I Corinthians
15:29 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?
Was asked tongue-in-cheek, i.e. sarcastically?
Were there people, at that time, practicing
that, "for the dead", in a similar way to that mentioned in:
Deuteronomy 26:14 I
have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I
taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given
ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the
voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all
that thou hast commanded me.
Which also mentioned doing something "for the
dead".
That doing things "for the dead" is a very
catholic kind of thinking?
For years I thought that Paul was referring those who had
been dead in trespasses and sins,
but
who had gotten saved, and subsequently baptized.
However if he was speaking sarcastically about a
heathen practice of baptizing for the dead,
like
the mormons do, that could change the understanding of the
line.