Prayers for the dead in the teaching of the Roman church are offered for those deceased Christians who are imperfectly purified and therefore in purgatory, that they might be purified by making satisfaction for their sins and be forgiven the temporal penalties of their sins, achieving the holiness necessary to enter heaven. It commends prayer, Eucharistic sacrifice, almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1031-1032, 1414).
The Roman church appeals to 2 Maccabees 12:39-46 for the support of this practice. First, we Protestants deny that this is inspired and canonical Scripture, not being among those oracles of God that was delivered to the Jews before Christ's coming (Rom. 3:2), nor part of the apostolic New Testament. It, along with the rest of the "Apocrypha," was not received by the Jews as canonical during the time of Christ, and was of disputed authority in the early church. The apocryphal writings were only dogmatically received as canonical by the Roman church at the Council of Trent in 1546, in response to the Reformation. Second, the author of 2 Maccabees probably misunderstands the intention of the prayers and sacrifice that he records being offered. The prayers and sacrifice that were made on that occasion were probably offered for the pardon of the living, not the dead. Third, the author of 2 Maccabees does not even hint at the idea of purgatory, but claims that Judas Maccabees sought forgiveness for the dead so that they would share in the resurrection on the last day. Judas' belief in the resurrection is what the author especially commends.
But prayers for the dead naturally developed along with the belief in purgatory, prompting various traditions and practices. Throughout medieval Europe, there were priests who were paid to say mass for people who had died so that they would reach heaven. One tradition of Allhallowtide in Ireland and Scotland was to go door to door to collect “soul cakes” - each house would give you cakes so that you would pray for the souls of their loved ones.
Both purgatory and prayers for the dead are without biblical warrant. The Bible never teaches us to pray for the dead, nor does its doctrine support or imply such a practice. The practice is an invention of man, an expression of man-made religion.
But prayers for the dead naturally developed along with the belief in purgatory, prompting various traditions and practices. Throughout medieval Europe, there were priests who were paid to say mass for people who had died so that they would reach heaven. One tradition of Allhallowtide in Ireland and Scotland was to go door to door to collect “soul cakes” - each house would give you cakes so that you would pray for the souls of their loved ones.
Both purgatory and prayers for the dead are without biblical warrant. The Bible never teaches us to pray for the dead, nor does its doctrine support or imply such a practice. The practice is an invention of man, an expression of man-made religion.
The idea of further suffering for sin after death contradicts the doctrine of justification. When we are forgiven, both guilt and punishment is removed. We are not liable for a debt that has been canceled (Col. 2:14). We no longer need to make satisfaction for sin. Christ has satisfied divine justice by his single sacrifice, offered once for all, and he is the propitiation for our sins (Rom. 3:24-25, Heb. 9:14, 25-28, 10:10-14). While we demonstrate and follow through on our repentance by our good deeds, these are not satisfactions to God's justice. While we are sanctified through the trials of this life, this suffering is not a satisfaction for sin, but a fatherly discipline that belongs to this life, that we might run its race to the end. Those who die in the Lord are blessed and rest from their labors (Rev. 14:13). As Jesus told the believing criminal on the cross, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). When believers die, their souls are made perfect in holiness and immediately pass into glory, being blessed in Christ for his sake. There they await the resurrection from the dead on the last day.
Not only is prayer for the dead a superstitious practice, without biblical basis, but it also leads people astray from a firm confidence in Jesus Christ for their salvation, obscures the hope of glory we have through faith in him, and it leads us from the right use of prayer. Believers who have died do not need the prayers, for they have entered into glory. The wicked cannot be helped by your prayers. We, the living, are the ones in the arena. The living and the generations yet to come are in need of your prayers.
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