You posted a single verse from ICor 15 to support the intricate and very involved practice by Mormons of being baptised for those who are dead. We've all been told why Mormons believe this is necessary and how it is a sacred ritual that can allow a dead person who did not accept Jesus as Lord while alive can have salvation after death through the ordinance of Mormon baptism IF they accept Jesus Lordhsip after they die. We won't delve into the implications of such a Mormonism claim as it would imply all Christianity had no authority to fulfill salvation without Mormon baptism until Authority was restored in Joe Smith ... that dog is a protect arena the moderator will ban me for addressing so it will remain in the pound.
Let's look at the context of the verse you cited, to see if Mormonism has misused this verse in order to create a notion that is not substantiated by the verse no longer standing alone ... a common practice of cults claiming Christian authority, BTW, is to pull a verse out of context. [That was the salt sprinkling out onto the morsel about to be offered, if you didn't notice, OS.]
I Cor 15:22-23 And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive but every one in his own order: the firstfruits Christ, then they that are of Christ, who have believed in his coming.
15:24-25 Afterwards the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall have brought to nought all principality, and power, and virtue for he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet.
15:26-27 And the enemy death shall be destroyed last: For he hath put all things under his feet. And whereas he saith, all things are put under him; undoubtedly, he is excepted, who put all things under him.
15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then the Son also himself shall be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
15:29-30 Otherwise what shall they do that are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not again at all? why are they then baptized for them? why also are we in danger every hour?
I Cor 15:31 I die daily, I protest by your glory, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When the verse is taken in context, we see that Paul was conveying a very different central message to the Corinthians, but your religion has tried to cite this verse as if Paul were teaching the Corinthians to be baptised for the dead, as if that ordinance would somehow convey something to dead people that they couldn't get or refused to get while alive. If you read the passage in the Greek, you see a very different essence to the passage given the voice of the verbs, where Paul is saying that dead people were baptised while they were alive and why were they doing that if they had no hope of resurrection? Paul even emphasizes the issue by calling attention to his own endangerment if his baptism was of no importance and if Christ is not putting everything under His feet, why would Paul place himself in such danger every hour for these Corinthians!
How's that salty morsel taste?
That’s gotta sting!
Thanks.
That "old man" has a tendency to resurrect... LoL..
I was on burial detail once.. and buried many several times..
That old dude eventually gets the idea.. or is it the NEW dude?..
Whatever, putting that old boy down is sometimes hard..
Many Catholic and Protestant scholars/theologians acknowledge that 1 Cor. 15:29 describes vicarious baptism for the dead, and that alternatively proposed interpretations (like MHGINTN) are really just unsuccessful attempts to avoid the clear meaning of the scripture because of its theological implications. Thus, the following:
“The normal reading of the text is that some Corinthians are being baptized, apparently vicariously, in behalf of some people who have already died. It would be fair to add that this reading is such a plain understanding of the Greek text that no one would ever have imagined the various alternatives were it not for the difficulties involved.’’(Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1989, pp. 763-64.)
“Again, the Apostle alludes to a practice of the Corinthian community as evidence for a Christian faith in the resurrection of the dead. It seems that in Corinth some Christians would undergo baptism in the name of their deceased non-Christian relatives and friends, hoping that this vicarious baptism might assure them a share in the redemption of Christ.’’ (From The Jerome Biblical Commentary, ed. Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968, 2:273.)
“St. Paul then, almost in parenthesis, touches on what appears to have been a custom among the Corinthian Christians of baptizing by proxy on behalf of some, presumably members of the same family, who had died unbaptized and might therefore, it was thought, miss their chance of being incorporated into the fulness of Christ’s Kingdom at his Advent. This practice, says the apostle, makes as little sense as his own daily contempt for physical death, if there is no resurrection.” (William Neil, One Volume Commentary On The Bible, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1973, p. 461)
“After sketching briefly the drama of the end, Paul resumes his attack on those denying the possibility of man’s resurrection. Scribes and commentators have sought to avoid translating vs. 29 as in the RSV, since it is difficult to think that Paul would approve of baptism by proxy. But at this place he is throwing up questions to expose the illogical nature of the beliefs and practices of those denying the resurrection, and he withholds his personal judgment of baptism on behalf of the dead.” (The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, Nashville: The Abingdon Press, 1971, p. 811)
“. . . the most natural meaning of the expression [used by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:29] is that some early believers got themselves baptized on behalf of friends of theirs who had died without receiving that sacrament.” (Leon Morris, The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, London: Tyndale Press, 1964, p. 218)
“Close inspection of the language of the reference makes all attempts to soften or eliminate its literal meaning unsuccessful. An endeavor to understand the dead as persons who are “dead in sin” does not really help; for the condition offered, if the dead are not being raised at all, makes it clear that the apostle is writing about persons who are physically dead. It appears that under the pressure of concern for the eternal destiny of dead relatives or friends some people in the church were undergoing baptism on their behalf in the belief that this would enable the dead to receive the benefits of Christ’s salvation.” (James Moulten and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1981, p. 651, original emphasis)
“Here Paul returns to his argument for the resurrection of the dead. There is a special difficulty in understanding v. 29 because we do not know the background of the words “baptized for the dead.” There are many interpretations, but it is difficult to find a satisfactory one. The present tense “baptize” suggests that the practice of baptizing for the dead was current and evidently well known to the Corinthians. . . .
. . . its [”huper’s”, the Greek word behind “for” in “baptized for the dead”] basic meaning with the genitive is “for,” “in behalf of,” or “in the place of.”
According to [H. A. W.] Meyer, this verse means that believers already baptized were rebaptized for the benefit of believers who had died unbaptized. This was done on the assumption that it would count for the unbaptized dead and thereby assure their resurrection along with the baptized, living believers. . . .
At any rate, Paul simply mentions the superstitious custom without approving it and uses it to fortify his argument that there is a resurrection from the dead. (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976, vol. 10, pp. 287-288)
“. . . whatever doubt some members of the Church had concerning it, there were others who were such firm believers in the resurrection that they submitted to this rite of vicarious baptism on behalf of certain of their brethren, probably catechumens, who had passed away before they had been baptized and received into full membership of the Church.” (The Interpreter’s Bible, New York: The Abingdon Press, 1952-1957, vol. 10, p. 240)
Now that’s salt that has savour!!