02/23/2023
Baptisms for the Dead
A verse familiar to most Latter-day Saints, 1 Corinthians 15:29, has been the subject of much speculation throughout Christian history. First Corinthians 15:29 reads, “Otherwise, what will they do, those who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then were they baptized for them?” Many modern readings and understandings of this verse are based more in the ambiguity of the English translations than on a careful analysis of the original language. Nor do many of these modern interpretations take into account the overall context of St. Paul’s discussion in this chapter, and throughout 1 Corinthians.
Baptism, for St. Paul, is not merely an action which conveys certain benefits upon an individual who receives it. Rather, baptism creates a series of relationships into which the recipient is brought by the action. So, for example, the Apostle can speak of those who passed through the Red Sea as having been ‘baptized into Moses’ (1 Cor 10:2). Being baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea, the Holy Spirit and water, brought them into a relationship with Jehovah, the God of Israel and that relationship was mediated through Moses and through the covenant which was given through him.
We must be careful to avoid the assumption that ‘the dead’ to whom St. Paul here refers are deceased non-members who are in some way saved solely by virtue of the physical performance of a currently living person being baptized on their behalf. St. Paul goes to great pains in 1 Corinthians 10 to argue that baptism does not necessarily entail salvation (1 Cor 10:1-6). Further, 1 Corinthians was written to the church in Corinth, at the latest, in 57 AD. This means that there were only 24 years between the writing of this epistle and the first Christian baptisms. This would mean that, hypothetically, the baptism of people on behalf of the people who died during those 24 years would have had to become a practice widespread enough in the early Christian communities that St. Paul could reference it during that window.
The key to understanding the identity of ‘the dead’ in the first half of 15:29 is obscured by the English translation. Even though it is translated in both halves of the verse as ‘the dead’, St. Paul only uses the Greek definite article in the first case. This is common for St. Paul. When he is speaking about all deceased person in the world, he does not use the definite article. He is referring to dead people in general. This is the case in the second half of the verse, ‘if the dead are not raised at all.’ When he uses the Greek definite article, which would most correctly be translated “these dead”, he is nearly always referring to deceased Christians in particular. Hence the article, to separate ‘these dead (Christians)’ from ‘the dead’ in general.
Baptisms for the dead seems to have been retained in Christianity in the practice of being baptized in the name of a patron saint. This practice, already beginning in the mid-50’s AD, had not yet, but would become essentially universal in the Christian church.
Putting this together with St. Paul’s general understanding of baptism, we can see how the traditional Christian practice of taking the name of a departed saint at baptism would create a relationship the person being baptized and that saint that can best be described by the Roman understanding of patronage. A Roman patron was established in a social position within Roman culture and who would then act in their position to assist someone who was beginning their public life or career. In return, the patron’s client was expected to act in such a way that it would bring further honor to their patron and work diligently to achieve the kind of status which their patron had.
Traditionally, Latter-day Saints seem to have viewed themselves as the patron in the relationship created by a baptism for the dead, using our position as embodied beings for the benefit of those who are no longer embodied—the most straightforward reading of our call to be Saviors on Mount Zion. While this side of the coin is important, we should also remember our (perhaps more important) role as the client in the relationship created by a baptism for the dead.
President Nelson has stated that nothing happening on the earth right now is more important than the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil. This is the covenantal binding of heaven and earth, and the living and the dead. He, and other church leaders have taught of the ability of the deceased to intercede on our behalf. “We’re not alone in this arduous yet joyful pursuit. There are angels available and willing to help us.” They can “serve you and protect you along life’s perilous journey.”
Angels, who we understand as dead people, can intercede for those in the church in this world and especially for those who lived a life of faith in their name, bringing honor to their memory. When I am baptized for an ancestor, I am in a sense taking responsibility for their memory. I am making a covenant in love that I will act in such a way that it would bring further honor to them and I will work diligently to achieve the kind of status which they had. In this way, I am entering into the same type of relationship with that person that the early Christians entered into with a Patron Saint.
Taking this kind of responsibility on ourselves has a dangerous aspect to it as well. If we are covenantally bound to a deceased person, but we do not honor their memory, that will be our condemnation. Joseph Smith said “Let me assure you, that these principles in relation to the dead and the living… cannot be lightly passed over… For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation… [because] they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we [meaning the living] without our dead be made perfect” (D&C 128:15; emphasis added). We are not saved as individuals, we are saved in communities—in families—the family of God. In this way, every individual is seriously, fully, individually responsible for the salvation of the entire world in the sense that the Kingdom of God cannot come until every single person fully brings out all the unique and distinctive potential contained within themselves. We are called to fractally carry out Christ’s victory over death within our spheres in order to fully and completely transcend death and hell.
Be careful not to trivialize the temple rituals. It is a good practice to learn as much as you can about the deceased person for whom you will be performing a vicarious baptism before taking upon yourself the task of bringing honor to their memory. You are responsible to improve the way you act in the world after every temple visit in order to do so.
However, the more responsibility you take on, the more meaning your life will have. There is no fundamental difference between responsibility and opportunity. The more responsibility you take, the more opportunity for growth you will have. You can also receive the help of the individuals, both living and dead, with whom you enter into a covenental relationship with. Now maybe you don’t want more responsibility because you would rather cower in the corner and hide, but there is nothing to be found in that path but self-contempt and misery.
Live in such a way that the world will be for you a ladder, instead of a pit.
