A few events have taken place in the recent past that coincidently, if you want to call it that, relate to the blog topic that I had already decided to share with you all. This past week at my work, a person was tragically killed in an accident. The death struck both employees and customers alike in a way that brought life into perspective. We were all reminded that we are here on earth for a limited time and there is no telling when God will decide it is our time to move into the eternal life, heaven or hell for eternity after our personal judgment day.
2 Maccabees 12:39-45
(Small excerpt)
“…gave themselves to prayer, begging that the sin committed might be completely forgiven.…
…For had he not expected the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead…”
With the recent tragedy at my work, the subject of praying for the dead has captured my attention. When I first heard about the tragedy, my immediate reaction was to pray for the person that had lost her life because I believed that this prayer could be beneficial to her in the eyes of God. I immediately felt sorrow for her and prayed to God that mercy be granted to her. I prayed that God would grant her the forgiveness of her sins and that she be granted the wonderful gift of eternal life in heaven. I also prayed for the family of course.
I have come to understand, from the reading of my Bible and from other historical Christian writings, that prayer for the dead was not something that was seen as out of the ordinary. History has shown that praying for the dead has been an acceptable Christian practice for close to 2000 years and had been practiced for years prior to Christianity by the Jewish people before the coming of Christ as well. We are reminded throughout the Bible that prayer is something we should all do for one another in good and bad circumstances in life.
I was also reminded how much praying for the dead made sense to me. I was confronted with the picture of this woman who had lost her life and was having to go to trial for all the laws and commandments she had broken in the eyes of God. I thought to myself, wow, if this was happening while she was alive here on earth where she was being tried in court for breaking the law, people would be praying that the judge have mercy on her and grant her pardon with a slap on the wrist so that she wouldn’t be convicted if her offence was not so serious. In the same way, I found myself praying for this lady. Since I did not know much about the lady, I only assumed the best about her. I knew that Christ had the power to forgive any and all sins and that it was right for me to want the best for this lady. Praying for this lady was just my natural reaction. Intercessions for one another are what we are made to do out of love for one another. When someone is in need of help, is it not the proper reaction of any Christian to offer prayers for the person in need to our Lord?
Understanding that an earthly death is not the end of life, but the entryway to the eternal life (whether it be eternal damnation with the devil or eternal glory with God), I knew that my prayers for this lady would be heard by God and that God would answer my prayers in the way that best conformed to His will. I would hope that if I was going to trial here on earth, that people would pray for me But I would hope even more so that if I was meeting my creator and having to give an account for all my actions, that everyone would be praying and asking God to have mercy on my soul on my personal judgment day.
… (break, J)
… As you have probably noticed, the passage of the Bible that I provided a small excerpt from may not have been contained in the Bible that you own. Why? That is what I plan on addressing next.
As a friend and I usually discuss several biblical topics, we bring out our Bibles. One Bible containing 66 books (39 OT & 27 NT) and the other Bible containing 73 books (46 OT & 27 NT). We discuss many topics and reference many Bible passages. Our discussions always seem to turn out great. We always discuss things in a charitable way, both trying to discuss the message of Christ as we have each come to understand it. Neither of us tries to win any disagreements that may arise, but instead just share our understandings with one another, each being open to perhaps a better understanding of Christ, which is most important.
As we went on, the topic that brought all other topics together for my friend and I was that of how the Word of God was supposed to be passed on to all generations after Christ’s ministry on earth. In other words, How Christ intended His message of Truth to be passed on. But this topic brought on others regarding the Bible. We both agree that the Bible is one of the ways Christ currently uses to pass on His message of Salvation. Both my friend and I believe that we find the Word of God to be present in the Bible. Not necessarily agreeing that the Bible is the only authorized source of God’s revelation but that it is one source of God’s revelation. But there is an obvious problem, our Bibles have different number of books, which in turn means that either one does not have enough books or the other has too many books. So a question for my friend and I arises, who is to decide what the number of books included in the Bible should be?
To put this in perspective, let me show how important the difference in number of books contained within the Bible actually is. There are many Christians that believe in a doctrine known as “sola scriptura” or “the Bible alone” meaning that they only believe what is expressed within the pages of the Bible. If something is not in the Bible, they do not believe it. So these seven books (if they contain anything that is not necessarily directly referenced within the 66 books held in common) become the source of God’s revelation to His people that otherwise may not be known by those who own a Bible that only contains the 66 books.
For example, usually with most “Bible Alone” adherents one sees a rejection of the idea that praying for the dead is a good thing and that it is an acceptable action for Christians to partake in. Reason being that it is not directly mentioned as a good thing to do within the 66 books held in common. But in the passage above we see prayer for the dead being presented as a good and gracious thing to do. So, this seven book difference can be the potential unifying element needed for clarification on the subject or it can continue to be one of the sources of separation amongst people who all desire to come to know and to best understand what God has revealed to its people.
Again my friend and I question, who should get to decide the number of Books to be included in the Bible? Today, there are multiple groups of people deciding what should and should not go in the Bible. Shouldn’t it be one Bible for all and not one Bible for some and another for others? My friend and I would contend that there should be one Bible for all Christians. We are to be of one mind and of one heart. Christ after all did not want his followers to be divided by doctrinal issues. Christ wanted all to be unified in belief including the ones discussed here.
So today, I leave the question of who gets to decide how many books belong in the Bible open for all to ponder. My friend and I know what our answers would be but I believe that when people go out searching for answers on their own, they usually get more out of them then when someone tells them what their answer to a question is. Take this as a friendly challenge, from me to everyone who reads this blog, to learn why what is included or excluded in the Bible matters and why the Bible itself is a reliable source of the Word of God. If anyone would like to hear my answer to this question, I can address it later on a future blog, just let me know through a comment on the blog. I however would be interested to hear some of your answers if anyone has the time to share them with me. I always find it nice to hear others explain and defend what they have come to believe and understand.
Thanks to everyone for reading, let me know what you think and may God Bless us all J
