Biblical View on Praying for Death in Cancer
The biblical view on praying for death in the context of cancer or any other suffering is nuanced and not directly addressed in scripture. However, various biblical passages and theological interpretations provide insight into this complex issue.
The Bible teaches that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather desires their repentance and life [1]. This perspective is crucial when considering prayers related to death. In the context of suffering, biblical figures such as Job exemplify patience and trust in God despite immense pain and hardship [10].
The practice of praying for the dead is not supported by biblical commands or examples. The Scripture exhorts believers to offer mutual prayers for one another while alive, but there is no instruction to pray for the dead [5]. Reformed theologians like John Calvin argue that praying for the dead is not biblically warranted and may be considered a profanation of prayer [7].
In contrast, some traditions, including certain Catholic and patristic views, have supported praying for the dead, with the understanding that it keeps alive a feeling of charity and concern for those who have passed away [6, 9]. However, the Reformed tradition, as represented by Calvin, emphasizes that the dead are not within our societal bounds, and thus, the reasons for mutual prayer among the living do not apply to them [8].
When it comes to praying for death or relief from suffering due to illness like cancer, the biblical model encourages believers to bring their requests to God, trusting in His sovereignty and goodness. The confidence in prayer is rooted in the believer's relationship with Christ, who hears and answers prayers according to God's will [3].
Theological interpretations vary on whether one can pray for death. Some traditions interpret certain sins as being "unto death," suggesting that not all prayers are answered positively, especially if they pertain to death [4]. The biblical emphasis is on praying according to God's will, which includes trusting His purposes in times of suffering.
Ultimately, the biblical view on praying for death in the context of cancer or other illnesses is shaped by the understanding of God's sovereignty, the value of suffering in the life of believers, and the importance of praying in accordance with God's will. Believers are encouraged to seek God's comfort and guidance in times of suffering, rather than praying directly for death.
The early Christian practice and patristic writings provide examples of how believers handled suffering and death, often emphasizing the importance of perseverance and trust in God's providence [2, 10]. The biblical and theological perspectives together offer a complex and nuanced view on the matter, highlighting the need for believers to approach such prayers with reverence and trust in God's goodness.
Sources
- Ezekiel “Ezekiel 33:11 (BSB) — Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 8.--OF MIRACLES WHICH WERE WROUGHT THAT THE WORLD MIGHT BELIEVE IN CHRIST, AND WHICH HAVE NOT CEASED SINCE THE WORLD BELIEVED. (part 5): the patient beseeching his visitors to be present next morning, they exhorting him to keep up his heart. The dreaded day dawned. The servants of God were present, as they had promised to be; the surgeons arrived; all that the circumstances required was ready; the frightful instruments are produced; all look on in wonder and suspense. While those who have most influence with the patient are cheer”
- 1 John (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on 1 John 5:14: Here we have, I. A privilege belonging to faith in Christ, namely, audience in prayer: This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us, Jo1 5:14. The Lord Christ emboldens us to come to God in all circumstances, with all our supplications and requests. Through him our petitions are admitted and accepted of God. The matter of our prayer must be agreeable to the declared will of God. It is not fit that we should ask what is contrary either to his majesty and glory or to our own good, who are his and dependen”
- 1 John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 John 5:17: "Every unrighteousness (even that of believers, compare Jo1 1:9; Jo1 3:4. Every coming short of right) is sin"; (but) not every sin is the sin unto death. and there is a sin not unto death--in the case of which, therefore, believers may intercede. Death and life stand in correlative opposition (Jo1 5:11-13). The sin unto death must be one tending "towards" (so the Greek), and so resulting in, death. ALFORD makes it to be an appreciable ACT of sin, namely, the denying Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God (in contrast to confess this truth, Jo1 5:1, ”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 75: have shown that this derogates in no respect from the sole intercession of Christ, because all trust to that intercession in commending themselves as well as others to God. Moreover, we have shown that this is ignorantly transferred to the dead, of whom we nowhere read that they were commanded to pray for us. The Scripture often exhorts us to offer up mutual prayers; but says not one syllable concerning the dead; nay, James tacitly excludes the dead when he combines the two things, to “confess our sins one to another, and to pray o”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 60: the least prudence easily perceives, that whatever we meet with on this subject in ancient writers, was in deference to public custom and the ignorance of the vulgar. I admit they were themselves also carried away into error, the usual effect of rash credulity being to destroy the judgment. Meanwhile the passages themselves show, that when they recommended prayer for the dead it was with hesitation. Augustine relates in his Confessions, that his mother, Monica, earnestly entreated to be remembered when the solemn rites at the altar”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 60: he wishes us to ask. Now, since the whole Law and Gospel do not contain one syllable which countenances the right of praying for the dead, it is a profanation of prayer to go one step farther than God enjoins. But, lest our opponents boast of sharing their error with the ancient Church, I say, that there is a wide difference between the two. The latter made a commemoration of the dead, that they might not seem to have cast off all concern for them; but they, at the same time, acknowledged that they were doubtful as to their state; ”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 75: be invoked by us. Nor does it follow that such invocation is to be used because, while men are alive upon the earth, they can mutually commend themselves to each other’s prayers. It serves to keep alive a feeling of charity when they, as it were, share each other’s wants, and bear each other’s burdens. This they do by the command of the Lord, and not without a promise, the two things of primary importance in prayer. But all such reasons are inapplicable to the dead, with whom the Lord, in withdrawing them from our society, has left”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Second Part of the Second Part (Secunda Secundae), Of Prayer, Art. 11: Article: Whether the saints in heaven pray for us? I answer that, As Jerome says (Cont. Vigilant. 6), the error of Vigilantius consisted in saying that "while we live, we can pray one for another; but that after we are dead, none of our prayers for others can be heard, seeing that not even the martyrs' prayers are granted when they pray for their blood to be avenged." But this is absolutely false, because, since prayers offered for others proceed from charity, as stated above (Articles [7],8), th”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 5: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian — ON THE MORTALITY.(1) (part 6): be the name of the Lord."(5) And when his wife also urged him, in his impatience at the acuteness of his pain, to speak something against God with a complaining and envious voice, he answered and said, "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women. If we have received good from the hand of the Lord, why shall we not suffer evil? In all these things which befell him, Job sinned not with his lips in the sight of the Lord."(6) Therefore the Lord God gives him a testimony, saying, "Hast thou considered my servant Job? fo”