Baptism by "Proxy" for the dead
wHAT DO WILLIAM Shakespeare, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Patrick Henry, Paul Revere, Leo Tolstoy, and Dwight Eisenhower have in common? Although none of them ever joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints while still alive, they, together with countless others, have allegedly been made beneficiaries of the proxy baptisms performed in their behalf by the said church also known as the Mormon Church. This controversial doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints regarding baptisms for the dead is, in fact, one basis among others in claiming that they are the only true Church. Ed Decker, an ex-Mormon who was a high-ranking Mormon priest having the authority to administer the secret rituals, and Dave Hunt, an internationally recognized cult expert, testify thus:
“Mormons say, ‘The Bible teaches baptism for the dead, and we baptize by proxy for the dead in our Temples. This proves that the Mormon Church follows the Bible and all other churches don’t, so it must be the only true Church’.”
(Reference : The God Makers: A Shocking Exposé of What the Mormon Church Really Believes, pp. 65-66, Emphasis Mine)
A PAGAN PRACTICE
Why do the Mormons go through so much trouble, spending vast amounts of time and money to perform these rituals in behalf of the dead? It is because they believe it is a biblical teaching necessary for their own salvation. Joseph Smith, whom the Mormons regard as a prophet having allegedly received the commission to restore the “true Church,” emphasized this in his teaching:
“… These are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers — that they without us cannot be made perfect — neither can we without our dead be made perfect.
“And now, in relation to the baptism for the dead, I will give you another quotation of Paul, I Corinthians 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’?”
(Reference : A Marvelous Work and a Wonder by LeGrand Richards, Pub: 1976, p. 169)
But did Apostle Paul really teach in I Corinthians 15:29 that Christians should be baptized in behalf of the dead? Was Paul really preaching a second chance for salvation for one who has already died? Let us analyze I Corinthians 15:29:
“Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?”
(Reference: New King James Version, Emphasis Mine)
Apostle Paul was not referring to a practice that the members of the Church of Christ in Corinth were doing when he used the pronoun “they.” It is clear that Paul was not referring to a practice that the Christians were doing. If it was not a Christian practice, then whose practice was it? In his book The Mormon Illusion: What the Bible Says About the Latter-Day Saints, Floyd McElveen writes regarding this verse that:
“He (Paul) is simply acknowledging the fact that even pagans believe in the resurrection of the dead; how much more should Christians.
“We know of two heretical groups after Paul’s time, and possibly one pagan group before that, who baptized for the dead: the Cerinthians (not Corinthians) and the Marcionites. Christians did not and do not baptize for the dead.“
(Reference : The Mormon illusion: What the Bible says about the Latter-Day Saints by Floyd C. McElveen, Pub: 1997, p. 111, Emphasis Mine)
Therefore, Apostle Paul used as an illustration what pagans were doing to answer the charge of some members in the Corinthian congregation who did not believe in the resurrection:
“Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”
(Reference: I Cor. 15:12 NKJV)
In fact, the whole of Chapter 15 is devoted to Paul’s proving the resurrection. The subject is about resurrection and not about baptism. Some Mormon apologists counter that Apostle Paul would never have quoted pagans in trying to prove his case. Michael Griffith, a Mormon apologist states:
“… It would have been very poor logic for Paul to have appealed to a heretical practice as an example of why the doubting Corinthians should accept the resurrection. … He would not have committed the logical fallacy of referring to a practice that he and his readers rejected in order to demonstrate the truthfulness of an important doctrinal tenet.”
(Reference : One Lord, One Faith: Writings of the Early Christian Fathers as Evidences of the Restoration)
This Mormon apologist apparently doesn’t know the methods Apostle Paul applied when he preached the gospel. When Apostle Paul was preaching to the pagans, he even quoted the pagan poets as a reference to prove his case that there is only one God:
“For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.”
(Reference: Acts 17:28 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
Apostle Paul’s rationale for proselytizing in this way was also explained to the Corinthians thus:
“And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”
(Reference: I Cor. 9:20-22 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
PROXY BAPTISM CONTRADICTS BIBLICAL TEACHING
Mormons teach that there is a spirit world where the dead can still accept the gospel. These disembodied spirits dwell in a Mormon “purgatory.” According to the book How to Respond to… The Latter-Day Saints:
“The effect of baptism for the dead is not that one who has already passed into ‘paradise’ is thereby coerced into the religion of Joseph Smith. Rather it smoothes the way, it removes obstacles which will enable the deceased to more readily accept the teachings of Mormonism when given a ‘second chance’ in ‘paradise’.”
(Reference : How to Respond to… The Latter-Day Saints by Edgar P. Kaiser, Pub: 1977, pp. 33-34, Emphasis Mine)
Therefore, Mormons teach that those who have died can have a second chance to hear the gospel. Is this doctrine biblical?
Not only was baptism for the dead not practiced by the early Church, but this practice also contradicts verses of the Holy Scriptures, including the commandment of the Lord Jesus Himself. When Christ commissioned the apostles, He commanded them thus:
… Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
(Reference: Mk. 16:15-16 New International Version, Emphasis Mine)
To qualify for baptism, there are definite steps that must be done first. A person must first hear the preaching of the gospel by duly commissioned messengers and believe in it. Furthermore, another requirement for one who is to be baptized is to repent (Acts 2:38), something which only the living can do. Only then can he be baptized. The dead cannot listen, believe, repent, or for that matter do anything:
“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.”
(Reference: Eccl. 9:5-6 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
The dead, therefore, cannot benefit from anything done by the living. Proxy baptism, on the other hand, is equivalent to saying that there is a second chance for a reward after death, a clear violation of biblical teaching.
IN CONCLUSION
1
It is conclusive that baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism, or proxy baptism that refers to the religious practice of baptizing a person on behalf of one who is dead—a living person who is supposedly receiving the rite on behalf of a deceased person is unbiblical and a wrong understanding and interpretation of the scriptures.
2
In I Corinthians 15:29 Apostle Paul was not referring to a practice that the members of the Church of Christ in Corinth were doing when he used the pronoun “they” (referring to the pagans). It is clear that Paul was not referring to a practice that the Christians were doing. In fact, the whole of Chapter 15 is devoted to Paul’s proving the resurrection. The subject is about resurrection and not about baptism.
3
The dead can never benefit from anything done for them by their relatives after their death. This is why the scriptures clearly stated, “…never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.” and that “…the dead know nothing; they have no further reward…” (Eccl. 9:6, 5 NIV)
4
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