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Sessions
References
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For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
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1982 Hymnal #287,
William Walsham
How, 1864.
"What I want to know is, where is he now?"
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A young widow's question to N. T. Wright, a few weeks after the funeral
of her husband
Should we pray (a) to the saints; (b)
for the saints; (c) with the saints; (d) all of
the above; (e) none of the above? What is the difference between All
Saints Day and All Souls Day? What do we mean by "heaven," "hell," and
the state, place (or moment?) called Purgatory? When those we have loved
die, what happens to them? Where are they now? What is the
ultimate Christian hope? Is it to go to heaven? If so, then why do we
profess in the Creed,
not that we look forward to going to heaven, but rather that we look
forward to the "resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to
come"?
In this four-part series from April 3, 2005 to April 24,
2005, based on the new book by N. T.
Wright, For
All the Saints? Remembering the Christian Departed, we
tried to clarify our thinking about such questions, and what we can
and cannot say in answer.
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