Baptism For The Dead
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Baptism For The Dead
"Christ did not come for the sole benefit of those who believed in him at the time of Tiberius Caesar, nor has the Father a plan for those only who happen to be living today; but it is for all the human family who from the begining by righteousness pleased God, feared him and dealt justly and religiously with their neighbours, and longed to see Christ and hear his voice" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV, 22, 2, in Patrologiae Graecae, P.P. Migne, 7:1047, 259).
The only church I have been able to find that teaches this doctrine today is the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I found out that they teach that a person can be vicariously baptised for someone who has died. That deceased person then has a choice of either rejecting the baptism done on their behalf and remaining whatever religion they were in life e.g Catholic , Methodist, etc., or accepting it and becomeing a member of the Latter-day Saint Church. They do not automatically become a Latter-day Saints.
"Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?..