Well, you look at that title and you think, "What in the world is she doing?"
I have to be honest. I was not in the mood to do Bible study this morning. I really was not. Some mornings are just like that. I knew that 1 Corinthians 15 was ahead of me, and I just was not very jazzed. But, part of the reason I write this is blog is to discipline myself to daily study of the Word.
Thing is: I'm learning that sometimes I find the unexpected.
Today, "the unexpected" took the form of 1 Corinthians 15:29-34. Here are the verses from the NET:
29 Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they baptized for them? 30 Why too are we in danger every hour?31 Every day I am in danger of death! This is as sure as my boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If from a human point of view I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34 Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame!
For years I've been aware that some faiths practice baptizing their members on behalf of dead loved ones. Most notably, the Mormons do this in our present day. It also sprang up as a false teaching in the early Christian church. For example, Cerenthand and Marcien, two early church fathers, taught this. It was branded as heresy by many believers, even then.
But, I never thought about or investigated where this belief originated, until I came across 1 Cor. 15:29, where it was staring me in the face. Ahhhh, THAT's where it comes from!
You know, it is amazing to me how we just gloss over or ignore difficult passages of Scripture. It's almost like we think that God is not big enough to get us over the hurdles. The Bible is a complex book. But, it is a perfect book as well, infallible. So, what do we do when we find a Bible verse that is puzzling? What we should do is to look at the whole fabric of Scripture and interpret the verse or passage in light of the rest of the book. That is what we should do here.
Having said that, you should know that there are scores of different interpretations about this verse. You can see that some faiths have built entire doctrines around 1 Cor. 15:29, around this one verse. Nowhere else in the Bible are we told to baptize people on behalf of dead loved ones. We aren't told to do that by Paul here either, for that matter.
Paul had been spending several verses reinforcing to the Corinthians the truth of the bodily resurrection from the dead. They had gotten themselves mired in error over this issue. Some of the Corinthians had stopped believing in a literal, bodily resurrection. They had begun to listen to those who did not believe this scriptural teaching. Part of the Corinthians' error had also involved corrupt association with those who use baptism inappropriately. Paul brings this up when he uses those heretical practitioners as an example. He has been making the point that even those practicing the heresy of vicarious baptism do so because they believe in a resurrection from the dead. He does not mention them to affirm their heretical practice or to "enhance" Jesus' true teaching on baptism or to suggest that the Corinthians get baptized for loved ones. He lumps these heretics into the those warned against in verse 34 - - - those who "have no knowledge of God".
This interpretation of 15:29-34 makes sense to me as a mother because, in trying to reason with an errant child (much as Paul was trying to correct the Corinthians), I will sometimes mention other wayward folk as a negative example. Let me illustrate:
"Son, cocaine will kill you. Stay away from it as well as from all illegal substances. Look at your classmates, Rufus and Baldaric. They are pot-smokers, but even they stay away from cocaine because they know it will kill you. If cocaine is not terribly dangerous, why would Rufus and Baldaric avoid it?"
Now, do you really think that by invoking Rufus and Baldaric, the pot-smoking associates, I am encouraging my son to smoke pot? God forbid! But, this type of argument is what Paul is using, I believe, in this passage. Makes total sense to this mom.
You will note that no notable person in the Bible, either in the Old or New Testaments is seen being baptized on behalf on someone else, either living or dead.
A couple other interpretation of these verses I'll mention as possible true interpretations. This is the one that John MacArthur holds. He believes Paul mentions verse 29 to say that the witness of the dead believers leads others to salvation (and thereafter to their own living baptism).1 Warren Wiersbe believes Paul is saying that new believers are being saved and then baptized to replace the ranks in the Church of those believers who have died and gone on to their reward.2 Both of these highly respected men hold slightly different views from mine, a lowly lover of the Bible and by no means a Bible scholar of any renown whatsoever.
Regardless of which alternate explanation you choose, it is obvious by the absence of this "doctrine" anywhere else in Scripture that vicarious baptism (being baptized on behalf of someone else) is a false doctrine. Some of you, readers of this blog, will disagree. It is not my intention to start an argument, but to exegete the Scriptures as the Holy Spirit instructs.
What we should focus on instead is the true teaching of Paul in this chapter, that being that it is the bodily resurrection of the dead which compelled (and still compels) believers to die for their faith (15:19). Christ was the first to be raised from the dead into a resurrection body; the bodily resurrection of us, His followers, will happen in a similar way (15:20-23). This is "the blessed hope" Titus describes in Titus 2:13.
Father, thank you that we do not follow our Savior only in this present world, but that we have Your promise that we will be with You, our Triune God, for all eternity, in resurrected, supernatural bodies. In Jesus' name, amen.
Sources:
1 file:///Users/genahood/Downloads/ResurrectionIncentives.pdf
2 Wiersbe, Warren W. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. 2nd ed. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2007. 494. Print.
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