The Communion of Saints and Prayer

New Testament Perspectives

Authors

  • Boris Paschke ETF Leuven, Belgium

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29357/2789-1577.2022.20.1.2

Keywords:

Communion of Saints, Gathering of Believers, Intercession, New Testament, Online Prayer, Prayer for the Dead, Prayer Reports

Abstract

This article studies the Christian Church as a communion of saints by focusing on the New Testament references to prayer. Because of their content, some prayers are directly and expressly concerned with the communion and unity of Christian believers. But independent of their specific topic or request, all prayers provide worthwhile insights with regard to the communion of saints. The importance (and even necessity) of Christians praying together as well as interceding and giving thanks for each other is stressed. Numerous prayers having been uttered by individual believers in solitude are later reported in letters in order to strengthen the rest of the Church. By taking into account the unfortunate physical fragmentation of churches during the Covid-19 pandemic, the contribution highlights what the Church today, as a physical (and digital) communion of saints, can learn from the New Testament’s teaching on prayer. 

References

  1. Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Containing the Old and New Testaments. Peabody:
  2. Hendrickson Publishers (in Conjunction with Oxford University Press), 2004.
  3. Novum Testamentum Graece. Based on the Work of Eberhard and Erwin Nestle. 28th Revised Edition, edited by Barbara and Kurt Aland et al. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.
  4. Seneca in Ten Volumes. Vol. 5, Ad Lucilium epistulae morales, vol. 2. With an English Translation by Richard M. Gummere. The Loeb Classical Library 76. London: William Heinemann, 1970.
  5. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Sanctorum Communio: Eine dogmatische Untersuchung zur Soziologie der Kirche. Theologische Bücherei 3. Third Revised Edition, München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1960.
  6. ________. The Communion of Saints: A Dogmatic Inquiry into the Sociology of the Church. Third Edition. Translated by R. Gregor Smith. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
  7. Chapman, David M. “Rest and Light Perpetual: Prayer for the Departed in the Communion of Saints.” One in Christ 34, no. 1 (1998): 39-49.
  8. Cullmann, Oscar. Das Gebet im Neuen Testament: Zugleich Versuch einer vom Neuen Testament aus zu erteilenden Antwort auf heutige Fragen. Second Revised Edition. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997.
  9. Earle, Ralph. “2 Timothy.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, edited by Frank E. Gaebelein. Vol. 11, Ephesians-Philemon. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978, 391-418.
  10. Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998.
  11. Gould, James B. Understanding Prayer for the Dead: Its Foundation in History and Logic. Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press, 2017.
  12. Guthrie, Donald. The Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary. Second Edition. The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 14. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1990.
  13. Hamman, Adalbert Gautier. La prière. Vol. 1, Le Nouveau Testament. Bibliothèque de Théologie 436. Tournai: Desclée & Cie, 1959.
  14. Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Creeds. Third edition. Harlow: Longman, 1972.
  15. Köstenberger, Andreas J. A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters. Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.
  16. Kruse, Heinz. “‘Gemeinschaft der Heiligen:’ Herkunft und Bedeutung des Glaubensartikels.” Vigiliae Christianae 47, no. 3 (1993): 246-259.
  17. Lock, Walter. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles (I & II Timothy and Titus). The International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1924.
  18. Longenecker, Richard N. “Prayer in the Pauline Letters.” In Into God’s Presence: Prayer in the New Testament, edited by Richard N. Longenecker. McMaster New Testament Studies 5. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002, 203-227.
  19. Ridgeway, Chris. “Online Communion Can Still Be Sacramental: The Bread and the Cup Zoomed for You.” Christianity Today, March 2020 (posted March 27, 2020).
  20. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/march-web-only/online-communion-can-still- be-sacramental.html. (accessed on 13 September 2021).
  21. Schnelle, Udo. The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings. Translated by M. Eugene Boring. London: SCM Press, 1998.
  22. ________. Theologie des Neuen Testaments. Third Revised Edition. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016.
  23. Van Spanje, T.E. 2 Korintiërs: Profiel van een evangeliedienaar. Commentaar op het Nieuwe Testament, Derde serie, Afdeling Brieven van Paulus. Kampen: KokBoekencentrum, 2009.

Downloads

Published

2022-07-28

How to Cite

Paschke, Boris. 2022. “The Communion of Saints and Prayer : New Testament Perspectives”. Theological Reflections: Eastern European Journal of Theology 20 (1):27-40. https://doi.org/10.29357/2789-1577.2022.20.1.2.