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James 5:14

 

"Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord . . ."

 

Problem:

 

This passage is used to support the doctrine of "extreme unction". Extreme unction is described as "the anointing by the priest of those in danger of death by sickness, with holy oil, accompanied with a special prayer . . . It is called Extreme because administered to sick persons when thought to be near the close of life." ¹

 

Solution:

1. The passage in James is no sanction for the R.C. practice for the following reasons:
   1. Extreme unction is administered only to those who are expected to die, not for those who are expected to recover, (it is intended as a preparation of the soul for its last passage). The purpose of the instruction in James is that the "prayer" of faith shall save the sick. (vs. 15).
   2. The concern, in the administration of extreme unction, is for the soul. The passage in James is concerned with physical infirmities. This is indicated by verse 15, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."
   3. The Roman Church sends a priest. James instructs that the elders (plural) be called.
      
2. Notice that the R.C. teaching on extreme unction depends for its rationale on the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. When the immortality of the soul is shown to be non-scriptural, the underpinnings for extreme unction is destroyed.

1. Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism, (London: The Banner of Truth Trust., 1966), p. 248. Return