Mormon Scripture – The Articles of Faith/Part 9

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We have previously discussed faith, repentance and baptism in the fourth LDS Article of Faith. Now we will consider the LDS teaching of baptism for the dead. Mormon apostle, James Talmage wrote, “It is alike impossible for any spirit, in the flesh or disembodied, to obtain promise of eternal glory except on condition of obedience to the laws and ordi­nances of the Gospel. And, as baptism is essential to the salvation of the living, it is like­wise indispensable to the dead. This was known by the saints of old, and hence the doc­trine of baptism for the dead was taught among them” (Articles of Faith, p. 149). Talmage then quotes I Corinthians 15:29 as proof that this is a Biblical doctrine. It 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?” But, this verse does not command Christians to baptize for the dead nor does it say that Christians are baptizing for the dead. Mormons want people to believe baptism for the dead is a Christian doctrine so they claim this text supports it.

But a careful reading of the context shows that the main subject is that there will be a resurrection of the dead when Christ returns. The Apostle Paul used several arguments to support that claim and verse 29 is just one of those arguments. Although he didn’t identify who was baptizing for the dead, he said, “Why are they doing it if there is no resurrection?” He may have been referring to an aberrant group like the Mormons. But Paul did not say, “Why are we baptizing for the dead?” So, he did not include himself or Christians in verse 29, but he did in verse 30 when he said, “And why stand we in jeopardy every hour.” In other words Paul said, “Why are those people baptizing for the dead and why are we risk­ing our lives preaching Christ to hostile people if there is no resurrection?”

First Corinthians 15:29 is the only Bible verse that even mentions baptism for the dead and scholars have interpreted it several different ways. We don’t have enough space to discuss the various interpretations of this verse now, but this verse isn’t the real reason for this LDS doctrine anyway.

Robert J. Matthews who was Chairman of the Ancient Scriptures Department at Brigham Young University wrote, “The Bible was not the source of the doctrines the Prophet Joseph Smith taught…. He had obtained the doctrine of salvation for the dead by revelation and not from the printed pages of the Bible” (Ensign, Sept. 1981, p. 16). LDS scripture in Doctrine & Covenants 124:29-39; 127:5-7; and 128:1-3,17-18 contains Smith’s revelations about baptism for the dead. The 10th LDS Prophet, Joseph Fielding Smith declared, “If a man cannot enter the kingdom of God without baptism, then the dead must be baptized…The only way it can be done is vicariously, someone who is living acting as a substitute for the dead” (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. II, p. 141). And the 4th LDS Prophet, Wilford Woodruff stated,

I look upon this portion of our ministry as a mission of as much importance as preaching to the living; the dead will hear the voice of the [LDS] servants of God in the spirit-world, and they cannot come forth in the morning of the resurrection, unless certain ordinances are performed for and in their behalf in temples built to the name of God. It takes just as much to save a dead man as a living man. For the last eighteen hundred years, the people that have lived and passed away never heard the voice of an inspired man, never heard a gospel sermon until they entered the spirit world. Somebody has got to redeem them, by performing such ordinances for them in the flesh as they cannot attend to themselves in the spirit, and in order that this work may be done, we must have temples in which to do it…. I will say here before closing that two weeks before I left St. George [UT, where there is an LDS temple], the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, “you have had the use of the endowment house for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundations of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God.” These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence and they waited on me for two days and two nights…. I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon brother McCallister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others; I then baptized him for every President of the United States, except three, and when their cause is just, somebody will do the work for them. (Journal of Discourses, vol. 19, p. 228-229)

Woodruff’s message shows that Mormons do not believe anyone was saved in the kingdom of God between the first century and 1830 when Joseph Smith “restored the true gospel and true church.” Mormons are baptized for as many of those people as they can find genealogical records for as well as any others who haven’t joined the Mormon Church. Such practice is neither Biblical nor Christian since neither Christ nor His apostles taught that people who are dead will have another chance to hear and believe the gospel and have someone baptized for their salvation.

Second Corinthians 6:2 says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.” And Hebrews 9:27 declares, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Mormons believe they can become “vicarious saviors of the dead” (Articles of Faith, p. 152; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 357), but Romans 14:12 says, “Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.” Psalm 49:7 also says, “None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” And II Timothy 2:13 declares, “If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Him­self.” Since Mormonism contradicts the Bible, God cannot be the Author of both or He would “deny Himself.” The evidence supports the Bible as God’s Word, not Mormonism.

Next article we will conclude our study of the 4th LDS Article of Faith. For those who want to read more on the subjects included in the 4th Article of Faith, we suggest chapters 5 through 9 in the LDS book entitled Articles of Faith by James Talmage and published by the LDS Church.