The Christian act of praying for the dead became a matter of dispute after Protestant Reformers dismissed the idea of purgatory and the need for the relief of souls. The Church of England was quick to adopt the Protestant outlook, which arguably made post-mortem prayers a superfluous practice. Yet in seventeenth-century England some clergymen still encouraged praying for deceased souls, endeavouring to ground this practice in alternative motives. This article focuses on a hitherto overlooked letter (printed here) from the astrologer-physician and country clergyman Richard Napier to William Page of All Souls College in Oxford, arguing that since the “most just” already reside in heaven, anyone praying for their souls must be praying towards their joyful resurrection rather than to relieve them from any torments. Such an argument, I maintain, allowed seventeenth-century English ministers like Page to openly advocate praying for all deceased souls without risking religious nonconformity.

中文翻译：

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为不在炼狱中的灵魂祈祷：卡罗琳辩论的被忽视的文本

在新教改革者驳回了炼狱的想法和解救灵魂的必要性之后，基督教为死者祈祷的行为成为一个有争议的问题。英格兰教会很快就接受了新教的观点，这可以说使死后祈祷成为一种多余的做法。然而，在 17 世纪的英格兰，一些神职人员仍然鼓励为死者的灵魂祈祷，努力将这种做法置于其他动机之上。这篇文章的重点是迄今为止被忽视的一封信（印在此处），来自占星家兼乡村牧师理查德·纳皮尔 (Richard Napier) 写给牛津万灵学院威廉·佩奇 (William Page) 的信，其中认为，既然“最公正的人”已经住在天堂，那么任何为自己的灵魂祈祷的人必须为他们快乐的复活祈祷，而不是让他们摆脱任何折磨。这样的论点，我坚持，