1. Why did prayer for the dead come to be practiced in Judaism, well before the advent of Christianity, and why was it explicitly tied to a belief in bodily resurrection? See 2 Maccabees 7.
2. Given that the early disciples of Christ were those who did accept a belief in the resurrection, why is it unreasonable to believe that they were already offering prayers for the dead?
3. Many sources state that Tertullian is the first to explicitly mention prayer for the dead, around 230 AD, and in the context of being a Christian duty. I can find no mention of any opposition to the practice before or after that time. Why would it be unreasonable to infer that it was already standard, established practice well before Tertullian mentioned it?
4. If the practice is contrary to sound Christian doctrine, why was there no opposition to it among the Fathers of the Church. They nailed Arianism and a host of other major heresies over the centuries...how did this one slip through?
5. Augustine is often cited as being almost a "proto-reformer" whose beliefs in predestination and election are the foundation for Reformed doctrine. Yet he explicitly speaks of prayer for the dead both as an ancient practice, and as one that is necessary for Christians. Is it not therefore reasonable to assume that even if one holds to absolute predestination, this still does not negate prayer for the dead?
6. If we narrow down the "branches" (though I don't like this term) that can trace their roots through apostolic succession, despite schisms, we get Oriental Orthodoxy (Coptic, etc.), Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Though each has its own nuances and developed somewhat differently, each retains a fundamental belief that it is right and necessary to pray for the dead. Can this be taken as a sign of a practice and unity that goes back to the beginning?
Please note I'm not asking anyone to defend or attack the specifically Roman Catholic system of Purgatory..
If I may say...
It seems that the concept of prayer for the dead didn't originate in the time of the Fathers (which as you well noted didn't take issue with it in their writings and Eastern Christianity noted it often)....but rather, it was already present within the framework of Judaism.
Specifically, In some elements of Judaism
intercession is asked of deceased tzadikim (more
here/
here)- and it seems to me that Judaism is where the RCC and EO (as well as OO) got it from. For more specifics, I'm reminded of Moses being seen to intercede for the people as well as other prophets. I also see Rachael weeping for her children and why the rabbis said Rachael was left on the road/buried where she was.
Rachel dies giving birth to her second child Benjamin before reaching Jacob's father house, 'before reaching Ephrath' - Bethlehem (Genesis 35:19). Jacob buries her where she died, in her own tomb (Gen 35:20; 48:17) and not in the ancestral tomb at Machpelah. And just before the entrance to the city of David, whose ancestor is Judah, Leah's fourth son. Jacob tells us that 'when I came from Paddan, Rachel, to my sorrow, died in the land of Canaan . . . and I buried her there' (48:7). Why does Jacob not carry Rachel's body the twenty or so miles south from the alleged place of her demise to the cave at Machpelah which Genesis states as the proper burial site for members of Abraham's family. Jacob himself tells us he buried Leah in the Machpelah (Gen.49:31) and he requests that he himself be buried there as well (50:13). So why does Jacob not bury his beloved Rachel at Machpelah, but rather in a roadside grave? According to a midrash because she dishonored her father by stealing (on the Ten Commandments)...and according to another midrash Jacob knew of that the Babylonian exiles would pass by and Rachel could pray for mercy (midrash Rabbah Gen. 82:10). Her early death is attributed by the Rabbis to Jacob's curse over the teraphim as seen in Genesis 31:31-33 and Genesis 31:17-20.
Some say that the Prayers of live people requires FAITH - and thus, to them, the dead cannot produce Faith since they feel that the dead if it be damned or saints SEE and KNOW the world they have moved on with.
However, it's not really logical claiming that those who've passed on do not have faith - as they still trust in the Lord/seek him, just as it was with the saints in Revelation offering prayers to the Lord even after they were persecuted and they were asking the Lord to avenge their deaths.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
Those who have faith are all those, dead or alive, who have to look to the Lord...and call out on Him. For even the saints who were persecuted and killed were having to go to the Lord/be instructed to have faith in waiting for things to be completed before their deaths were avenged. And apart from that, there's still what was accepted in Jewish thought with Rachael weeping for her children/praying for them whenever they passed by her way. The Jews have been asking the matriarch Rachael for her intercessions since (according to one Jewish source*) the time of Joseph, who first asked his mother for her intercession as he passed her tomb on the way to his captivity. Her tomb is, to this day, a pilgrimage site as the devout still ask for her prayers.
Per this, the passage in Jeremiah (Rachel crying for her children) is interpreted in Judaism as her intercessions to God.
* Tanach, Stone edition, in a footnote.
For more, as seen here a
t Judaism.com:
Ever since her passing, thousands of men, women, and children have journeyed to the Tomb of Rachel (Kever Rochel) to request her intercession on their behalf. The barren pray for children. The sick pray for health. The lost and the troubled pray for release and relief. And no one ever leaves empty-handed. For Emeinu (Our Mother) always gives her blessings.
Jacob must have known that her resting place would become, like Jerusalem, a destination for pilgrims. Therefore, the Bible writes, "Over her grave Jacob put up a pillar, it is the pillar at Rachel's grave to this day." (Genesis 35:20-21)
For some good resources to investigate, there are two editions of the OT; the LXX, and the Stone edition of the Tanach (Masoretic, tr. by a board of Rabbis).
Amazon.com: Tanach: The Stone, Student Size Black (9781578191123): Nosson Scherman: Books That Joseph -3,500 years ago - was the first to request the prayers of his deceased mother, Rachel, is described in a footnote of the Tanach.
Prayers are also requested of the other matriarchs and patriarchs..and on the issue, it is with this context that many early Jewish believers had no issue with prayers unto Mary before Lord Jesus. Just as Rachel is the mother of the Jews, though literally the mother of Joseph, the use of the term "queen" for Mary is also a reference to her Son Jesus Christ as "King". Of course, the kingship of Christ is not in the worldly sense, as He does not act like worldly rulers (see the passages where Christ describes this). Rachel was for sometime a sort of "symbol" of Israel (in part because of her intercession, recorded in Jeremiah). For Mary to be both a particular person and a "symbol" of the whole has precedent (as her life also parallels, as well).
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If you search the scriptures, it can be noted that there is no mention condemning this contemporary (and ancient) practice of asking for Rachel's intercession. Granted, the context of "Rachael weeping for her children" (as seen in Mt. 2:18 and Jer. 31:15.) is used differently in the NT, but this does not negate the older witness or the contemporary practice; it adds an interpretation but does not subtract. Asking for intercessions was and is common in Judaism, and contemporary with the ministry of Christ and the writing of the NT. This practice is not condemned in the NT. There is not a teaching from Christ or the apostles against this common contemporary practice and belief.
God Himself tells Jeremiah about (the dead) Rachels' prayer, and His answer to her. How could the dead be unaware, yet in Jeremiah 31, (the dead) Rachel know's of her people's (children's) exile. As I have mentioned before, Jeremiah (31) records that Rachel was not only conscious after her death, but indeed knew of the Jewish exile, pleaded with God on the behalf of the Jews, and God answered her prayer...
In addition to this, as you already noted, the Maccabees account does note where there were prayers still offered for those who departed - and the Lord is Merciful and
life outside of the Space/Time continuum does make a difference in how a journey is perceived - as said before:
Gxg (G²);60495191 said:
..Maccabees apparently PRAYED for the dead (and gave us the “gift” of “Purgatory”
. ..and though others may take issue with it, one must keep in mind the historicity of the book—especially seeing its description of the Jewish Feast of Hannakah, also refered to as the celebration of the the
Feast of
Dedication in
John 10:21-23/ John 10 .
For an excerpt from the book on the issue:
A)nd they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out. And the noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because 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 honorably, 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, that they might be delivered from their sin. (
2 Macc 12:42-45
Granted that Maccabbees…both the
1 Maccabees and
2 Maccabees ) …..had one element where they took things to the “Puragotory” level–and Jews do not regard 2 Maccabees as canonical, perhaps because of its theological innovations……but the book is historical……and there are many elements I’ve been intrigued by when seeing other scriptures. For Jesus did indeed celebrate the Holiday of Channakuh that came out of the Maccabees account....and although he didn't comment on it, I must wonder what he'd say about it on certain aspects if he was willing to participate in a holiday that endorsed it.
There are other scriptures within the protestant cannon that have had many pondering purgatory—-one of which may refer to a prayer for the dead, found in
2 Timothy 1:16-18, which reads as follows:
May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy on that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.
As with the verses from 2 Maccabees, these verses refer to prayers that will help the deceased “on that day” (perhaps Judgement Day).
Of coruse it is not stated that Onesiphorus, for whom Paul prayed, was dead. However, some scholars infer this based on the way Paul only refers to him in the past tense, and prays for present blessings on his household, but for him only “on that day”. And towards the end of the same letter, in 2 Timothy 4:19, Paul sends greetings to “Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus”, distinguishing the situation of Onesiphorus from that of the still living Prisca and Aquila.
