Baptizing For The Dead

With regard to 1 Corinthians 15, Paul of course is explaining the importance of the resurrection and in verse 29 he mentions the “baptism for the dead”. I wonder if you could shed some light on this. Is it mentioned anywhere else in scripture?

Q. With regard to 1 Corinthians 15, Paul of course is explaining the importance of the resurrection and in verse 29 he mentions the “baptism for the dead”. I’ve talked to a lot of people about it without getting a satisfactory explanation and wonder if you could shed some light on this. Is it mentioned anywhere else in scripture?

A. You won’t find that teaching anywhere in Scripture. Most people think that Paul was showing them the inconsistencies in their practices because they were apparently following a pagan tradition of baptizing people as proxies for the dead yet they didn’t believe in a resurrection. He could have said “What’s your point in baptizing dead people if you don’t think they’ll ever be resurrected?” Then he went on to explain the resurrection of the saved in detail with out ever mentioning it again.

Jesus never taught baptism for the dead, the apostles never practiced it, and the gospels never mention it. Thus it fails three major tests in the Law of Hermeneutics, a standard by which all Christian theology is judged.