TY - BOOK AU - Gould,James B. TI - Practicing prayer for the dead: its theological meaning and spiritual value SN - 9781498284578 AV - BV227 U1 - 248.32 23 PY - 2016///] CY - Eugene, Oregon PB - Cascade Books KW - Prayers for the dead KW - Prières pour les défunts KW - RELIGION KW - Christian Life KW - General KW - bisacsh KW - fast N1 - Includes bibliographical references N2 - Throughout history Christians have prayed for the dead. This book challenges Protestants, who seldom pray for the dead, to begin doing so, and Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, who pray only for the Christian dead, to include the unsaved as well. Gould discusses the meaning of prayer for final consummation of all things, growth of the blessed in heaven, purification of the imperfect in purgatory, and salvation of the unsaved in hell--identifying the necessary conception of the afterlife required by each particular prayer. He also reflects on the spiritual value of prayer for the departed--how it enhances faith, builds hope, and sharpens discipleship--and provides some sample prayers for public liturgy and private devotion. In essence, Practicing Prayer for the Dead offers an outline of theology from the perspective of death, arguing that prayer for all the departed is one aspect of a tightly knit web of doctrines. The argument, while revisionary in some respects, is orthodox, ecumenical, and integrative, engaging a range of academic disciplines so as to be biblically accurate, historically informed, and philosophically reasoned UR - https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&AN=1431798 ER -