Was Bucer an ‘Aérian’? The Question of Praying for the Dead

Abstract

This paper considers whether Bucer compromised the Reformation tenet that intercession for the dead was illegitimate. Examined is his apparent flexibility during the Church reunion colloquies and thereafter. Illustrated is how Bucer's characteristic concern with the semantics of theological vocabulary led him to approach the question in the spirit of: ‘It depends what one means by praying for the dead.’ On the basis of his theology of love and of his broadening ecclesiology, he develops a position which can be falsely construed as a ‘via media’ between Protestant and Catholic positions. The designation used repeatedly by himself was ‘moderation’. Recognizing that patristic testimony is irreconcilable with Scripture, Bucer nonetheless stipulated praying for, or ‘about’ the dead as an evangelical opportunity. However, he reiterates that the relationship of the departed to God is exclusively determined by their faith, so that liturgical prayer for them conceived as sacrificially meritorious intercession is ultra vires.I dedicate this piece gladly to my esteemed, lately deceased colleague and friend in Glasgow, Douglas M. Murray, who had an informed and critical interest in issues surrounding this subject.