Fellow Christians: Can you help me with a Bible verse? What does it mean?

Question

1 Corinthians 15:29... It talks about baptism for the dead. What does that mean?

Answer 1

That was a question Paul was asking to those who thought Christ was dead. He was asking why would people be baptised for someone dead. They were being baptised for a living Christ not a dead one. Get it?

Answer 2

The main point Paul is making here is that we should believe in the resurrection of the dead.

The "baptised for the dead" probably refers to new converts who are taking the place of believers who were already dying at the time of the writing of the letter. He is saying, why should new believers come into the baptism to replace people who have died if there is no hope of resurrection? Another possible interpretation is vicarious baptism to save someone who has already died, but that does not fit with the rest of scripture so is likely not the right meaning.

Finally, a good possibility is this: in the old days, a catecumen had to wait 3 or 4 years before baptism so they could learn the doctrines of the faith (early church, sort of like kids who learn the catechism today before confirmation) Possibly some Christians died prior to getting baptised, and they were symbolically baptised after their death. Martyrs often died before baptism and were said to have been "baptised with blood" because they did not yet enter the waters.

Answer 3

Look to the context - always - with passages that appear difficult ... in this instance, note the words following. The subject is death [verse 26], and regarding that, Paul speaks of Christ.

Baptism is a seal of resurrection - that one will be resurrected to eternal life. It signifies a covenant that Christ has with the elect - all who ever lived, who humbled themselves in genuine repentance, and forsook the world and it ways, to follow their Lord Jesus Christ.

This same covenant has applied to all believers -

Old Testament [John 5:46; 1 Peter 1:10-12 "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently ... the Spirit of Christ which was in them "];
New Testament;
living; or dead (at the time the apostle was speaking);

So that those genuine believers who are dead (who sleep in Christ) are under this covenant; this "baptism".

The entire chapter - the Context! - is about the resurrection of the dead.

The Corinthians may well have been terrified of the prospect of death, and what would happen; and Paul, speaking to them at that time, would have (most assuredly) been plainly understood by those reading or listening to his words ... though to us, in ages afterward, the meaning of the four words might not be so clear (as is the case).

In the very next sentence, Paul talks about danger - danger to those who were listening to him at the time; real, physical danger to their lives, merely for being professing Christians.

Paul confirms that Christ was resurrected; admits that there are plenty of people saying that there is no resurrection; and THEN re-affirms that Christ will resurrect the dead when the time established by the Father, finally comes at the Last Day.

It is an obscure passage, which is rendered little clearer in Greek. I do hope, however, that the above may be of some benefit in grasping the context and subject of the entire chapter, though it does not clearly expound the meaning of those four words.

Sincerely,

Philip Livingstone
www.theforgottenbible.org

Answer 4

The word translated "for" (hyper) has a sense of a state of rest or of motion over and beyond a place.

The word for "baptism" includes the idea of being overwhelmed.

I think it might be talking about those who have been attracted to Christianity due to being overwhelmed by the death of people they know and carrying this through to baptism. The point Paul is making is that the resurrection is real so people who are attracted to Christianity for this reason are not being baptised into a false hope.

Answer 5

Numerous proposals have been offered for the meaning of "baptzing for the dead" here.

One: Paul was alluding to some form of "proxy baptism", meaning that an individual being baptized to secure the salvation of ancestors, relatives or friends who had died without christ. There are no indication in this text that Corithians were being baptized for their ancestors or for other dead pagans, and there is no evidence for this kind of practize in the early church.

Two: Some suggest that the term refers for the baptizm for the believers who had died unbaptized, others that it may have been some ritual rooted in a superstitious belief that baptism itself had almost magical, life-giving powers.
I am sure Paul would have disapproved this due to pagan background for this.

Three: Some say that the phrase actually means "baptized in the place of the dead" in the sense of taking the place of Christian martyrs who lost their lives for the faith. This kind of baptizm would thus have been rite wherebya living believer symbolically took the place of the person's fallen brother or sister. This interpretation has some support in the context, since Paul immediately spoke the following verses vv 30-32 of his own endurance for the persecution.

Answer 6

In writing about the heavenly resurrection, the apostle Paul penned a most intriguing passage. In the King James Version, we read: “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?” And The New Jerusalem Bible renders this passage: “What are people up to who have themselves baptised on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, what is the point of being baptised on their behalf?”—1 Corinthians 15:29.

Was Paul here suggesting that living people be baptized on behalf of those who died in an unbaptized state? So it might seem from these and some other Bible translations. However, a closer examination of both the Scriptures and the original Greek used by Paul suggests another conclusion. Paul meant that anointed Christians are baptized, or immersed, into a course of life that will lead to a death of integrity like that of Christ. Afterward, they would be raised to spirit life as he was.

The Scriptures support this explanation. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote: “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3) In his letter to the Philippians, Paul spoke of himself, saying: “Sharing in [Christ’s] sufferings, submitting myself to a death like his, to see if I may by any means attain to the earlier resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10, 11) Paul was pointing out that the life of an anointed follower of Christ involves a course of integrity-keeping under test, a daily facing of death, and finally a death of integrity, followed by the heavenly resurrection.

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Answer 7

There is no clear consensus among the commentators as to what Paul was referring to. The best conjecture is that he was referring to a practice of some who baptized departed loved ones in proxy. There is no other reference to such a practice and neither is it expressly approved or condemned. Paul was simply using an example of something that was familiar to the Corinthians but unfamiliar to us in persuading them about the certainty of the resurrection from the dead.
Mormons make a major issue of this passage, baptizing millions in proxy. Personally I see this as being as futile as Catholics praying for those in the non-existent realm of purgatory.

Answer 8

God does not wants us to baptise the dead. The baptism of the dead means that they will become made alive in order to be judged. This is not a physical baptism but spiritual.The dead rise only to be judged by God at the great white throne. If your apart of the second resurrection have great fear, because its not anything you want to be apart of. You want to be baptised alive, so you can be apart of the first resurrection
Look at Revelation 20:4-6.

4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Answer 9

Romans 15:13; 2 Peter 3:18; Psalm 80 4:11. those are 3 somewhat great verses for ya! The record might desire to bypass on and on yet see in case you relish those ones as much as I do! Lord bless! :)

Answer 10

Some believers were baptized on behalf of others who died unbaptized....Paul is not promoting baptism for the dead; he is illustrating his argument that the resurrection is a reality.