One more question about the LDS and proxy baptism.?

Question

My friend said that he was "baptizing for the dead" not long after he was baptized himself at the age of 12. Does this sound correct or plausable?

Wonderful answers from in my opinion equally wonderful people. Thank you very much.

Answer 1

Absolutely, if you are a mormon, in fact they even baptized Hitler after the fact.

Gotta give them credit for open salvation.......

Link coming....

Personally, I would seriously question the moral state of a religion that has a history of racial problems and also baptized hitler byproxy. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing, but wow.

Answer 2

I might be getting a little picky, but most likely he was being baptized for the dead, not baptizing for the dead. In the LDS church, a boy has to be a priest (usually 16 years old) to perform baptisms for the living. And to perform baptisms for the dead a man has to have the Melchizadek priesthood (usually around 18 or 19 years old)

But that is being really picky.

Answer 3

"Baptized for the dead" is only mentioned one time in the Bible. This is in 1 Corinthians 15:29.

Paul is referring to something others ('they") were doing. He issues no command that “we” should do this, but he notes that “they” are doing it.

Many customs were being practiced in the first century that people tried to bring into Christianity from other religions. All of the earliest Christians were converts from other religions.

Since Christianity was new, there were no people that “grew up in the church” or grew up in a family of generations of faithful Christians. This being the case, some tried to hold onto their old customs. Baptism for the dead may have been one of these.

I don’t know exactly what baptism for the dead was, but I do know some things it was NOT!

It was not the baptism of the Great Commission! Jesus taught, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved". (Mark 16:16) Notice, "He... shall be saved"; Not he is baptized and someone else shall be saved.

Baptism for the dead is not the baptism “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). The Bible teaches that we will each be judged based on what we have done! (2 Corinthians 5:10) Again, it does not teach we will be judged according to what someone else (other than Jesus) has done.

The baptism for the dead does not allow one person to mediate on behalf of another! The Bible says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5)

Baptism for the dead does not save our dead relatives. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” (Ezekiel 18:20)

Baptism for the dead is never commanded in the Bible.

The mention in the verse you referenced simply is using it as an example to make a point, but notice closely, Paul did not condone this practice here or anywhere else.

Similar to this, in Acts 17, Paul noticed altars to various pagan gods, including one “To the Unknown God”. He mentioned these various altars to make the point that they were very religious, but he did not condone the building of these altars. He did not even condone worshiping the true God in this way.

Likewise, baptism for the dead is mentioned to make a point, but to condone it, one must go beyond that which is written in these verses.

In conclusion, it sounds wrong, not because of the age of the person, but because it is a practice that is not supported by Biblical teaching!

Answer 4

Even though there is scant mention of it in the Bible, it is clear that there was baptism by proxy in the early church. The early church fathers wrote about it, connecting it to Christ's visit to the Spirit world to preach to the dead after his crucifixion...

It wasn't until the 4th Century that the Church discontinued baptism by proxy...

"The Eucharist shall not be given to dead bodies, nor baptism conferred upon them."

The ruling was confirmed four years later in the sixth canon of the Third Council of Carthage.

It only seems that Mormons have restored a doctrine that the catholic church deemed heretical 4 centuries after Christ...a church of men not claiming they had a special hotline to God...

Answer 5

Absolutely. Youth in the LDS church can participate in proxy baptisms and confirmations once they reach the age of 12.

If you think about it, proxy baptism is the only way that Christianity can be just and merciful. Think of all the billions who have lived and died without ever knowing about Jesus Christ. Is it fair that they are all damned to eternal suffering? Of course not. What kind of loving, perfect heavenly father would go along with a plan that gaurantees that the vast majority of His children would fail and go to Hell? As ridiculous as this sounds, this is what the majority of "mainstream" Christianity believes.

Answer 6

At age 12 is when you can start performing baptisms for the dead, yes. It doesn't matter when you were baptized, so long as you are worthy to go to the temple. You could have been baptized the day before you go to the temple, just so long as you are able to talk to your bishop and get a temple recommend.

Answer 7

Yeah that's right. Baptism for the dead can give everyone who has ever lived the chance to fully accept Christ. But just because someone is baptized by proxy does not mean they have to accept it.

Answer 8

The idea of baptism in general gets in to some deep theology. Is is necessary for salvation. What is the difference between John baptism and the baptism into Jesus Christ .

The Bible teaches that salvation is by God's grace. That mean unmerited favor. That would exclude anything we could do on our own to make ourselves acceptable before a HOLY GOD..

From that premise baptism for the dead is not just unnecessary but blasphemy. It takes away from the power of God to save mankind and puts it squarely on the shoulders of the LDS priesthood to provide. That takes the power of God away from the divine and gives it to men.. No one has that right... IHS Jim

Answer 9

Sure. At age 12, the kids (boys and girld) are allowed to do baptisms in the temple, if they are worthy to go to the temple.

I did baptisms in the Oakland temple when I was 12.

Answer 10

Yup. Sounds about right. Onlyboys who have the priesthood are allowed to be in the temple to do baptisms, I think, but don't quote me....and girls have to be the same age.