vicarious

Baptism for the Dead: An Erroneous Practice? – Part 2

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Close on Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Ceiling - S. Callisto catacomb. Mid 3rd century A.D.(Continued from Part 1)

Some of the best studies of the early Christian practice of baptism for the dead have come from Hugh Nibley and John A. Tvedtnes. Both of these LDS scholars have written extensively on the topic. I hope to analyze some of their excellent work and provide examples of the practice of baptism for the dead which have been discovered in many different apocryphal and pseudepigraphal texts.

The Shepherd of Hermas

The first text we’ll look at is called the Shepherd of Hermas (also called the Pastor of Hermas). This was a very popular work in early Christianity, and several early Christians considered it scripture with other New Testament texts, combining them into the same canon. It was written in Rome in the second century, and was written in Greek, though a Latin translation was also soon made. Two English translations are now available for reading online at Early Christian Writings, here, and here. If you’re up to it, you can also read the Greek directly. [Read more…]

Baptism for the Dead: An Erroneous Practice? – Part 1

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Salt Lake Temple Baptistery

In a letter dated April 5th, and reported by the Catholic News Service on May 2nd, the Vatican issued an order to all Catholic dioceses throughout the world to not give genealogical information in parish registers to Latter-day Saints in an effort to “block posthumous rebaptisms” of LDS ancestors. The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had “grave reservations” about this LDS practice (no pun intended I’m sure), and labelled it “detrimental” and “erroneous.” Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, added that it was “unacceptable”:

As Catholics, we have to make very clear to them their practice of so-called rebaptism is unacceptable from the standpoint of Catholic truth.

Catholic World News reports that the Catholic church objects to this practice, again termed “rebaptism,” for two reasons: [Read more…]

Ordinances as Signs

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Today in priesthood we talked about chapter 7 in the Joseph Smith manual. It is about “Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.” One thing that struck me as I read the chapter is the number of times that Joseph referred to baptism and some of the other principles and ordinances as signs:

God has set many signs on the earth, as well as in the heavens…

Upon the same principle do I contend that baptism is a sign ordained of God, for the believer in Christ to take upon himself in order to enter into the kingdom of God…

It is a sign and a commandment which God has set for man to enter into His kingdom. Those who seek to enter in any other way will seek in vain; for God will not receive them, neither will the angels acknowledge their works as accepted, for they have not obeyed the ordinances, nor attended to the signs which God ordained for the salvation of man, to prepare him for, and give him a title to, a celestial glory…

Baptism is a sign to God, to angels, and to heaven that we do the will of God, and there is no other way beneath the heavens whereby God hath ordained for man to come to Him to be saved…

The Lord says do so and so, and I will bless you. There are certain key words and signs belonging to the Priesthood which must be observed in order to obtain the blessing. The sign [taught by] Peter was to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, with the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost…

…but he could not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until after he was baptized. Had he not taken this sign or ordinance upon him, the Holy Ghost which convinced him of the truth of God, would have left him.

I think this is enlightening. All of the ordinances and covenants of the gospel include (and are) signs. Signs are physical actions which demonstrate to God that we have, indeed, entered into the covenants that we say we have. We can’t just say we’ve made a covenant with God with our lips (which is what God said in the First Vision was occurring in the world – “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (JS-H 1:19). Whenever true covenants are made with God, established physical signs have accompanied them.

The sign of baptism is the physical action of being immersed in the water. The sign of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is the laying on of hands, as is ordination to the priesthood. The sign of the sacrament is the blessing, administering, and partaking of the emblems or symbols of Christ’s flesh and blood. The sign of blessing the sick or afflicted is the anointing with consecrated oil and the laying on of hands. The sign of the sealing ordinance in the temple is kneeling at the altar with your spouse and other sacred actions. The signs of the covenants of the endowment are likewise recognizable to those who have participated in them.

Because these signs always are physical, perhaps that is one of the reasons that a disembodied spirit cannot perform them alone. They must be done vicariously, or by proxy, by a living person, one who can perform these signs with a physical body in behalf of the dead.

Sacrifice Continues in the Temple

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Adam and Eve at the altarOne of the criticisms leveled at the LDS (Mormon) practice of temple worship is the seemingly dissimilar forms of the ordinances when compared with those found practiced by ancient Israelites in the Bible. It is true that the forms of the ordinances and sacrifices are different, but their meaning and symbolism remain the same. Let us consider why the forms are different.

From Adam down to Moses, the Melchizedek priesthood, with its accompanying higher ordinances, were practiced by the covenant people of the Lord. These were similar in form to LDS temple worship today. Unfortunately, since most of the accounting from the Old Testament takes place from the time period of Moses to Christ, from the Bible we become most familiar with the lower ordinances that the Israelites practiced in the Tabernacle, Solomon’s Temple, Zerubbabel’s Temple, and Herod’s Temple. This is because when Moses desired to give the higher law of the gospel and the ordinances of the Melchizedek priesthood to his people they rebelled against him and the Lord withdrew these higher ordinances and instituted the lower Aaronic priesthood (including the Levitical priesthood) with its accompanying outwardly observances and performances. The Israelites were not worthy to come into the presence of the Lord as a whole; only the high priest was allowed into the most holy place in the Tabernacle, and only on certain prescribed days. These practices continued for 1200-1300 years, and the Israelites’ writings during this time fill a large measure of the Bible.

When Christ came to earth, he restored the Melchizedek priesthood with its accompanying higher ordinances. The Mosaic law was also fulfilled in Christ at that time, and the type of sacrifices performed in temples were consequently changed. Blood sacrifices were no longer required. Intermediary animals were also now not required. All of the Lord’s covenant people were able to approach the Lord directly and offer a self-sacrifice of their time, talents, and everything that they had, including the only true sacrifice we can give God, our individual will. The form of the sacrifice changed, but the meaning and symbolism remained exactly the same.

Yesterday and today, the ordinances and sacrifices offered in the Lord’s temples have always pointed to Jesus Christ and his ultimate sacrifice and atonement. The following table helps compare the types and forms of sacrifice offered in the temple of the Lord since Adam to the present day: ((Most of this information was gathered from Andrew Skinner’s Temple Worship, 121-125, 181-189)) [Read more…]

Stonehenge: An Ancient Temple

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Stonehenge - by Frédéric Vincent (Wikimedia project)

A group of researchers has just begun a two-week excavation at the well-known Stonehenge site in England in an attempt to discover, once and for all, the meaning behind the mysterious ruins. According to current scientific dating, Stonehenge dates back to about 3000 B.C., but it has perplexed archaeologists for years as to the purpose of its creation. Who created it and why? Why was the structure a venerated destination for thousands of years, being built, taken down, rebuilt and expanded a number of times. [Read more…]