In the Christian belief, death is a time when one passes from this world to a better world, heaven. Funeral practices can vary greatly depending on the branch of Christianity, the desires (simple or elaborate) and budget of the surviving family.
The funeral usually includes a:
Service and burial: The service can take place in a church or at the funeral home and it generally involves a minister giving a service and people eulogizing the dead. Following the service, the body is take to the cemetery for burial or taken away for cremation.
Reception: Following the funeral, mourners gather to remember, honor and celebrate the life of the person who has died.
Sometimes the funeral will also includes a:
Wake (or calling): The wake takes place one or two days before the funeral service. During the wake, mourners come to pay their respects to the family of the deceased. The body of the person who has died is generally present and the casket can be either open or closed.
Christian funeral beliefs of these churches very closely parallel those of the Roman Catholic church. However, they have no formal belief about the existence of Purgatory.
Christian Funeral Dress Etiquette
In Western, Christian society there was a time when funeral etiquette ruled that everyone wore black to a burial or memorial service. Now it is no longer required that you wear all black. Your dress should be appropriately conservative and respectful for the family and others in attendance. Most men choose formal clothes like a suit, and would normally wear a black tie if they have one.
However, if the deceased is a family member and the rest of the family have made the decision to wear black, perhaps you would consider falling in with them as this is not the appropriate time to make a stand about what is proper funeral dress etiquette.
Funeral dress can vary even between the various branches of Christian customs, it is best to go with the funeral etiquette requirements laid down by the bereaved family's belief system. If you are not of the same belief as the bereaved family - make enquiries and make sure you are appropriately dressed so as not to offend anyone.
Some Christian churches require one to cover their head, if you cannot find a person to ask if it is a requirement, just take a scarf with you in case it is needed. This is a requirement in the Greek Orthodox Church and in some Catholic Churches.
They hold to a variety of ideas about the fate of the deceased:
Many conservative Christians believe that when a person dies, they enter into complete oblivion - a state of non-existence. They remain unconscious; they have no self-awareness. Their body decays. At the time of the second coming of Jesus, the dead are called from their graves; they will be resurrected and judged. Those who had been saved while on earth will be given special bodies and go to Heaven; the unsaved will go to Hell for eternal punishment. Thus, all of the Patriarchs and ordinary Israelites in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Apostles, the Christians who have died over the past 2 millennia, and in fact every human who has ever lived, are held in a temporary state of non-existence.
Others believe that the soul separates from the body and is taken to a type of holding place - referred to as Sheol in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and Hades in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). At the time of Jesus' second coming, they will be reunited with their reconstituted bodies and judged. Many will have been there for thousands of years before they are resurrected. Thus, every human who has ever lived, are or in a type of holding place, awaiting resurrection.
Others believe, in practice, in some form of instantaneous transfer of the soul to heaven or hell immediately after death. Christians often talk about their loved ones who have recently died as if they are already with God.
Some important passages from the Bible that appear to refer to the deceased waiting for their call to resurrection are:
Job 14:14-15: "If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." (KJV)
Daniel 12:2: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
John 3:12-13: "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven..."
John 5:28-29: "...for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
Acts 2:29-34: "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried...For David is not ascended into the heavens..."
The Christadelphian movement is a conservative Protestant denomination founded by physician John Thomas (1805-1871). After his death, a schism developed over beliefs about life after death.
Some followers in the U.S., the Unamended group believe that only the deceased who are "in Christ" will be raised from the dead and have eternal life; the vast bulk of humanity will simply remain dead, without conscious existence.
Other American followers, and believers elsewhere in the world, the Amended group believe that all who who have been exposed to the Gospel will be raised from the dead at the time of the Final Judgment. The righteous among the responsible ones will be judged according to their works, rewarded appropriately, and live forever. Those who have been exposed to the Gospel and judged wicked will be annihilated, and cease to exist. Those who have not been exposed to the Gospel will remain dead, without conscious existence.
Liberals generally do not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. In their religious studies they realize that the beliefs of the ancient Israelites about Sheol were derived from surrounding Middle Eastern Pagan cultures. Later Jewish religious beliefs concerning heaven and hell incorporated ideas from Zoroastrianism and Greek Pagan culture. Liberals do not interpret the Bible literally, and feel that it contains little detailed, specific information about life after death.
Religious liberals generally anticipate some form of life after death. Most reject the concept of Hell as a permanent place of punishment and torture for anyone. Some might accept the belief that some form of correction and purification is needed before a person arrives in heaven. But generally, they do not hold exact beliefs concerning the timing, processes involved, or the nature of heaven. They "find more grace in the search for meaning than in absolute certainty; in the questions than in the answers." 3 They tend to be more concerned about the present life than the future. They believe that if they lead an ethical, caring life, that matters will sort themselves out after death.
| Related Topics | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Obituary & Sympathies | Grief | Find a Funeral Home |
