Prayer for the Dead – Biblical Reasoning

Many protestants will cry that there are no biblical reasons why we should engage in prayer for and with the saints who are physically dead. It is often claimed that there are no verses in the Protestant Bible for this practice, and as such, it is highly unbiblical, even bordering on necromancy. But is this strictly true? Perhaps there may be a struggle to find the definitive prooftext that explicitly advocates prayer for and with the dead saints, although there are, as we can see in this series of articles on prayer for the dead. But are there biblical reasons why it might be perfectly acceptable and even part of the everyday prayer life of the follower of Jesus Christ?

I have to say that I’m not Roman Catholic, so it might come as a surprise to many that I should be advocating biblical reasons for prayer for the dead. As I write this, yesterday, October 31st, was the anniversary of Luther’s nailing of the 95 theses to the door of Castle Wittenberg. This flashpoint in the Reformation saw Luther’s attempt to refute the abuse of indulgences (paying for priests to say prayers for the dead) prevalent in his church at the time. To do this, he attempted to remove the practice of praying for the dead through the idea of soul sleep, where the soul of the person remains in a state of unconsciousness until the future resurrection of the dead. Since then, Protestants and Anglicans have codified their indifference to this practice through various Statements/Confessions of Faith.

“Prayer is to be made for things lawful [416]; and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter [417]: but not for the dead [418]”

Westminster Confession of Faith XXI:IV; 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith 22:4.

“Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits.”

The Church of England’s Thirty-nine Articles of Religion 31.

The disobeying of such strongly worded statements of faith would lead those unrepentant of such actions to excommunication from that particular church, and worse, execution (in previous times). Yet, when analysed within the context of biblical passages that are often used to defend them, such statements against prayer for the dead are highly unbiblical and even self-refuting!

The Westminster Confession (WC) footnote 418 includes few Bible references to back up its position regarding not praying for the dead. The first being 2 Samuel 12:21-23, which being in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is pre-Christ, so the writer wouldn’t have known about the saving work of Christ at that point – hardly a solid biblical text to refute prayer for the dead, especially when the text is about fasting, not prayer itself!

The next verse in the WC footnote 418 includes Luke 16:25-26, the Rich Man and Lazarus story, focusing on where Abraham talks about the fixed gulf between the protagonists. Yet we know from intertestamental literature familiar to the original hearers of Jesus’ words, the Pharisees (The Apocalypse of Zephaniah 7-9) their afterlife beliefs. One would enter Hades, the intermediate afterlife where everyone entered, would be initially judged to determine the starting point, and the righteous would be carried by the angels. As such, Jesus didn’t need to say “Lazarus died, entered Hades, was judged righteous and was carried by the angels …” The literary technique of telescoping the narrative by Luke to “Lazarus died and was carried by the angels…” assumes the reader is familiar with the afterlife beliefs of the Pharisees at the time. Again, this is hardly a solid text to use against prayer for the dead, as it’s focused on the belief that prayer is not efficacious for the dead through the use of the chasm imagery that nobody can cross, yet we know the chasm can be crossed with angelic assistance.

The final verse in the WC footnote 418 is Revelation 14:13, which is about the faithful dead in Christ who may rest from their labouring. This isn’t a verse which says the righteous dead do nothing, but that they rest from their labouring… it’s a Sabbath rest, a time when the hard toil and graft is done, and they can enjoy peace. Christians traditionally rest on their Sabbath day, but they don’t do nothing at all. It’s a time which is meant for dedication to God through prayer and worship. Why then should the faithful dead not be involved in prayer to and worship of God, unless we decide to invoke Luther’s idea of soul sleep (which is fully explored and refuted as being total unconscious awareness in this article on Soul Sleep).

Prayers for the dead are performed by part of the Church of England in the various Requiem Eucharist services held on All Saints and All Souls Day, as well as part of the exorcism of place where the unquiet dead are discerned to be needing peace through this rite. It seems the heat of the fire of the Reformation seems to be cooling on this, and nobody is being excommunicated from the Church of England for this activity.

Reasoning this Practice from Scripture

So, let us return to the main exploration: Are there any biblical reasons for prayer for the dead? I will encourage the reader to have their Bible at hand, as there will be many references made as we go through this series of questions. Please thoroughly pray through them as you progress, and ask the Holy Spirit for discernment and enlightenment along the way.

Question 1:

Do you believe that intercessory prayer for people is a biblical command?

• If no, please read and reflect on Job 42:8-10; James 5:14-16; Colossians 1:9; 1 Timothy 2:1; 1 John 5:16; Ephesians 1:17-20, then return to this question
• If yes, go to 2.

Question 2:

Great, so intercessory prayer is a biblical command.
Now, do you believe there is only one mediator between humans and God?

• If no, then please read 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Peter 1:3-9; Titus 3:4-7, then return to this question.
• If yes, go to 3.

Question 3:

Great, so there is only one mediator between humans and God, Christ Jesus, but there can be many intercessors praying to God through Christ. When we ask someone to pray for us, we don’t ask them to become our mediator to God, merely to pray to God through Christ for us.

Now, do you believe there is only one Body of Christ?

• If no, please read and reflect upon Colossians 12:12; Romans 12:5, then return to this question
• If yes, go to 4.

Question 4:

Great, so there is only one mediator between humans and God, Jesus Christ, through whom intercessory prayer is made to God by the one Body of Christ, whose members are commanded to pray for one another.

Now, do you believe that the prayers of a person made holy to God are particularly efficacious?

• If no, please read Genesis 20:7; James 5:13-18, then return to this question.
• If yes, go to 5.

Question 5:

Great, so the intercessory prayers of a righteous person, made to God through the one mediator, Christ Jesus, as part of the one Body of Christ are efficacious.

Now, do you believe that all are alive to God, even if they have become disembodied (physically dead)?

• If no, please read and reflect upon Romans 6:8-11; Ephesians 2:4-5; Colossians 2:13-15, Luke 20:36-38; Matthew 17:1-3, then return to this question.
• If yes, go to 6.

Question 6:

Great, so there’s only one mediator between humans and God, through whom efficacious intercessory prayer is made to God by righteous members of the one body of Christ. And because all are alive in Christ, even if they have physically died, they remain part of the one Body of Christ.

Now, do you believe that when we physically die and enter the presence of Christ, we are made more holy?

• If no, please read Philippians 1:21-23; Hebrews 12:22-23, Revelation 6:9-11, then return to this question.
• If yes, go to 7.

Question 7:

Great, so all are alive in Christ, even those who have physically died, and we’re all part of the one Body of Christ. Our righteousness lends an efficaciousness to our intercessory prayers for one another to God through the one mediator, Jesus Christ , and those who have become disembodied in Christ are made more holy.

Now, are we surrounded by the Great Cloud of Witnesses who are the faithful who have gone before us into the presence of Christ?

• If no: please read and reflect upon Hebrews 11 – 12:1, then return to this question.
• If yes, then move on to the next section.

Summary of Questioning

If you have reached this far in the questioning, then great.

We have agreed

• that intercessory prayer is important,
• that it is particularly efficacious from the righteous,
• that intercessory prayer is made to God through Christ, the one mediator between God and humans,
• that we’re surrounded by the faithful who have passed into the invisible dimension,
• that they are alive in Christ even though they have physically died,
• that they are made more holy as they have passed into the greater presence of Christ,
• that they’re part of the one Body of Christ, just as we are,

As such, we can see that there is indeed a biblical reasoning why we can pray for the departed and why indeed they can pray for us.

Further issues that might arise

If we have any issues with this, then perhaps it’s because of our inherited church Tradition which has forbidden or downplayed such activities. Perhaps it’s worth reflecting upon Mark 7:8-9 and Colossians 2:8 in such an instance. Who are we serving at this point, the words of our church tradition or the word of God? Even the WC/BC states clearly that prayer is to be made for those living and who will live hereafter, and all are alive in Christ anyway, so the “but not for the dead” part is unnecessary and I posit an attempt to stamp out the practice of praying for the dead due to ignorance of the scriptures and critical thinking them through on this matter.

If remain concerned because we believe it is forbidden, thinking it necromancy to communicate with the disembodied, then ask what necromancy really is. It is not asking the disembodied saints to pray for us as we have shown is a biblically reasonable thing to do! It’s the summoning of departed spirits to reveal information, including that about the future (see 1 Samuel 28), which is forbidden in Scripture.

If you think it’s still forbidden because those who are dead cease to exist, as monists/physicalists might propose, then you’ve just destroyed the Christian hope of the resurrection! For what can be resurrected from nothing? Nothing! We’re not like Jehovah’s Witnesses, who believe our memory is uploaded into God’s “hard drive” (using a modern analogy), and the memory is downloaded into a new shell, as again, it is not *us* who are resurrected, but a copy. The original, who we are now, is destroyed upon physical death. You have no hope of a resurrection; only a copy of you will inhabit the new heavens and earth. This is highly unbiblical and corrosive to the Christian Gospel.

Conclusion

We have examined and shown the biblical reasoning for prayer for the dead. This is why from the very earliest Christians to today’s Christians (in certain denominations) believe that praying for the departed is a biblically sanctioned practice that is a healthy and wholesome part of being the one Body of Christ. This is why the CofE liturgy states that our prayers are made together with all the saints, including the patron saint of the particular parish church its members pray in. It’s why prayers of commendation are made at the funeral service as we hand our beloved into the arms of Christ. It’s why prayers are requested from various saints so they may join in our petitions to God. All are alive in Christ, and one day we shall see them face to face—this is the Christian hope of the resurrection.

One question remains for us to reflect upon… What do you think the saints who have gone before us pray for you and for the rest of the Church?

If you wish to explore more about prayer for the dead, examining Bible verses and the passages which support this practice, together with the archeological and literary evidence in early Christian burials and writings, as well as today’s practice in different churches, then please visit this series of articles on prayer for the dead.

To explore some more about the afterlife in the Bible and how it evolves in understanding from the Old, through the Intertestamental literature to the New Testament, as well as where ghosts and other spirit-beings that are mentioned in the Bible fit in, please consider supporting my ministry by purchasing a copy of my book, The Invisible Dimension: Spirit-Beings, Ghosts and the Afterlife, by Anabchara Books.

You can also visit the Articles Database on this website to find more about the paranormal in the Bible, and watch / listen to some interviews and lectures on these subjects in the Media section.