If Joseph Smith just made up the idea of vicarious baptism for the dead, why do numerous ancient documents validate the LDS claim that this was an authentic early Christian practice?
If Joseph Smith were just borrowing ideas from his environment to make a new religion, there is no way he would have come up with the concept of vicarious baptism for the dead. There is one obscure passage in the Bible that mentions people being baptized for the dead, but that one verse is not much to go on. Ever since the revealed practice was introduced, we’ve been ridiculed for this seemingly bizarre concept, but time has vindicated Joseph. Numerous early documents show that at least some Christians practiced vicarious baptism on behalf of those who had died without baptism, and non-LDS scholars have recognized that the LDS concept is not as crazy as our vocal critics would have you believe. If baptism for the dead is not an authentic early Christian practice that has been restored by a prophet of God, then how did Joseph Smith ever come up with the idea and how did he manage to stray so far from established knowledge of his day and yet be vindicated by later scholarship? For detail
Related Questions
- If Joseph Smith just made up the idea of vicarious baptism for the dead, why do numerous ancient documents validate the LDS claim that this was an authentic early Christian practice?
- Why do other ancient documents support the Book of Mormons idea that the ancient Joseph prophesied of Moses and Aaron?
- How did Joseph Smith know that vicarious baptisms for the dead were performed by some early Christians?
