The priesthood ordinance of performing baptism for the dead is outlined in the Bible by the apostle Paul. See 1 Corinthians 15:29.
A corpse is not dug up and baptism. A living person is baptized for and in behalf of a deceased ancestor or loved one. The spirit of the deceased person, who obviously cannot be baptized for themselves, has the choice to "accept" the baptism from heaven.
This ordinance of baptisms for the dead follows the Bible in that Christ said (in John 3:3-5) that in order to enter heaven, one must be born of the water, or baptized, to enter heaven. Further, in 1 Peter 3:18-20, and 1 Peter 4:6, Peter teaches that Christ upon his death, went to the spirits in heaven who were disobedient and preached the gospel to them, "so that they could be judged." In other words, so that they might still have the chance to enter heaven.
Baptisms for the dead allow this to happen. The dead are preached to in heaven, and the living perform the still important ordinance of baptism that is necessary, according to Christ, to do before entering heaven.
Baptism is not _of_ the dead, but _for_ the dead, and is done via proxy (that is, with a person standing in for the person who is deceased).
Baptism _of_ the dead is one of those claims that is just a _bit_ off in its facts and so most people don't pick up on the difference.
It was certainly a practice among early Christians and cited by Paul. It should be noted that even though it is scriptural (no details of how it was performed is provided and Paul was using it to support the doctrine of the Resurrection), most of today's Christian churches reject it as a valid practice. As far as I know, Roman Catholicism considers the practice to be heretical. That doesn't do much for why it is still in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.
The full doctrine has to do with salvation for all. While victory over death was made by Christ for all mankind, individual salvation is highly dependent upon accepting Jesus as the Redeemer of Mankind and the Son of God, our personal Savior. This is a problem for those who have died without knowing anything about Jesus or his message, or who have lived without the fullness of the Gospel in their lives.
The work of baptism is something that the LDS believe can only be performed in this lifetime and is for the remission of sins. On the other side, the person who has died has the option of accepting the Gospel or not and if they do, then the ordinance has been performed for them, and they become part of the Kingdom of God through his grace.
There is _no_ automatic "the person is now a Mormon" thing, no matter what non-members may want others to believe about the practice.
Pardon me for laughing I'm not sure if you realize how funny this question is.
"Baptisms for the Dead" is perhaps a bad description on our part "Baptism on behalf of those who are dead" would be a better description.
In the temple baptisms are preformed for those who did not have the opportunity in this life. The baptism is done by proxy meaning another person represents you in the water and they say:
"(that persons name) Having Authority I baptize you for and in behalf of (dead persons name) who is dead in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen"
Rest assured we do not dig up dead bodies to baptize that sounds as weird to us as it sounds to you. Those who have passed on will have the option to reject these baptisms if they want but I believe that many more will rejoice in the opportunity to receive the blessings of baptism.
your so silly, they never did it in a cemetery they got their names mainly from churches overseas, from old pastors and priests records by permission by taking pictures (microfiche) of Th e"Baptisms" :death" and ""Marriage" records, I know because I use to read Th microfiche and take down the names and submit them.
Baptism for the dead is one of the great principles that the Lord restored in these latter days. God is perfect and cannot break the law of justice. So, as silly as it seems, he had to provide a savior to pay for our sins thus allowing the principle of mercy to be available to all. God never cuts corners but all must be done in the proper way. Man must be baptized as a symbol of the covenant that is made with God. In Gods perfect plan, all those who did not hear the Gospel in this life, will hear it in the spirit world and the baptisms for all people who ever lived will be done here on earth. By being baptized for someone else, members of the church are able to participate in the saviors work to save all people that will accept him. These baptisms for the dead will continue into the millennium until the work of the Lord is finished. The work of finding out and verifying the billions of dead is truly miraculous.
Do the Mormonism LDS people still do the dead baptisms ? Like in the cemetary ?
