Praying for the the dead?

Can the living help the dead by praying for them? According to Catholic doctrine, they can:

"Communion with the dead. In full consciousness of this communication of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from the earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins she offers her suffrages for them. Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective." Pg. 250, #958

1]"It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead."

According to God's Word, it is neither holy nor wholesome to pray for the dead. Christians are instructed to pray for the living, but not one example exists of true Christians praying for the dead. This is another tradition of men.

2] Praying for the dead can help loose them from their sins.

Here is a tradition built upon a tradition. The Scriptures never suggest that this statement is true.

How different this is from the Catholic picture of Jesus, which reduces the Lord to a spiritual weakling devoid of power and authority. Dear Catholic friend, Jesus Christ does not need help from anyone! He is well able to do the job:

"Wherefore he (Jesus) is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7:25

Before you pray for another deceased loved one, please understand that these are all man-made rules. God never asked you to pray for the dead, nor did He promised it would do any good.

As all Catholics assume, that all these rules are somehow coming from God. But they' re not! Read the Bible and see for yourself. The Catechism teaches traditions of men, not commands of God.

The Same Pattern

Surely, you have noticed that Jesus has taken yet another serious demotion. From the One and only Divine Intercessor at the Father's right hand, Jesus is hurled down into the crowd of dead humans and is relegated to being one of many intercessors. Why does the Catholic religion keep doing this to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Conclusion

Once again, you are faced with several important decisions:

Will you continue praying for the dead, knowing that it is a tradition of men and not a command of God?

Will you cling to a doctrine which degrades the Lord Jesus Christ so that church tradition can be exalted?

Will you knowingly reject the Word of God to follow man' s traditions? These are decisions you must make. As you ponder these things, remember the words of Jesus:

"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matthew 15:9

In Ephesians 6 we are strongly encouraged to pray for all the saints (refers to the living, not the dead) and as we all know, it is a good thing to pray for one another.

So, yes intercession is certainly encouraged in scripture.

However, we pray for those who are alive and well on planet earth; not to spirits in the great beyond.

Satan has deluded some to believe that it is right and proper to pray to dead people. In the old Testament, they call it "necromancy". It's the same as New Age doctrine which teaches people to summon their spirit guide for wisdom and guidance.

What disturbs me is the occultic connotations associated with what appears to be a form of idol worship.

I truly don't believe most RCs are aware that this worship of mortal beings is idolatry. I also believe most of them mean well and have good intentions. Praying to the dead seems very dangerous to me...and sets a precedent for summoning spirits whose origin man knows not...

If I were RC, I'd wonder if my prayers to the dead aren't being intercepted by malignant spirits. Satan himself appears as angel of light.