Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
“Baptized for the Dead”

“Baptized for the Dead”

Last updated on: August 31, 2020 at 6:21 pm by Dan Peterson

“Baptized for the Dead” 2020-08-31T18:21:01-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The baptistry of the Finland Helsinki Temple
(Photo by Sandy Damaris)

An article by Kevin L. Barney has just gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation. It will appear in Volume 39 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:

“Baptized for the Dead”

Abstract: This thorough treatment of the mention of baptism for the dead in 1 Corinthians 15:29 gives a meticulous analysis of Paul’s Greek argument, and lays out the dozens (or perhaps hundreds) of theories that have been put forth with respect to its interpretation. Barney concludes that “the most natural reading” and the “majority contemporary scholarly reading” is that of “vicarious baptism.” Therefore, “the Prophet Joseph Smith’s reading of the passage to refer to such a practice was indeed correct.”

[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.

See Kevin L. Barney, “Baptized for the Dead,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 9–58. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.]

***

I’ve long liked this brief video explaining “Why Mormons Build Temples.”

At about the 1:16 mark, the late Krister Stendahl — an eminent New Testament scholar, as well as a former bishop of Stockholm in the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden and a former dean of Harvard Divinity School — has some extraordinarily positive and appreciative things to say about the Latter-day Saint practice of baptism for the dead.

At a time when such vicarious baptisms are, from time to time, widely portrayed in the news media and ferociously denounced on the web as unbiblical, occultic, ghoulish, bizarre, shameful, vicious, exploitative, anti-Semitic, immoral, imperialistic, arrogant, hateful, and possibly illegal — at one point several years ago, to choose just one specific example, the odious MSNBC political commentator Keith Olbermann pronounced President Thomas S. Monson “one of the worst people in the world” (right up there, I suppose, with Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un of North Korea, and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad) for presiding over the practice — it wouldn’t be a bad thing if believing members of the Church and their friends gave this little video, and Professor Stendahl’s wonderfully affirmative remarks, even wider circulation on the Web and via e-mail than they have already had.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

stellvertretende Taufe

Previous Post

August 31, 2020

Ewan Harbrecht Mitton (1929-2020)

Next Post

August 31, 2020 Attacking Other Faiths

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In 1 Peter, what does Peter say Sarah called Abraham?

Select your answer to see how you score.

My beloved Master Father Lord