It is a common practice in Roman Catholic tradition to pray for those who have departed from this life into the next. Of course, they have purgatory to contend with and attempt to shorten the experience of their loved ones in that place of purgatorial fire. But I do not pray for the dead. I do not pray for my twin brother Jimmy who recently passed away. Here is why:

1. The Bible does not teach praying for the dead. At this point we have to discuss which Bible — Catholic or Protestant. The only passage which teaches praying for the dead is from 2 Maccabees 12:45 in the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha was added to the Catholic Bible in the 1540s at the Council of Trent as part of the Counter-Reformation. They wanted to prove that the Church had authority over the Bible instead of the Bible having authority over the Church as the Reformers were teaching. However, it is the teaching of Jesus which helps. The Apocryphal books which were added to the Catholic Bible were all written before the time of Jesus. These books were available when Jesus was on earth in his earthly ministry in his first coming. But Jesus gave his stamp of approval on the Jewish Scriptures which constitute the Old Testament of the Protestant Bible. In Luke 11:51 Jesus uses the phrase “from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah.” Abel died in Genesis. Zechariah died in 2 Chronicles, the last book of the Old Testament in the Jewish order of the books. Jesus was saying the equivalent of our modern Christian “from Genesis to Revelation.” In this statement he affirms the Jewish Scriptures that he possessed WHICH DID NOT INCLUDE THE APOCRYPHA. He also affirmed the Jewish canon in other passages like Luke 24:27. In other words, Jesus put his stamp of approval on the Old Testament that is found in the Protestant Bible. So those who follow the teachings of the Apocrypha must answer the question why they have a different Old Testament than the one Jesus used. I want to have the same OT that Christ used. One of the consequences is that I have no biblical grounds for praying for the dead.

2. The Bible teaches that the eternal destiny of souls cannot be changed when one passes away. For a believer, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6-9; Phil. 1:21-23). Once a person dies, his fate is sealed (Luke 16:19-31). There are several other passages that could be discussed but the conclusion is the same. There is no teaching allowing for or commanding prayer for the dead. Such praying is of no consequence.

Sometimes I find myself asking God to give Jimmy a hug for me and tell him that I love him. That is a kind of praying for the dead, I guess. It is a natural human response in light of losing a loved one. God knows how frail we are and might actually answer such a prayer in the affirmative. I don’t know. But his eternal destiny is settled and my prayers could not improve his lot in any way. He has new personal friends now: Paul, Peter, the other apostles, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, King David, and the rest of the Old Testament heroes of the faith. But most of all, Jimmy has been firmly embraced by God and Jesus. If I did pray for Jimmy, it would be but a thimble of water poured into the Pacific Ocean. Things are already settled. My brother Jimmy is in heaven awaiting the day when I cross over to meet him. Perhaps he is the one praying to God asking Him to watch over me.

Jimmy and I played the usual three years of little league baseball through the YMCA in Huntsville when we were around 10 to 12 years old. We played at several different baseball fields, but the two most frequent (and my favorites) were the fenced in field by Jack’s hamburger place on Governors Drive — it was right across from the Winn Dixie grocery store where the two of us would eventually work — and the McCormick YM

CA field. Perhaps somewhat prophetic, the McCormick field was right across the street from West Huntsville Baptist Church where Jimmy and I would come to Christ a decade later. I used to look at the church during games and wonder what it was like to attend church in that building.

I have attached a faded photograph of our first little league team. I am second from the right on the front row wearing # 6 (the number of Jimmy and my favorite player Al Kaline, hall of fame right fielder for the Detroit Tigers). Jimmy is to my right without a hat and wearing his glove. There were highlights in our lives from all three years. My best year was year # 2 in my estimation. The first year, the coach found out I knew how to bunt which in the end I didn’t like. He put me as the lead off hitter in every game and he gave me the bunt signal every time I came up to bat the whole season–yes, the whole season!.. I wanted to hit singles, doubles, triples, and home runs! But the coach knew I could bunt and create havoc since most young boys did not yet field well. One time I bunted right through the second baseman’s legs out into short right field and ended up on third base after sliding into first, second, and third in a Bad News Bears kind of scene. I put it down in my record book as a triple when it was really safe on third because of two fielding errors.

In elementary school in Alabama, the boys at recess used to line up and choose sides — Alabama or Auburn. Most chose the Crimson Tide. In fact, it was our third grade teacher, Miss Sally Smith, that taught Jimmy and I to love the University of Alabama in all things, not just football.

We grew up in the days of Paul “Bear” Bryant and Bama fans expected us to challenge for a national championship every year much like they do with Nick Saban at the healm now. But the entire South is football crazy not just Alabama. Up north they love their football teams. Down south we “worship” our football teams. I have often said that down South during the Fall season, we have two revival meetings every weekend — one at church on Sundays and one at the football stadium on Saturdays. And there is a lot more prayer on Saturdays than on Sundays, believe you me.

Jimmy and I went to our first Alabama football game together along with Eileen (his future wife). That was Nov. 9, 1974 (my Dad’s birthday). At the famous Legion Field in Birmingham, we watched our Crimson Tide smother LSU 30-0 in an afternoon game. Jimmy and I had recently come to faith in Christ. The next game we went to together, Bama lost so I won’t talk about that much!

Growing up, we would shoot basketball free throws in our driveway with the car radio on, so we could hear the game on Saturdays. This was before all the games were televised.

One televised Bowl game of note was the Alabama vs Penn State game of 1979. Penn State was ranked number 1 and Alabama number 2 in the nation. Bama was ahead 14-7 with just a few minutes left and Penn State had the ball inside the one-yard line, 4th and goal (they had been stopped on 3rd and one). The running back for Penn State took the handoff on fourth down and tried to jump over the line into the end zone. The Alabama linebacker came up to meet him at the top of the pile and pushed him back in what is probably the most famous play in Alabama history. What you need to know is that Jimmy and I were sitting on the couch together watching this. Without even thinking about it, when the Alabama linebacker jumped up to meet the Penn State running back, both Jimmy and I jumped from the couch to the front of the TV to help push him back. We did not just watch Alabama games. We participated in them.

Another game I remember, Jimmy and I were listening on the radio (Oct 12, 1974). Alabama was playing Florida State before Bobby Bowden’s time. At that particular time, FSU had lost 16 straight games. But Alabama was down to its third string quarterback. Both Gary Rutledge and Richard Todd had been hurt and knocked out for this game. But everyone said Bear Bryant could be quarterback and Alabama would win easily. FSU took the kickoff to start the game and went 78 yards for a touchdown. At the beginning of the 4th quarter, it was still 7-0 FSU. Bama got a field goal early in the 4th to make it 7-3. FSU then took a safety on purpose with about a minute left because of punting out of the back of their own end zone. They did not want a blocked kick for a touchdown. Then they kicked to BAMA and a young man named Willie Shelby ran it a good ways back. A pass to Ozzie Newsome got it in closer. Bucky Berrey kicked a field goal with 33 seconds left to put Alabama ahead 8-7. What were Jimmy and I doing to participate? Like always, we were praying along with the Crimson Nation. Does God care about how football games go? I don’t know. But Jimmy and I prayed like He did!

I’ll miss talking to Jimmy about Alabama football. When I cross the threshold into God’s country, I may hear Jimmy say to me “Roll Tide.” I’ll say it back and I may even find some Auburn friends to hug — and give them an Alabama hoodie!