Years ago, if I were scrolling online and I saw the thumbnail and title of an article talking about baptism for the dead, I probably would have scrolled on, thinking that it was addressing some weird cult thing and not anything to do with the Bible. But I continued reading the New Testament, and I came across the idea itself in this passage in 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul asks two back-to-back questions:
Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?
1 Corinthians 15:29
Apparently, baptism for the dead took place in biblical times. Of course, that raises many questions: “What is baptism for the dead?,” “Should I be baptized for the dead?,” and several others, most of which you’ve probably asked too. We’re going to explore those questions, plus others that may not seem so obvious, but will be crucial in our understanding of what the Bible means when it speaks of those “who are baptized for the dead.” Plus, it is going to cement in our minds the truth about biblical baptism.
There are those who have zoomed in on this verse by itself, just as we did, who made a few assumptions, and then went on to try to answer these questions. One group has built an entire church practice on this singular phrase. As always, however, we want to zoom out and consider the context before trying to answer our questions about a singular verse.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, practices what they call “Baptisms for the Dead.” These are proxy baptisms, or sometimes called vicarious or substitutionary baptisms, which they believe give loved ones who have died without being baptized a second chance to accept a baptism that happens today on earth on their behalf. My friend Nathan, who grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was immersed for dozens of different names when he was about 12 years old. Next to the baptistery, there was a computer monitor that had deceased people’s names on it, and he was baptized once for each name. He didn’t know any of the people personally, but he was convinced he was doing a soul-saving service for them.
Is proxy baptism what the Bible is talking about when Paul mentions those “who are baptized for the dead”? Possibly. It may have been the case that Christians in Corinth knew people who were being immersed in water on behalf of their dead relatives and friends. In a little bit, we will discuss why I do not think that’s really what was going on in Corinth. But for the moment, let’s entertain this idea of proxy baptism.
Why would anyone do this? The Scriptures teach that baptism is:
- When God causes one to be born again into the kingdom of God (John 3:3–5)
- For the remission of sins (Acts 2:38)
- When God washes away a person’s sins (Acts 22:16)
- When someone dies to sin, is buried in Jesus’ death, and is raised to a new life (Romans 6:3–4)
- When God works to cut sin away from a person’s heart (Colossians 2:11–14)
- When God saves someone through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (1 Peter 3:21)
Baptism is certainly a work of God, and He provides eternal blessings to someone who submits to Him in baptism. Over and over, the apostles refer back to when a person believed in Jesus and was immersed into Christ as that pivotal moment in every Christian’s life—when God caused them to be born again. Yet what if my relative went to their grave never knowing what God offers through faithful obedience to the gospel? Perhaps God would grant it to them if I am baptized on their behalf.
That may have been what was going on in the first century. About 150 years before Christ, the uninspired historical document known as 2 Maccabees mentions proxy sacrifices.1 Tertullian, who died in AD 220, originally believed the passage in 1 Corinthians was referencing proxy baptism,2 but later he changed his mind.3 Vicarious baptism is clearly the inference the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made. Even if proxy baptism is historically what was happening, what follows from it? Nothing. Whatever baptism for the dead is, it is not presented to the reader of Scripture as part of the apostles’ doctrine, as something Jesus expects us to do. Instead, if proxy baptism was taking place, Paul brought it up in this single verse sardonically. One of the keys to coming to this conclusion is the pronoun Paul used. Look at the verse again. Notice Paul did not say, “Why then are you baptized for the dead?” but “Why then are they baptized for the dead?” Paul and the Corinthians knew people who were doing this (whatever this is), but they themselves were not.
If the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is correct, and we should “Do for others what they cannot do for themselves” by being baptized for them, here are several questions I’d like to explore with them. Remember that this single verse is the only place in the Bible that mentions baptism for the dead, and the verse asks why people do it. It doesn’t explain what it is and does not command the practice. Therefore, I ask these questions:
- What other passages in the Bible help us understand proxy baptism?
- Where is someone commanded to be baptized on behalf of the dead?
- What does the word “for” mean in this verse?
- Who was being baptized for the dead?
- Who is qualified to be baptized for the dead?
- Why did Paul use the pronoun they and not you?
- What is the purpose of proxy baptism?
- What does God do for the dead during proxy baptism?
- What does God do for the one being baptized?
- Which dead people should this practice apply to?
- Why stop with dead people? Why not perform proxy baptism for sick people? How about atheists?
- Why stop with baptism? Why can we not practice proxy faith and repentance?
- Why do you believe people in the afterlife have a second chance to accept the gospel?
Of course, with whatever answers may be provided to these questions, it would be important to follow up with, “How did you come to that conclusion?” We must be satisfied only once Scripture has been used to teach and we are given a chance to examine the Scriptures to see if these claims are true (see Acts 17:11). Can anyone use Scripture (from the Bible) to answer these questions? Proxy baptism makes no sense for:
It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.
Hebrews 9:27
Read Jesus’ story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16. In that passage, Abraham says to the dead Rich Man:
And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.
Luke 16:26
Scripture reminds us that our life on earth is our chance (singular) to pursue God’s truth. If we live our lives in rebellion toward God and His goodness and we go to our graves having rejected Jesus’ work for us on the cross, our opportunity is gone, and there will be no “transferring of station.”
Reading the entire context of 1 Corinthians 15, we see that, in Corinth, there were some who were scoffing at the idea of a final resurrection. They did not believe their brothers and sisters who passed away in Christ would be raised. Paul sardonically asks that if the dead are not raised, please make it make sense why people are being baptized for the dead. So even if people outside the church were attempting proxy baptism, Paul is not commending the idea; he’s laughing at it. In essence, he says, “They’re desperately trying to save their dead friends’ souls through substitutionary baptism, all without Jesus’ authority, all while rejecting the idea of a final resurrection. If their friend isn’t going to be raised, why do they care at all whether or not he’s been baptized?”
Clearly, proxy baptism is not biblical, and if that’s what Paul was addressing, he was doing so mocking the practice. Here’s the main reason, however, why I think proxy baptism is not what was in view here: When Jesus and the apostles confronted false teachings and practices, it was their custom to condemn and correct. If Paul is speaking of proxy baptism in verse 29, why doesn’t he condemn the practice? Or if our friends from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are correct, why does he not expand on the idea and provide instructions for it?
To the same group of people, the same apostle wrote:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:10
We will all give an account for what we ourselves have done in the body (in other words, while we were alive). Proxy obedience doesn’t exist, just like proxy disobedience. So what was Paul talking about when mentioning baptism for the dead?
The word for “for” here is the Greek word ὑπέρ (huper), which means “a marker indicating that an activity or event is in some entity’s interest, for, in behalf of, for the sake of someone or something.”4 That’s the case with the English word as well. For example, I may go to the store for milk. That is, I am trying to obtain milk. On the way home, I may get pulled over for a broken taillight. In this case, for means because of. The entire reason why I went to the store was for my neighbor. In other words, I went on behalf of him. Here’s how this word has been translated in popular Bible translations:
- baptized for those who are dead (NLT)
- baptized on behalf of the dead (RSV, ESV)
- baptized because of those who have died (ISV)
- immersed for the dead (LSV)
- baptized for the dead (practically all other popular translations)
It would be reckless to try to interpret this passage by looking for unusual meanings of the words baptize or dead. Our interpretation almost certainly hinges on what the word for (ὑπέρ) means in this passage. Admittedly, this single verse is difficult to understand, primarily because of the limited information we have, both in the rest of the New Testament and in the immediate context. Numerous possible explanations have been provided over the years, and many of them have been defended by esteemed scholars who have compared Paul’s usage of ὑπέρ in conjunction with other parts of speech in other passages. We’re not going to get that deep in this study. We will just briefly consider some possibilities. After we explore them, we will see why we do not need to know specifically what Paul meant by this single verse in order to understand Paul’s point. As we proceed, keep this in mind: As with every Bible question, it is not worth considering any explanation that clearly conflicts with plain Bible teachings—in this case, such as proxy baptism. Let us also remember that Paul introduced this curious phrase with “if the dead do not rise at all.” Whatever the explanation of baptism for the dead is, Paul says it makes no sense if the dead do not rise. Having ruled out proxy baptism, below are the most compelling options we are left with.
- It’s possible that people were being baptized into Christ because (for) death is a reality. Death is unstoppable. It will catch up to us all. Paul’s question, then, is why be baptized in view of what happens after death if the dead do not rise?
- It’s possible that people were thinking about the redemption of their bodies when being baptized. If the dead do not rise, why be concerned about the body? Redemption of the body only makes sense if there is life after death.
- It’s possible that Paul was referring to when these people had been baptized into Jesus’ death. In Romans 6:3, Paul asked, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Biblical baptism puts to death and buries the old person of sin. Why bother changing any behavior if there’s hope in this life only?
- It’s possible that people were being baptized because of the influence of dead friends and relatives. Witnessing their Christian friends going to their graves faithfully was the motivation they needed to obey the gospel, similar to a plant that drops its seeds as it dies—by dying, it produces fruit for the next generation. But if the dead are dead forever and do not rise, why care about their influence?
- Baptism was sometimes a death sentence for a first-century person, and it is possible that those being baptized were sealing their fate of martyrdom. Immediately after verse 29, Paul does get into the reality of persecution, so this view fits the immediate context. Paul’s question, then, would be if the dead do not rise, there is no difference in the death of a pagan and the death of a martyred Christian.
- It’s possible that people were being baptized in order to (for) be reunited with dead friends and relatives. Why be baptized in the hope of seeing them again if the dead do not rise?
- There were those who had been baptized into Christ’s service, but later passed away. Who would then fill the void? It is possible that people were being baptized to take the place of dead Christians. But if the dead do not rise, why bother with replenishing the church? Paul goes on to say, “If the dead do not rise, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!’” (v. 32).
Regardless of what Paul meant, his point was not to introduce a new doctrine, like proxy baptism. It was to renew and bolster the Christian’s belief in the resurrection from the dead. Your baptism means something only if the dead rise. In fact, your baptism is eternally connected with the resurrection of Jesus.
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:3–4
The Corinthians likely caught Paul’s drift when he wrote to them. Generations later, we have questions. If we in the twenty-first century were supposed to know solidly what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 15:29, I suppose God would have provided the explanation. God spared no effort in revealing what we truly need. Instead of further entertaining speculation, what we should do is spend our time studying the entire chapter, which will affect our souls for eternity.
- Study the gospel (vv. 1–11).
- Study the risen Christ (vv. 12–19).
- Study the destruction of sin and death (vv. 20–34).
- Study the glorious resurrection awaiting the faithful in Christ (vv. 35–49).
- Study the final victory (vv. 50–58).
Now, here’s a question we can get to the bottom of: “Why was Jesus baptized?” If you’ve ever asked that question, check out this article.