Why do Mormons believe in baptism for the dead?
In my opinion, the doctrine of “baptism for the dead” is one of the most wonderful issues in the restored Church of Jesus Christ for two reasons: 1) it resolves one of the thorniest of theological issues in a wonderful way that shows the power of God’s grace and love, and 2) it provides powerful evidence that Joseph Smith really was a tool through whom Christ restored the fullness of His original Church. Both of these issues are worthy of pages and pages of discourse, but I’ll be brief. Issue #1). The thorny issue: if salvation is only through Christ, what happens to all the billions of people who lived and died without ever even hearing of Christ? And if we must be baptized to enter into a covenant with Christ (as Christ plainly teaches in John 3:3-5 and as I discuss more fully on my FAQ page about baptism), what of those that never had a chance? For centuries, the mainstream theological answer has been that those souls are lost. Some ministers are not so crass today, but many still i
