Ἐπεὶ τί ποιήσουσιν οἱ βαπτιζόμενοι ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν, εἰ ὅλως νεκροὶ οὐκ
ἐγείρονται; τί καὶ βαπτίζονται ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν; Οἱ Μαρκιωνισταὶ αἱρετικοὶ, ἐπειδὴν
τις παρ’ αὐτοῖς ἀβάπτιστος ἀποθάνῃ, ὑπὸ τὴν κλίνην τοῦ τετελευτηκότος κρύψαντές
τινα ζῶντα, προστάζουσι τῇ κλίνῃ, καὶ ἐρωτῶσι τὸν νεκρόν, εἰ βούλοιτο βαπτισθῆναι·
καὶ ἀποκρίνεται ὁ κεκρυμμένος κάτωθεν, ὅτι βούλεται· καὶ οὕτω βαπτίζουσιν αὐτὸν
ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀπελθόντος. Εἶτα κατηγορούμενοι ἐπὶ τούτῳ, ἀπολογοῦνται, ὅτι ὁ Ἀπόστολος
τοῦτο εἶπεν, καὶ παρέχουσι τὴν ῥῆσιν ταύτην εἰς παράφρασιν. Τὸ δὲ οὕτως ἔχει· ἀλλὰ
πῶς; Οἱ μέλλοντες βαπτίζεσθαι πάντες ἀπαγγέλλουσι τὸ σύμβολον τῆς πίστεως, ὅτι
τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκρῶν. Ἡ Πίστις ἐἰς ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν. Φησὶν οὖν, ὅτι
εἰ μὴ πιστεύετε, ὅτι ἔσται ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν σωμάτων, καὶ βαπτίζεσθε ἐπὶ τοιαύτῃ
ὁμολογίᾳ, τί ποιεῖτε; ἐπὶ τίσι βαπτίζεσθε; εἰ ὅλως καὶ οὐδὲ προσδοκία ἀναστάσεως,
εἰ νεκροὶ οὐκ ἐγείρονται; (PG
124:768)
“Otherwise, what will those do
who are baptized on behalf of the dead, if the dead are not raised at all? Why
then are they baptized on behalf of the dead?” The Marcionite heretics, when
someone among them dies without baptism, conceal a living person beneath the
bed of the deceased. They then address the bed and ask the dead man whether he
wishes to be baptized. And the one hidden beneath responds from below that he
does wish it. Thus they baptize him in place of the one who has departed. When
they are accused of this practice, they defend themselves by saying that the
Apostle has spoken this very thing, and they cite this saying by way of
justification. But the sense of the passage is otherwise. How so? All who are
about to be baptized profess the Creed — namely, faith in the resurrection of
the dead. Faith is directed toward the resurrection of the dead. Therefore he
says: if you do not believe that there will be a resurrection of dead bodies,
and yet you are baptized upon such a confession, what are you doing? Upon what
(or for what hope) are you baptized, if there is no expectation at all of
resurrection, if indeed the dead are not raised?
