Burial Sentences (1928 BCP)

Burial Sentences (1928 BCP) are the three scriptural sentences spoken or sung as the minister meets the body at the beginning of "The Order for The Burial of the Dead" in the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer. They make the first theological claim of the office before any psalm, lesson, committal, or prayer is heard: Christian burial begins under Christ's word of resurrection, Job's confession that the Redeemer lives, and the humble acknowledgement that human life and death remain in the hand of the Lord.

Text in the 1928 Burial Office

The 1928 rubric places the sentences at the threshold of the rite. The minister meets the body and goes before it "either into the Church or towards the Grave." The action matters: the Church does not begin with a private meditation about death, but with public Scripture spoken over the body and in front of the mourners.

I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.

I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.

We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

The first sentence is from John 11:25-26, where Christ speaks to Martha before raising Lazarus. In the burial office it is not a general sentiment about survival after death. It is a direct confession that resurrection life is in Christ himself: "I am the resurrection and the life." The rite therefore begins with Christ speaking before the mourners speak.

The second sentence adapts Job 19:25-27. Its place immediately after John 11 joins Old Testament hope to the gospel promise. Job's words are useful at a grave because they confess a living Redeemer while the body is visibly mortal. The 1928 wording, "though this body be destroyed," keeps the sentence from minimizing bodily death, while "yet shall I see God" keeps death from being the last word.

The third sentence joins 1 Timothy 6:7 to Job 1:21. It strips away possession, achievement, and control: the bereaved brought nothing into the world and can carry nothing out. Yet the final clause still blesses the Lord's Name. That makes the sentence penitential and doxological at the same time.

Movement into Psalmody and Lesson

The burial sentences are not isolated proof-texts. The 1928 office immediately moves from them into selected psalms, where mortality, repentance, refuge, and hope are prayed. Psalm 39 gives the most austere development of the third sentence: human life is brief, but hope is still addressed to God.

Lord, let me know mine end, and the number of my days; * that I may be certified how long I have to live.

Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long, and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; * and verily every man living is altogether vanity. For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; * he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.

And now, Lord, what is my hope? * truly my hope is even in thee.

The appointed lesson from 1 Corinthians 15 then supplies the office's doctrinal center. The entrance sentences announce Christ, the Redeemer, and the Lord who gives and takes away; the lesson proclaims the resurrection of Christ and the future transformation of the dead in Christ.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

The anthem after the committal completes the same arc. The opening sentences face death with Christ's promise; the psalms teach prayer in frailty; the lesson teaches resurrection; and the final anthem speaks of blessed rest "in the Lord."

I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, From henceforth blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: even so saith the Spirit; for they rest from their labours.

Historical Anglican Pattern

The three sentences are not a 1928 novelty. They descend from the first English Prayer Book burial office, where the priest met the corpse at the church stile and began with John 11, Job 19, and 1 Timothy 6 joined to Job 1. The 1549 text shows the same entrance structure, though in the spelling and phrasing of the first Prayer Book.

I AM the resurreccion and the life (sayth the Lord): he that beleveth in me, yea though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lyveth and beleveth in me: shall not dye for ever.

I KNOWE that my redemer lyveth, and that I shall ryse out of the yearth in the last daye, and shalbe covered again with my skinne and shall see God in my flesh: yea and I myselfe shall beholde hym, not with other but with these same iyes.

WE brought nothyng into this worlde, neyther may we carye any thyng out of this worlde. The Lord geveth, and the Lord taketh awaie. Even as it pleaseth the Lorde, so cummeth thynges to passe: blessed be the name of the Lorde.

The 1662 English book preserves the same threefold beginning with updated orthography and explicit biblical marginal references. This continuity matters for interpreting the 1928 American form: the sentences are a received Anglican entrance proclamation, not a decorative funeral preface.

I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.

We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

The 1928 American wording is closest to this received Prayer Book order, but it makes a notable adjustment in Job's sentence: where the 1662 text follows the Authorized Version's "after my skin worms destroy this body," the 1928 office reads "though this body be destroyed." That change makes the text plainer for congregational hearing while retaining the theological force: the body is mortal, the Redeemer lives, and the faithful shall see God.

Theological Meaning

The burial sentences hold together three truths that Anglican burial must not separate. First, death is confronted by Christ's own person and promise. Second, the body is not disposable: Job's confession and the later 1 Corinthians lesson keep Christian hope tied to resurrection, not merely to the immortality of the soul. Third, bereavement is placed under providence and worship, because "The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away" ends not in accusation but in blessing.

Frederick William Faber, writing from a nineteenth-century High Church and Tractarian setting, is a useful interpretive witness because he describes the burial office as a doctrinal act, not simply a consolation ceremony. His language should not be treated as the final authority over the 1928 American text, but it identifies what the text itself repeatedly says: the service witnesses to the resurrection of the body.

The light in which I want you to view the Burial Service is this;--as containing a great catholic truth, which breathes out in all its prayers, as well as in its psalms and lesson, the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, the reverence due to the flesh of Christ's departed members.

The 1928 sentences can therefore be read clause by clause. "I am the resurrection and the life" makes Christ, not human memory, the ground of hope. "He that believeth in me" addresses faith without denying grief. "Though he were dead" names death as real. "I know that my redeemer liveth" gives the mourners a confession to say when sight seems to contradict faith. "Though this body be destroyed" refuses sentimental denial of bodily corruption. "Yet shall I see God" confesses final communion with God. "We brought nothing into this world" humbles earthly attachment. "Blessed be the name of the LORD" turns bereavement into worship without pretending that death is painless.

Use in Worship and Catechesis

In parish worship, the burial sentences should be allowed to do their work at the beginning of the office. They are often the first words the congregation hears in the presence of the body. Clergy and catechists can explain them as the compressed grammar of the whole burial rite: Christ's promise, bodily resurrection, creaturely humility, and praise.

The sentences also guard against two pastoral errors. They do not let the funeral become mere biography, because the first voice is Christ's word rather than the mourner's memory. They also do not let the service become cold doctrinal recitation, because each sentence is spoken at the very moment the body is met and accompanied. The doctrine is prayed where grief is actually present.

See Also

• Book of Common Prayer (1928)
• Occasional Offices (1928 BCP)
• Burial of the Dead (1928 BCP)
• Committal in the Burial Office (1928 BCP)
• Resurrection Hope in the Burial Office (1928 BCP)

External Links

• The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: Burial of the Dead
• The 1549 Book of Common Prayer: Burial
• The Church of England: The Burial of the Dead
• Frederick W. Faber, The Burial Service