Work for the Dead

1 Corinthians 15:29
29 Else what shall they do which are ^abaptized ^bfor the dead, if the dead ^crise not at all? why are they then baptized for the ^ddead?




John 5:25
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the ^adead shall ^bhear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall ^clive.




1 Peter 3:18-20

18 For Christ also hath once ^asuffered for sins, the just for the ^bunjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to ^cdeath in the flesh, but quickened by the ^dSpirit:

19 By which also he went and ^apreached unto the ^bspirits in ^cprison;

20 ^aWhich sometime were ^bdisobedient, when once the ^clongsuffering of God waited in the days of ^dNoah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were ^esaved by ^fwater.

1 Peter 4:5-6

5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to ^ajudge the ^bquick and the dead.

6 ^aFor for this cause was the ^bgospel ^cpreached also to them that are ^ddead, that they might be ^ejudged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.


My Thoughts: Gospel preached to the dead, because they are judge as men in the flesh are. For example, men in the flesh are to be baptized. If they are to be judged like men in the flesh, then they must be provided the same opportunities as everyone else.




(David L. Paulsen and Brock M. Mason, "Baptism for the Dead in Early Christianity", Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture: Volume - 19, Issue - 2, Pages: 22-49 Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2010)
"Ultimately, every reader must ask: How can I reconcile the infinite mercy of a loving Heavenly Father with the Lord's declaration that one cannot enter heaven without baptism, in light of the fact that millions upon millions of good, honest individuals have lived their entire lives in various regions of the world without the opportunity to hear the good news of the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ?"