Rest In Peace

why do they say "rest in peace" at funerals?

doesn't this contradict the idea of everlasting life? i think phrases like rest in peace are synonymous with phrases like eternal slumber. when i think of everlasting life, i think i think of someone being awake constantly for all eternity, not really the same thing as resting.

Public Comments

1. well as for as we know, they look asleep so rest in peace
2. Never heard that said. It might be said in churches that believe in soul sleep. The ancient idea was to stop people from coming back as evil spirits.
3. Remember that funerals are for the living, and not the dead. The funeral is a rite of passage that helps those of us who are still living to deal with the loss; certainly they do little if anything for the deceased. I would imagine that the notion of "resting in peace" is primarily to help those in attendance have a better feeling that the deceased is no longer having to deal with all the cares and worries that the living must contend with on a daily basis.
4. because if they don't then there will be a zombie uprising.
5. Paul says: “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant concerning those who are sleeping in death; that you may not sorrow just as the rest also do who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) What comfort and peace of mind are to be found in the resurrection hope! Some five years later, Paul would introduce his second letter to the Christians in Corinth by saying: “May you have undeserved kindness and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those in any sort of tribulation through the comfort with which we ourselves are being comforted by God.”—2 Corinthians 1:2-4. The apostle did not want us to be ignorant as to the condition of the dead. In time, a great apostasy would set in among professed Christians, so that they would return to Babylonish and Greek philosophies. Such apostates would accept the Platonic doctrine of the inherent immortality of the soul—now a basic teaching throughout the world empire of false religion. The aura of mystery that surrounds the “afterlife,” whether said to be in heaven, purgatory, or a place of eternal torment, provides no true comfort. Further, inherent immortality contradicts the resurrection doctrine, for how can someone be raised again to life if the soul does not die? Paul here writes “concerning those who are sleeping in death.” Yes, “sleeping.” A person who is sleeping is not conscious of anything and is not able to perform any works. (Compare Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10.) There was an occasion during Jesus’ ministry when he said that Lazarus had “gone to rest” and that he, Jesus, would “awaken him from sleep.” When Christ’s disciples did not understand those words, “Jesus said to them outspokenly: ‘Lazarus has died.’” Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary, were comforted by the hope of the resurrection, and Jesus brought them further comfort. But how their faith must have been fortified when Jesus raised his friend, already dead for four days, from the sleep of death!—John 11:11-14, 21-25, 43-45. That miracle, together with Jesus’ other works in raising the dead, and preeminently Jehovah’s resurrecting of Jesus himself—all these well-documented events strengthen our confidence in the marvelous resurrection hope. (Luke 7:11-17; 8:49-56; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8) True, death brings sorrow and tears, and it is hard to adjust to the absence of a loved one. But what comfort and strength we gain from the assurance that the Sovereign Lord Jehovah “will actually swallow up death forever, and . . . will certainly wipe the tears from all faces”! (Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 21:4) One of the best cures for sorrow is keeping busy in the service of the God of peace, giving out to others the heartwarming Kingdom hope that we ourselves have so gratefully received.—Compare Acts 20:35.