By REV. JOHN COLQUHOUN, Glendale.
FOR many years now it has become an almost universal custom in Scotland to have a prayer at the grave at funerals, and too many accept the custom without question, as if it was the right and proper thing to do. In such an age of hurry as ours is, men seem to have lost the power of seriously reflecting on matters which pass before them, and take no thought as to whether these matters are right or wrong. This is outstandingly true of the custom under review, and, therefore, the fact that it has not a shred of authority cannot be too often impressed upon the rising generation. The Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland has in 1909 passed a resolution condemning the practice and re-affirmed that resolution twenty years later. By this resolution the Synod clearly demonstrated that it was following the line of the Church of Scotland in its best days, for it re-affirmed its adherence to what the Westminster Directory for the Public Worship of God says on this matter.
In that Directory, under the section headed, “Concerning Burial of the Dead,” we read, “When any person departeth this life, let the dead body, upon the day of burial, be decently attended from the house to the place appointed for public burial, and there immediately interred, without any ceremony. And 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 to burial, are superstitious; and for that praying, reading, and 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. That this shall not extend to deny any civil respects or deferences at the burial, suitable to the rank and condition of the party deceased, while he was living.” We see from the foregoing that the body is to be buried “without any ceremony,” that is, as far as any ceremony of a religious nature is concerned, though it does not forbid any civil respects which were suitable to the rank of the party while he was living. In refusing to have a religious service at the grave, our forefathers were acknowledging that the souls of the Lord’s people were in no need of a religious service on earth and that the souls of the others could not derive any benefit from it, while the body which they were consigning to the earth was only the tabernacle where the soul once dwelt, though yet to be raised as a glorious body in the case of believers. They also had their eye on how such a service had in times past been grossly abused and made hurtful to the living, by fostering many superstitious practices contrary to the revealed will of God. All that they deemed necessary was that, if a minister happened to be present he might exhort the living as to their duty. This, of course, does not interfere with the conducting of worship at the house if the minister or some other professing man is present, for any minister, worthy of the name, will conduct worship in every household of his congregation, if at all possible, as often as he visits them, and if this is his duty on ordinary occasions, surely an exception cannot be made of a time when the family are bereaved. Even in this connection, a minister has to be on his guard against the latent superstition of the human heart, for sometimes efforts are made by ignorant persons to get the worship taken in the room where the dead body is lying, thus making it a service for the dead, as, in fact, prayers at the grave are.
That this Directory was an authoritative document of the Church of Scotland in days when men stood nobly by the Church’s standards and practice, is clearly proved by the passing of an Act of the General Assembly on 3rd February, 1645, “establishing and putting in execution of the Directory,” and, again, by an Act of the Scottish Parliament on 6th February, 1645, in which it unanimously ratified and approved the Directory, and added its authority to the said Act of the General Assembly. It is true that by the passing of the Act Recissory, and the leaving of that Act on the Statute Book at the time of the Revolution Settlement, the Directory lost its Parliamentary recognition, yet in 1705 the General Assembly recommended to all ministers and others within the pale of the Church of Scotland to observe the Directory for Public Worship as “approved by the General Assembly held in the year 1645, Session 10.”
When the Church of Scotland in 1645 accepted the Directory for Public Worship nothing new was introduced as far as the burial of the dead was concerned. It conformed exactly, on this point, to the older standards of that Church, and to what was her practice since the setting up of the Protestant Church. In the First Book of Discipline, approved by the General Assembly in 1560, we read concerning the burial of the dead, “For the avoiding of all inconveniences, 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 think that singing and reading of the living may profit the dead. And therefore we think it most expedient, that the dead be conveyed to the place of burial with some honest company of the kirk, 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 that those that be present may seem to fear the judgments of God, and to hate sin, which is the cause of death.”
The Book of Common Order, being the rule of worship used by the English Congregation of Geneva, of which John Knox was at one time minister, and which has been “received and used by the Reformed Kirk of Scotland” previous to the First Book of Discipline, is equally explicit on this matter, for it says, “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.” This Book of Common Order was approved by John Calvin, which, incidentally, shows what the view of this great man was on this subject. That this was the practice in other Reformed Churches as well as in the Church of Scotland may be gathered from the fact that the French Reformed Church at a meeting of its Synod in 1562 decreed, “That all superstition may be avoided, ministers shall not use any prayers at the interment of the dead.” That this practice was strictly adhered to in this country we have on the authority of Alexander Henderson, when he says, in his Government and Order of the Church of Scotland, published in 1641, “Burials are conducted without singing or reading, which the superstitious do conceive to be profitable for the dead; without funeral sermons, which do beget superstition, and tend to flattery.”
In the last quotation reference is made to funeral sermons, which are to be distinguished from prayers at the grave, but both are forbidden by the subordinate standards of the Church of Scotland, and by the Acts of her General Assemblies, showing that the uniform practice was to have no burial service. It is true that during the reign of Episcopacy funeral sermons were introduced, contrary to the First Book of Discipline, and an enactment of the General Assembly in 1651, but when Episcopacy was thrown out at the Assembly of 1638 the old law with respect to funeral sermons was revived. (See Acts of Assembly, 1638, Session 23, 24.)
As, however, we are not bound to accept any standards for worship, drawn up by men, unless these standards conform to the Scriptures, we must go to the Word of God for these matters. We search in vain for precept or example in the Bible for prayer at the grave, but though, on the other hand, we lack a direct precept to abstain from prayers at the grave, we do not lack examples which show that such exercises have not Scripture warrant. We have an account of the burial of many of the Lord’s dear saints, but nowhere do we read of a religious service on such an occasion. Of the funeral of Sarah, who was so precious in the sight of Abraham, we read the simple statement: “And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre.” An equally simple statement we have of the burial of Isaac: “And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.” Joseph loved and reverenced Jacob as much as any son ever loved and reverenced his father, but though we have a particular account of two periods of mourning which he caused to be made for him, we have no records of a religious service at his burial. “Devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him,” but there is not a word that they had a religious service. To crown all, the most solemn funeral which was ever witnessed in this world, and which preached so eloquently of the fulfilment of the purposes of Jehovah, had no religious ceremony in connection with it, for all we read is, “Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore, because of the Jews preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.” Even in His burial He made common cause with His people for it was “as the manner of the Jews was to bury,” and as they had no funeral services we may safely assume that there was none at His.
(To be continued.)