What is "Baptism For the Dead"?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

In a single passing reference in 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul mentions people who practice baptism for the dead, citing the practice as part of his argument for belief in the ultimate resurrection of the dead. Sadly, though, he offers no explanation of what the ritual involved, who performed it, or why it was practiced. As a result, theologians, and historians have spent centuries trying to understand what Paul meant.

In this article, I’ll attempt to explain what baptism for the dead may have been, examining the context in which Paul mentioned it, the origins and development of Christian baptism itself, and the various interpretations that have emerged over the past two thousand years.

Context of Baptism for the Dead in the Bible

First Corinthians is a letter Paul wrote to the Christian community he had founded several years before in the affluent and religiously diverse city of Corinth. The letter addresses difficulties, divisions, and questions that have arisen in the church since Paul left.

One of those questions is whether Paul, who didn’t know Jesus during his lifetime on earth, holds the same apostolic authority as those from the original Jerusalem church. Paul addresses this explicitly in 9:1–2:

In 9:16, he says “If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!” In other words, Paul has apostolic authority because when Christ appeared to him, he placed an obligation on Paul to preach the gospel. This argument makes sense for Paul, since the word “apostle” (Greek: apostolos) means “one who is sent.”

Having established his authority, then, in chapter 15 Paul establishes (or re-establishes) some of the basic doctrines of his gospel in 15:3–8:

He then goes on to address those in the church who have apparently expressed a lack of faith in the resurrection of the dead, a cornerstone of Paul’s faith, which Christ’s resurrection heralded:

Further arguing for his belief in the resurrection of the dead, Paul then refers to the coming eschaton, the end of the world, in which God will take control:

It seems clear in this verse that Paul is referring to an existing practice—baptism for the dead—as part of his argument for resurrection. But what is baptism for the dead, and where did it come from? To understand that, let’s start with a concise history of Christian baptism.

History of Baptism

The word “baptism” has its origins in the Greek word báptisma, which simply means “immersion in water.” It is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, four times to indicate ritual washing. For instance, in 2 Kings 5:14, when Naaman, a Syrian commander who has leprosy, is told by the prophet Elisha that he can be healed by bathing in the Jordan River:

This immersion cures Naaman’s leprosy, indicating that the ritual washing has a purifying effect. Likewise, in the Greek version of the Deuterocanonical book known as Sirach, we see references to purification rituals outlined in the book of Numbers:

Ritual washing for the purpose of purification was called tvilah in Jewish law and tradition and was, in some respects, quite similar to baptism. However, the principal reason for performing this Jewish ritual was to restore ritual purity to the person, a state in which one could take part in sacred activities like sacrifices. Christian baptism, on the other hand, was supposed to foster a state of moral purity, including repentance, forgiveness of sins, and initiation into the Christian community.

John the Baptist, however, living in the 1st century CE, seems to have been the bridge between Jewish tvilah and baptism. He adopted and adapted immersion in the Jordan river as a central rite in his prophetic movement, and this is often seen as the precursor of Christian baptismal rituals. In Mark 1:4–5, therefore, we read

Note that in John’s baptism, people were cleansed from the sins they’d committed through an immersion rite along with confession, rather than from ritual impurity. This may, in fact, be the origin of the Christian concept of baptism, although it’s difficult to be entirely certain.

What we do know is that baptism has likely been part of Christianity from its earliest years. It is mentioned many times in Acts (2:38, 2:41, 8:16, 9:18) and the letters of Paul (Rom 6:3–4, 1 Cor 12:13, Gal 3:27). Furthermore, John 3:26 says that the disciples of John the Baptist “came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him’, indicating the possibility that Jesus himself baptized people.

Despite these origins in the 1st century, it was in the 3rd and 4th centuries that the theology of baptism began to develop significantly. Hughes Oliphant Old writes that during these centuries, the ritual became more complicated, including the teachings of a catechism beforehand, chrismation (anointing with holy oil), exorcisms, the laying on of hands, and the recitation of a creed and various prayers. In other words, baptism became inextricably tied not only to an initial purification, but also to the establishment of Christian identity. For Paul, its symbolism included the notion “dying and rising with Christ:”

(Affiliate Disclaimer: We may earn commissions on products you purchase through this page at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our site!)

Now that we know how baptism developed within early Christianity, we can take a look at what baptism for the dead might have been.

Baptism for the Dead

Our first task in deciphering this practice, must begin with the words Paul himself uses in 1 Corinthians 15:29. Most scholars point out that outside of this single passage of scripture, there is no other evidence for this Christian practice (as the The HarperCollins Study Bible notes, “Why people practiced baptism of the dead is unknown.”)

As we saw above, Paul, in defending his faith in the notion of the resurrection of the dead, asks why, if resurrection of the dead is not real, do people “receive baptism on behalf of the dead?” In other words, it appears that people believed in the efficacy of receiving baptism vicariously for those who had already died. In other words, this type of baptism could somehow benefit the souls of the deceased.

In his article “Corinthian Religion and Baptism for the Dead,” Richard DeMaris writes that this practice connects well to burial imagery Paul uses in Romans 6 to explain the purpose of baptism.

This brings up a question, though: if baptism for the dead was indeed a common Christian practice in Paul’s time, and if Paul himself did not condemn it, why was it not continued? To answer that, let’s look at how later Christians interpreted baptism for the dead.

Early Christian Interpretations of Baptism for the Dead

Cantankerous Christian author Tertullian (155–220 CE) wrote about this ritual. The content appears in  his treatise On the Resurrection of the Flesh, which says "Now it is certain that [the Corinthians] adopted this [tradition] with such a presumption that made them suppose that the vicarious baptism would be beneficial to the flesh of another in anticipation of the resurrection." Like Paul, Tertullian doesn’t seem to entirely condemn baptism for the dead, but neither does he endorse it. Additionally, there is no evidence for its use in his time and location (North Africa).

Meanwhile, an otherwise unknown Christian author named Ambrosiaster wrote in the 4th century that "some people were at that time [New Testament period] being baptized for the dead because they were afraid that someone who was not baptized would either not rise at all or else rise merely in order to be condemned." Again, he acknowledges that baptism for the dead was practiced, but neither approves nor explicitly disapproves. Like Tertullian, he seems to see this tradition as something only done in the distant past.

Finally, the well-known bishop and preacher John Chrysostom took a different view of the practice in his Homilies on First and Second Corinthians, suggesting that Paul was not referring to any literal practice at all. Instead, he believed Paul was metaphorically describing those who were baptized in the hope of their own resurrection. In other words, "the dead" here merely refers to a baptized person’s own death and their expectation of eternal life.

Interestingly, though, John Chrysostom also says that the Marcionites in his time practiced baptism for the dead, although only in very specific circumstances. If a person preparing for baptism died before being baptized, the corpse was asked whether he wished to be baptized. Another person would then answer “yes” on behalf of the deceased and would then be baptized on behalf of the one who had died. It is noteworthy, though, that even if this is an accurate description of Marcionite practice (which is uncertain), Chrysostom details the practice mockingly to his congregation. It may or may not have been considered evil, in other words, but it was probably worthy of disdain in the eyes of most 4th-century Christians.

Modern scholars have differing opinions on the meaning of this ritual as well. In The Baptized Body, Peter Leithart argues that Paul is merely referring to Jewish rites for restoring ritual purity after touching a corpse. He thus believes that it was a practice designed to purify the body in preparation for resurrection. Joel White, on the other hand, believes baptism for the dead meant baptisms performed after the death of Christian apostles, including Paul himself, as a way to renew Christians’ commitment to Christ.

Perhaps the most interesting interpretation, however, comes from the Latter-Day Saints (sometimes called Mormons or LDS).

The Latter-Day Saints’ Interpretation of Baptism for the Dead

While most modern Christian communities see the practice of baptism for the dead as a rare, obsolete church practice, those who follow the Mormon faith practice this ritual in their churches today. Their rationale is as follows:

To perform this ritual, someone of the same sex as the deceased person is baptized in the deceased person’s name. Latter-Day Saints believe that such baptisms, offered on behalf of those who have died, may grant their salvation.

This practice and its rationale are not considered valid by most other modern churches. Why is baptism for the dead wrong in the eyes of these other churches? Most Christian denominations, including both Catholics and the majority of Protestant denominations, believe that salvation and grace can only be received during a person's lifetime based on their willing choice to accept them. They view baptism as an outward sign of an individual's personal faith, making vicarious baptism for the deceased unnecessary or even theologically incorrect.

Conclusion

It’s interesting that one single verse, mentioning an otherwise obscure early Christian ritual, could create controversy, or at least an intriguing mystery, over the centuries in the Christian church. In 1 Corinthians 15:29, in the context of arguing for the ultimate resurrection of the dead, Paul mentioned “baptism for the dead,” apparently a practice wherein those who are alive are baptized on behalf of those who are dead. However, no further details about this practice are given.

While baptism seems to have developed from earlier Jewish practices of ritual bathing, John the Baptist changed the focus of this rite from ritual purity to moral purity. We also know from Paul’s letters and other New Testament books that baptism goes back to the earliest decades of Christianity’s formation. So, if baptism for the dead was indeed a common practice, then, why did it not endure, becoming as widely utilized as prayer or other rituals?

We know, for instance, that by the 2nd century, Christian authors were writing about the practice in the past tense; no one in their regions was practicing it anymore. One bishop and author even interpreted the practice metaphorically as if the literal practice had never happened at all.

While this all-but-extinct practice does not exist in most Christian denominations, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has taken it up as a sacrament, performing proxy baptisms on behalf of those who have died not knowing Jesus as a way to save their souls. While most modern Christians don’t see this as a valid practice, the mystery of its origins and meaning lingers on.