Praying for the Dead, a good thing or a bad thing?

[elgar]

I think it’s a shame that the Church can’t answer the questions such as yours with “We don’t know.”

Or how 'bout this:

Purgatory is a condition in which a suffering soul benefits from the prayers of the Church militant and the Church triumphant.

Here’s hoping you have no need!!

As an Anglican, it is customary to pray for the “repose of the souls” of our departed brothers and sisters. My rector believes we are all currently living in Purgatory. So how do we interpret the final day of judgement when Christ returns in regard to those who have already died? Are the dead not really in heaven or hell since we are not quite to the end of the age? Should we continue to pray for the dead in the mean time? Food for thought.

 

[Stephen_W]

Thanks. I am glad you said that you don’t presume to know where a person went. That is a issue I run into sometimes with some protestants. When I was at my friends funeral, they kept saying Kevin was in heaven. As much as I would like to think that he is, I feel that saying that is making themselves God. It sounds like you don’t do that, and I am glad.froi

Thanks for sharing what you were told, I did find it interesting.

It’s the idea protestants have of “once saved, aways saved”. To them, one only needs to make a declaration of faith, and your place in Heaven is secure. Likewise many Catholics I’ve meet seem to think all that is needful is to be baptized into the CC and then all is well (you really need to educate your people better about what your own CCC teaches ). My theological roots are Anabaptist, which I think is closer to the Catholic idea but without Purgatory. It seems though, some early Anabaptist did place belief in Purgatory, however, over time that was dropped, probably due to protestant influences. So it just follows, Anabaptist thought or protestant, without an intermediate state, there is no need to pray for the dead. I would wager the idea of praying for the dead would never cross most Anabaptists or Protestants minds without some outside influence.

My wife’s family are self-declared agnostic. The non-denominational preacher at one of her relative’s funeral kept saying the “dearly departed” was now an angel.

 

[hockeyfan]

It’s the idea protestants have of “once saved, aways saved”. To them, one only needs to make a declaration of faith, and your place in Heaven is secure. Likewise many Catholics I’ve meet seem to think all that is needful is to be baptized into the CC and then all is well (you really need to educate your people better about what your own CCC teaches ). My theological roots are Anabaptist, which I think is closer to the Catholic idea but without Purgatory. It seems though, some early Anabaptist did place belief in Purgatory, however, over time that was dropped, probably due to protestant influences. So it just follows, Anabaptist thought or protestant, without an intermediate state, there is no need to pray for the dead. I would wager the idea of praying for the dead would never cross most Anabaptists or Protestants minds without some outside influence.

My wife’s family are self-declared agnostic. The non-denominational preacher at one of her relative’s funeral kept saying the “dearly departed” was now an angel.

On your point about “Once Saves, Always Saved,” I am in complete agreement. I have never known a Anabaptist though I was aware of their existence. That being said, I am mostly ignorant on their theology. You do seem to make it sound like they are more moderate then a lot of the other belief systems you will see among Protestants.

On the Purgatory thing, I am not surprised. I think, with a few rare exceptions, Purgatory is a Catholic thing.

On your point about education of Catholics, your 100% right. I am a part of the religious education for the ages of 14-16ish, but I find that most of the kids that come through my program don’t even know the basics. I think our program is strong, but we have problems really trying to teach our faith, when we have to keep going back to the basics. It is harder too because our religion is far more complicated then any Sola Scriptura faith, because sacred tradition is just as important to us as the Bible. Then, when Catholic adults who do not understand the Bible go out into the world and meet “Bible thumpers,” they get the deer in the headlights look. If I had the power, I think that a lot of reform needs to happen to our religious education programs. Anyhow, I digress, because this should be for another thread.