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?
1 Corinthians 15:29
Paul speaks of baptism for the dead. The first thing that has to be acknowledged here is that Paul affirms the existence of the practice of being baptized for the dead. The second thing is that the existence of this practice testifies to the importance the early Church placed on baptism, even though this practice represents a perversion of it. The third thing is that Paul does not ask, “why do you or we” but, why do “they,” whoever the ‘they’ were. Paul is clearly separating himself and those at Corinth who did not practice this ritual for the dead, from those who did. It must also be noted that Paul is not giving credence to the practice. He simply acknowledges that some, whom he does not identify, were practicing and would not do so if they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.
This reveals the existence of yet another faction that existed among those at Corinth just like those who were forbidding to marry; just like those who had divided into factions over baptism, etc. Some were teaching that there was no resurrection from the dead.
Paul is not offering a defense for this practice, rather, he is stressing the obvious absurdity of denying the resurrection and then being baptizing for those who had died. How would they propose to defend the logic of this? Paul is not legitimizing the practice, he is showing its absurdity if there is no resurrection.
Being baptized for the dead is not a Christian doctrine else there would have been more about it in the Scriptures.
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