Baptism for the dead - could a Mormon please answer my question?

Question

One of my friends, not a Mormon, just someone into family history has emailed me a page from the Mormon website showing my late uncle has been baptized, given the Mormon priesthood and "endowed" - what ever that means in a Mormon temple on the other side of the planet.

This is a serious question, so please don't think I'm having a go at you.

In Mormon theology, has he been "converted to mormonism" - possibly against his wishes?

Do you now consider my uncle to be 'a dead mormon'?

I would really appreciate a straightforward answer that I can understand.

Answer 1

You cannot baptize a person who is dead unless they request it (pre-death) in front of a lawyer, priest or JP or of course if the parents are still around and they are LEGAL gaurdians of said person.

Answer 2

We believe that baptism is an essential ordinance, yet we also believe that no one can be forced into baptism--it is a choice that everyone must make on their own. Baptism for the living is not performed before the age of eight. Because many people have died without receiving an authorized baptism, or even hearing of Jesus Christ, God has set up a plan in which those departed spirits can receive the earthly ordinance of baptism: by proxy. This is a process in which a living person can be baptized on behalf of a deceased person; such an ordinance is performed in the temple. We believe that many deceased people are receiving the gospel in the Spirit World (where our spirits go when we die). That is why we do baptisms for the dead; when these spirits accept the gospel in the Spirit World, they will also need to accept a baptism which is done on their behalf on Earth. Note that they still have the freedom to either accept or deny this vicarious work--we do not force baptism upon anyone, we just provide them the opportunity to accept it. You need not worry that we add their names to our membership records. First of all, they are dead (membership records only report the number of living church members). Secondly, we do not even know if they have accepted the gospel, so even if we tallied the number of dead church members they could not be added to such a list. If we did, our church membership would possibly be greater than that of the Catholic church, or maybe even the world's population! (Actually I have no idea how many baptisms for the dead have been performed, but I know it's a pretty big number.)

Answer 3

Heathen Saved Without Baptism

B. of M. - Moroni 8:22-23 2 Nephi 9:25-26; Mosiah 15:24-27

Baptism for Dead

D. & C. - Section 128:5, 17-18
Death Seals Man's Fate


Chance After Death

B. of M. - Mosiah 2:36-39; Alma 34:32-35

The answer to your question depend on if the Book of Mormon is right or if the answer comes from Doctrines and Covenants. Seems the Mormons have no answer so they cover both bases.
Another thing Mormons wish people would not ask them is who is the Only Head of the Church...Jesus is only head of church according to Colossians 1:18 But the Mormons teach that Joseph Smith is head of Mormon church D&C 28:2-6. Did Joseph Smith die for the sins of the Mormons, is ti Joseph Smith that rose from the dead? Not according to the Word of God. So who then is Joseph Smith and who are these Juveniles that call themselves Elder?

Answer 4

Hi Róisín,

A very good question. Where is home for you?




Everyone needs the chance to learn about Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus Christ, we can repent of our sins,
and return to live with God.


Many people have lived without that opportunity.


God would be unfair, and unjust, if only a few people could hear about Jesus Christ, and repent.



Part of the Gospel plan is that all will hear the Gospel.

For example, Jesus said:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." John 5:25



The scriptures teach that the Gospel is taught to the dead,
and that baptisms are done for the dead.

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/s/21



It has always been a part of the Gospel.

A member of your family, a descendant of your uncle, has submitted his name.

If your uncle, now dead, decides to accept the baptism and other work done for him, he can do so.


Our freedom to choose is as important in the next life as in this life. Could we be forced to follow Jesus? No, it would have no meaning.


His name is not put on the records of the Church. He is not considered "a Mormon".

Best Regards
Dan

Answer 5

Interesting responses all, some predictable.
The suggestion of the church is that if you'd only heard, you certainly would have chosen to join, I mean who wouldn't?

As I understand it, if you accept Jesus Christ and do not deny him in this life you get to go to the lowest level of the tri-level Mormon heaven structure when you die, suppose the one baptized has rejected Jesus and then is baptized after death?

That also raises the question, which Jesus. Does it count that I believe in the Jesus revealed in the Bible, and that I don't believe the Jesus of the Latter Day Saints is the same Jesus? Does that make me a denier?

Curious

Jeremiah says clearly, when you're dead you're dead. Once you are dead you have missed the opportunity to accept the free gift of salvation. At that point we rely on the righteous compassion of the one true and living God.

The Mormons who baptized him may think he now has the opportunity to accept the teachings of their faith, and he's on their books to calculate the numbers of "registered" mormons, but I would assure you, he's on his own, based on his heart and the choices he made in life.

His endowment is a puzzle to me, as I understood that only adult Mormons in very good standing are allowed to participate

"Your endowment is to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell." - Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, p.315, April 6, 1853 Brigham Young

I wouldn't worry too much about your Uncle.
Hope this helps
and trust the penguin!

Answer 6

We as mormons go to the temple and do work for the dead and then it is there choce in heave weither or not to accept it.. No one will be comverted to mormonism with out there consent.. Im not sure by what you mean a dead mormon.. we'd consiter him to be a dead convert.. so I guess yes he'd be a dead mormon.. never hurd of that before.. Endowed is when you have taken a specil covent with the lord inside the temple. hope I could be of assitance.

Answer 7

I have been LDS my whole life and would like to add my own opinion to this question. Your uncle is not 'a dead mormon' unless he decides to be. The choice to convert to Mormonism can only be made by the person themselves. If the person decides to reject that baptism, then they are not Mormon. It's as simple as that.

Mormons accept the biblical doctrine that all must be baptized in order to get to heaven. Many people have not had the opportunity to be baptized during their mortal lives, and so Mormons perform baptisms for many who have passed on. It is the policy of the LDS church not to baptize any deceased person (by proxy) without the consent of their closest living relative. If this policy has been violated in your case, please inform the Mormon church, because they would want to know if such a mistake has been made.

Answer 8

Matthew 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

Just as people were 'astonished' at Christ's doctrine so are people today about the restored Gospel. Jesus merely took words directly from scripture. So it is with the principal of temple work.

Would a just God keep someone from salvation who never had the chance to be converted? I don't think so. Would a loving Father find a way that the requirement of baptism be provided to those who never had the opportunity. I think so.

If your uncle does not want to be baptized, it is of no effect. It is a rejected gift. On the other side of the veil, only he can answer that question. Only on this side can the work be done.

Answer 9

He hasn't been converted to mormonism. Baptism for the dead gives those who died an opportunity to accept or reject the baptism. It doesn't mean they are baptized necessarily.

He was simply given the opportunity to be baptized.

Your uncle is not a dead mormon. He hasn't been converted and isn't on the churches records as mormon. He's simply had this work performed for him.

Answer 10

Your uncle isn't a dead Mormon. He's a dead uncle.

I used to participate in baptisms, confirmations, washings, anointings, endowments, and even a couple sealings for the dead. The whole time, I always wondered why it was even necessary. If God can save a 7-year-old child (below the age of accountability) just simply "by the grace of Christ," then why couldn't He save other souls who were equally "unaccountable" for the laws of the Gospel (never having heard them) by the same principle? Why did He need a fourteen year old kid to dress up in white (see-thru when wet, by the way, that always rubbed me the wrong way) and get dunked in a hot tub? Now that I have taken a few steps back and looked at all of those unique LDS beliefs from an objective point of view, it is easy to see that they are unfounded and don't cohesively fit together without attaching apologetic fine print every third line.

Answer 11

Although Mormons baptize the dead it and do all kinds
of ceremony for them it is not forced they be live that
the dead still have choice on the other side but these
ceremonies can only take place in this side so they do
them hear in hopes that they will be converted over there
and all there work will be done for them hear