Theology Hypothesis: Prayers In Postmortem
Confuzor
Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2412Awaiting Authorization
Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2412Awaiting Authorization
in Discussions
<div class="IPBDescription">Concerns Judeo-Christian/Islamic God</div> Throughout my Christian walk, I am constantly being reminded on the signficance of prayer. While people often make the mistake of using prayer solely to send a "wish list" to God, this aspect of prayer is still an essential, (i.e., "Give us our daily bread", praying that God aid others).
It is in praying for others that I raise my question: Is there any purpose served whatsoever in praying for the deceased (as in asking God to treat them in a certain way)? I take it that the answer is a 'no'. Shortly after my mother passed away, I remember praying to God that He would "<i>look after her</i>" whatever the hell that means. With the knowledge I have on Christianity today, this is an absurd request. Ultimately, there will be two possibilities to where my mother will go, (this is, of course, on the assumption that the Christian belief is true):
1. She goes to heaven because she is a Christian - God looks after her
2. She goes to hell because she is not a Christian - She has rejected God, therefore, God would have no need in looking after her
Neither possiblity would be influenced in any way by my prayers, my intense groveling, my gnashing of teeth, etc. <b>In postmortem the decisions have been finalized and can not be changed</b>. By God's design, His time of forgiveness graces humanity only in the lives of the living. In death and beyond, there is no hope, only wishful thinking. Thus, the prayers we give to the deceased go nowhere.
It is in praying for others that I raise my question: Is there any purpose served whatsoever in praying for the deceased (as in asking God to treat them in a certain way)? I take it that the answer is a 'no'. Shortly after my mother passed away, I remember praying to God that He would "<i>look after her</i>" whatever the hell that means. With the knowledge I have on Christianity today, this is an absurd request. Ultimately, there will be two possibilities to where my mother will go, (this is, of course, on the assumption that the Christian belief is true):
1. She goes to heaven because she is a Christian - God looks after her
2. She goes to hell because she is not a Christian - She has rejected God, therefore, God would have no need in looking after her
Neither possiblity would be influenced in any way by my prayers, my intense groveling, my gnashing of teeth, etc. <b>In postmortem the decisions have been finalized and can not be changed</b>. By God's design, His time of forgiveness graces humanity only in the lives of the living. In death and beyond, there is no hope, only wishful thinking. Thus, the prayers we give to the deceased go nowhere.
Comments
I'm reminded of a maxim developed by Francis Bacon, I'll adapt and expand it for this thread.
Your mother dies, you pray for her, it makes a difference, she goes to heaven, you have helped your mother.
Your mother dies and goes to heaven, and you pray for her, it makes no difference, all you've lost is your time.
Your mother dies, you pray for her, it makes no difference, she goes to hell, all you've lost is your time.
Your mother dies, you pray for her, it makes a difference, and she avoids hell, you have helped your mother.
So you have a possible 2 favourable of 4 possible outcomes in this case. You can help your mother in 50% of possible outcomes, in the other 50% all you lose is your time, so why not pray for her?
YOUR MOTHER COOKS SOCKS IN HELL! (sorry, was too serious for too long, flippancy quotient restored).
This is one of those rare moments on a discussion forum boards where someone reverses their original position to agree with their opposer. Somebody write that date down <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I work with BeAst, and I'm <b>never</b> going to hear the end of this. Argue about the size of your shoes or something.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->...all you've lost is your time...<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
My time is more valuable than the soul of the deceased. Hence your arguement is incorrect. This includes the time you are wasting at my desk BeAst, begone.
I know Sirius, put probably my favourite apologetic (C.S. Lewis) believed pretty strongly in it, and had a few good arguements as to it existance. I cannot see how believing in purgatory is "wrong" and as such wont refrain from praying for people in it in the event it exists.
But im an atheist and i beleive when everyone dies its back to the eternal blackout again. The only consciousness we get is the one we have right now. So yeah i do think praying for dead people is pointless.
But im an atheist and i beleive when everyone dies its back to the eternal blackout again. The only consciousness we get is the one we have right now. So yeah i do think praying for dead people is pointless. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
God doesn't send people to Hell because they are not Christians, he sends them there because they've committed sins that they need to pay for. If God was not a god of judgement, then Mother Theresa would end up in the same place as Stalin and Pol Pot.
The whole reason why Christ came was to pay for the sins of the whole world. But, that substitute is only good if you ask it to be.