In an attempt to portray baptism for the dead as being contrary to the Book of Mormon, the Tanners, in their magnum opus, write the following:
The Book of Mormon also teaches that those who have died without the law need no baptism:
For behold that all little children are alive in Christ, and also all they that are without the law. For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing—(Moroni 8:22)
Therefore, according to the Book of Mormon, there is no class of people that baptism for the dead could help. Those who have not had the law need no baptism, therefore, it would be a waste of time to search out their genealogies and be baptized for them. (Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? [5th ed.; Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987, 2008], 455)
The Moroni 8:22 text should be also compared with Mosiah 2:36-39:
And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom's paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved--I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples. Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever. And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man; therefore his final doom is to endure a never-ending torment.
Matt Roper, writing in response to Luke Wilson who used the Moroni 8 text in a manner similar to that of the Tanners, provided the following comments on that and the Mosiah pericope quoted above in Salvation for the Dead: A Response to Luke Wilson:
MOSIAH 2:36-39
In these passages King Benjamin is concerned with those who have already “been taught” concerning the truth (Mosiah 2:34) and then have turned away, coming out in “open rebellion against God” (Mosiah 2:37). He is not speaking of those who died without the opportunity to hear the Gospel, as Wilson implies. In the following chapter, Benjamin goes on to say that the blood of Christ atones for the sins of those “who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned” (Mosiah 3:11). The only way for anyone to be saved is through the atonement and “there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men” (Mosiah 3:17). Benjamin also indicates that “the time shall come when a knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue and people” (Mosiah 3:21). Since he has just mentioned those who “died not knowing the will of God concerning them” this passage suggests that the time would eventually come when they too would hear that message. “And, behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:22). Contrary to Wilson, this passage is consistent with the LDS teaching.
MORONI 8:22-23
Moroni 8:22-23 states that those who died without the law are “alive in Christ,” that is, they are eligible for the mercies of Christ extended through the atonement and his Gospel. They are under no condemnation until they accept or reject the Gospel. Until adults could be taught the need to repent and receive the covenant of baptism, that ordinance would make no sense. At some point, however, as King Benjamin indicated earlier, those who died in ignorance would be taught and have the opportunity to accept or reject the Gospel.
There is no conflict between baptism for the dead specifically, and posthumous salvation in general, with the theology of the Book of Mormon.
For a response to another Book of Mormon “proof-text” often used against the validity of baptism for the dead, see:
