Baptism for the dead#Jewish Holocaust victims

{{Short description|Baptizing a person on behalf of one who is dead}}

File:Nauvoo Temple basement.png of the Nauvoo Temple basement. The basement of the temple was used as the baptistery, containing a large baptismal font in the center of the main room.]]

Baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism or proxy baptism today commonly refers to the religious practice of baptizing a person on behalf of one who is dead—a living person receiving the rite on behalf of a deceased person.

Baptism for the dead is best known as a doctrine of the Latter Day Saint movement, which has practiced it since 1840. It is currently practiced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), where it is performed only in dedicated temples, as well as in several other current factions of the movement. Those who practice this rite view baptism as an essential requirement to enter the Kingdom of God, and therefore practice baptism for the dead to offer it by proxy to those who died without the opportunity to receive it. The Church teaches that those who have died may choose to accept or reject the baptisms done on their behalf.

Baptism for the dead is mentioned in ({{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=1 Corinthians|chapter=15|verse=29}}) as proof of a physical resurrection, though the exact meaning of the phrase is an open question among scholars. The plainest reading of the Greek text suggests vicarious baptisms performed by the living on behalf of the deceased, but some scholars dispute whether Paul approved of the practice or whether the verse truly refers to an actual physical practice among early Christians.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43049114|jstor = 43049114|title = Baptism for the Dead (1 Cor 15:29)?|last1 = Taylor|first1 = N. H.|journal = Neotestamentica|year = 2002|volume = 36|issue = 1/2|pages = 111–120}} Early heresiologists Epiphanius of Salamis (Panarion 28) and Chrysostom (Homilies 40) attributed the practice respectively to the Cerinthians and to the Marcionites, whom they identified as heretical "Gnostic" groups, while Ambrosiaster and Tertullian affirmed that the practice was legitimate and found among the New Testament Christians (though Tertullian later recanted his original beliefs in his later life as he became associated with Montanism).Everett Ferguson Baptism in the early church: history, theology, and liturgy 2009 p299 "Tertullian twice in an antiheretical context comments on 1 Corinthians 15:29, "baptism for the dead." 4. Later writers say the Marcionites practiced baptism on behalf of the dead. 5. It was also said that they ..." The practice was forbidden by the Councils of Carthage in the last decade of the fourth century AD, and is therefore not practiced in modern mainstream Christianity, whether Nestorian, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or any traditional Protestant churches.

Early Christianity

Latter-day Saint scholar [https://interpreterfoundation.org/author/johnt/ John A. Tvedtnes] says: "Baptism for the dead was performed by the dominant church until forbidden by the sixth canon of the Council of Carthage (397). Some of the smaller sects, however, continued the practice."{{cite journal |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1977/02/insights/proxy-baptism?lang=eng |title= Proxy Baptism |journal= Ensign |date= February 1977 |first= John A. |last= Tvedtnes}} He does not give the text of that canon, which, if it is included in Canon 18 of The Code of Canons of the African Church, reads: "It also seemed good that the Eucharist should not be given to the bodies of the dead. For it is written: 'Take, Eat', but the bodies of the dead can neither 'take' nor 'eat'. Nor let the ignorance of the presbyters baptize those who are dead."[https://orthodoxchurchfathers.com/fathers/npnf214/npnf2245.htm#P8034_1634057 Orthodox Church Fathers: Christian Theology Classics]

Epiphanius of Salamis (between 310 and 320 – 403) reported that he had heard it said that, among followers of Cerinthus, if one of them died before baptism, another was baptized in that person's name:

{{Blockquote|

For their school reached its height in this country, I mean Asia, and in Galatia as well. And in these countries I also heard of a tradition which said that when some of their people died too soon, without baptism, others would be baptized for them in their names, so that they would not be punished for rising unbaptized at the resurrection and become the subjects of the authority that made the world. And the tradition I heard of says that this is why the same holy apostle said, 'If the dead rise not at all, why are they baptized for them?' But others explain the text satisfactorily by saying that, as long as they are catechumens, the dying are allowed baptism before they die because of this hope, showing that the person who has died will also rise, and therefore needs the forgiveness of his sins through baptism.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150906041916/http://www.masseiana.org/panarion_bk1.htm Panarion 28, 6.4]}}

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John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) mockingly attributes to the Marcionites of the late 4th century a similar practice: if one of their followers who was being prepared for baptism died before receiving baptism, the dead person's corpse was addressed with the question whether he wished to be baptized, whereupon another answered affirmatively and was baptized for the dead person.{{cite web|url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf112.iv.xli.html#fna_iv.xli-p6.2 |title=John Chrysostom, Homily XL on 1 Corinthians |publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |access-date=2014-03-27}}

=Interpretations of 1 Corinthians 15:29=

In {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|15:29|KJV}}, Paul writes: "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?" This passage appears in the midst of Paul's argument for the resurrection of the dead, a central theme of the chapter. The verse has generated substantial debate among theologians, historians, and biblical scholars. Its meaning and the nature of the practice it describes remain uncertain, and no consensus exists as to whether Paul endorsed, merely reported, or criticized the practice.

Interpretations of the verse range from literal readings involving vicarious baptisms, to metaphorical, ritual, and rhetorical understandings. The passage has also been linked by some scholars to Jewish purity laws and Second Temple traditions, while others have proposed connections to early Christian or even Gnostic practices.

==Early Historical Testimonies==

A small number of early Christian sources and heresiologists report practices resembling baptism for the dead among non-orthodox groups.

Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 310–403), writing in his work Panarion, states that among followers of Cerinthus, if someone died before baptism, another member of the sect would be baptized in that person's name:

{{Blockquote|

For their school reached its height in this country, I mean Asia, and in Galatia as well. And in these countries I also heard of a tradition which said that when some of their people died too soon, without baptism, others would be baptized for them in their names, so that they would not be punished for rising unbaptized at the resurrection and become the subjects of the authority that made the world. And the tradition I heard of says that this is why the same holy apostle said, "If the dead rise not at all, why are they baptized for them?" But others explain the text satisfactorily by saying that, as long as they are catechumens, the dying are allowed baptism before they die because of this hope, showing that the person who has died will also rise, and therefore needs the forgiveness of his sins through baptism.{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906041916/http://www.masseiana.org/panarion_bk1.htm |title=Panarion 28.6.4 |work=Masseiana.org (Archived)}}

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John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) mentions a related practice, attributed to the Marcionites, in which a person would be baptized on behalf of a deceased catechumen. He reports this as a bizarre and erroneous custom:

{{quote|When one of their people dies without baptism, they place another under the bed of the dead man. Approaching the dead, they speak with him and ask whether he wished to receive baptism. Then, when the corpse makes no reply, the one under the bed replies in his place that he does wish it, and so they baptize him instead of the departed.{{cite web |title=Homilies on First Corinthians, Homily 40 |author=John Chrysostom |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/220140.htm |website=New Advent}}}}

These accounts suggest that some fringe Christian or heterodox groups practiced forms of vicarious baptism for the dead, or were rumored to do so. However, there is no firm evidence that this was a mainstream or widely accepted Christian practice during the early centuries of the Church.

==Interpretations in the Early Church==

Early Christian writers offered differing views on the meaning of Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 15:29. Some acknowledged the existence of vicarious baptism practices, while others provided more symbolic or theological explanations.

Tertullian (c. 155–220) is one of the earliest Christian authors to comment on the passage. In his work On the Resurrection of the Flesh, he appears to accept that some Christians practiced vicarious baptism for the dead, stating: "Now it is certain that they adopted this [practice] 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."{{cite journal |last1=Paulsen |first1=David L. |last2=Mason |first2=Brock M. |date=2010 |title=Baptism for the Dead in Early Christianity |journal=Journal of Book of Mormon Studies |volume=19 |issue=2 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1478&context=jbms |publisher=Brigham Young University}}

Later in life, however, Tertullian changed his interpretation. In Against Marcion, he downplays the literal practice and argues instead that the phrase "baptized for the dead" should be understood as being "baptized for the body," since the human body is destined to die and rise again. He maintains that Paul's reference to the practice served only to reinforce the doctrine of bodily resurrection.{{cite web |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/03125.htm |title=Tertullian, Against Marcion, Book V, Chapter 10 |website=New Advent}}

Ambrosiaster, an anonymous Christian author writing between 366 and 384, also acknowledges the existence of the practice, noting 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."Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Paul's Epistles, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 81.175; quoted in Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1999), 166.

John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), in his homilies on 1 Corinthians, rejects a literal interpretation and offers a metaphorical reading. He suggests that Paul was referring to individuals who were baptized in hope of their own future resurrection. In this view, "for the dead" refers not to other people, but to the baptized person’s own mortality and hope for eternal life.

==Theological and Scholarly Interpretations==

Modern and historical scholars have proposed a variety of interpretations of 1 Corinthians 15:29, ranging from literal understandings of vicarious baptism to metaphorical, ritualistic, and rhetorical readings. These interpretations often reflect broader theological commitments regarding resurrection, ritual purity, and early Christian identity.

===Vicarious Baptism===

Some scholars and early Christian writers interpret the passage as describing a literal practice in which living individuals were baptized on behalf of the dead. The HarperCollins Study Bible notes that Paul appears to refer to an actual practice among the Corinthians, though the origins and scope of the practice remain uncertain: "Why the Corinthians practiced baptism on behalf of the dead is unknown; see also 2 Macc 12:44–45."Attridge, Harold W., et al., editors. The HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Including The Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. HarperSanFrancisco, 2006. In {{bibleverse|2|Maccabees|12:44–45}}, Judas Maccabeus takes up a collection for a sin offering on behalf of fallen soldiers who had died wearing idolatrous amulets. The text commends this action as noble and motivated by belief in the resurrection, stating that "it was a holy and pious thought" to make atonement for the dead, "that they might be delivered from their sin." This has been interpreted by some as evidence of intercessory practices for the dead within certain Jewish traditions of the Second Temple period.

===Metaphorical and Symbolic Readings===

Several Church Fathers and Reformation-era theologians interpreted the phrase symbolically. John Chrysostom, for instance, believed Paul was referring to individuals who were baptized in view of their own eventual death, thus expressing hope in resurrection.

Some modern commentators understand "baptism for the dead" as a metaphor for martyrdom, pointing to New Testament passages such as {{bibleverse||Mark|10:38}} and {{bibleverse||Luke|12:50}}, where baptism symbolizes suffering or death. According to this view, Paul refers to people who undergo baptism (or martyrdom) with the expectation of a future resurrection.{{cite book |title=Tyndale Bible Dictionary |year=2001 |publisher=Tyndale House |isbn=978-0-8423-7089-9 |article=Baptism for the dead}}

Reformers offered their own symbolic interpretations. Martin Luther suggested the phrase may refer to being baptized "above" the graves of the dead, based on one possible meaning of the Greek preposition ὑπέρ. John Calvin proposed it referred to baptism received by those near death, as a final profession of hope in the resurrection.

===Jewish Ritual Washing===

Another interpretation focuses on the linguistic context of the Greek verb baptizein, which in Jewish Greek can refer to ritual washings (baptismos) rather than Christian baptism (baptisma).{{cite web|url=http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G909&t=KJV |title=masculine noun baptismos 4x NT uses |publisher=Blueletterbible.org |access-date=2011-09-17}} These ritual washings, especially those associated with corpse impurity under the Mosaic law (e.g., Numbers 19), were common in the Second Temple period. Scholar Peter Leithart suggests Paul may have been referring to Jewish purification rites for those who had come into contact with the dead.Leithart, Peter J. The Baptized Body. Canon Press, 2007, p. 136. On this view, the phrase may allude to ritual acts intended to restore purity in anticipation of resurrection.

===Apostolic Reference Theory===

New Testament scholar Joel R. White proposes that Paul was referring to baptisms performed in response to the death of Christian leaders, such as the apostles, especially Apollos or Paul himself. In this view, "the dead" refers not to anonymous deceased persons, but to prominent Christian figures whose deaths inspired renewed commitment through baptism.{{cite journal |last1=White |first1=Joel R. |title="Baptized on Account of the Dead": The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 15:29 in Its Context |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |date=1997 |volume=116 |issue=3 |pages=487–499 |doi=10.2307/3266670 |jstor=3266670}}

===Patronage Interpretation===

Eastern Orthodox theologian Stephen De Young proposes that the phrase refers to early Christian converts being baptized "for" or "in the name of" deceased Christian saints. This interpretation sees baptism as establishing a relationship of spiritual patronage, in which the baptized is united with a specific saint whose name or memory they take on. De Young argues that the Greek preposition ὑπέρ ("for") can imply representation or honor, and that the definite article ("the dead") likely refers to specific deceased Christians already mentioned earlier in the chapter (e.g., the apostles and other witnesses to Christ's resurrection).{{cite web |url=https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/wholecounsel/2018/11/26/those-who-are-baptized-for-the-dead/ |title=Those Who Are Baptized for the Dead |author=Stephen De Young |website=The Whole Counsel Blog |date=26 November 2018}}

===Gnostic or Esoteric Readings===

Scholar Elaine Pagels has argued that the passage reflects sacramental theology found in Gnostic or semi-Gnostic groups, such as the Valentinians. According to Pagels, Paul’s mention of baptism for the dead may have been adopted by later groups who performed baptismal rites for "psychic" believers through the spiritual elect.Pagels, Elaine H. The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters. Trinity Press, 1992, p. 83.

==Paul’s Perspective==

A key question in interpreting {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|15:29|KJV}} is whether Paul himself approved of the practice he mentions. Scholars remain divided on this issue.

Some argue that Paul refers to the practice rhetorically, as part of his broader argument for the resurrection of the dead. He writes, “what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead are not raised at all?”—implying that even those who undergo the practice believe in resurrection, and thus reinforcing his central theological point. According to this view, Paul does not necessarily endorse or promote the practice but uses it to appeal to the logic of those who did.

The wording of the verse also contributes to ambiguity. Paul uses the third person plural ("they") rather than directly addressing the Corinthian believers as "you," leading some scholars to infer that he may be referencing a practice that was not his own or not universally accepted. The Tyndale Bible Dictionary, for instance, concludes that Paul likely did not approve of the practice.

Other scholars are more cautious. The note in the Catholic New American Bible states: "This practice is not further explained here, nor is it necessarily mentioned with approval, but Paul cites it as something in their experience that attests in one more way to belief in the resurrection."{{cite web |url=http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians15.htm |title=New American Bible, note on 1 Corinthians 15:29 |publisher=USCCB.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117022601/http://www.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/15 |archive-date=2013-01-17 |url-status=dead}}

The HarperCollins Study Bible takes a more neutral view, acknowledging the literal sense of the text while noting the lack of clarity about its context or theological endorsement: “Why the Corinthians practiced baptism on behalf of the dead is unknown.”Attridge, Harold W., et al., editors. The HarperCollins Study Bible. HarperSanFrancisco, 2006.

Even early Christian writers recognized this ambiguity. In his later writings, Tertullian remarked that Paul’s mention of the practice, “whatever it may have been,” was used merely to underscore the importance of the resurrection of the body—not to validate the practice itself.

Latter-day Saint practice and teachings

File:Salt Lake temple baptismal font.jpg, circa 1912, where baptisms for the dead are performed by proxy. The font rests on the backs of twelve oxen representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel]]{{Main|Beliefs and practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints}}

In the practice of the LDS Church, a living person, acting as proxy, is baptized by immersion on behalf of a deceased person of the same sex. Baptism for the dead is an LDS Church ordinance, performed only in temples, and is based on the belief that baptism is required for entry into the Kingdom of God.

LDS Church members believe that baptism is a prerequisite for entry into the kingdom of God as stated by Jesus in {{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=John|chapter=3|verse=5}}: "Except that a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (KJV).

The LDS Church teaches that performing baptisms for the dead allows this saving ordinance to be offered on behalf of those who have died without accepting or knowing Jesus Christ or his teachings during their mortal lives. It is taught that this is the method by which all who have lived upon the earth will have the opportunity to receive baptism and to thereby enter the Kingdom of God.

Among other Biblical references, Latter-day Saints cite Peter's statements that Jesus preached to the spirits of the dead (KJV 1 Peter 3:19; 4:6) as evidence that God in his justice provides an opportunity for the deceased to hear and accept the gospel, if they don't receive that chance in mortality. As Peter affirmed in Acts 2:37–38, the next step after acceptance of the gospel is baptism for the remission of sins, which "doth also now save us" (KJV 1 Peter 3:21).

The LDS Church teaches that those in the afterlife who have been baptized by proxy are free to accept or reject the ordinance done on their behalf. Baptism on behalf of a deceased individual is not binding if that individual chooses to not accept it in the afterlife.{{Cite web |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/topics/baptisms-for-the-dead |title=Baptisms for the Dead |website=Gospel Topics |publisher= LDS Church}}{{Cite journal |last= Condie |first= Spencer J. |author-link= Spencer J. Condie |title=The Savior's Visit to the Spirit World |journal= Ensign |date= July 2003 |publisher= LDS Church |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2003/07/the-saviors-visit-to-the-spirit-world |pages= 32–36 |quote= No one will be coerced into accepting ordinances performed on his or her behalf by another. Baptism for the dead offers an opportunity, but it does not override a person's agency. But if this ordinance is not performed for them, deceased persons are robbed of the choice to accept or reject baptism.}}

Any member of the LDS Church, male or female, beginning in the year they turn 12 years old, who holds a current temple recommend may act as a proxy in this ordinance. Men must also hold the Aaronic priesthood prior to entering the temple. Men act as proxies for deceased men, and women as proxies for deceased women. The concept of a spiritual proxy is compared by some in the LDS Church to the belief that Jesus acted as a proxy for every human when he atoned for the sins of the world.{{cite book |last= Hinckley |first= Gordon B. |author-link= Gordon B. Hinckley |title= Be Thou an Example | year= 1981 |publisher= Deseret Book | page=133 |quote= In the sanctity of their appointments we commune with him and reflect on his Son, our Savior and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who served as proxy for each of us in a vicarious sacrifice in our behalf.}}

Historically, only adult male holders of the Melchizedek priesthood who had undergone the endowment ordinance were permitted to baptize others as proxies for the dead. In 2018, this policy was changed to allow boys who hold the Aaronic priesthood office of priest, generally between 15 and 18 years old, to also officiate in baptisms for the dead.{{Citation | url = https://kutv.com/news/local/lds-policy-changes-to-allow-youth-to-officiate-assist-in-temple-baptisms|last=Curtis|first = Larry D.| title = LDS policy changes to allow youth to officiate, assist in temple baptisms |date=14 December 2017| publisher = KUTV | access-date = January 11, 2018 | ref = none}}

=Modern origin=

According to the Latter-day Saint doctrine, the 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 LDS Church, Seymour Brunson.{{cite book| last=Cook| first=Lyndon|author2=Andrew F. Ehat| title=The Words of Joseph Smith |date=June 1991| publisher=Grandin Book Co.| isbn=0-910523-39-8 | page=49}} In a letter written on October 19, 1840, to the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (who were on a mission in the United Kingdom at the time), Smith refers to the passage in {{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=1 Corinthians|chapter=15|verse=29}} (KJV):

{{cquote|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 4:231.}}

LDS Church scripture expands further upon this doctrine and states that such baptisms are to be performed in temples.Doctrine and Covenants {{sourcetext|source=The Doctrine and Covenants|book=Covenant 124|verse=29}}, {{sourcetext|source=The Doctrine and Covenants|book=Covenant 127|verse=5|range=-10}} and {{sourcetext|source=The Doctrine and Covenants|book=Covenant 128}} Vicarious baptism is performed in connection with other vicarious ordinances in temples of the LDS Church, such as the endowment and celestial marriage.

Initially, women could be baptized for dead men, and vice versa; this, however, was changed in order to ensure that the person being baptized for a dead man could also be ordained on their behalf to the priesthood.Brigham Young (August 31, 1873), Journal of Discourses 16:160.

= Other churches of the Latter Day Saint Movement =

Some members of the early Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ) also believed in baptism for the dead,{{cite web |title=Baptism For The Dead |url=https://www.centerplace.org/library/study/bap4dead.htm |access-date=2012-08-23 |publisher=Centerplace.org}} but it was never officially sanctioned by that organization and was considered highly controversial.{{cite web |title=Differences That Persist between the RLDS and LDS Churches |url=https://www.centerplace.org/library/books/DifferencesThatPersist.pdf |access-date=2012-08-23}}

At a 1970 church world conference, a revelation and two letters written by Joseph Smith appertaining to baptism for the dead were removed as sections and placed in the appendix of their Doctrine and Covenants;[http://www.centerplace.org/hs/dc/rdc-107.htm "Appendix A: Section 107"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724130935/https://www.centerplace.org/hs/dc/rdc-107.htm|date=2021-07-24}}, [http://www.centerplace.org/hs/dc/rdc-109.htm "Appendix B: Section 109"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513095907/http://www.centerplace.org/hs/dc/rdc-109.htm|date=2021-05-13}}, [http://www.centerplace.org/hs/dc/rdc-110.htm "Appendix C: Section 110"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929153614/http://www.centerplace.org/hs/dc/rdc-110.htm|date=2018-09-29}}, Doctrine and Covenants (RLDS 1970 ed.). at a 1990 world conference, the three documents were removed entirely from their scriptural canon.Doctrine and Covenants (RLDS 1990 ed.).

In the Restoration Branches movement, which broke from the Reorganized Church in the 1980s, the question of baptism for the dead is at best unsettled. Many adherents reject the validity of the ordinance completely.{{citation |last=Smith |first=B. Mildred |title=A Response to Paul Trask, Part Way To Utah |work=CenterPlace.org |url=http://www.centerplace.org/rlds/AResponseToPaulTrask.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518200546/http://www.centerplace.org/rlds/AResponseToPaulTrask.htm |archive-date=2007-05-18}}

Other Latter Day Saint denominations that accept baptism for the dead include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite), and the Righteous Branch (Christ's Church). The Strangite Church performed baptisms for the dead during the 1840s in Voree, Wisconsin, and later during the 1850s on Beaver Island, Michigan. In each case, the practice was authorized on the basis of what James J. Strang reported as a revelation. The question of whether the Strangite Church still practices proxy baptism is an open one, but belief is considered orthodox.{{cite web |date=2004-01-01 |title=Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – Mormons – Baptism for the Dead |url=http://www.strangite.org/BaptismDead.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913044822/http://www.strangite.org/BaptismDead.htm |archive-date=2012-09-13 |access-date=2012-08-23 |publisher=Strangite.org}}

=Other Christian churches=

As part of their sacraments, the New Apostolic Church and the Old Apostolic Church also practice baptism for the dead, as well as Communion and Sealing to the Departed. In this practice a proxy or substitute is baptized in the place of an unknown number of deceased persons. According to NAC and OAC doctrine the deceased do not enter the body of the substitute.

Genealogy and baptism

The LDS Church teaches that deceased persons who have not accepted, or had the opportunity to accept, the gospel of Christ in this life will have such opportunity in the afterlife. The belief is that as all must follow Jesus Christ, they must also receive all the ordinances that a living person is expected to receive, including baptism. For this reason, members of the LDS Church are encouraged to research their genealogy. This research is then used as the basis for LDS Church members performing temple ordinances for as many deceased persons as possible. As a part of these efforts, Latter-day Saints have performed temple ordinances on behalf of a number of high-profile people, including the Founding Fathers of the United States,{{Citation | author = Wilford Woodruff | author-link = Wilford Woodruff | date = 1878 | title = The Journal of Discourses of Brigham Young, His Counselors, and the Twelve Apostles | volume = 19 | publisher = William Budge | editor = D. W. Evans, Geo. F. Gibbs | location = Liverpool, England | page = 229 | quote =… two weeks before I left St. George, 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 foundation 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. The thought never entered my heart, from the fact, I suppose, that heretofore our minds were reaching after our more immediate friends and relatives. 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. |display-editors=etal}}{{Citation | author = Wilford Woodruff | date = April 1898 | title = Conference Report of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | pages = 89–90 | quote = Those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits, not wicked men. General Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord...Everyone of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General Washington, called upon me, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them.}}{{Cite web| author-link = Ezra Taft Benson|last=Benson|first=Ezra Taft| date = 1977| title = God's Hand in Our Nation's History, 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year | publisher = Brigham Young University|url=https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/gods-hand-nations-history/| location = Provo, Utah| pages = 307–9| quote = The temple work for the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence and other Founding Fathers has been done. All these appeared to Wilford Woodruff when he was president of the St. George Temple. President George Washington was ordained a high priest at that time. You will also be interested to know that, according to Wilford Woodruff's journal, John Wesley, Benjamin Franklin, and Christopher Columbus were also ordained high priests at that time. When one casts doubt about the character of these noble sons of God, I believe he or she will have to answer to the God of heaven for it. Yes, with Lincoln I say: "To add brightness to the sun or glory to the name of Washington is. . . impossible. Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name and in its deathless splendor, leave it shining on."}} U.S. Presidents, most Catholic popes,{{cite news |first= Mark |last= Thiessen |date= April 9, 2005 |title= Jews, Mormons to meet over baptism for the dead |url= http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2646929&itype=ngpsid |newspaper= The Salt Lake Tribune |agency= Associated Press}}{{Citation | author = Tom Heneghan | date = 4 February 2007 | title =Will Pope Benedict become a Mormon after he dies? | work=Reuters | location = Paris | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-mormons-baptism-idUSL0218416820070204 | quote = Pope John Paul II was baptized not once but four times in April 2006, in line with Mormon practice of waiting a year before starting these rites. He died on April 2, 2005. His name was purged from the online IGI, so a normal search will not find them. But his four now-anonymous files are still in the database and three still show his parents' names.}} John Wesley, Christopher Columbus, Adolf Hitler, Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, Joseph Stalin, and Gautama Buddha. However, as of 2024, submitting the names of famous individuals, Jewish Holocaust victims, and the names of deceased individuals from unauthorized extraction projects to the LDS Church (generally through FamilySearch) for them to receive proxy ordinances is generally against LDS Church policy.{{cite book |title=General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |date=August 2024 |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/28?lang=eng&id=title20#title20 |access-date=25 January 2025}}

While members of the LDS Church consider vicarious ordinances for the deceased an act of compassionate service, some non-members have taken offense. Sensitive to the issue of proxy baptizing for non-members not related to LDS Church members, the LDS Church in recent years has published a general policy of performing temple ordinances only for relatives.{{Citation |url = https://familysearch.org/platform/ordinances/policy |title = FamilySearch : Who you can do ordinances for}} For example, the LDS Church is in the process of removing sensitive names (such as Jewish Holocaust victims) from its International Genealogical Index (IGI). D. Todd Christofferson of the LDS 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."{{Citation | title = Mormons Renew Their Vow to Stop Baptizing Deceased Jews

| date = 13 December 2002 | url = https://www.jta.org/2002/12/13/archive/mormons-renew-their-vow-to-stop-baptizing-deceased-jews | access-date = 2013-08-30}} The LDS Church keeps records of the temple ordinances performed for deceased persons; however, FamilySearch, a web application for accessing the LDS Church's genealogical databases, shows information on temple ordinances only to registered LDS Church members and not to non-members.{{Citation | title = Finding Ordinance Dates on the International Genealogical Index (IGI) | url = https://help.familysearch.org/kb/Local_Support/en/Consultants/memos/en/13%20Finding%20Ordinance%20Dates%20on%20the%20International%20Genealogical%20Index.pdf | access-date = 2012-02-27 | quote = To see ordinance information in the IGI, members must be registered in FamilySearch.org as a Church member.}} {{dead link|date=June 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}

In 2008, a directive from the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy directed Catholic dioceses to prevent the LDS Church from "microfilming and digitizing information" contained in Catholic sacramental registers so that those whose names were contained therein would not be subjected to vicarious baptism.{{citation |url= http://genealogy.about.com/b/2008/05/05/vatican-orders-catholic-parish-registers-off-limits-to-lds-church.htm |title= Vatican Orders Catholic Parish Registers Off-Limits to LDS Church |first= Kimberly |last= Powell |date= May 5, 2008 |work= Genealogy. About.com |publisher= About.com |access-date= 2014-03-26 |archive-date= 2012-11-18 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121118221213/http://genealogy.about.com/b/2008/05/05/vatican-orders-catholic-parish-registers-off-limits-to-lds-church.htm |url-status= dead}}{{citation |url= http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802443.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080506081529/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802443.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= May 6, 2008 |title= Vatican letter directs bishops to keep parish records from Mormons |first= Chaz |last= Muth |work= Catholicnews.com |publisher= Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops |date= May 2, 2008 |access-date= 2014-03-26}} Earlier, the Vatican had declared that baptisms performed by Latter-day Saints were invalid.{{citation |url= https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20010605_battesimo_mormoni_en.html |title= Response to a 'dubium' on the validity of baptism conferred by "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", called "Mormons" |author= Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith |author-link= Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith |publisher= Vatican.va |date= 2001-06-05 |access-date= 2014-03-26}}

= Groups ineligible to participate in baptisms for the dead =

{{see also|Mormonism and women|Black people and Mormonism|Homosexuality and the LDS Church|Transgender people and the LDS Church}}

Some groups of people were historically or are currently ineligible for performing and/or participating in the ordinance of baptisms for the dead. Priesthood ordination to at least the office of a priest is required before performing any baptisms for the dead, and all women continue to not be ordained to the priesthood.{{cite news|url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2024/03/22/what-lds-women-are-saying-about/|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=22 March 2024|last=Kemsley|first=Tamarra|title=What LDS women are saying about priesthood—and how they supposedly have it—after a controversial sermon}} For about 130 years (between 1847 and 1978) priesthood ordinations were also denied to all Black men in a controversial priesthood racial restriction.{{cite journal |last1=White |first1=O. Kendall Jr. |title=Integrating Religious and Racial Identities: An Analysis of LDS African American Explanations of the Priesthood Ban |journal=Review of Religious Research |date=March 1995 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=296–297 |doi=10.2307/3511536 |jstor=3511536 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3511536|quote='Celestial' or 'temple' marriage is a necessary condition for 'exaltation' ... Without the priesthood, Black men and women ... were denied complete exaltation, the ultimate goal of Mormonism.|url-access=subscription}}{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Matthew L.|last2=Bringhurst|first2=Newell G.|title=The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=Pn20CgAAQBAJ}}|date=2015|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Chicago|via=Google Books|url-access=limited|isbn=978-0-252-08121-7|id={{ProQuest|2131052022}}}}{{rp|164}}{{cite journal |last1=Bush |first1=Lester E. |date=1973 |title= Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview|url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V08N01_13.pdf |journal=Dialogue |volume=8 |issue=1}}{{rp|261}} From the mid-1960s until the early 1970s under church president David O. McKay, Black members of all genders were barred from participating in any baptisms for the dead.{{cite journal |last1=Reiter |first1=Tonya |date=October 2017 |title=Black Saviors on Mount Zion: Proxy Baptisms and Latter-day Saints of African Descent |journal=Journal of Mormon History |publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Champaign, Illinois|volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=100–123 |doi=10.5406/jmormhist.43.4.0100 |jstor=10.5406/jmormhist.43.4.0100 |quote=Presidents of the Church, with their counselors, consistently gave permission for this level of temple service to be extended to members of African descent, while also forbidding their participation in the endowment ritual. By the mid-1960s, it appears that ... President McKay seems to have agreed that vicarious ordinances should only be done by white proxies, a practice that seems to have been instigated earlier. By the early 1970s, records indicate that black members, once again, had free access to temple fonts in Utah.}}{{rp|119}}

As of 2023, all priesthood ordinations, and participating in baptisms for the dead continue to be denied for any person in a same-sex marriage or homosexual sexual relationship, and transgender individuals including trans men continue to be ineligible for all priesthood ordinations.{{cite thesis |last=Simmons |first=Brian |title=Coming out Mormon: An examination of religious orientation, spiritual trauma, and PTSD among Mormon and ex-Morman LGBTQQA adults |institution=University of Georgia |date=December 2017 |type=PhD |page=65 |url=https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/simmons_brian_w_201712_phd.pdf | quote=[A] current temple recommend [allows one] to participate in temple ordinances. In order to hold a current temple recommend, a person must attest to their ecclesiastical leaders that they maintain faith in the LDS Church, and live according to the standards (including no sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage and abstaining from coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs).|location=Athens, Georgia}}{{cite web |url = https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/temples?lang=eng |title= Temples|publisher= LDS Church |access-date=February 27, 2023|date=June 2019}}{{cite news|title=LDS Church publishes new handbook with changes to discipline, transgender policy|url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/02/19/lds-church-puts-new/|publisher=Salt Lake Tribune|date=19 Feb 2020|author1-last=Fletcher Stack|author1-first=Peggy|author2-last=Noyce|author2-first=David|author1-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack}} Ordinances such as receiving the priesthood necessary to perform baptisms or participating in baptisms for the dead are only done according to birth sex.{{Cite journal |last1=Burns |first1=Keith |last2=Lewis |first2=Linwood J. |date=2023-04-01 |title=Transcending Mormonism: Transgender Experiences in the LDS Church |url=https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/dial/article/56/1/27/344504/Transcending-Mormonism-Transgender-Experiences-in |journal=Dialogue |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=27–72 |doi=10.5406/15549399.56.1.02 |issn=0012-2157}}{{rp|64}} Transgender individuals who are "attempting to transition to the opposite gender" cannot maintain a temple recommends necessary for baptisms for the dead.{{cite news|last1=Riess|first1=Jana |author-link=Jana Riess |title=New LDS handbook softens some stances on sexuality, doubles down on transgender members, but bet on more changes|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2336521&itype=CMSID| agency=Religion News Service| newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=20 February 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/transgender-understanding-yourself/what-is-the-churchs-position-on-transitioning?lang=eng |title=What is the Church's position on transitioning? |date=February 2020 |publisher=LDS Church}}{{cite book|title=General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |date=February 2020 |chapter= Church Policies and Guidelines |chapter-url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/38-church-policies-and-guidelines?lang=eng | publisher=LDS Church |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214020116/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/38-church-policies-and-guidelines?lang=eng |archive-date=14 February 2024 |via=Internet Archive |url-status=live}} These restrictions have also garnered criticism from both outside,{{cite magazine |last=Browning |first=Bill |date=December 21, 2021 |title=Utah billionaire leaves Mormon church with blistering accusation it is actively harming the world |url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/12/utah-billionaire-leaves-mormon-church-blistering-accusation-actively-harming-world/ |url-status=live |magazine=LGBTQ Nation |location=San Francisco, California |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221140543/https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/12/utah-billionaire-leaves-mormon-church-blistering-accusation-actively-harming-world/ |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |access-date=February 27, 2023}}{{cite news|last=Winters|first=Rosemary|title=Mormon apostle's words about gays spark protest|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sltrib/home/50434583-76/gay-church-packer-protest.html.csp|access-date=November 16, 2016|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=February 23, 2023|location=Salt Lake City, Utah}}{{cite news|last=Bailey|first=Sarah Pulliam|title=Mormon Church to exclude children of same-sex couples from getting blessed and baptized until they are 18|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/05/mormon-church-to-exclude-children-of-same-sex-couples-from-getting-blessed-and-baptized-until-they-are-18/|access-date=February 27, 2023|url-access=registration|via=Internet Archive|archive-date=January 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117070257/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/05/mormon-church-to-exclude-children-of-same-sex-couples-from-getting-blessed-and-baptized-until-they-are-18/|url-status=live|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=November 11, 2016}} and inside the Church.{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=Caryle|title=Most U.S. Christian groups grow more accepting of homosexuality|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/18/most-u-s-christian-groups-grow-more-accepting-of-homosexuality/|publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=February 27, 2023}}{{cite news|last=Levin|first=Sam|title='I'm not a Mormon': fresh 'mass resignation' over anti-LGBT beliefs| newspaper=The Guardian|date=August 15, 2016| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/15/mormon-church-lgbt-mass-resignation-protest-utah |access-date=February 27, 2023}}{{cite news|last=Hatch|first=Heidi|title=Millennial Mormons leaving faith at higher rate than previous generations|url=https://kutv.com/news/local/millennial-mormons-leaving-faith-more-than-previous-generations-are-more-republican|agency=KUTV|publisher=CBS|date=April 13, 2016|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|access-date=February 27, 2023}}

Controversy

{{See also|Criticism of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints#Baptism for the dead|l1=Criticism of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Baptism for the dead}}

=Jewish Holocaust victims=

The LDS Church performs vicarious baptisms for individuals regardless of their race, sex, creed, religion, or morality.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} Some church members have been baptized for both victims and perpetrators of The Holocaust, including Anne Frank and Adolf Hitler, contrary to modern church policy.{{cite video| title=Wiesel to Mormon Church: stop proxy baptisms of Jews|author=MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell| year=2012| url=http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-last-word/46407233#46407233| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218204929/http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-last-word/46407233#46407233| url-status=dead| archive-date=2012-02-18}} Some Jewish Holocaust survivors and some Jewish organizations have objected to this practice.

Since the early 1990s, the LDS Church has urged members to submit the names of only their own ancestors for ordinances, and to request permission of surviving family members of people who have died within the past 95 years.{{Cite book |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/members-guide-to-temple-and-family-history-work |title= Member's Guide to Temple and Family History Work |year= 2012 |chapter-url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/members-guide-to-temple-and-family-history-work/chapter-7-providing-temple-ordinances?lang=eng&_r=1 |chapter= Chapter 7: Providing Temple Ordinances |publisher= LDS Church |pages= 29–36}} Hundreds of thousands of improperly submitted names not adhering to this policy have been removed from the records of the church.{{cite journal |title= Mormons, Jews Set Up Group to Study Concerns |journal= Meridian Magazine |year= 2005 |url= http://www.meridianmagazine.com/churchupdate/050412study.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100207065406/http://meridianmagazine.com/churchupdate/050412study.html |archive-date= 2010-02-07}} Church apostle Boyd K. Packer has stated the church has been open about its practice of using public records to further temple ordinance work.{{Cite book |last= Packer |first= Boyd K |author-link= Boyd K. Packer |title= The Holy Temple |year= 1980 |publisher= Bookcraft |isbn= 0-88494-411-5 |page= 266 |quote= For a number of years the Church had negotiated with the government of Israel for permission to microfilm the archives of that nation. These records, including many carefully kept genealogies, are priceless records of the human family and have a tie to great events in the history of the world. The officials had learned all they wanted to know about the Church storage procedures and were impressed. They insisted however that someone be sent to talk to them about the doctrine relating to our desire for their records. They wanted to know why we wanted their records. In 1977 I received the assignment to go to Israel and meet with their official archivists and scholars on the matter .... I explained to them our great interest in the Old Testament and our kinship with Israel. We talked of family, of patriarchal lineage and blessings. We talked of the doctrine of agency. But all of these things were not central to the point. It might seem that in order to obtain a favorable decision we would have to be 'diplomatic' and not mention ordinances—especially baptism. But we were on the Lord's errand, and so I told them—plainly, bluntly—that we desired their records in order to provide baptism, Christian baptism, for their forebears and for ours. The reaction was immediate and intense. The meeting thereafter was most interesting! We came away uncertain as to the outcome. But we were on the Lord's errand. We were serving the work of redemption for the dead. We had told the truth without any shade of misrepresentation. In due time the answer came. We received approval to microfilm and preserve those records which were sanctified by the suffering of our brethren of the house of Israel.}}

Despite the guidelines, some members of the church have submitted names without adequate permission. In December 2002, independent researcher Helen Radkey published a report showing that, following a 1995 promise from the church to remove Jewish Holocaust victims from its International Genealogical Index, the church's database included the names of about 19,000 who had a 40 to 50 percent chance "to be Holocaust victims ... in Russia, Poland, France, and Austria."{{cite web |url= http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/ldsagree.html|title= The Issue of The Mormon Baptisms of Jewish Holocaust Victims and Other Jewish Dead: Mormons Hijack Dead or Alive Jewish Souls |access-date=2009-01-27 |author = Bernard I. Kouchel |publisher= JewishGen| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081218151532/http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/ldsagree.html| archive-date= 18 December 2008 | url-status= live}}{{cite news |first= Allison |last= Hoffman |title= Jewish group wants Mormons to stop proxy baptisms |work= Jerusalem Post|date= 10 November 2008 |access-date=2008-11-11|url= http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910087233&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull}} Genealogist Bernard Kouchel searched the International Genealogical Index, and discovered that many well known Jews had been vicariously baptized, including Maimonides, Albert Einstein, and Irving Berlin, without family permission.{{Citation | last = Gladstone| first = Bill| title = Jewish Officials Press Mormons to Stop Baptizing Deceased Jews | newspaper = Jewish Telegraphic Agency | date = December 12, 2002| url = http://archive.jta.org/article/2002/12/12/2912561/jewish-officials-press-mormons-to-stop-baptizing-deceased-jews}}{{Citation | last = Gladstone| first = Bill| title = Mormons Renew Their Vow to Stop Baptizing Deceased Jews| newspaper = Jewish Telegraphic Agency| date = December 13, 2002| url = http://archive.jta.org/article/2002/12/13/2912588/mormons-renew-their-vow-to-stop-baptizing-deceased-jews}}

Church official D. Todd Christofferson told The New York Times that the church expends massive amounts of resources attempting to purge improperly submitted names, but that it is not feasible to expect the church to find each and every last one, and that the agreement in 1995 did not place this type of responsibility on the centralized church leadership.{{cite news| last=Urbina| first=Ian| title=Again, Jews Fault Mormons Over Posthumous Baptisms |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/21/nyregion/again-jews-fault-mormons-over-posthumous-baptisms.html | work=The New York Times| date=2003-12-21}}

Jewish groups, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, spoke out against the vicarious baptism of Holocaust perpetrators and victims in the mid-1990s and again in the 2000s when they discovered the practice, which they consider insensitive to the living and the dead, was continuing.{{cite news |url= http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/West/12/10/baptizing.the.dead.ap/ |title= Mormons meet with Jews over baptizing Holocaust victims |publisher= CNN.com |date= December 11, 2002 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20041012121102/http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/West/12/10/baptizing.the.dead.ap/ |archive-date= 2004-10-12 |quote= Vicarious baptism had even been performed for Simon Wiesenthal himself after his death. The Center found the practice insulting and an affront to Jews who died because of their religion. Rabbi Marvin Hier of the center said: 'If these people did not contact the Mormons themselves, the adage should be: Don't call me, I'll call you. With the greatest of respect to them, we do not think they are the exclusive arbitrators of who is saved.'}}{{cite news |newspaper= National Post |date= June 6, 2001 |first= Jan |last= Cienski |title= Jews urge Mormons to curb zeal for posthumous baptism: Einstein, Freud, Anne Frank have all appeared in database |quote= Aaron Breitbart, a researcher with the Center believes the church was showing insensitivity to the living and their dead ancestors. 'They did not get baptized when they were alive and they had a choice, and doing so after they are dead is beyond the ethical bounds.'}} The associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Abraham Cooper, complained that infamous figures such as Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun appeared on genealogical records: "Whether official or not, the fact remains that this is exactly the kind of activity that enraged and hurt, really, so many victims of the Holocaust and caused alarm in the Jewish community."{{cite news |newspaper= The Salt Lake Tribune |date= October 9, 1999 |page=C1|title=LDS Struggle to Keep Proxy Baptisms Appropriate |first= Bob |last= Mims|url=https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=27786918 |via=University of Utah}}

In 2008, the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors announced that, since church members had repeatedly violated previous agreements, it would no longer negotiate with the church to try to prevent vicarious baptism. Speaking on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, Ernest Michel, a Holocaust survivor who reported on the Nuremberg Trials, speaking as the honorary chairman of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors, called on the Church to "implement a mechanism to undo what [they] have done", and declared that the Church had repeatedly violated their agreements, and that talks with Latter-day Saint leaders were now ended. Jewish groups, he said, would now turn to the court of public opinion for justice.{{cite news |first= Deepti|last= Hajela|author2=Jennifer Dobner |title= Jewish group wants Mormons to stop proxy baptisms|agency= Associated Press|date=11 November 2008 |access-date=2008-11-11|url= http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j9l-R1TIM_X5myzSoEzLN7QnqdSwD94C9QH80}} {{dead link|date=November 2012|bot=Legobot}} Michel called the practice a revision of history that plays into the hands of Holocaust deniers, stating: "They tell me, that my parents' Jewishness has not been altered but ... 100 years from now, how will they be able to guarantee that my mother and father of blessed memory who lived as Jews and were slaughtered by Hitler for no other reason than they were Jews, will someday not be identified as Mormon victims of the Holocaust?"

LDS Church officials, in response, stated that the church does not teach that vicarious baptisms coerce deceased persons to become members of the church, nor does the church add those names to its list of church members.{{citation |url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/background-explanation-of-temple-baptism |type=Press release |title=Background Explanation of Temple Baptism |work=Newsroom |date=10 November 2008 |publisher=LDS Church}}{{citation |first=D. Todd |last=Christofferson |url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/religious-freedom-allows-both-mormons-and-jews-to-honor-their-ancestors |type=Press release |title=Religious Freedom Allows Both Mormons and Jews to Honor Their Ancestors |work=Newsroom |publisher=LDS Church |date=10 November 2008}} Church officials have also stated that, in accordance with the 1995 agreement, it has removed more than 300,000 names of Jewish Holocaust victims from its databases, as well as subsequently removing names later identified by Jewish groups. LDS Church officials stated in 2008 that a new version of the FamilySearch application had been developed and was being implemented in an effort to prevent the submission of Holocaust victim names for temple ordinances.{{cite news|first=Buddy |last=Blankenfeld|title=Jewish group at odds with LDS Church over temple work for ancestors|work=ABC 4 News|date=11 November 2008|access-date=2008-11-11|url=http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/links_numbers/story.aspx?content_id=d1c20f95-896e-4cc0-a5d3-52dd7d9f5467}}

In February 2012, the issue re-emerged after it was found that the parents of Holocaust survivor and Jewish rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal were added to the genealogical database.{{cite news|title=Mormons baptise parents of Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal|work=BBC News|date=15 February 2012|access-date=2012-02-16|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17036046}} Shortly afterward, news stories announced that Anne Frank had been baptized by proxy for the ninth time, at the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple.{{cite news|title= Mormon Baptism Targets Anne Frank—Again|work= Huffington Post|date=21 February 2012 |access-date=2012-03-03|url= https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/mormons-posthumous-baptism-anne-frank_n_1292102.html}}{{Portal|Christianity|Latter Day Saints}}

Notes

References

{{cite book |last= McKinlay |first= Daniel B. |contribution= Temple Imagery in the Epistles of Peter |contribution-url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=988&index=1 |editor-last= Parry |editor-first= Donald W |editor-link= Donald W. Parry |title= Temples of the Ancient World: Ritual and Symbolism |place= Salt Lake City |publisher= Deseret Book |year= 1994 |pages= 492–514 |isbn= 087579811X |oclc= 28927139}} {{dead link|date=May 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}
{{cite book |last= Nibley |first= Hugh W. |author-link= Hugh Nibley |chapter= Baptism for the Dead in Ancient Times |chapter-url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1104&index=5 |title= Mormonism and Early Christianity |place= Salt Lake City |publisher= Deseret Book |year= 1987 |pages= 100–167 |isbn= 0875791271 |oclc= 16758141 |lccn= 87025291}} {{dead link|date=May 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}
{{cite journal |last1= Paulsen |first1= David L. |author1-link= David L. Paulsen |last2= Cook |first2= Roger D. |last3= Christensen |first3= Kendel J. |title= The Harrowing of Hell: Salvation for the Dead in Early Christianity |url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1410&index=7 |journal= Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture |volume= 19 |issue= 1 |year= 2010 |access-date= 2014-03-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140327221025/http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1410&index=7 |archive-date= 2014-03-27 |url-status= dead}}
{{cite journal |last1= Paulsen |first1= David L. |last2= Mason |first2= Brock M. |title= Baptism for the Dead in Early Christianity |url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1420&index=4 |journal= Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture |volume= 19 |issue= 2 |year= 2010 |access-date= 2014-03-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150813050351/http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1420&index=4 |archive-date= 2015-08-13 |url-status= dead}}
{{cite journal |last1= Paulsen |first1= David L. |last2= Christensen |first2= Kendel J. |last3= Pulido |first3= Martin |title= Redeeming the Dead: Tender Mercies, Turning of Hearts, and Restoration of Authority |url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1401&index=3 |journal= Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture |volume= 20 |issue= 1 |year= 2011 |pages= 28–51 |doi= 10.5406/jbookmormotheres.20.1.0028 |s2cid= 171321564 |access-date= 2014-03-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140327203941/http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1401&index=3 |archive-date= 2014-03-27 |url-status= dead |url-access= subscription}}
{{cite journal |first1= David L. |last1= Paulsen |first2= Kendel J. |last2= Christensen |first3= Martin |last3= Pulido |first4= Judson |last4= Burton |title= Redemption of the Dead: Continuing Revelation after Joseph Smith |url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1422&index=5 |journal= Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture |volume= 20 |issue= 2 |year= 2011 |pages= 52–69 |doi= 10.5406/jbookmormotheres.20.2.0052 |s2cid= 193627841 |access-date= 2014-03-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140327220954/http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1422&index=5 |archive-date= 2014-03-27 |url-status= dead |url-access= subscription}}
{{cite book |editor-link= B. H. Roberts |editor-last= Roberts |editor-first= B.H. |title= History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |publisher= The Deseret Book Company |isbn= 0-87579-490-4 |edition= revised 2nd |year= 1975}}
{{citation |last= Tvedtnes |first= John A. |title= Baptism for the Dead: The Coptic Rationale |work= Special Papers of the Society for Early Historic Archaeology, No. 2 |date= September 1989 |publisher= BYU}}. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140912163809/http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/publications/baptism-for-the-dead-the-coptic-rationale Digital reprint] by FairMormon
{{cite book |last= Tvedtnes |first= John A. |contribution= Baptism for the Dead in Early Christianity |contribution-url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1086&index=4 |editor1-last= Parry |editor1-first= Donald W. |editor-link= Donald W. Parry |editor2-last= Ricks |editor2-first= Stephen D. |editor2-link= Stephen D. Ricks |title= The Temple in Time and Eternity |place= Provo, Utah |publisher= Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University |year=1999 |isbn=0934893462 |oclc=42476043}}

External links

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/ritesrituals/baptismdead.shtml Rites: Baptism for the Dead], Featured Religions and Beliefs: (Latter-day Saints), at the BBC's Religion and Ethics portal
[https://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc01/htm/iii.ix.xiii.htm Baptism for the Dead], Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, at Christian Classics Ethereal Library
[https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02258b.htm Recipient of baptism: Baptism of the dead], in "Baptism" entry of the Catholic Encyclopedia

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Category:Baptism

Category:First Epistle to the Corinthians

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