MORMON BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD
(This subject will be better understood after having read through
the article "Baptism and the Use of Biblical Symbolism.")
In formulating their doctrine of baptism for the dead the LDS has jumped to wrong conclusions because of having taken an isolated scripture out of its biblical context. Ordinances for the dead were never practised either by the Jews under the Old Covenant or by the Christians under the New. Furthermore, the Bible teaches that we choose the path we follow whilst we are here on earth, and then after death comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27.)
If we plucked two isolated sentences out of any piece of literature and attempted to work out what the author was trying to convey by those two sentences alone, we would most likely jump to the wrong conclusion. And this is exactly what the LDS church has done here with the Bible. The verse used by them as a proof text for their doctrine on baptism for the dead is 1 Corinthians 15:29. But if we read all the way through from 1 Corinthians 15:12, we'll notice that the subject of this section of Paul's letter was resurrection, not baptism for the dead. The entire chapter deals solely with the resurrection.
The historical and cultural background to this section of scripture is as follows:
"Corinth was a Greek city, and the Greeks did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. When Paul had preached at Athens and declared the fact of Christ's resurrection, some of his listeners actually laughed at him (Acts 17:32). Most Greek philosophers considered the human body a prison, and they welcomed death as deliverance from bondage.In this passage of scripture Paul is addressing a congregation of fellow believers solely on the subject of resurrection. You will notice that all the way through this chapter he uses the words you, me and I. But when he makes mention of folk being baptized for the dead, he suddenly switches to those, them and they. He says in verse 29:
This skeptical attitude had somehow invaded the church and Paul had to face it head-on. The truth of the resurrection had doctrinal and practical implications for life that were too important to ignore." (The Bible Exposition Commentary)
Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:29, KJV)More or less as a remark made in passing, Paul was asking why should these other folk carry out this practice if they believed that the dead did not rise at all?
Obviously the Christians whom Paul was addressing did not practice baptism for the dead. Nowhere in the Bible is there any mention of believers ever baptizing by proxy for the dead. Furthermore, the LDS says that ordinances for the dead have to be performed in temples, and the primitive church never had any temples. Other than the pagan temples, the only temples mentioned in the New Testament belonged to the unsaved Jews, who fell under the Old Covenant. When it came to the people of God, temples were a part of the Old Covenant set up, not the New. (See the article on temples.) After Christ had ratified the New Covenant of Grace by His shed blood on the cross, the believers themselves became the temple of God, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16).
If baptism for the dead had been a teaching or a doctrine of the primitive church, there would have been some very clear, detailed instructions about this, and it would have been mentioned over and over again in the same way as their teachings are constantly repeated concerning salvation, grace, justification and so on. But this is the only time that baptism for the dead is ever mentioned at all throughout the entire Bible. And then it was in only one isolated verse, and the subject being discussed wasn't baptism for the dead, but resurrection.
Lastly, baptism for the dead does not fit into the big picture of the whole of the rest of the Bible. It actually contradicts what the Bible teaches, i.e. that in this life we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, and that after death comes the judgment. Nowhere does the Bible tell us that we can have a second chance after death, only judgment.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27, KJV)
As mentioned at the start of this article, the reason why baptism for the dead is both wrong and unnecessary, will be better understood after reading the article on "Baptism and the Use of Biblical Symbolism," which will be found by following this lead:
Baptism and the Use of Biblical Symbolism
Copyright 2007, by Mormonism and Biblical Truth. All rights reserved.
