.

The Eastern Orthodox don’t see the physically deceased saints as having finally experienced the full revelation of complete redemption in the new Jerusalem with a new physical, incorruptible body. That’s why they’re prayed for, and with.³

The Episcopal Church Book of Common Prayer sums all of this up in the following:

Q. Why do we pray for the dead?
A. We pray for them, because we still hold them in our love, and because we trust that in God’s presence those who have chosen to serve him will grow in his love, until they see him as he is.…

Q. What is the communion of saints?
A. The communion of saints is the whole family of God, the living and the dead, those whom we love and those whom we hurt, bound together in Christ by sacrament, prayer, and praise.

Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, 862

Prayers for the Dead: Onward Journey

When we enter the afterlife in Christ, we may have all our sins forgiven, but do we have the full experience of what it means to be in the new heavens and earth? Of course not; that’s a future event we have to look forward to at the resurrection, where our spirits are placed into a new, incorruptible, physical body (1 Corinthians 15) where heaven comes down to the restored earth (Revelation 21 & 22).

In John 14:2, Jesus speaks of many “mansions” (KJV translation) in his father’s house. This is a poor translation, as the Greek word, monai, means a temporary dwelling place – like a motel or travelling lodge. These are not permanent places of rest but temporary stopping-off points for rest and refreshment on a longer journey.

William Temple⁴ describes these resting places as caravanserais:

shelters at stages along the road where travellers may rest on their journey. It was the custom in the East -and still is, where railways and motor cars have not yet penetrated – for travellers to send a dragoman forward to make preparation in the next of those resting-places along the road, so that when they came they might find in it comfort as well as shelter. Here the Lord presents Himself as our spiritual dragoman, who treads the way of faith before us

The dragoman is similar to a travel agent rep. who prepares places of rest for travellers on a longer journey towards a final destination. Temple explains there are many of these resting places in the Father’s house, the heavenly state that believers already exist in as part of the kingdom of heaven now, as well as not yet⁵. The call towards the final destination is not to an intermediate state in paradise (lovely though that will be), but the restored earth where heaven comes down and combines once more with it. That is the final and fullest revelation in store for those found in him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

When my wife and I took a two-day trip into the Tunisian Sahara Desert, we stayed overnight at a caravanserai. They are indeed places of rest and refreshment! Some beautiful examples can be found in this article.

Those who claim the dead in Christ are experiencing the fullest expression of their reward now might not understand this (often, they hold this belief whilst claiming the dead are unconscious / in stasis, thereby missing the obvious cognitive conflict in that set of beliefs). However, the eschatological scriptures suggest otherwise and that the best is still yet to come for them. As such, why would we not pray for our dear departed in their onward journeying into the fullest revelation in Christ, just as we would pray for those travelling in far-off lands whilst in the flesh?

Prayers for the Dead: The Martyrs

What about the consciously aware martyrs who cry out for justice under God’s heavenly altar (Revelation 6:9-11)? They receive a robe and are told to rest a little longer – this is progress in the afterlife! Sure, we may read the accounts of the martyrs in books, which can be comforting to those experiencing oppression for their faith. But have we ever stopped to consider them as part of the one Body of Christ and whether our prayers might be helpful to them in dealing with their cries for justice? Just as we pray for oppressed members of the one Body of Christ, who seek justice whilst still in the flesh, why would we not pray for those who are still members of the one Body of Christ who have suffered the injustice of martyrdom?

Conclusion

In this series, we have examined prayers for the dead. In conclusion, we have discovered that we pray for the dead because

1. It has a scriptural basis in canonical scriptures and writings that early Christians used as scriptures.
2. It is exemplified in the funereal practices and theological writings of the early Church
3. As modern science shows, there is a pastoral element, which may be the last thing we can do for a dying person as they pass through the valley of the shadow of death.
4. We are all one in the Body of Christ, whether in or out of this fleshly body and are commanded to pray for one another.

Your tradition may accept prayers for the departed, which is great and follows the evidentially-based reasoning we have seen.

Conversely, your tradition may not accept prayers for the departed, mostly because of the tradition’s inherited reticence to engage with this practice. Are we stuck in a paralysis of believing our prayers are ineffectual because we’ve been told the dead are in stasis and there’s nothing we can do for them? We would ask, given all the evidence of scripture and the faith of the early Christians, together with the reasoning we have seen in this series so far, why let fairly modern traditions and their interpretations get in the way of the solid reasons for this practice for our departed brothers and sisters in Christ?

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Bibliography

Beilby, J. (2021), Postmortem Opportunity: A Biblical and Theological Assessment of Salvation After Death, London:IVP.

Blunden, E. G., Gallagher, R. E. and Ward, L. M. (2020), ‘Electrophysiological evidence of preserved hearing at the end of life’, Sci Rep Vol 10, 10336. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67234-9.

Temple, W. (1963), Readings in St John’s Gospel, London: Macmillan & Co Ltd.

Trumbower, J. A. (2001), Rescue for the Dead: The Posthumous Salvation of Non-Christians in Early Christianity, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wright, N. T. (2003), For All The Saints: Remembering the Christian Departed, London: SPCK.

Footnotes

1] Blunden, Gallagher, and Ward.

2] If they haven’t already begun to see this!-Look up “deathbed visions” if you’re interested in reports of those who have been close to death and have experienced visions of the other realm. An article from Nursing Times shows the pastoral benefit of these to the dying. https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/end-of-life-and-palliative-care/the-significance-of-end-of-life-dreams-and-visions-04-07-2014/ [Accessed 30th October 2021].

3] Wright, 26.

4] Temple, 218-220.

5] Psalm 27:4 says our Father’s house is for our whole life, which, if we’re alive in our spirit in the afterlife, includes that too! Therefore, the many waystations includes not just this life, but the afterlife, in our journey to the final destination in the new heavens and earth.