Thursday, May 16, 2024

Travis B. Williams and David G. Horrell on 1 Corinthians 15:29

  

. . . there are good grounds on which to conclude that it is some form of vicarious baptism. In other words, the Corinthians’ baptism for the dead was a practice believed to make some difference to the fate of the dead, to effect or ensure their transfer to salvation. This is, of course, somewhat different from the notion of the dead having an opportunity to respond to the gospel—the kind of idea that may be hinted at in 1 Pet 4.6—but it is relevant enough to cast considerable doubt over the assertion that notions of post-death conversion/initiation are entirely absent from the NT. Likewise, John 5.25–29 may well indicate belief in a proclamation of Christ in the realm of the dead. (Travis B. Williams and David G. Horrell, 1 Peter, 2 vols. [ICC Commentary; London: T&T Clark, 2023], 2:349])