1 Cor 15 and baptism for the dead

Mike McK · Feb 8, 2004

On another board, I made the following comments regarding the use of 1 Cor 15 19-29 to justify baptism for the dead:

The problem here, of course, is that, not only is Paul not advocating the practice of baptism of the dead, he's preaching against it. In the course of defending the resurection of Christ, he is addressing the false teachings of a gnostic sect located near Corinth in baptising their dead.

This heresy was infiltrating the church. Those who had come to believe the heresy of baptism for the dea are the "some among you" in v12 of this chapter.

Notice that Paul says, "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" and not "Else what shall we do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are we then baptized for the dead?"

He is clearly referring to a group outside of the church at Corinth and given the context of this passage, he's also referring to a group that rejects the resurection of Christ and the resurection of the saints.

Do Mormons reject these two essential doctrines, also?

I would think that one rhetorical question, mentioned almost in passing, would be a pretty flimsy foundation to base such an important doctrine of your religion on, especially since you can't show one place in scripture where the practice is commanded as an ordinance of the church or even approved of.

Scripture is clear in Heb 9:27 that, "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment". Add to that, Jesus' story of Lazarus and the Rich Man and 2 Corinthians 6:2 and the idea of salvation after death is even further distanced from Christian teaching.

Furthermore, you're ignoring your own teachings.

Not only is the teaching not found anywhere in the BoM, but Alma 34:34-35 contradicts such a teaching directly, saying, "Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis [death], that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked"

So then, not only is such a teaching condemned in scripture, it's even taught against in the Book of Mormon!

As I said, this thread is two weeks old and several pages long and still, not one Mormon has been able to show where the idea of baptism of the dead is found in scripture.
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It was my understanding that Paul was referring to a group who broke away from the church at Corinth in order to follow a gnostic offshoot of Christianity but another poster told me that he is referring to Jews.

Any ideas? Is Paul referring to a gnostic Christian group or is he referring to Jews? If Jews, The Jewish community at large or a particular sect of Jews? Anyone know?

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1 Cor 15 and baptism for the dead

Mike McK New Member