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APOLOGETICS |
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MORMON SCRIPTURE: The Articles of
Faith, Part IX
by Marvin W. Cowan |
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We have previously discussed faith, repentance and baptism in the
fourth LDS Article of Faith. Now we will consider the LDS teaching of
baptism for the dead. Mormon apostle, James Talmage wrote, "It is
alike impossible for any spirit, in the flesh or disembodied,
to obtain promise of eternal glory except on condition of obedience to
the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. And, as baptism is essential to
the salvation of the living, it is likewise indispensable to the
dead. This was known by the saints of old, and hence the doctrine
of baptism for the dead was taught among them" (Articles of Faith,
p. 149). Talmage then quotes I Corinthians 15:29 as proof that this is
a Biblical doctrine. It says, "Else what shall they do which are
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then
baptized for the dead?" But, this verse does not command Christians to
baptize for the dead nor does it say that Christians are baptizing for
the dead. Mormons want people to believe baptism for the dead is a
Christian doctrine so they claim this text supports it.
But a careful reading of the context shows that the
main subject is that there will be a resurrection of the dead when
Christ returns. The Apostle Paul used several arguments to support
that claim and verse 29 is just one of those arguments. Although he
didn’t identify who was baptizing for the dead, he said, "Why are
they doing it if there is no resurrection?" He may have been
referring to an aberrant group like the Mormons. But Paul did not say,
"Why are we baptizing for the dead?" So, he did not include
himself or Christians in verse 29, but he did in verse 30 when he
said, "And why stand we in jeopardy every hour." In other words
Paul said, "Why are those people baptizing for the dead and why are we
risking our lives preaching Christ to hostile people if there is no
resurrection?"
First Corinthians 15:29 is the only Bible verse that
even mentions baptism for the dead and scholars have interpreted it
several different ways. We don’t have enough space to discuss the
various interpretations of this verse now, but this verse isn’t the
real reason for this LDS doctrine anyway.
Robert J. Matthews who was Chairman of the Ancient
Scriptures Department at Brigham Young University wrote, "The Bible
was not the source of the doctrines the Prophet Joseph Smith
taught.... He had obtained the doctrine of salvation for the dead by
revelation and not from the printed pages of the Bible" (Ensign,
Sept. 1981, p. 16). LDS scripture in Doctrine & Covenants
124:29-39; 127:5-7; and 128:1-3,17-18 contains Smith’s revelations
about baptism for the dead. The 10 th
LDS Prophet, Joseph Fielding Smith declared, "If a man cannot enter
the kingdom of God without baptism, then the dead must be
baptized...The only way it can be done is vicariously, someone who is
living acting as a substitute for the dead" (Doctrines of Salvation,
vol. II, p. 141). And the 4th
LDS Prophet, Wilford Woodruff stated,
I look upon this portion of our ministry as a mission of as much
importance as preaching to the living; the dead will hear the voice
of the [LDS] servants of God in the spirit-world, and they cannot
come forth in the morning of the resurrection, unless certain
ordinances are performed for and in their behalf in temples built to
the name of God. It takes just as much to save a dead man as a
living man. For the last eighteen hundred years, the people that
have lived and passed away never heard the voice of an inspired man,
never heard a gospel sermon until they entered the spirit world.
Somebody has got to redeem them, by performing such ordinances for
them in the flesh as they cannot attend to themselves in the spirit,
and in order that this work may be done, we must have temples in
which to do it…. I will say here before closing that two weeks
before I left St. George [UT, where there is an LDS temple], the
spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did
not redeem them. Said they, "you have had the use of the endowment
house for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for
us. We laid the foundations of the government you now enjoy, and we
never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were
faithful to God." These were the signers of the Declaration of
Independence and they waited on me for two days and two nights…. I
straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon brother
McCallister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of
Independence, and fifty other eminent men making one hundred in all,
including John Wesley, Columbus, and others; I then baptized him for
every President of the United States, except three, and when their
cause is just, somebody will do the work for them. (Journal of
Discourses, vol. 19, p. 228-229)
Woodruff’s message shows that Mormons do not believe
anyone was saved in the kingdom of God between the first century and
1830 when Joseph Smith "restored the true gospel and true church."
Mormons are baptized for as many of those people as they can find
genealogical records for as well as any others who haven’t joined the
Mormon Church. Such practice is neither Biblical nor Christian since
neither Christ nor His apostles taught that people who are dead will
have another chance to hear and believe the gospel and have someone
baptized for their salvation.
Second Corinthians 6:2 says, "Behold, now is the
accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation." And Hebrews 9:27
declares, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment." Mormons believe they can become "vicarious saviors of the
dead" (Articles of Faith, p. 152; Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, p. 357), but Romans 14:12 says, "Every one of us
shall give an account of himself to God." Psalm 49:7 also says,
"None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom
for him." And II Timothy 2:13 declares, "If we believe not, yet He
abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself." Since Mormonism contradicts
the Bible, God cannot be the Author of both or He would "deny
Himself." The evidence supports the Bible as God’s Word, not
Mormonism.
Next month we will conclude our study of the 4 th
LDS Article of Faith. For those who want to read more on the subjects
included in the 4th Article of Faith, we suggest chapters 5 through 9
in the LDS book entitled Articles of Faith by James Talmage and
published by the LDS Church. |
Apologetics
Authors
Dr.
James Bjornstad
Mrs. Lorri MacGregor
Mr. Marvin Cowan
Dr. John Ankerberg
Dr. John Weldon |
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