The Tradition of Visiting the Graveyard: A Theological Study on the Ways of Timorese Christians Honoring and Remembering the Dead

DOI

10.2991/icrpc-18.2019.4How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Living after Death, Visit the Grave, Dead People, Spirit, Timor, Manutapen.

Abstract

There is controversy among Christians about whether it is proper or not to visit the grave of a beloved one. First group regards that habit as idolatry while the second accepts it as a form of honoring and expressing love to those who were worthy with the exception of not talking to the dead. This article is for this question. Research was conducted among the local Church of Manutapen in Kupang. Living after death and honoring the dead in cultural and anthropological studies, and the Bible messages become the theoretical frame to discern this matter. There are three findings. First, Christians in Timor consider death is not the end of life. It is just an alteration of life in a new form. Second, death only separates body, but it is not obviate love. Visiting graves, putting flowers, lighting candles are expressions of love. Church should accept this as a means of proclamation of God’s providence. Third, it’s better for the church to provide a Christian framework to this habit in order to eliminate any elements of worshipping dead spirits.

Copyright

© 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ebenhaizer I. Nuban Timo
PY  - 2019/01
DA  - 2019/01
TI  - The Tradition of Visiting the Graveyard: A Theological Study on the Ways of Timorese Christians Honoring and Remembering the Dead
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Religion and Public Civilization (ICRPC 2018)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 16
EP  - 21
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/icrpc-18.2019.4
DO  - 10.2991/icrpc-18.2019.4
ID  - NubanTimo2019/01
ER  -