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In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a living person, acting as proxy, is baptized by immersion in typical Latter-day Saint fashion. The ordinance is performed only in buildings recognized as temples. The Prayer accompanying the baptism differs from typical wording in that it states that the Baptism is being performed for and in behalf of a deceased person whose name has been submitted for that ordinance. Any member of the Church, in good standing, who is at least 12 years old may be baptized for the dead. Young men must hold the priesthood. Overview The Latter-day Saints' view of ), Jesus states, "Except that a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." As such, Latter-Day Saints believe that baptism is an essential ordinance or prerequisite for entry into the kingdom of God. Baptism for the Dead allows this saving ordinance to be offered to those who have died without accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ from authorised representatives of God during their mortal lives. If baptism is a required ordinance, as Mormons believe is evidenced by Jesus's own desire to receive it from John The Baptist , then inviting others to receive this ordinance becomes a natural obligation for all who have received the Gospel in this life. According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, their practice of baptism for the dead is based on a revelation received by the prophet Joseph Smith . Smith first taught the doctrine at the Funeral sermon of a deceased member of the Church, Seymour Brunson . In a letter written on October 19 , 1840 , to the Quorum Of The Twelve Apostles of the Church (who were on a mission in the United Kingdom at the time), Smith refers to the passage in 1 Corinthians 15:29 (KJV): :I presume the doctrine of "baptism for the dead" has ere this reached your ears, and may have raised some inquiries in your minds respecting the same. I cannot in this letter give you all the information you may desire on the subject; but aside from knowledge independent of the Bible , I would say that it was certainly practiced by the ancient churches; and Saint Paul endeavors to prove the doctrine of the resurrection from the same, and 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?" (History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 4:231) Other scriptures of the Latter-day Saints Church (. (As of April 2006, there are 122 operating LDS temples worldwide and many more under construction.) Vicarious baptism is performed in connection with other vicarious ordinances in Latter-day Saints' temples. The Church holds that deceased persons who have not accepted or had the opportunity to accept the gospel of Christ in this life will have the opportunity to accept the gospel in the afterlife. But in order to do so they must receive all the ordinances that a living person is expected to receive, including baptism. For this reason, of the U.S., Presidents of the U.S., John Wesley , Christopher Columbus , and others. Vicarious baptism does not mean that the decedent actually accepts the ordinance performed for him or her or that the deceased becomes a member of the LDS church; it merely means that the decedent ''may'' accept the ordinance and the benefits which the Latter-day Saints claim it provides. However, Church leaders have stated that the people in the afterlife for whom these ordinances have been performed will rarely reject it. While members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider it a great service to perform vicarious ordinances for the deceased, some non-members have taken offense. To be sensitive to the issue of vicariously baptizing non-Mormons that are not related to Church members, the Church in recent years has publicized a policy of generally only performing temple ordinances for direct ancestors of Church members. For example, the Church is in the process of removing sensitive names (such as Jewish Holocaust victims) from its International Genealogical Index . D. Todd Christofferson of the Church's Presidency Of The Seventy stated that removing the names is an "ongoing, labor intensive process requiring name-by-name research ... When the Church is made aware of documented concerns, action is taken ... Plans are underway to refine this process." History Baptism for the dead was practiced by some Christian groups in the late fourth century and possibly earlier. John A. Tvedtnes , a Hebrew and early Christian scholar at Brigham Young University , Utah writes: :That baptism for the dead was indeed practiced in some orthodox Christian circles is indicated by the decisions of two late fourth century councils. The fourth canon of the Synod of Hippo, held in 393, declares, "The Eucharist shall not be given to dead bodies, nor baptism conferred upon them." The ruling was confirmed four years later in the sixth canon of the Third Council of Carthage. Some argue that the fact that these two councils felt it necessary to explicity forbid baptism for the dead shows that there must have been a significant group of people practicing it, accompanied by opposition to it by the church's leadership. Others disagree with the classification of such groups as "orthodox", since the councils concluded that they were in fact unorthodox, at least with respect to that practice. Some members of the LDS church see significant parallels between the Baptism for the Dead and the Prayer s and Requiem Masses read for the dead in some churches (e.g. Roman Catholic ), both historical and modern. Others see similarities to other doctrines associated with Purgatory . These parallels are disputed by many non-Mormons and Mormons. According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "Tertullian believed that Paul referred to a custom of vicarious baptism (Res., 48c; Adv. Marc., 5.10). There is evidence that the early church knew such a practice. Epiphanius mentions a tradition that the custom obtained among the Cerinthians (Haer., 28 6). And Chrysostom states that it prevailed among the Marcionites." All of these supporters were considered heretics by the early Church: Tertullian died outside the church as a Montanist ; the Cerinthians were a Gnostic group that also denied that Jesus Christ was crucified; and the Marcionites were yet another Gnostic group who followed Marcion , who was also excommunicated from the Church before forming his own sect. Christian opposition Other Christian denominations generally do not accept the Latter-day Saint interpretation of baptism for the dead contemplated in 1 Corinthians 15:29 , and no contemporary Christian church practices a similar ordinance. In this chapter Paul is arguing, to Christians in Corinth, against those who do not believe in the bodily resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12) . While there are different approaches taken to interpreting the meaning of this scripture, some mainstream Christians believe Paul was merely demonstrating the logical contradiction between the practices of these local Christians and their lack of belief in the resurrection. Others believe that "the dead," though plural in the original Greek, refers to Christ (rendering the interpretation of the verse as "why are you baptized for of the dead Jesus , if the dead rise not at all?"), or to the symbol of Baptism - the death, burial and resurrection of the individual as they begin their new life as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Other scholars are not exactly sure about what Paul meant by the comments (see links below). Another counter-argument to baptism for the dead is that there is little or no record (or incomplete, or disputed) of any mainstream Christian denomination historically practicing it, and therefore it fails the test set forth by Saint Vincent Of Lerins , that Christians should believe that which "has been believed by all Christians in all places at all times." Among the major reasons many Christians dismiss this practice is that they do not believe salvation is dependent on baptism at all. Further, that Christ's example of being baptized by John the Baptist is irrelevant to one's own personal salvation. The practice of Baptism for the Dead also appears to some Christians to abrogate the individual's personal responsibility. It is not, however, meant to change the standing of the dead in God 's eyes, only to provide them the opportunity to do so themselves. Holocaust victim controversy It is asserted that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made it a long term practice to vicariously baptize The Holocaust 's Jew ish victims and other prominent individuals. However, Church policy states that Church members submit their own names for these type of ordinances, and require that a surviving family member's permission be obtained for ''any'' Baptism that is to be performed of deceased individuals that have died within a certain time period (usually 50-75 years). However, some baptisms were done for Holocaust Victims, without proper approval or permission. When this information became public, it generated vocal criticism of the LDS Church (though not rising to the level of Anti-Mormonism ) from Jewish groups, who found this ritual to be insulting and insensitive (though not rising to the level of Anti-Semitism ). Partly as a result of public pressure, Church leaders in 1995 promised to put into place new policies that would help stop the practice, unless specifically requested or approved by relatives of the victims. In late . In December 2002, independent researcher Helen Radkey published a report showing that the Church's 1995 promise to remove Jewish Nazi victims from its International Genealogical Index was not sufficient; her research of the Church's database uncovered the names of about 19,000 who had a 40 to 50 percent chance of having "the potential to be Holocaust victims...in Russia, Poland, France, and Austria." Genealogist Bernard Kouchel conducted a search of the International Genealogical Index, and discovered that many well known Jews have been vicariously baptized, including Rashi , Maimonides , Albert Einstein , Menachem Begin , Irving Berlin , Marc Chagall , and Gilda Radner . Some permissions may have been obtained, but there is not currently a system in place to ensure that these permissions have been obtained, which has angered many in various religious and cultural communities. In 2004, Schelly Talalay Dardashti, Jewish genealogy columnist for ''The Jerusalem Post'' noted that Jews, even those with no Mormon descendants, are being rebaptised after being removed from the rolls. In an interview, D. Todd Christofferson, a church official, told ''The New York Times'' that it was not feasible for church to continuously monitor the archives to ensure that no new Jewish names appear. The agreement referred to above did not place this type of responsibility on the centralized Church leadership. ''See also:'' Ancestor Liberation References
External links Links with a Neutral Viewpoint about Baptism for the Dead
Opposed to Mormon Baptism for the Dead
In Favor of Baptism for the Dead
About unauthorized proxy baptisms
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