Posted on 04/22/2013 6:27:15 AM PDT by piperpilot
At my small Episcopal church yesterday, we prayed for all those "killed" in the "tragic" Boston Marathon bombing. That was bad enough--those people were murdered and it was anything but a tragedy. Then we had to pray for the dead terrorist--which I refused to do. How unbiblical can you get. The dead terrorist didn't repent before his death. His soul went straight to Hell. Praying for him is basically praying for evil if you ask me. We also prayed for the still living terrorist. I can see that--he's still alive and can repent. But we didn't pray for the Holy Spirit to change his mind. No, no, no. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to "change minds.". Most likely ours. This sort of thing is the Just more evidence of the moral equivalency and lack of Biblical truth that has infected the mainstream Protestant sects today. The most amazing thing though was that not a single parishioner thought there was anything wrong with this. I pointed this outntonseveral people and they all tried to explain it away so as not to create waves. So sad.
Bravo!
As for me? Proud ex-Episcopalian since 1980.
I’m praying that he spends the rest of his life in acute pain.
A lot of churches teach “hate the sin, love the sinner.”
At times it is difficult or, as in this case, impossible.
But I a pretty sure that is the driving theology.
Exactly the sort of thing that drove me to leave the Episcopal Church several years ago.
You can love the sinner while they’re still alive because there is always hope for repentance, but there is no hope for a sinner who has died an unrepentant sinner.
“hate the sin, love the sinner.”
That was Christ’s message, tough as that is to put into practice, it is hard to refute the implicit intent of what he said.
Matthew 5:44
Revelation 3:15-16
Hate the sin, love the sinner.
Praying for the dead is in the Bible, of course it is in Maccabees II so it’s a Catholic thing I guess.
And the Lord’s prayer: Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Forgiving others for their sins is a hard thing to do, but we must do it.
Sadly, I think I am finally ready to leave too. We don’t even do the confession of sins half the time anymore. They have strayed so far from the truth of the Bible. I just can’t fight those fights anymore. I will go elsewhere.
Not trying to be insensitive, but what is the reason for praying for dead folks?
If they died with faith, they are alive with Christ.
If they died in unbelief they have already been judged and are cast out.
Not sure where Scripture teaches to pray for the dead anyway...
“Forgiving others for their sins is a hard thing to do, but we must do it.”
Possibly the hardest command for Christians to accomplish. Maybe that is why Christ emphasized it so much, a true test of faith.
Dunno. Don’t like the Episcopalians much; my dad left them for Anglicans when they went all weird. But I pray for God’s mercy and grace for others, just as I pray for it for myself.
I agree, and that’s what I did. I was mostly complaining about the prayers for the DEAD bomber.
This praying for the dead stuff comes from the book of 2nd maccabees also known as the apocrypha. If you read the actual text it is pretty clear that it doesn’t belong. It is out of place and is most certainly written by another author.
How dare you bring Biblical truth into this discussion. ;-)
Amen.
I wasn’t in the head of #1 when he passed away so I don’t know his soul. I also do believe in Purgatory where souls wait and can be helped by my prayers. So theologically, I’m okay with praying for the soul of the older brother. I’m also okay with praying for the younger brother. I think of the man who tried to kill John Paul II. Hearts can change. He’s in a Jewish hospital. The caregivers I have known in my life would be caring for him the same whether he were someone’s aging mother or a terrorist so I assume that he is getting gentle care. Even if he is mute and paralyzed the rest of his life or maybe because he is, he may come to Christ. I also think of the Termoline in The Last Battle by CS Lewis. He was confused as to why he was in Heaven. So were those around him but he was there.
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