Why Do The Mormons Practice A Baptism

[Bill_Pick]

FOR THE DEAD,And then say all non-mormon baptims are invalid, do they get this from the bible or the book of mormons ?

 

[dianaiad]

FOR THE DEAD,And then say all non-mormon baptims are invalid, do they get this from the bible or the book of mormons ?

We believe that baptism must be performed by someone having the authority to perform them; a valid priesthood. We believe we have that.

The principle of baptism for the dead (proxy baptism) was revealed to Joseph Smith. There is a reference to the practice, we believe, in the New Testament: 1 Cor. 15: 29 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? (KJV) 29 Otherwise what shall they do that are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not again at all? why are they then baptized for them? (same verse, Duoay)

We do it to provide the blessings of baptism, if they choose to accept it, to those who have died without having the chance to obtain them.

 

[Rbt_Southwell]

FOR THE DEAD,And then say all non-mormon baptims are invalid, do they get this from the bible or the book of mormons ?

Bill;

Mormons believe they are the ‘true’ Christian church and that the Catholic & Orthodox Churches are ‘apostate.’

In fact, Zerinus and mcmullan have gone so far as call us Catholics and Protestants “heretics” in these threads.

Now, if you are going to be different than those Catholics and Protestants, you have to have some angle. And Joseph Smith cobbled together one: mormon pantheology.

Mormons believe that marriage and siring children continues on in Heaven (contrary to the teaching of Christ) and that Lucifer and Jesus are brothers (contrary to the teaching of Christ) and that the Mark of Cain (until threatened with a federal discrimination suit in the 1970s) was dark skin and thus all non-whites were not “pure.”

How did he do this? Selective interpretation from Catholic canonized Sacred Scripture (that is, the Bible). He also took whole chapters from the KJV, specifically, the Book of Isaiah. He even stole a novel called “The Book of the Hebrews” by a congregationalist minister which purported to have the “lost” tribe of Israel show up in North America and battle the natives in epic engagements with chariots and horses and iron weapons [no kidding: it’s in their Book of Mormon!]

Dianaiad’s “proof texting” from St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians is a prima facie example of mormon disingenuousness.

She quotes ONE sentence OUT OF CONTEXT to support a non-Christian belief: proxy baptism.

Read Chapter 15 in any translation not used by the mormons and you will notice it is a rhetorical question to the preceding two sections on faith in the resurrection of the dead.

St Paul brings in this example as it applies to something the Corinthians did attesting to their belief in the Resurrection.

You’ll notice that this is something Jesus NEVER mentioned in the Gospels nor what the other Apostles (including St Paul) ever mentioned again as a Christian tradition.

An analogy would be those fundamentalists in Appalachia who believe LITERALLY that handling serpents (that is, rattlesnakes) and not getting bitten means one is righteous. Of course, the reference is to the temptation in the Garden and the serpent image in Revelation.

But hey, when you’re starting your own religion, you pick what’s good for you. Know whatta mean??!!

Robert

 

[BartBurk]

Mormons believe they are the only ones with priesthood authority and that all baptisms must be performed by those with their priesthood authority. That obviously led to the question of what would happen to those who were not baptized by those having that authority. Mormons answered that question in two ways. The first way can be found in Doctrine and Covenants 137: 7-9 in 1836: Thus came the avoice of the Lord unto me, saying:

7.All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God;

1. Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who awould have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom;

1. For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.

So the first Mormon understanding as supposedly received from God is very similar to the Catholic understanding of baptism of desire.

Apparently, God changed His mind in 1842 and required the LDS to perform physical baptisms as part of their temple ordinances for those who had died. The entire revelation can be found here:

scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/128

God decided baptism of desire wasn’t enough and now required baptism for the dead. My own feeling is that baptism for the dead as performed by Mormons is evidence of their charity towards all humanity and reflects their hope that non-Mormons can be saved. I think it’s a lot of unnecessary work, but I see it as relatively harmless. And their work has been very helpful to family historians.

 

[Jerusha]

God decided baptism of desire wasn’t enough and now required baptism for the dead. My own feeling is that baptism for the dead as performed by Mormons… reflects their hope that non-Mormons can be saved. I think it’s a lot of unnecessary work, but I see it as relatively harmless…

Agreed with that much.

 

[Rbt_Southwell]

God decided baptism of desire wasn’t enough and now required baptism for the dead. My own feeling is that baptism for the dead as performed by Mormons is evidence of their charity towards all humanity and reflects their hope that non-Mormons can be saved. I think it’s a lot of unnecessary work, but I see it as relatively harmless.

It is relatively “harmless” if your view of Christianity is ‘relative.’

Mormonism is NOT Christian in its worldview or in its view of salvation history.

BIG. VERY BIG PROBLEM.

All the holy underwear and masonic aped rites are not going to make it “Christian.”

It is WHAT they believe and why that makes them NON Christian.

They are what they are: good people and nice neighbors.

But they are NOT Christians.

Robert

 

[bpbasilphx]

**
We believe that baptism must be performed by someone having the authority to perform them; a valid priesthood. We believe we have that.**

**No, you don’t have any authority.

The Mormonoid Temple endowments can confer neither health to the sinews nor marrow in the bones, because there is no power in their priesthood for themselves or their posterity or anyone else forever.

Pele Ale is at best a beer brewed by a Brazilian soccer star.

And this is NOT a lone and dreary world.**

 

[dianaiad]

**
We believe that baptism must be performed by someone having the authority to perform them; a valid priesthood. We believe we have that.**

No, you don’t have any authority.

Well sir, your opinion, while valuable to yourself, is not going to get me to change my beliefs, and your mockery certainly will not.

but…you do what you want.

 

[Bill_Pick]

Well sir, your opinion, while valuable to yourself, is not going to get me to change my beliefs, and your mockery certainly will not.

but…you do what you want.

THANK YOU for your answer and i will pray for you

 

[William_M]

As Brother BartBurk is aware, we, at least the Mormons, learn from God line upon line and precept upon precept. Therefore, he is aware that his statement that God (the “Mormon God”) changed his mind, and his citation to two sections of the Doctrine and Covenants in support of that assertion, mean nothing to a Mormon, and simply reflect his now-Catholic presupposition that all of the revelations received by the Prophet Joseph are part of a fraud of fantastic scope, complexity and comprehensiveness all pulled off with exquisite panache by a man who grew up on the rural frontier.

If the two D&C Sections cited by Brother BartBurk are cumulative, rather than alternative, i.e., added line by line, then his post’s suggestion, that Mormons believe that God changed his mind, is incorrect.

As to the OP’s question, if one is not baptized during the mortal life, or if one is purportedly “baptized” during his or her mortal life, but not actually baptized by immersion by the of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then one requires a posthumous vicarious baptism by a member of the Church, i.e., a baptism for the dead. However, this does not “make you a Mormon”, it gives you, in the spirit world of the afterlife, the opportunity, the option, to accept the restored gospel. I hope that the OP will accept that opportunity in the afterlife, or, better yet, accept Moroni’s challenge in this mortal life.