It's quite different. There is no "baptism for the dead". Rather, we offer up prayers for those in purgatory. God is Mercy itself. May our prayers assist those in purgatory attain heaven.
Welcome home! Will you be received into the Church this Easter?
>> There is no “baptism for the dead”. <<
Actually, there IS baptism FOR the dead, just not baptism OF the dead.
Any sacrament can be offered for the remission of the sins of souls in purgatory. Evangelists would often offer up the work they did in spreading Christ for such remission. Baptism FOR the dead is biblical. Unfortunately, humans interpret writings in the manner they are contextually primed to read them in. Therefore, when debating Mormon baptisms, it’s easy to mistake 1 Cor 15:29 to refer to baptism of the dead, even though the text refers specifically to baptism for the dead.
Read 1 Cor 15:29:
“Else, what shall they do, which are baptized for the dead if the dead are not raised at all? Why are they then baptized at all?”
The Mormon interpretation would suppose that this means that the dead are baptized for themselves. What a wierd thing to mention, that baptized people are baptized for themselves? But its also grammatically problemmatic: The subject and the indirect object don’t normally refer to the same thing or person. That’s why we don’t say stuff like, “I did it for me.” If it does refer to the same person, the sentence is reflexive, such as “I did it for myself.”
So if the bible meant what Mormons say it means, it would say something like, “Else, what should they do, the dead which are baptized for themselves?” Doesn’t that also invite you to ask, “Why would the dead do anything?” And also make you wonder why “for themselves” was added.
What this passage means is this:
“Else why were those who were baptized for the sake of the dead baptized if the dead do not rise?”