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| + | #REDIRECT[[Overview of baptism for the dead]] |
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| − | {{question}}
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| − | ==Question==
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| − | Is there any evidence baptism for the dead is an authentic ancient Christian practice?
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| − | ==Answer==
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| − | There is considerable evidence that some early Christians and some Jewish groups performed proxy ordinance work for the salvation of the dead.
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| − | John A. Tvedtnes noted:
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| − | :In his epistle to the Corinthians, Paul cited the early Christian practice of proxy baptism for the dead as evidence of a future resurrection and judgment. Most non-Latter-day Saint scholars have failed to note the importance of this passage. Some pass it off as an outmoded practice of the early church, while others believe it refers to an apostate or heretical doctrine.
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| − | :But historical records are clear on the matter. Baptism for the dead was performed by the dominant church until forbidden by the sixth canon of the Council of Carthage in A.D. 397. Some of the smaller sects, however, continued the practice. Of the Marcionites of the fourth century, Epiphanius wrote:
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| − | :“In this country—I mean Asia—and even in Galatia, their school flourished eminently and a traditional fact concerning them has reached us, that when any of them had died without baptism, they used to baptize others in their name, lest in the resurrection they should suffer punishment as unbaptized.” (''Heresies'', 8:7.){{ref|tvedtnes2}}
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| − | Thus, baptism for the dead was banned about four hundred years after Christ by the church councils. Latter-day Saints would see this as an excellent example of the [[apostasy]]—church councils altering doctrine and practice that was accepted at an earlier date.
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| − | Tvedtnes continues:
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| − | :In early Judaism, too, there is an example of ordinances being performed in behalf of the dead. Following the battle of Marisa in 163 B.C., it was discovered that each of the Jewish soldiers killed in the fight had been guilty of concealing pagan idols beneath his clothing. In order to atone for their wrong, Judas Maccabaeus, the Jewish high priest and commander, collected money from the survivors to purchase sacrificial animals for their dead comrades:
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| − | :“And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachmas of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection: for if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. And also in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.” (2 Maccabees 12:43–46.){{ref|tvedtnes2}}
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| − | ==Conclusion==
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| − | As one Church leader noted:
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| − | :The principle of vicarious service should not seem strange to any Christian. In the baptism of a living person, the officiator acts, by proxy, in place of the Savior. And is it not the central tenet of our faith that Christ’s sacrifice atones for our sins by vicariously satisfying the demands of justice for us? As President Gordon B. Hinckley has expressed: “I think that vicarious work for the dead more nearly approaches the vicarious sacrifice of the Savior Himself than any other work of which I know. It is given with love, without hope of compensation, or repayment or anything of the kind. What a glorious principle.”{{ref|gtc1}}
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| − | ==Endnotes==
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| − | #{{ref|tvedtnes1}}{{Ensign|author=John A. Tvedtnes|article=Proxy Baptism|date=February 1977|start=86}}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1977.htm/ensign%20february%201977.htm/insights.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC7}}
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| − | #{{ref|tvedtnes2}}{{Ensign|author=John A. Tvedtnes|article=Proxy Baptism|date=February 1977|start=86}}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1977.htm/ensign%20february%201977.htm/insights.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC7}}
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| − | ==Further reading==
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| − | ===FAIR wiki articles===
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| − | {{BaptismDeadWiki}}
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| − | {{TempleWiki}}
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| − | ===FAIR web site===
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| − | {{BaptismDeadFAIR}}
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| − | {{TempleFAIR}}
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| − | ===External links===
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| − | {{BaptismDeadLinks}}
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| − | {{TempleLinks}}
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| − | ===Printed material===
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| − | {{BaptismDeadPrint}}
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| − | {{TemplePrint}}
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