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In the Psalms, one of the arguments used with some frequency by those who feel abandoned by God runs like this: First, a rhetorical question is asked about whether the dead can praise God—the presumed answer being “No”. Second, the conclusion is drawn that God should aid the one who calls upon Him—so that the one aided can sing God’s praise. This rhetorical questioning is so similar to traditional Jewish humor that one might wonder about its theological sincerity, but I believe the popularity of the argument derives from the early Jewish ambivalence about the nature of what we call “the after life”.
The reader will remember that even in Our Lord’s time on earth, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead but the Sadducees did not. St. Paul actually used this disagreement on one occasion to escape persecution by his fellow Jews, declaring: “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am on trial” (Acts 23:6). As the next three verses explain, “When he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided”, so that the Pharisees declared “We find nothing wrong in this man.”
The Old Testament is relatively silent about what happens after death. It does testify to man’s destiny of life with God in various ways, and Our Lord pointed out that this message should have been understood as implicit since the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of the living, not of the dead. But before Christ the Scriptural witness to eternal life with God, and to the resurrection of the body in particular, lacks the clarity we associate with the New Testament and the Church. This enables us to recognize the poignancy of prayers like the one in Psalm 88, in which the Psalmist cries out that he is under duress, shunned by his companions, and feeling the weight of God’s wrath:
Continued below.
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The reader will remember that even in Our Lord’s time on earth, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead but the Sadducees did not. St. Paul actually used this disagreement on one occasion to escape persecution by his fellow Jews, declaring: “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am on trial” (Acts 23:6). As the next three verses explain, “When he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided”, so that the Pharisees declared “We find nothing wrong in this man.”
The Old Testament is relatively silent about what happens after death. It does testify to man’s destiny of life with God in various ways, and Our Lord pointed out that this message should have been understood as implicit since the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of the living, not of the dead. But before Christ the Scriptural witness to eternal life with God, and to the resurrection of the body in particular, lacks the clarity we associate with the New Testament and the Church. This enables us to recognize the poignancy of prayers like the one in Psalm 88, in which the Psalmist cries out that he is under duress, shunned by his companions, and feeling the weight of God’s wrath:
Continued below.
In the Psalms: A peculiar argument to win God’s favor
Before Christ the Scriptural witness to eternal life and the resurrection of the body lacks the clarity we associate with the New Testament and the Church.
www.catholicculture.org
