BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD? I Cor. 15:29 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? In I Cor. 15 Paul is teaching the Corinthians concerning the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and its implication for the resurrection to eternal life of all born-again believers. However, what is baptism for the dead? I Cor. 15:29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for [on behalf of, in the place of] the dead? The Mormons practise baptism for the dead. They teach baptism is essential for salvation in the kingdom of God. We learn in the New Testament that baptisms for the dead were done during the Apostle Paul s time (see I Cor. 15:29). This practice has been restored with the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Prophet Joseph Smith first taught about the ordinance of baptism for the dead during a funeral sermon in August 1840. He read much of 1 Corinthians 15, including verse 29, and announced that the Lord would permit Church members to be baptized in behalf of their friends and relatives who had departed this life. (Journal History of the Church, 15 Aug. 1840). Because all who have lived on the earth have not had the opportunity to be baptized by proper authority during life on earth, baptisms may be performed by proxy, meaning a living person may be baptized in behalf of a deceased person. In such a baptismal service a Mormon represents and adopts the name of a person who has died, and is baptized on their behalf. In this way, - they say, - the dead person has fulfilled the requirements of salvation in the afterworld and is saved. In other words, the salvation of the dead person is saved through the efforts and works of the person who is baptised on their behalf. Now, obviously this has absolutely no Biblical foundation for salvation is through the personal faith of the individual who repents, confesses their sin, and believes in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Therefore, a dead corpse has no possibility of exercising the required personal faith. But where did baptism for the dead come from? Well, there are many answers and suggestions but basically, - as Paul indicates, - it was an already established practice. For example, Tertullian (c.155-c.240 AD) described it in a famous text called Against Marcion, as
2 vain and heretical. John Chrysostom (c.349-407) leant towards it being a kind of metaphor for martyrdom. Martin Luther considered it as a baptismal practice carried out above the tombs of the dead. John Calvin saw it as a reference to being baptised when coming close to death which sounds as if it might have undertones relating to the Roman Catholic Viaticum (Latin, provision for the journey, i.e. the last rites ). What is its simple meaning though? About eleven miles northwest of Athens was a city named Eleusis. This was the location of an influential pagan religion, - referred to by Homer (Hymn to Demeter 478-79), - where baptism for the dead was practised to ensure a pleasant afterlife. The whole region, - including Athens and Corinth, - was inundated with such pagan customs and beliefs. The Greek mind had no problem accepting the concept of a resurrection and an afterlife. However, resurrection, - for them, - meant their spirit being freed from physical matter and this present material world as the famous Greek philosopher Plato taught (428-348 AD), this resurrection would happen to each person at the time of their death. So therefore, the problem was not that they did not believe in resurrection but the problem was they believed in a concept contrary to the Christian Church. This erroneous concept then, - it seems, - made its way into some churches, became suitably accepted, and developed into the practice of some of these Christians holding on to the pagan tradition of baptism for the dead. This same reasoning underpins the Roman Catholic Church for they adopted a number of pagan traditions and similarly christianised them. For example, praying to the saints developed out of how the pagan worshippers previously would have prayed at the pagan altars, but when Constantine christianized his empire (c. 313 AD), the names of the pagan idols were exchanged and given the names of the apostles and saints, etc, and prayer was made to them instead of the former idols. Another example was to elevate Mary as a quasi-god figurine, comparable to some of the ancient previous female goddesses, such as Aphrodite, Athena, Diana, or Minerva And that is exactly what many church historians believed happened, - groups claimed to convert to Christianity, but brought many of their old pagan practices with them, one of which was baptism for the dead. Obviously, in I Cor. 15, Paul is writing to born-again Christians in Corinth, and he is emphasising the importance of the resurrection, 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is
3 our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain... 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But we do have hope, he wrote, 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him [i.e. obviously, that does not include God], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all [i.e. Jesus, the Son, will also be subject to His Father]. And then there is a marked difference made regarding to whom he is speaking and who he is speaking about, 29 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? There is a them and us. There is a clear line of distinction and separation. There were those who had brought their paganism into the church and legitimised baptism for the dead by using Christian terms and symbolic rhetoric that appealed to the Greek philosophical psyche but they were neither sanctioned nor accepted by the apostles and mainstream Christianity for nowhere did Christ teach anything resembling such a doctrine. In the early days of the Church such clear lines had to be drawn, and nothing that contradicted the teachings of the apostles, - who received their teaching from Jesus, - was to be permitted. That is why Paul told the Corinthian Christians to abstain from the temple prostitutes (ch. 6) and from eating food offered to idols (ch.8) to have nothing to do with the pagan belief system and not to be taken in with spurious christianised-pagan practice of baptism for the dead. These were the same people Jude alluded to ( 4 For there are certain men crept in unaware) and also Peter ( II Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies). You can understand, then, how confusion was rife Is there, or is there not, resurrection? What am I to believe?! And these young believers who
4 had come out of paganism with its baptism for the dead are not sure what to believe! So, in order to explain it to them, Paul suggested that if there is no resurrection for the dead, then the case cannot be made for Christ being raised, and therefore He is still dead. And if Christ did not rise from the dead, there is no possibility of any of His followers rising from the dead either. But no, Paul said, Jesus is alive and I know He is alive for I have seen Him, I have witnessed to Him being alive, 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also. Paul met Him on the road going down from Jerusalem to Damascus, and Paul knew for sure He was alive and because Jesus is alive, He had to rise from the dead. It follows, then, that since He is alive, and because He is living, all who personally trust in Him by faith will be resurrected to new life also! 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly And you need to die in order to be raised and resurrected from the dead because 50 flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. There must be the resurrection, and the fact that Jesus has died and risen from the dead proves it! And here is the hope we have because of it, 52 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. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. On the basis of Christ rising from the dead and being triumphant over death, the dead [in Christ] shall be raised incorruptible! There is the absolute certainty for every one of God s people when this life on earth is brought to its close. Through Christ alone, the preparation has been personally made for them to be raised up into Glory. We are not depending upon anyone being baptised for us, - there is no advantage in the baptism for the dead. Neither are we, - after we have gone, - depending upon anyone praying to a saint, or burning candles, or paying an indulgence fee to have us released from a fictitious Purgatory. In this life alone we have been graciously brought to a saving faith and knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are depending upon Him and none other for He is 20 risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept
5 What a day that will be, When my Jesus I shall see, And I look upon His face, The One who saved me by His grace; When He takes me by the hand, And leads me through the Promised Land, What a day, glorious day that will be. And it will all be because of what our Saviour has personally done for His redeemed people at Calvary, when He signed in His own blood the charter of our salvation And here is the power of His resurrection Because He has risen from the dead, He is coming back to raise us unto Himself, for I Thess. 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord I Cor. 15:57 thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.