In his 1610 A Comprehensive Explanation of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, Lutheran theologian Johann Gerhard provided the following explanation of 1 Cor 15:29 and Paul’s reference to “baptism for the dead”:
That St. Paul says in
1 Cor. 15:29 – For what are those doing who allow themselves to be baptized
on behalf of the dead if above all else the dead do not arise? Why do they
allow themselves to be baptized on behalf of the dead? From this, it
appears to follow that in previous times the dead also were baptized.
ANSWER: We have to
admit that this is a difficult section and that there are differing interpretations
over it. 1. Initially one wants to conclude form this that one should
also baptize the dead, just as this was the practice of some in the early Church,
which can be perceived from the 3. concil carthagin [the Third Council
of Carthage]. However, this flies in the face of the reasons already concluded
above. It also does not agree with the words of the apostle. For he does not
say, since the dead do not arise, why does one baptize the dead, rather: what
are those doing who usually let themselves be baptized υπερ των νεκρων, over the dead.
2. Some have attempted to conclude from this that one may baptize a
living person for a dead one, that is, that it redounds to the good and benefit
of the dead. But this also contradicts the Scriptures, which testify that the
righteous lives [by] his faith (Hab. 2:4, Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38). 3.
Some understand it thus: that the practice of baptizing the dead indeed did not
please St. Paul, but he used it against them as an argument for the resurrection
of the dead, just as one might direct something against someone in a debate,
even though one does not himself condone the idea, dicunt non factum, sed
finem facti probari ab apostolo. This [explanation] also seems to be somewhat
forced, for St. Paul permits the custom which he mentions here to remain in its
wroth or worthlessness; if it had been an erroneous practice, he certainly
would have castigated the Corinthians on account of it. 4. Some understand
here that the dead are those who were deathly ill and drawing their last breath,
for in former times it was the practice to withhold Baptism until this point so
that they not disobey the covenant of Baptism later. Such were called clinici,
as is apparent from Epiphanius (haeres. 28) and Augustine (de civit.
Dei, Book 20, Chapter 9). However, this interpretation does not agree very
well with the word of the apostle, for he is speaking of those who allow
themselves to be baptized over the dead. 5. Others interpret the words
of the apostle with the same usage as of the Jews who formerly washed clean and
bathed the bodies of the decreased prior to their being laid to rest in the
earth. This custom continued with the Christians in the early church, as is
apparent in Acts 9:37. But this also does not make enough of a difference, for
St. Paul speaks here not about what those who do not baptize the dead or
[literally] wash them; rather, he speaks about Baptism over the dead. 6. Some
understand the text simply and generally as St. Paul herewith viewing the end
result of holy Baptism: that we are buried along with Christ into His death, so
that we also share in His resurrection (Rom. 6:4, 5), as if the apostle should
be saying: If the dead do not rise, why do you let yourself be baptized in
order that through it the old Adam be killed and you come to share in the
resurrection? 7. But this next answer comes closest to [the meaning of]
the text: That the term “the dead” is meant to be understood as [indicating]
the bodies of the deceased which are lying in their graves; that St. Paul is
there referring to the practice, which was customary in the early church, of
the catechumeni or newly converted Christians allowing themselves to be
baptized in the cemetery over the graves as a witness [to the fact] that they believed
in the resurrection of the dead, and as a witness [to the fact] that they were
prepared to give up their lives for the Christian religion. (Johann Gerhard, A
Comprehensive Explanation of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper [1860;
repr., Malone, Tex.: Repristination Press, 2014], 120-22)
Further Reading
Kevin L. Barney, Baptized
for the Dead