The LDS Daily WOOL© Home Page
Refer your friends to join The LDS Daily WOOL (Words Of Our Leaders)
11/7/04
"The ministry of Christ was not confined to the few who lived on the
earth
in the meridian of time, and it is not confined only to those living
now. The
apostle Peter made it clear that those who do not have the opportunity
to hear
the gospel on this earth will have such an opportunity in the spirit
world (see 1
Pet. 3:18-20; 1
Pet. 4:6).
And the apostle Paul in writing to the Corinthians asked, 'Else what
shall they
do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why
are they
then baptized for the dead?' (1
Cor. 15:29)." - Franklin D. Richards, "Happiness
and
Joy in Temple Work," Ensign, November 1986, p. 71
11/8/04
"How could anyone claim that we are not Christian people if they had
even a
minimal understanding of the original Church as described in the New
Testament,
with baptism for the dead (see 1
Cor. 15:29), the Melchizedek Priesthood (see Heb.
5:6,
10), Apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers. (see Eph.
4:11.)" - Hugh W. Pinnock, "Learning
Our Father's Will,"
Ensign, November 1984, p. 74
11/9/04
"We now know what Jesus meant when he said, "The hour is coming, and
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they
that hear
shall live" (John 5:25),
and
the true meaning of his statement to the thief on the cross: "To day
shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke
23:43). We can now understand Peter's statements about our
Lord's ministry
in the spirit world, where he preached the gospel while his body lay
in the
Arimathean's tomb. (1
Pet.
3:18-20, 1 Pet.
4:6.)
Paul's statement about baptism for the dead now makes sense (1
Cor. 15:29), as do Isaiah's and Zechariah's statements about
freeing the
prisoners in the pit (Isa.
42:7,
Isa. 49:9, Isa.
61:1, Zech.
9:11) and
Obadiah's prophecy about saviors who "shall come up on mount Zion" (Obad.
1:21). Even Malachi's enigmatic promise that Elijah would come
before the
great and dreadful day of the Lord to "turn the heart of the fathers
to the
children, and the heart of the children to their fathers," lest the
Lord
come "and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal.
4:5-6)-even this takes on sense and meaning because the doctrine
of
salvation for the dead has been set out for us in plainness in
latter-day
revelation." - Bruce R. McConkie, "A
New Commandment: Save Thyself and
Thy Kindred!" Ensign, August 1976, p. 8
11/10/04
"Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, the only means by
which
man can accept the gospel, as an earthly ordinance, and so in the Plan
of
Salvation, our Father, with equal consideration for all his children,
has
provided a way for all members of his Church and Kingdom on the earth
to be
'saviors on Mt. Zion' by performing a vicarious work in behalf of
those in the
world of spirits, 'the prison house,' that they could not perform for
themselves. This work for the dead performed in holy temples by
members of the
Church does in reality make of them who do this work 'saviors' to
those who have
died without a knowledge of the gospel, for thereby they may claim the
complete
gift of the Savior promised to all mankind through his atonement.
Reference to
that service that may be rendered for those in the spirit world, as it
was
undoubtedly being performed by the saints in the days of the Apostle
Paul and
which we can now perform for our own dead, was given by him as an
argument in
proof of the resurrection. Said he: "Else what shall they do which are
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then
baptized
for the dead?" (I
Corinthians 15:29.) Temples in this day have been built in which
this work
so essential to the work of salvation might again be performed." - Harold
B.
Lee, "Decisions for Successful Living" [Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book Co., 1973], p. 118-119
2/9/17
This principle of salvation for all mankind reflects the mercy,
the kindness, and the love of God for all his children. Isn’t it
strange that such a noble and important principle should be
forgotten and no longer practiced in the present Christian
world?
Such practices were part and parcel of the early Christian
church. The work of salvation for the dead was such a common
practice that Paul even used it as a proof that resurrection
would come to all. In his first letter to the Corinthians, in
chapter 15, verse 29, he wrote:
“Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the
dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?”
[1
Cor. 15:29] – Theodore
M. Burton, “Neither
Cryptic Nor Hidden,” Ensign (CR) May 1977