| Menu |
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. (10th prophet):
Apostate church suppresses baptism for dead. In the Catholic Encyclopedia, under the subject of "Baptism," is a statement that baptism for the dead was practiced by some "heretical sects," also that the Jews practiced this ordinance, which, of course, must have been after the resurrection of our Lord. It is intimated also in this article that some early fathers believed that this ordinance was practiced in the early Church. Of course, we have the evidence of this in the words of Paul.
Naturally the Catholic Church would consider all who did practice baptism for the dead as "heretics." It stands to reason that if it was the custom among the Corinthian Saints, then it was also the custom among other branches in the first century. That the practice was suppressed must have been the case, for it certainly was discontinued, and in its stead came the custom of praying people out of "purgatory." I am firmly convinced that this teaching and practice in the Catholic Church is but a perversion of the doctrine of baptism for the dead.
Source: McConkie, Bruce R., ed. Doctrines Of Salvation Vol. 2: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1955. 163.