beginning with and includes the Hebrew phrase "שלום על שראל" (peace be upon Israel). It has been interpreted variously as an "inscription relating to the Jews of France", or as a Jewish inscription. Funerary texts with wishes for the deceased in the afterlife are as old as writing itself – the first known phonetic inscriptions were funerary texts from
Ur thought to be wishes for an eternal life. The phrase
dormit in pace was first found on tombstones some time before the fifth century. It became ubiquitous on the tombs of Christians in the 18th century, as well as Roman Catholics in particular, it was a
prayerful request that their
soul should find peace in the
afterlife. This is associated with the Christian doctrine of the
particular judgment; that is, that the soul is parted from the body upon death, but that the
soul and body will be reunited on
Judgment Day.
Use in various religions Irish Protestantism In 2017, members of the
Orange Order in Northern Ireland called on
Protestants to stop using the phrase "RIP" or "Rest in Peace". Wallace Thompson, the secretary of the
Evangelical Protestant Society, said on a
BBC Radio Ulster programme that he would encourage Protestants to refrain from using the term "RIP". Thompson said that he regards "RIP" as a
prayer for the dead, which he believes contradicts biblical doctrine. In the same radio programme,
Presbyterian Ken Newell disagreed that people are praying for the dead when they use the phrase.
Judaism The expression "rest in peace" is "not commonly used in Jewish contexts", though some commentators say that it is "consistent with Jewish practice". The traditional Hebrew expression , literally 'may peace be upon him', is sometimes rendered in English as 'may he rest in peace'. On the other hand, some Jews object to using the phrase for Jews, considering it to reflect a Christian perspective. ==Gallery==