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Is There Salvation For The Dead?Why Such a Question?The LDS Church teaches that after Christ’s
apostles died, the earth was without either the true church or gospel
for about 1700 years. That apostasy ended on April 6, 1830,
when Joseph Smith restored the gospel and the true church: The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Many died during and after that "apostasy" without hearing or accepting
the LDS gospel. The LDS Church
now offers them salvation for the dead which LDS Apostle Mark E. Peterson
claims is "a Biblical and a Christian doctrine" (Why Mormons build
Temples, p. 7). LDS believe
that their President and Apostles are revelators for the Church (Mormon Doctrine, 651). Three of those leaders used I Peter 3:18-20
in the following quotations about salvation for the dead.
Quotations From Three LDS Leaders1. Doctrine
and Covenants, Section 138 by Joseph F Smith (6th LDS Prophet): “And
I wondered at the words of Peter-wherein he said that the Son of God preached
unto the spirits in prison, who sometime were disobedient, when once the
longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah-and how it was possible
for him to preach to those spirits and perform the necessary labor among
them in so short a time. And
as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and I perceived that the Lord went
not in person among the wicked and disobedient who had rejected the truth,
to teach them; But behold, from among the righteous he organized his forces
and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned
them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in
darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and ... Thus was the gospel
preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the
truth or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.
These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious
baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying
on of hands, and all other principles of the gospel..." (verses 28-34). 2. Mormon Doctrine
by Apostle Bruce R. McConkie: "Salvation for the dead is limited expressly
to those who do not have opportunity in this life to accept the gospel
but who would have taken the opportunity had it come to them. Those who
have a fair and just opportunity to accept the gospel in this life and
who do not do it, but who then do accept it when they hear it in the spirit
world will not go to the celestial, but to the terrestrial kingdom.
This includes those to whom Noah preached. “These are they ... who are the spirits
of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited and preached the gospel to
them...” " (pp. 686-687). He
also said, "The whole spirit world (including both paradise and hell)
is a spirit prison. It was to the righteous spirits in prison,
those who were in paradise that our Lord preached while his body was in
the tomb (I Peter 3:18-21, 4:6; D. & C. 76:73-74) ... Now that the
righteous spirits in paradise have been commissioned to carry the message
of salvation to the wicked spirits in hell, there is a certain amount
of mingling together of the good and bad spirits" (p. 755).
Then he declared, "The great work in the world of spirits is preaching
the gospel to those imprisoned by sin and false tradition" (p. 762).
Comparisons and Comments on the Foregoing QuotationsJoseph F. Smith
said Jesus did not preach the gospel to the wicked spirits from Noah's
time, but He had the righteous spirits teach them the gospel including
vicarious baptism." McConkie said Jesus preached the gospel to the righteous
spirits from Noah’s time, but that they could go only to the terrestrial,
not the celestial, kingdom. Joseph Fielding Smith, the 10th LDS Prophet,
also wrote, "We are going to do temple work (baptisms etc.) for those
who are entitled, through their faith and their repentance to enter into
the celestial kingdom ... Will those who enter the terrestrial and telestial
kingdoms have to have the ordinance of baptism? No! Baptism is the door to the celestial kingdom
... We are not preaching a salvation for the inhabitants of the terrestrial
and telestial kingdoms" (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 11, pp.
191, 329).
McConkie declared
that salvation for the dead is for those who do not otherwise have opportunity
to accept the gospel. He
also said, "There is no such thing as a second chance to gain salvation
by accepting the gospel in the spirit world after spurning, declining,
or refusing to accept it in this life" (M.D., p. 685).
But Joseph F Smith said that "the gospel was preached to those
who died in their sins ... having rejected the prophets." II Pet. 2:5
says that Noah was a "preacher of righteousness." And all except Noah’s
family died in the flood because they rejected God’s message (I Pet.3:20;
Gen. 6:5-13; 7:7,13). An LDS Visitors Center painting on Temple
Square even shows Noah being mocked by the multitude. Therefore, those in Noah’s time had
opportunity to hear the gospel but they rejected it. McConkie said that such people do not
get a second chance in the spirit world.
But he also said that Jesus preached the gospel to them there,
and Peterson said that this "was their opportunity for salvation." If
these were righteous spirits, why did they die in the flood, and why did
they need the gospel in the spirit world? Brigham Young
also said, "People who fight the truth don’t stop fighting it after
their death" (Doc. of Sal., Vol. 11, p. 195.) In the
Book of Mormon, the prophet
Amulek told some repenting apostates, "This life is the time for men to
prepare to meet God ... For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day
of your repentance even until death, behold ye have become subjected to
the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his-, therefore, the Spirit
of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the
devil hath all power over you and this is the final state of the wicked"
(Alma 34:32-35). Alma also said, "The plan of redemption
could not be brought about, only on condition of repentance of men in
this probationary state of life on earth ..:” (Alma 42:13). Such teachings make the people of Noah’s
day ineligible for repentance or LDS baptism for the dead. McConkie also said, "The great work in
the world of spirits is preaching the gospel to those imprisoned by sin
and false tradition." Jesus did not help with that "great work" if He
only preached to righteous spirits! A Christian Response to this DoctrineMcConkie said, "Men are saved by giving heed to the words
of the prophets and apostles sent among them and are damned for failure
to heed the inspired testimony" (M.D., p. 47). While the LDS Church believes
its apostles and prophets are revelators, II Cor. 14:33 says that "God
is not the Author of confusion," so He could not have inspired the foregoing
quotations! Petersen said,
"Vicarious work for the dead is a Biblical and a Christian doctrine:”
But Robert I. Matthews, Chairman of the Ancient Scriptures Department
at Brigham Young University said, "The Bible was not the source of the
doctrines the Prophet Joseph Smith taught ... He had obtained the doctrine
of salvation for the dead by revelation and not from the printed pages
of the Bible" (Ensign, September, 1981, p. 16).
If the doctrine did not come from the Bible, it is not a Biblical
doctrine.
Although LDS use I Pet. 3:18-20 to support salvation for the dead, that text does not mention either salvation or vicarious baptism for the dead. Nor does it say that Christ preached the "gospel" to the spirits in prison. Since they were "disobedient" and "in prison," He was possibly proclaiming judgment, In the Bible, that "prison" confines spirits in hell, never in paradise. The only Biblical text which mentions baptism for the dead is I Cor. 15:29, where it is neither a command nor an example for Christians. Paul questions, "Why are they, then, baptized for the dead?" The pronoun "they" shows that Paul did not include himself or other Christians among those who baptized for the dead. Yet, in verse 30 he did include Christians when he asked, “And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?" Paul’s subject in the context was not baptism for the dead, but resurrection of the body. He showed that many already believed in the resurrection by examples like those in verses 29 and 30. Since baptism for the dead was never a Christian practice, it is not important for Christians to know who practiced it in Paul’s day. Mormons also use I Peter 4:6 to teach salvation for the dead. It says, "For this cause was the gospel preached to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh but live according to God in the spirit." Notice the verb tenses: it says that the gospel "was" preached to them (when they were alive), but they "are" now dead- it does not say that the gospel "is" preached to those who are dead. I Pet. 4:1-6 is not about salvation for the dead, but about living for God in the flesh so that we are ready to meet Him at death. God’s Time for SalvationI
Cor. 6:2 says, "Behold, now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day
of salvation." Heb 9:27 also says, "it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment:” the first part of that verse is obviously
true. Will the last part be untrue? Psalm 49:7 declares, "None of them can
by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." Thus
no one can save anyone else (dead or alive) by vicarious work. If you are not sure where you will spend
eternity, now is the time to make sure!
The Bible makes salvation very simple. John 1:12 says, “As many as received
Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name:” And Gal. 3:26 says, "Ye are all children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus”. Have you put your trust in Him? He died for your sins (I Cor. 15:3) and
eternal life is found only in Him (I John 5:11-13).
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