But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
Do not mourn immoderately for the dead as those do who believe the dead are utterly perished and have no hope. For the faithful, death is but sleep of the body until the Lord comes; the soul goes to rest in Him. Immoderate sorrow denies the resurrection and shows you have forgotten where the dead truly are.
AI summary
Do not sorrow immoderately for those who die in the Lord, as if you had no hope of eternal life, that is to grieve like the heathen, who imagine everything taken from the world perishes. We Christians have sure hope of resurrection; this alone is enough to balance all our griefs. Yet weep we may, for our own loss if nothing else, so long as we remember the dead sleep in Jesus and shall wake to glory.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Do not sorrow excessively for the dead, as pagans do who mourn without hope of resurrection and immortality, tearing hair, beating breasts, howling in desperation. The Christian's sorrow is sober and moderate, governed by reason and faith. Christ Himself wept for Lazarus; the fault lies not in mourning, but in the heathen manner of it, which springs from ignorance of the glorified saints' happiness.
AI summary