Introduction
The Apostle Paul’s
statement in First Corinthians 15:29
concerning those “baptized for the dead” (οἱ
βαπτιζόμενοι
ὑπὲρ τῶν
νεκρῶν; τί
καὶ
βαπτίζονται
ὑπὲρ τῶν
νεκρῶν) has remained an enigmatic puzzle
for scholars since the patristic era. Is the phrase a metaphor of some
kind, or
is Paul describing an esoteric custom
of baptism
by proxy in the Corinthian church? Marcionites and Mormons have had no
trouble
appropriating the verse for heretical purposes, but evangelical
scholars have
remained stumped over this verse dubbed one of the most difficult in
the New
Testament.
Just
what does
“baptized for the dead” mean in Paul’s
epistle? Students
of the Scripture have proposed some very good and some outlandish
solutions to
First Corinthians 15:29.
Martin Vincent
is aware of around thirty. Gordon
Fee writes of forty solutions. Hans
Conzelmann knows of some two hundred.
In
the last thirty-five years, scholars, frustrated by a lack of
consensus, have come
to an exegetical impasse on the verse. Fresh approaches, therefore,
have slowed
to a trickle, and an uncomfortable agnosticism has settled over the
verse in
question.
Richard DeMaris
laments: “To date no satisfactory
explanation of the practice described in 1 Cor 15:29
has appeared.”
Fee
throws up his hands, “No one knows in fact what was going on. The best
one can
do in terms of particulars is point out what appear to be the more
viable
options, but finally admit to ignorance.”
Historical
and Contextual Background
Corinth
was the seaport capital of Achaia and the finest city in Greece.
Located fifty miles west of Athens
on the western end of a five-mile wide isthmus with double ports on the
Gulf of Corinth and Aegean Sea,
Corinth’s
strategic location made it a governmental, commercial, cosmopolitan,
sporting,
and religious hub. With a population of a hundred thousand,
the city boasted an ethnic mix of Romans (governmental officials),
Greeks
(natives), and Jews (wealthy businessmen). Here were played the
Isthmian Games.
Here was a Temple to
Apollo and
another for Aphrodite/Venus. Here swirled spiritual forces, religious
activity,
and pagan secret societies in outright wickedness such that Corinth
well earned a global reputation for wickedness.
Here
also Paul arrived in AD 52, on his
Second
Missionary Journey, at first alone, later joined by Silas and Timothy
(Acts 18:1-18). He viewed Corinth
as a strategic beachhead for the Good News in the north-central Mediterranean
and stayed for eighteen months after receiving a promise from the Lord
regarding the church (Acts 18:10-11).
The church he planted included a minority of Jews and a great majority
of Gentiles
from rabidly pagan backgrounds (Acts 18:11-18).
Now
five years
later, Paul is on his Third Missionary
Journey, in
his late fifties with over twenty years of ministry experience. Toward
the end
of a difficult yet productive period in Ephesus, Paul sent a first,
lost letter
to Corinth in late AD 56 instructing the church not to associate with
sexually
immoral people (1 Cor 5:9-13). Then he received word from Chloe’s
household in the
Corinthian seaport town of Cenchrea,
that the church at Corinth
was teetering
under the weight of quarrelling, carnality, and false hyper
spirituality.
Paul
remembered God’s promise that Corinth
would be his strategic beachhead (Acts 18:10),
and he was determined that a few ignorant know-it-alls running the
Corinthian
church would not ruin God’s work.
Paul
sent Timothy and Erastus
from Ephesus
with 1 Corinthians.
Most of the church was humbled, but a few were offended at his strong
words, especially
after outside “false apostles” stirred them up.
Timothy
would return to Paul with the sad news
of an
unhappy reception (2 Cor 1:1). Paul
took matters
into his own hands and made a hurried “painful visit” himself which
ended
disastrously and in great humiliation for him.
He followed up with a third “severe” letter delivered by Titus,
also lost.
Impatient
for news
from Titus and afraid for the future of
the
Corinthian church, Paul went to Troas
and waited a short time for Titus,
but Titus did not come back fast enough
for Paul.
Struggling with anxiety over the church, Paul
rushed
on into Macedonia
where Titus caught up with him and
brought Paul
a good report.
Any
breach between Paul and the Corinthian
church
was healed, Titus told him. In fact,
the
Corinthian church wanted to pledge funding to the Collection for the
saints in Jerusalem!
Titus then volunteered to go back to Corinth
to promote the Jerusalem
famine fund
and take the letter of 2 Corinthians ahead of Paul’s
official upcoming visit.
The
epistle of First Corinthians, which is our interest here, is practical
in nature,
answering and clarifying questions about practice, improving the
church’s
well-being, and combating outside pagan influence. The fifteenth
chapter deals
with the resurrection, an idea totally foreign to Greek thought (Acts 17:16). Paul
bookends his resurrection argument with the admonishment to stand firm
(1 Cor
15:1, 58).
In
the first
section, Paul makes an historical,
verifiable
case for Jesus’ bodily resurrection (1
Cor
15:2-11). In verses 12-19, Paul shows
how the
resurrection is central to Christianity. He begins with a question,
“How say
some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (1 Cor 15:12 NIV). Paul
argues that if so, then Christ has not been raised,
his
preaching and the Corinthians’ faith is useless, he is a liar, and the
Corinthians
are still in their sins. He adds that also dead believers are lost
forever, and
we are much to be pitied. In verse 20 Paul shifts to affirmation that
Christ
has indeed been raised from the dead, His resurrection culminating in
Christ’s
cosmic, divine rule (1 Cor 15:20-28) and He the “firstfruits of those
who have
fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20 NIV). The last enemy to be destroyed in
this cosmic
overthrow is death itself (1 Cor 15:26).
At
verse 29, Paul moves the argument back
to the
negative with a simple ᾿Επεὶ , meaning else
or otherwise, and a series of questions including the
one under
discussion, “What shall they do which are baptized for the dead?” (1
Cor 15:29a
KJV); “Why are they then baptized for the dead?” (1 Cor 15:29b KJV);
“And why
stand we in jeopardy every hour?” (1 Cor 15:30
KJV). At verse 35, Paul shifts his
argument to
practical issues in signature rabbinic style by calling up his
imaginary,
adversary-questioner, “But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised?
What
kind of body will they have when they come back?’” (1 Cor 15:35 ISV). In each section of
chapter fifteen, then, Paul
mentions dead believers (1 Cor 15:6, 18, 20, 29, 52), including the
passage
under consideration here which mentions the baptism for the dead (1 Cor
15:29).
Lexical
and Syntactical Study
While
the focus for this study
on “baptized for the dead,” must necessarily fall heavily on 1
Corinthians
15:29, it must also be taken in context. The United Bible Society 4th
edition (UBS4) breaks the paragraph between 15:28
and 29.
Therefore, I have chosen the somewhat awkward and enigmatic passage of
1
Corinthians 15:29-34 for translation below, but my focus is exclusively
on 15:29. The
apostle Peter notes that though inspired, Paul’s “letters contain some
things that
are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as
they do
the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16 NIV).
First
Corinthians 15:29 is only a small part of Paul’s great argument on
behalf of
bodily resurrection of believers, and verse 29, some believe, may
simply show
the incoherence of a certain religious practice predicated on
resurrection
while at the same time denying its existence.
Translation of 1
Corinthians 15:29-34
1
Cor 15:29 ᾿Επεὶ
τί
ποιήσουσιν
οἱ
βαπτιζόμενοι
ὑπὲρ τῶν
νεκρῶν, εἰ
ὅλως νεκροὶ
οὐκ
ἐγείρονται;
τί καὶ
βαπτίζονται
ὑπὲρ τῶν
νεκρῶν
Otherwise,
what will those do who are being baptized on
behalf of the dead if actually dead ones are not being raised? Why then
are
they being baptized on behalf of the dead?
1
Cor 15:30 τί
καὶ ἡμεῖς
κινδυνεύομεν
πᾶσαν ὥραν;
And
why are we endangering ourselves every hour?
1
Cor 15:31 καθ᾿
ἡμέραν
ἀποθνῄσκω,
νὴ τὴν
ὑμετέραν καύχησιν
ἣν ἔχω ἐν Χριστῷ
᾿Ιησοῦ τῷ
Κυρίῳ
ἡμῶν.
Every
day I am dying, by my pride which I have in you
in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
1
Cor 15:32 εἰ
κατὰ
ἄνθρωπον
ἐθηριομάχησα
ἐν ᾿Εφέσῳ,
τί μοι τὸ
ὄφελος; εἰ
νεκροὶ οὐκ
ἐγείρονται
φάγωμεν καὶ
πίωμεν,
αὔριον γὰρ
ἀποθνῄσκομεν.
If
I fought wild beasts according to [the way of] a man
in Ephesus, what is to my
gain? If
the dead are not being raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
die.
1
Cor 15:33 μὴ
πλανᾶσθε·
φθείρουσιν
ἤθη χρηστὰ
ὁμιλίαι
κακαί.
Do
not be misled: Bad associations corrupt good
morals.
1
Cor 15:34 ἐκνήψατε
δικαίως καὶ
μὴ
ἁμαρτάνετε·
ἀγνωσίαν
γὰρ Θεοῦ
τινες ἔχουσι·
πρὸς ἐντροπὴν
ὑμῖν λέγω.
Come
to your senses and stop sinning; for some [of
you] have a lack of spiritual perception of God – I am speaking to
shame you.
The
overwhelming
number of interpretations for 1 Corinthians 15:29 undoubtedly stem from
several
key exegetical questions regarding such terms as οἱ
βαπτιζόμενοι,
τῶν νεκρῶν, the
preposition ὑπὲρ.
There are also considerations involving textual transmission and
punctuation.
Who were οἱ
βαπτιζόμενοι? There are two basic
suggestions for the meaning behind βαπτιζω
in the context. First is a metaphorical usage to denote Paul’s
sufferings or martyrdom for the gospel. However, there is no evidence
that Paul
ever used the word metaphorically in this way. Second is literal
Christian
baptism. Viewing βαπτιζω
as Christian baptism is probably correct since Paul
consistently used this term literally for the rite of immersion.
The
third person present tense form of the verb βαπτίζονται
carries the suggestion that this activity was ongoing currently and
that
the whole church was aware of it. Further, Paul
uses the second person plural when dealing with issues involving the
whole
church;
therefore, one of the church factions was likely pursuing this activity
and not
the whole congregation.
τῶν
νεκρῶν. Consistent Pauline
usage throughout chapter 15 indicates that these dead ones are
literally, not
spiritually dead. They are corpses, not unbelievers.
With
τῶν
νεκρῶν, Paul
uses an articular construction distinguishing a class of persons
(generic use),
specifically dead believers, while using an anarthrous νεκροὶ to
refer to all physically dead in non-differentiated general terms.
Based on this consistent articular and anarthrous distinction between
dead
believers and the generally dead, it is probable that the object of the
preposition ὑπὲρ
is specifically dead believers.
If that were so, then why would persons undergo a baptism by proxy for
them? Perhaps
the convert perished prior to receiving baptism. However, not until
later than
the writing of 1 Corinthians were catechumens initiated through a
lengthy
procedure. Baptism was a practice normally immediately following
conversion in
the early church.
Therefore, it was unlikely that a believer in the Corinthian church
would die
before baptism. In addition, verse 29 suggests that this is a practice
involving
a number of individuals, not just one convert who expired premature to
the rite
of baptism. We might deem it likely, then, that Paul
was referring to a practice involving dead believers who had already
been
baptized.
ὑπὲρ.
The preposition ὑπὲρ
has been an important focus of discussion in understanding 15:29. The rise of the preposition in
koine
Greek was in process in the first century, and much of its development
was
still fluid as the noun’s classical dominance was giving way to the
preposition.
We see
this rising power of the preposition in this instance. Even the absence
of ὑπὲρ
itself would alleviate much of the text’s difficulty so that it would
read, “What will those do who are being baptized from
the dead?” Since, however, ὑπὲρ
is present in the text, since it is the more difficult reading, and
most
importantly because we are dealing with the immense responsibility of
accurate
exegesis and presentation of the word of God, it must remain unless
there be
some text-critical reason to doubt its placement.
The
UBS4
dictionary gives the following definitions for ὑπὲρ
with the genitive: “for, in behalf of, for the sake of, of, about,
concerning.”
The word ὑπὲρ
is also used in the New Testament (NT) as a preposition in the
accusative, and
in one rare instance as an adverb (2 Cor 11:23).
The preposition ὑπὲρ
with the genitive is used in the NT in terms of benefaction (for
the benefit of, for – 1 Tim 2:1),
substitution (in place of in a
vicarious sense – Phlm 13; John 11:50; 2 Cor 5:14-15; Gal 3:13), reason
(because -- Rom 15:9), reference (in
reference to, concerning, with
respect to –
2 Cor 8:23; John 1:30), and comparison (greater
than – Matt 10:24).
Bauer,
Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker (BAGD) give the following definitions of
ὑπὲρ
with the genitive. (I have included information pertinent to v. 29):
a.
for, in behalf of, for the
sake of someone
or something
i.
after words that express a request, prayer,
etc.
ii.
after words and expressions that denote
working,
caring, concerning oneself about
iii.
after expressions having to do with
sacrifice
iv.
after expressions of suffering, dying,
devoting oneself
b.
with
genitive of the thing, in which case it must be variously translated
c.
in place
of, instead of, in the name of
i.
οἱ
βαπτιζόμενοι ὑπὲρ
τῶν
νεκρῶν 1 Cor 15:29a is debated; cf. b
d.
because of, for the sake
of, for, to
denote the moving cause or the reason with verbs of suffering, giving
the
reason for it; likewise with nouns that denote suffering
e.
above and beyond is
possible in Phil
2:13
f.
about, concerning
BAGD
mentions 1
Cor 15:29 in definition c.
and refers the student to the key listing – definition b. which introduces a
number of verses in which ὑπὲρ
signals a deep structure event calling for various translations to
capture the
intended meaning. For example, ὑπὲρ
τῶν
ἁμαρτιῶν – in order to atone for the sins or remove them (Galatians 1:4; Hebrews
5:1b; 7:27; 9:7); ὑπὲρ
τῆς τοῦ
κόσμου ζωῆς –
to bring life to the world (John
6:51); ὑπὲρ
τῆς δόξης
τοῦ Θεοῦ -- to reveal the glory of God (John 11:4);
ὑπὲρ
ἀληθείας
Θεοῦ -- in
order to show that God’s promises are true (Romans 15:8).
In
context, Paul has been discussing the
question
of those believers who have fallen asleep and resurrection. We have
established
previously that τῶν
νεκρῶν refers most likely to dead
believers as opposed to the anarthrous νεκροι.
Based on the genitive of the thing mentioned by BAGD and / or the
genitive of reference mentioned above, a ballpark translation of ὑπὲρ
τῶν
νεκρῶν might be with respect to the believing dead, in
order to be raised with the
dead, to join the believing dead in resurrection, or
to be numbered among the believing dead in the resurrection. A
reading of 1 Cor 15:29 might then be something like, “Otherwise
what will those do who are being baptized to join the
believing dead in resurrection? If actually dead persons are not
raised, why
then are they being baptized in order to be raised with the dead?”
The
difficulty with this rendering is a hint at endorsement of baptismal
regeneration.
The strength of this suggestion is that it takes into context chapter
fifteen’s
foregoing discussion on resurrection and removes a reading encouraging
heretical, esoteric vicarious baptism.
Textual
transmission issues may play into the difficulty of this passage. In
the
Byzantine version of the text we have a good example of what could be a
setup
for a scribal error. First Corinthians 15:29
has two sets of phrases which look remarkably similar.
βαπτιζόμενοι
ὑπὲρ τῶν
νεκρῶν
βαπτίζονται
ὑπὲρ τῶν
νεκρῶν
Could
this verse’s difficulty stem
from one of the following? Dittography
is writing twice that which should have been written only once. This
possibility is less likely since Paul
may be
using a Semitic parallel hyperbole to reinforce his argument. Homoeoarkton is the omission of an
intervening passage because the copyist’s eye had skipped from one
beginning to
a second similar beginning. This option is more possible based on the
similarity
of the participle and verb. Homoeoteleuton
is the omission of an intervening passage because the copyist’s eye had
skipped
from one ending to a second similar ending.
This is the most likely possibility if a scribal error is actually to
be found
here. The last three words are identical, and the last three letters of
the
first word are similar. Below is how the text might have looked on an
early
manuscript.
ΒΑΠΤΙΖΌΜΕΝΟΙὙΠῈΡΤΩ͂ΝΝΕΚΡΩ͂Ν
ΒΑΠΤΊΖΟΝΤΑΙὙΠῈΡΤΩ͂ΝΝΕΚΡΩ͂Ν
There
certainly is room here for
human scribal transmission error, and my purpose here is only to raise
the possibility
that the difficulty of the verse may arise from such an issue. I lack
the
technical skills to pursue this avenue at this time.
Punctuation is important to this discussion.
Since in the autographs and early manuscripts there were no accent
marks, punctuation,
or chapter and verse divisions, we understand the non-canonical nature
of these
helps as they were added after the composure of the original
manuscript. Could it
be that punctuation added by a later redactor has muddled the meaning
of 1
Corinthians 15:29?
In
Nestle’s 20th edition Greek New Testament, the critical
apparatus at
the bottom of the page indicates an alternate punctuation placing the
question
marks after βαπτιζόμενοι,
νεκρῶν, βαπτίζονται,
and νεκρῶν
(Byzantine)/αὐτῶν
(Alexandrian).
Therefore,
with different punctuation the text might read, “Otherwise
what will those do who are being baptized? Join the dead
(who believed in the resurrection)? If actually dead persons are not
raised,
why then are they being baptized? In order to be like those dead who
believed
(in resurrection, i.e., fools)?” This reading brings out Paul’s
frustration with those who denied the resurrection and places it in
context
with the foregoing and following text. The staccato courtroom-style
questioning
follows closely Paul’s emotional style
in
pressing important issues to the fore. The Semitic parallelism in the
questions
mirrors rabbinic halaka and mirrors Paul’s
signature use of sarcasm which characterizes him in both the Corinthian
letters.
Theological
Analysis
From
the patristic era, First
Corinthians 15:29 has been
an
enigma. It has been so difficult to decipher and so controversial
because of
heretical misappropriation that many scholars have taken an agnostic
approach
to the verse. White attests that Paul
cannot mean Christian baptism in verse 29, for none of Paul’s
conditions or benefits can be credited to the dead. White
also
notes that Paul dissociates himself and
his team
from the practice. Whatever Paul might be describing, White says, he is
arguing
that “if Jesus has not risen, then Christian faith, preaching,
remission, hope,
are all in vain,” as is baptism for the dead.
Larry Richards
echoes that sentiment adding that “Paul’s
mention of the practice does not suggest an endorsement. Rather he
points to
the Corinthians’ inconsistency. How can they claim on the one hand that
there
is no resurrection, while anxiously practicing baptism on behalf of the
dead?”
Early
church father Tertullian wrote
a defense of bodily resurrection against the heretic Marcion, who
practiced
baptism for the dead. Tertullian quotes 15:29, but his comments are not much
help: “‘What,’ asks
he [Paul], ‘shall they do who are
baptized for
the dead, if the dead rise not?’ Now, never mind that practice,
(whatever it
may have been.)”
In that
Marcionite practice, an individual hid under a corpse and answered
positively
for the deceased when offered baptism. Then the individual was baptized
on
behalf of the dead person.
Most
scholars have fallen back on the vicarious baptism idea, the natural
reading of
the text as it appears on the surface. Even Gerhard
Friedrich in the monumental Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
admits of 1 Cor 15:29, “None of the attempts to escape the theory of a
vicarious baptism in primitive Christianity seems to be wholly
successful.”
That concession should make the Mormons happy.
One
Mormon historian testifies that “one of the ordinances of the house of
the Lord
is baptism for the dead. God decreed before the foundation of the world
that
that ordinance should be administered in a font prepared for that
purpose in
the house of the Lord.”
The Mormon doctrine of baptism for the dead originated when Joseph
Smith’s older brother Alvin
fell ill with bilious colic and died just after Smith
began to
have visitations from the angel Moroni
in the woods. Since the Smiths were not members of any church, the
pastor who
conducted Alvin’s
funeral declared in his address that Alvin
was in hell because he was not a church member. This condemnation
understandably upset the Smith family, especially since Alvin
was a most handsome man of great strength, “surpassed by none but Adam
and Seth,” according to Joseph
Smith.
Then
there were the rumors that Alvin’s
body had been dug up and dissected, rumors so strong that his own
father
exhumed his body to be sure it wasn’t true and published a notice in
the
newspaper attempting to quell the rumors. As Joseph Smith continued to
translate the Book of Mormon, he found that baptism is required for
eternal
life (3 Nephi 11:33-34), and upon request, John the Baptist appeared to
him in
the woods and gave him authority to baptize, too, so he and friend
Oliver
Cowdery baptized each other in the Susquehanna River. Several years
later Elijah
appeared and gave them the keys to begin baptism for the dead. Soon
afterward Smith
was baptized for his father who had just died. (Alvin
had already entered paradise through a legal loophole). Since that time
the Mormon
doctrine of baptism for the dead has baptized millions into the
celestial
kingdom.
Back
to reality, Richard Young, in discussing ὑπὲρ,
says that of the several dozen ways οἱ
βαπτιζόμενοι
τῶν νεκρῶν has
been interpreted, four are the most common: (1) substitution,
in which new converts from pagan backgrounds who are
ignorant of Christian doctrine are baptized vicariously for the dead;
(2) benefaction, a metaphorical baptism by
the apostles giving their lives in behalf
of the spiritually dead in making the gospel available to them; (3)
reference, in which a new believer
undergoes baptism in reference to his
or her future resurrection; and (4) space,
baptism over the graves of Christian
dead. He suggests that the first interpretation is the most natural and
adds
that Paul’s point was to show that even the ignorant believed in a
bodily
resurrection, not to endorse the practice of baptism for the dead.
The problem with Young’s view is that a vicarious baptism for the dead
is not
doctrinally sound and violates Paul’s
own
argument in context. It implies that Paul
has no
problem with Christians being involved in ignorant pagan rites in the
church.
Most
contemporary
scholars view 15:29a as a reference to an esoteric practice of
vicarious
baptism in which an individual was apparently baptized as a substitute
for the
benefit of a dead person.
The BAGD entry for βαπτιζω
points to an esoteric background to 15:29
as well: “the pagans believe that by being received into the mysteries
by the
rites they become more devout, more just, and better in every way. –
[οἱ
βαπτιζόμενοι]
ὑπὲρ τῶν
νεκρῶν 1 Cor 15:29a is obscure; it
has been interpreted (1) locally, over
(the graves of) the dead; (2) on account
of the dead, influenced by
their good example; (3) for the benefit
of the dead, (in various meanings.)”
Demaris,
in his argument from archaeology and anthropology, hypothesizes that
“the
Corinthians evidently married their high regard for baptism . . . (1
Cor
10:1-13) with an intense concern for the dead to create a distinctively
Corinthian practice.”
There
are difficulties here. What Demaris describes is called syncretism.
Further,
says Reaume, “there is no historical or biblical evidence of such a
practice in
Corinth or anywhere else in
the
first century.”
Later
the practice developed in the late second century, but only among
heretical
groups, apparently because of a misinterpretation of this passage.
Second, it is incredulous that Paul
could
mention a practice of esoteric paganism as a defense of bodily
resurrection
without condemning it, unless verses 33 and 34 are an oblique rebuke to
the
ones being baptized that they are in bad company, sinning, and
ignorant. Paul,
however, was not oblique about other sins and practices in the
Corinthian
church. Paul taught that faith alone is
the
condition for salvation, not any work, including baptism.
Another
possible solution to 1 Cor 15:29
is
that Paul is writing of a metaphorical
baptism,
perhaps martyrdom or suffering. The problem is that we have no evidence
of persecutions
in Corinth at that time.
While Jesus
used baptism as a metaphor for suffering, Paul
did not.
A popular
alternative to vicarious baptism is that unbelievers decide to become
Christians and are baptized because of
the influence of a believer who has died. Gleason
Archer held this view. He posits a
scene
where a dying saint summons family and friends to his deathbed and
urges them
to receive Christ so that they will be together in
paradise.
Deeply moved, some of them decide to take that step of faith and submit
“to
baptism for the sake of the dead . . . even though their primary
motivation
would be to get right with God.”
While ideal, this argument is not part of the context.
Some such
as John
Wesley
have suggested that Paul is referring in 15:29 to being “‘baptized
in the room of the
dead,’ of them that are just fallen in the cause of Christ,
like soldiers who advance in the room of their companions that fell
just before
their face.” This
view gives a common usage of ὑπὲρ,
but the difficulty is that the interpretation does not fit the context.
Another
suggestion takes “baptism for the dead” to mean the baptism of all
believers with reference to the resurrection of
the dead, implying an ellipsis of resurrection
to yield its intended meaning. A. B.
Simpson espoused this view saying
that those
who are being baptized for the dead “no doubt, simply means those that
were
baptized as a symbol of death. Baptism is the especial sign of death
and
resurrection.”
It
alleviates the theological problems of vicarious baptism and uses a
translation
of ὑπὲρ
that Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 1:7; 8:23, but for some reason the position
has
received scant support.
Tertullian
and Chrysostom put forth a view that 15:29 refers to Christian baptism for
the benefit of one’s
dying body.
Tertullian
writes, “To be “baptized for the dead” therefore means, in fact, to be
baptized
for the body; for, as we have shown, it is the 450 body which becomes dead.”
Calvin
suggested the idea of unbelievers repenting and dying on their
deathbeds, but this
use of τῶν
νεκρῶν as “dying bodies” is not
anywhere else in the New Testament.
Craig Keener
suggests that 15:29 may
refer to the washing of the dead prior to
burial. Since various religious groups of the ancient Mediterranean
took the responsibility of tending to the burial of their own dead,
his suggestion may well afford a plausible solution and also overcome
the
theological difficulties and bring coherence to the passage. The
problem with
the suggestion is that washing is not a common meaning for βαπτιζω.
Some including
this paper propose a solution based on alternative punctuation.
Foschini
translates 1 Cor 15:29 this way: “If there is no resurrection what is
the point
of being baptized? Is it only to be united with the dead? If the dead
do not
rise again, why are they baptized? Is it only to be united with them
(i.e.,
with the dead who will never rise)?”
Practical
Application and Conclusion
First
Corinthians 15:29 demonstrates that we will never plumb the depths of
the Word
of God, but that the Scriptures must be interpreted in light of its
context and
teachings throughout the rest of Scripture. This one verse has caused
massive
heretical misapplication on the basis of misinterpretation and / or
mistranslation. Scholars will continue to debate this passage. We have
surveyed
the major theories surrounding this verse and overviewed strengths and
weaknesses of each one.
I
have submitted three suggestions in this paper. The first involves the
genitive
of reference as a deep structure event in the prepositional phrase
ὑπὲρ
τῶν νεκρῶν. The
second is a change in punctuation which alleviate the theological
problems and
work well within the context of First Corinthians chapter fifteen. The
third is
a suggestion that text-critical transmission issues be addressed since
a
significant part of the verse 29 has a repetitious phrase.
DEO VINDICE.
List of Works Consulted
—————————. The Victor Bible Background
Commentary. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1994.