AT last Meeting of Synod a resolution was unanimously come to that it be an understood matter that ministers of our Church do not conform to the practice of offering prayer at the grave. The custom, as is well known, has now become almost universal, and as some may be of opinion that the burial of the dead without some religious service at the grave savours more of heathenism than Christianity, it may not be out of place to enquire into the practice of the Church in Scotland in regard to this matter and as to its scriptural authority.
The First Book of Discipline thus refers to the subject:—”For avoiding all inconvenience, we judge it best that neither singing nor reading be at the burial; for albeit things sung and read may admonish some of the living to prepare themselves for death, yet shall some superstitious and ignorant persons ever think that the works—singing or reading—of the living do and may profit the dead. And, therefore, we think most expedient that the dead be convoyed to the place of burial with some honest company of the Church, without either singing or reading; yea, without all kind of ceremony heretofore used, other than that the dead be committed to the grave with such gravity and sobriety as those that be present may seem to fear the judgments of God, and to hate sin, which is the cause of death.
“We are not ignorant that some require a sermon at the burial, or else some place of Scripture to be read, to put the living in mind that they are mortal, and that likewise they must die. But let those men understand that the sermons which be daily made serve for that use; which if men despise, the preaching of the funeral sermons shall rather nurse superstition and a false opinion (as before said) than that they shall bring such persons to any godly consideration of their own estate.”
It is but just to say, however, that in Dr. Laing’s edition of the First Book of Discipline, as given in Knox’s Works, that the following sentence is inserted:—”And yet, notwithstanding, we are not so precise, but that we are content that particular Kirks use them in that behalf, with the consent of the ministry of the same, as they will answer to God and Assembly of the Universal Kirk gathered within the realm.” This sentence, though not found in the 1621 edition or any other, has been accepted as genuine by Dr. Lee and Dr. Sprott, and it is probably owing to the limited liberty it gives that we find John Knox himself preaching a sermon at the burial of the Regent Moray, when he “moved three thousand to tears.” It is also recorded that Mr. Henry Livingstone preached a funeral sermon on the day of Rev. Patrick Simson’s funeral. In the Book of Common Order (1564) there is also a reference to the subject:—”The corpse is reverently brought to the grave, accompanied with the congregation, without any further ceremonies, which being buried, the
minister, if he be present and required, goeth to the Church, if it be not far off, and maketh some comfortable exhortation to the people, touching death and the resurrection.”
The Westminster Directory for Public Worship proceeds on almost the same lines as the First Book of Discipline. It says:—”Because the custom of kneeling down or praying by or towards the dead corpse; and other such usages, in the place where it lies before it be carried to burial are superstitious, and for that, praying, reading, singing, both in going to and at the grave, have been grossly abused, are no way beneficial to the dead, and have proved many ways hurtful to the living; therefore, let all such things be laid aside. Howbeit, we judge it very convenient that the Christian friends which accompany the dead body to the place appointed for public burial do apply themselves to meditations and conferences suitable to the occasion, and that the minister, as upon other occasions, so at this time, if he be present, may put them in remembrance of their duty.” This section most distinctly prohibits prayer at the grave, and not only prayer, but also singing and reading; it, however, allows an address to be given if the minister be present. The section occupied the attention of the Assembly for six days. Some of the Divines were for throwing it out altogether, holding with Cartwright that “the care of burying the dead does not belong more to the ministerial office than to the rest of the Church.”
The following fragmentary references in the Minutes of the Westminster Assembly may help the reader to realise the state of feeling among the Divines on the matter. “Session 333, 3rd December, Tuesday morning.—Report from the Committee about Burial.—Mr. Marshall—Because the drawing up of these reasons doth concern ourselves as distinct from the dissenting brethren, . . . therefore you would please to bestow an afternoon or two to accompany the Committee appointed, that the body of all the members being present, they may be read over, and only read over, and so passed. . . . Debate about the Use of Exhortations.—Mr. Herle—A Directory; the end of it is for worship. Now, how this will fall under that, I know not. This will multiply our work. The Apostles did avoid all overburdening of themselves with serving tables. . . . It may prove a great snare. If exhortation, I know not why word and prayer shall not go together. Mr. Whitakers—I do not see any force of argument why this Directory may not yet stand. . . . I think that a minister stands in a general relation to all his people, and every man, in all the providences of God, is to get his heart affected, . . . to be sensible of the death of his people is his duty. . . . Said, why a Directory for men when buried and not born; you know that, presently, after birth they are brought to baptism; something is done presently after. . . . Said, if a Directory for some, then for all. . . . I see not why not for all. . . . Dorcas . . . said the Apostles would not serve tables. . . .
There is no transgression. . . . Rules in Scripture to take all occasions of doing good. . . . At death of friends, to be sensible. . . . Mr. Marshall—But one only thing worthy of your consideration in this business: whether the minister, when he is present, may give a word of exhortation. To say he should be invited to be there as a minister, would press far that it is a ministerial work. Mr. Hill—Two things may be hinted: (1) No necessity that the corpse be carried into the Church; (2) The corpse be first buried.”
“Session 334, 4th December, 1644, Wednesday morning.—Debate about Burial.—Mr. Palmer—I desire we should take away all superstition and declare against it, . . . but I do not think a dumb show becomes Christians. . . . If this ground be good, Christians ought not to meet but to meet as Christians. . . . Mr. Whitakers—I can see no ground why exhortations are not of use.”
“Session 337, 9th December, 1644, Monday morning.—Debate of the Directory for Burial.—. . . Nevertheless, this doth not inhibit any minister at that time being present to give some seasonable word of exhortation. Mr. Marshall offered a paper to express the affirmative part. Debate about something to be added to the negative.”
Lightfoot, in his Journal, tells us a proposal that something might be said at the time of interment, was passed over in silence, “and so the minister left something to his liberty. . . . Dr. Temple moved again, Whether a minister, at putting the body in the ground, may not say, We commit the body to the ground, etc. And it was conceived by the Assembly that he might, and the words, without any ceremony more, do not tie him from this.”
It will be seen from the foregoing that the chief point on which the Divines held debate, as given in the Minutes, is whether an address should be given at the grave or not; finally, as we have already seen, the minister, if present, might give an address, but their prohibition of prayer, singing, and reading, is unequivocal.
The Directory for Public Worship was accepted by the Church of Scotland on 3rd February, 1645, the Act of Assembly stating that the Church “Doth unanimously and without a contrary voice agree to and approve the following Directory in all the heads thereof, together with the Preface set before it; and doth require, decern, and ordain that, according to the plain tenor and meaning thereof and the intent of the Preface, it be carefully and uniformly observed and practised by all the ministers and others within this kingdom whom it may concern.” By the passing of the Act Recissory the Directory was deprived of its Parliamentary recognition, and at the Revolution, seeing the Act Recissory was still on the statute book, the Directory was not recognised by the State, but as late as 1705 the General Assembly passed a recommendation concerning the observation of the Directory for Worship, which is to the following effect:—”The General Assembly hereby seriously recommend to all ministers and others
within this National Church the due observance of the Directory for the Public Worship of God, approved by the General Assembly held in the year 1645, Session 10.” Other Acts were passed in 1736 and 1856 calling attention to it on certain points. From the foregoing it will at once be recognised that the Directory has a very important place in the recognised laws of the Church of Scotland, and, by natural sequence, in the ecclesiastical statute book of all the branches of Presbyterianism that claim descent from that Church. True, it may be said, that its injunctions are scarcely ever paid attention to, and even in churches which make high claims to orthodoxy there has been a woful departure from the rules laid down in the Directory, and we ourselves need not throw stones at others in this respect. But it is plain enough that it strictly prohibits prayer at the grave, and our duty as law-abiding citizens of the ecclesiastical world is plain. One of the most extraordinary reasons for departing from this good custom we have ever come across is that recently given by a writer, who, coming to the conclusion that certain parts of the Directory concerning burial were not observed, goes on to say: “It remained, therefore, to follow the dictates of a wise expediency in this affair, and to impart as much neighbourliness and inoffensiveness as possible [i.e., by praying at the grave] . . . especially in these times of sorrow, when persons are so sensitive and impressionable.” If the Directory rule is a good one, and—which is more important—a scriptural one, then it is the duty of all who would guard jealously against the inroads of superstition to strengthen the things that remain and are ready to die, instead of giving them a last unkindly knock to put them out of existence simply because, in our estimation, other laws or rules are broken.
The same writer further says:—”In a recent deliverance of the Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church on the subject of prayers at the grave, reference is made to the authority of the Directory for Public Worship. When, however, the neglected duty of reading the standards of one’s own Church is taken in hand, it will be found that, in this particular, the Directory affords no particular guidance. The Directory, indeed, forbids as vigorously the praying, reading, singing at deaths and funerals, which all of us have taken part in from time immemorial.” Certainly it is high time to take in hand the neglected duty of reading the Directory, when such an interpretation is put on the section on Burial. Here are its words: “Because the custom of kneeling down and praying by or towards the dead corpse, and other such usages, in the place where it lies before it be carried, are superstitious, . . . therefore let all such things be laid aside.” The words italicised show plainly the practices condemned by the Directory, and though the contrary has been maintained, it is quite allowable to hold that there is nothing in the Directory to condemn religious exercises in the house, provided they are not conducted in the room or place where the dead body lies. The Romish practice of praying, reading, and singing going to and at the grave is condemned.
But what has Scripture to say on these matters? Is there any evidence either in the Old or New Testament that there were religious exercises at funerals? We think not. Were there any religious exercises at the most solemn funeral that the world has seen? We read, when the body of Christ was put into the new-made tomb, that the mourners brought a mixture of aloes and myrrh, and wound the body of Jesus in linen clothes with the spices. Is there a word about prayer or religious exercises at Stephen’s funeral, who left time with his countenance already lit by the glory that was to be his? Will any one dare to say that the practice here was heathenish and cold because there was no prayer or singing at the grave? To quote the weighty words of Dr. MacCrie:—”There was no funeral among the primitive Christians. When our Saviour died, Joseph of Arimathea, a counsellor, and Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, obtained permission to inter Him, and they performed this office with all due reverence and honour. ‘They brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight, and took the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.’ But they performed no religious service over Him. And when the women came to His sepulchre, early on the first day of the week, it was not to pray, or read, or sing over it, but ‘to anoint His body with the spices they had prepared.’ In the case of the first person who was honoured to fall a martyr to Christianity, we are informed that ‘devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.’ But devout as they were, and deeply as they lamented his loss, we do not read of their performing a single religious act or rite over his grave. Nor is there the slightest vestige in the New Testament of any such practice among primitive Christians. . . . . The rites of sepulture introduced into Christian worship were borrowed, not from the Jews, but from the Heathens. . . . . Among others, the following ceremonies may be mentioned:—Supplications addressed to the god whose province it was to carry the spirit to the regions below, just before the pangs of death—the invocations of the manes, or calling on the dead at regular intervals—the ringing of bells or brazen vessels at the moment of dissolution, to drive away the furies?” D. B.
The Blind Seeing.—In his journal of a tour through Scotland (1796), the Rev. Charles Simeon, of Cambridge, writes: “Went to see Lady Ross’s grounds. Here also I saw some blind men weaving. May I never forget the following fact: One of the blind men, on being interrogated with respect to his knowledge of spiritual things, answered, ‘I never saw till I was blind; nor did I ever know contentment when I had my eyesight as I do now that I have lost it.'” “My soul,” Mr. Simeon adds, “was much affected and comforted with this declaration. It was a lesson to me.”