Baptism for the Dead
Brett Hickey A November 11, 2008 Washington Post article by David Waters titled “Mormons, Jews Contend for Souls of Dead” introduces an interesting question on baptism. Controversy erupted in the mid-1990’s when Jewish genealogists discovered “thousands of Holocaust victims” were on a list of names baptized by the Mormon church. Why so controversial? These Jews were not baptized until after they were dead. No relative consented to their posthumous baptism. Instead, a Mormon was baptized on their behalf in their…