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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
Well if he’s dead, no amount of praying is going to help him.
You just brought up an old memory of my childhood. During the Vietnam war, our family (I was a young girl) attended a Christmas service at the Episcopal church in which we were members. The minister asked us to bow our heads and pray for the “enemy”. My father gathered up our family and we walked out. (Never to return.)
Don’t feel bad. At my (now former) house or worship my wife and I had to sit through an attack on Mitch McConnell. We are now looking for a new house of worship.
To be fair, in theory, just in dying moments he could have felt true sorrow for his actions. [I wouldn’t bet the farm on it though. I hope the minister said something like, “let us pray that what’s-his-face-was-really-sorry-for-being-a-terrorist-schmuck.”
Just KUMBAYAH again! The definition of which is: naively optimistic views of the world and human nature.[
It’s proper for a pastor, priest, etc. to encourage Christians to pray for the repentance of the living terrorist. It would also be proper to preach about the false religion called Islam, and the fact that its followers will be lost without Jesus Christ.
ZIP | April 22, 2013 9:41 am | 25 Comments
Boston Bomber: “Bible Is A Cheap Copy Of The Koran”…