Praying for the Dead?

The subject of praying for the dead is often brushed aside as irrelevant for today’s Protestant Church. After all, the Reformation was based in part on rejecting the abuse of indulgences and the removal of Purgatory from the theology of the deceased. In order to explore the concept of praying for the dead, we need to put aside any of the Reformation politics and attempt to understand this through the mindset of the Second Temple Jew / early Christians. This can be difficult, as any paradigm shift involves a level of discomfort. But, if this is something a portion of the Church has either forgotten or deliberately written off, then it is worth questioning why it has fallen by the wayside.

This series explores the Christian practice of praying for the dead, using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral of Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience.

In this first part, we shall briefly see the arguments against this practice, before delving into the scriptures to see what they have to say about praying for the dead.

Praying for the Dead: Arguments Against

Arguments against praying for the dead range are generally based upon the following beliefs:

• It’s not in the Bible, so it isn’t to be done
• They’re dead, so there’s nothing you can do for them.
• Once you’re dead, your judgement is fixed, so prayer is pointless for them.
• It’s necromancy. You shouldn’t have anything to do with contacting the dead.

The latter objection is easily refuted as there is nothing about praying to God for the dead which involves raising them through necromantic practices. As such, this objection can be safely put aside as based in a misunderstanding of what the discipline of praying for the dead involves.

But, Are the Physically Dead Really Dead?

Before we look at specific passages that mention prayer and the dead, we need to see the state of the physically dead through Scripture itself.

When Jesus was approached for comment by the Sadducees and the Pharisees over the resurrection (Luke 20:27-40), Jesus closed his argument with the following:

And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’ 

Luke 20:37-38 (NRSV)

Note that at the time of Jesus saying these words, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had physically died over a thousand years earlier. Yet Jesus is saying they are alive. This ties in with the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13) where Jesus speaks with Moses, who also had physically died over a thousand years earlier.

The argument that there’s no use praying for them because they are dead is nullified by the fact that, whilst they are indeed physically dead, they are consciously alive in the afterlife. Peter would later echo this belief when he said of Jesus:

He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison,

1 Peter 3:18-19 (NRSV)

Paul says it is better to be absent from the body and with Christ (in Paradise / Third Heaven) – 2 Corinthians 5:8. How could being unconsciously dead – unaware of your existence, or worse as a mere ‘memory’ in God that’s not yourself (like data on a cosmic hard drive) – be better than being alive in the flesh where you are consciously aware of your existence and enjoying the created world?

Although it’s apocalyptic material, Revelation 6:9 speaks of the physically dead martyrs as conscious of their state and crying for justice. John of Patmos would hardly have written these words if it was believed the dead had no knowledge of their existence.

For those tempted to argue the state of the physically deceased is a static state of unawareness, please read the following articles before moving on:

• ‘The dead know nothing’
• ‘Those who have fallen asleep’
• The Rich Man and Lazarus
• ‘it is appointed for man once to die and after that the judgement’

Praying for the Dead: Scriptural Evidence

The evidence for praying for the dead in the Protestant canon of 66 books of the Bible is often believed to be either non-existent or fairly sparse. However, such practices are recorded, even in the Protestant canon, and biblical scholars are familiar with exploring scriptures the early Church were familiar with, including the Septuagint and its Deuterocanonical material.

Old Testament

The Old Testament records the prayer of Elijah for a deceased child in 1 Kings 17:

He cried out to the Lord, ‘O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?’ Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, ‘O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.’ The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 

1 Kings 17:20-22 (NRSV)

Whilst this is a prayer to God for the miracle of being raised to life, it is nevertheless a prayer for a physically deceased person, so prayer to God for the dead can be found in the Old Testament.

Second Temple Judaism

How did those living in the the centuries just before Jesus view the act of praying for the dead?

Whilst we know the Sadducees didn’t believe in spirits or a resurrection after the afterlife, the Pharisees did (Matthew 22:23-34; Acts 23:8). Scholars believe that the Pharisees formed as a group around the time of the Maccabean revolt¹ (167BCE – 160BCE). This revolt is recorded 1 and 2 Maccabees, part of the Greek Septuagint (itself completed 132BCE and originally written for Greek speaking Jews in Alexandria).

A very pertinent passage regarding praying for the dead is recorded in 2 Maccabees (c. 150-120BCE):

On the next day, as had now become necessary, Judas and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen and to bring them back to lie with their kindred in the sepulchres of their ancestors. Then under the tunic of each one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was the reason these men had fallen. So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous judge, who reveals the things that are hidden; and they turned to supplication, praying that the sin that had been committed might be wholly blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened as the result of the sin of those who had fallen. He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin-offering. In doing this he acted very well and honourably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin.

2 Maccabees 12:39-45 (NRSVCE)

Here we see the Maccabean leader, Judas, taking up a collection for a sin-offering for the dead, to be made at the Temple in Jerusalem, and praying that their sins might be blotted out. But hold on, these soldiers were already dead at the time of the collection and prayers. Why would Judas and his followers go to such an extent if they did not believe their prayers and offerings for the dead were effectual? Note that this act takes place when the understanding of atonement was via the Law, as the final atoning sacrifice through Jesus had not been made then.

In parts of Second Temple Judaism there is a dynamic afterlife, where prayer could be effectual for the spiritual welfare of the physically dead. Whilst there existed the belief that there were chasms that could not be crossed between regions within the afterlife (1 Enoch 22), those who were considered not quite righteous enough to enter Paradise / the Vale of Abraham, would somehow be looked after nevertheless, which involved an acts of the living for the physically dead. Regarding these dead warriors, it is likely they would have been believed to have entered a region in the afterlife where those who had their lives cut short resided (c.f. the martyrs in Revelation 6:9-11).

The New Testament

When we come to the New Testament, we have some prayers for the dead recorded. Again, some include prayers to God for the physically deceased to be raised to life, others, like in 2 Macc. 12 above, are prayers for the spiritual state of the deceased.

Let’s begin with what Jesus shows us about praying for the dead. John 11 records the famous passage about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’

John 11:41-44 (NRSV)

Jesus gives thanks to the Father for having heard his prayer. Whilst the words of Jesus’ prayer are unrecorded, what was it for? It was for the physically dead Lazarus. Jesus shows us an example of praying for the dead. Granted it was that he be miraculously raised to life, but it is nevertheless a prayer to the Father for the physically dead.

We also see Peter praying for the physically deceased Tabitha (Acts 9:36-43):

Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. 

Acts 9:40-41 (NRSV)

Writing over 200 years after 2 Maccabees, Paul, himself a Pharisee², writes the following in his second letter to Timothy:

May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain; when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me —may the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! And you know very well how much service he rendered in Ephesus.

2 Timothy 1:16-18 (NRSV)

Note: To be a Christian in Rome when this was written (c. 64CE – 66CE) was a dangerous affair, for it is when Nero was emperor of Rome³. Onesiphorus, in finding out Paul in the Roman prison, would have risked his very life by being identified as a Christian.

Some argue that Onesiphorus was merely absent from his household at the time of writing, as Paul writes of him in the past tense. This argument has some merit and could be the case. However, note that Paul uses some very interesting phrases which require deeper investigation.

Certainly it can be easily argued that Paul was writing to the ‘household of Onesiphorus’ because he knew Onesiphorus wasn’t there at the time. Paul’s use of the past tense in writing ‘he often refreshed me’ could be also be spoken of someone who is still alive but no longer present with Paul (who was in prison in Rome when writing this).

But, consider the following phrase, where Paul writes Onesiphorus ‘was not ashamed of my chain’. Paul is still in chains at this point (2 Timothy 1:8; 2 Timothy 2:8-9). If Onesiphorus was still alive, Paul would surely have written ‘is not ashamed of my chain’ in the present tense. Maybe Paul meant “Whilst he was visiting me, he wasn’t ashamed of me because I was in chains” instead?

Paul ends this section about Onesiphorus with the phrase ‘may the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!’ Scholars have long recognised this phrase as the first recorded prayer for the dead⁴.

Given Paul, as a Pharisee, would be familiar with 2 Maccabees 12, it is not inconceivable that Paul was using his heritage of praying for the dead in this particular context. This attitude would definitely fit with the reverence and affection that Judas Maccabaeus showed for his freshly slain fellows in the afterlife. Kelly agrees that the practice of praying for the dead was common in the early Church, stating: ‘There is nothing surprising in Paul’s use of such a prayer, for intercession for the dead has been sanctioned in Pharisaic circles at any rate since the date of 2 Macc 12:43-45’.⁵

A Curious Lemma: Baptism for the Dead

Paul’s heritage and understanding in the matter of a dynamic afterlife before the resurrection gives us an insight into a curious verse he writes to the Corinthians:

Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

1 Corinthians 15:29 (NRSV)

For those who believe the afterlife is static, this is a problematic verse, one brushed aside with eisegetical commentary that attempts to explain away any real purpose for Paul writing it. Yet this verse is part of Paul’s argument for the hope of the later resurrection, and fits with his understanding of a dynamic afterlife. Paul was incredibly sensitive to being accused of heresy, so it’s hardly likely he would have used a concept that some today would label as heretical. Perhaps our modern understanding has been shaped by Church history and politics, rather than seeing the text through the eyes of the original readers?

Praying for the Dead in Scripture: Conclusion

We have seen that, contrary to popular belief, praying for the dead is found in the Old and New Testaments as well as the Deuterocanonicals. Whilst some of these are for miracles to occur, others are for the persons who remain in the afterlife. Nevertheless, they are all prayers to God for the deceased.

We have seen that major parts of Second Temple Judaism acknowledged a dynamic afterlife for the physically deceased who could be prayed for. These beliefs informed Paul and shaped his theology regarding the afterlife, together with him modelling prayer for the dead.

Only an a priori mindset based on a static, unchanging afterlife before the resurrection, combined with a modern, narrower canon of Scripture, would perceive these activities as ineffectual for the physically deceased. Even on the miraculous level alone, one cannot deny that Scripture teaches praying to God for the dead is effectual.

Next Time: In Part 2, we explore how the early Christians understood the practice of praying for the dead, immortalising such prayers upon tomb inscriptions, and advocating it in their practices, scriptures and theology.

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Bibliography

Henriques, J. C. (2009), The Identity of the Hasideans of 1 and 2 Maccabees: A Re-Examination of the Topic with a Focus on the History of Scholarship, Master of Arts thesis, Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Retrieved from https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/henriques_james_c_200912_ma.pdf (Accessed 23rd October 2021).

Gillman, F. M. (1996), ‘Onesiphorus’, in Freedman, D. N. The Anchor Bible Dictionary: Volume 5, New York: Doubleday.

Kelly, J. N. D. (1963), A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, London: A & C Black.

Footnotes

1] Henriques, 20-29. It is thought by many they were derived from a strict sect called the Hasideans.

2] Acts 23:6; 26:5; Philippians 3:5

3] See this timeline of of the Apostle Paul, here: https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/paul/timeline.cfm and details of Nero’s life here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nero-Roman-emperor (both accessed 23rd October 2021).

4] Gillman, 22.

5] Kelly, 171.