Understanding Prayer for the Dead: Its Foundation in History and Logic

A defence of the practice of prayer for the dead, expanding upon the biblical and philosophical background and exploring the theological ramifications.

Throughout history, Christians have prayed for the dead - both for continual growth of the faithful and for their advancement from purgatory, and sometimes, even, for the deliverance of the unsaved from hell. Understanding Prayer for the Dead defends all three kinds of prayer. It challenges Protestants, who seldom pray for the dead, to begin doing so - and Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, who pray only for the Christian dead, to include the unsaved as well. James B. Gould addresses the biblical credentials of prayer for the dead and provides a historical overview of such prayers from ancient Christianity to the current practice of the three main branches of the Church. He also discusses the logical assumptions prayer for the dead requires - that prayer is effective, that the dead are conscious, and that the afterlife involves change - and lays out a theological framework for such prayers. Prayer for the departed raises the most basic of theological questions, matters that go to the centre of God's purpose in creating spiritual beings and redeeming sinful humankind. The argument, while revisionary in some respects, is orthodox, ecumenical, and integrative, engaging a range of academic disciplines so as to be biblically accurate, historically informed, and philosophically reasoned.

James B. Gould teaches in the Department of Philosophy at McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, Illinois, and serves on the ethics committees of several healthcare organisations.