Should We Say Prayers for the Dead?

The Bible's Answers to Man's Questions

Key Verses: 1 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?

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

In the Catholic church, the surviving family or friends of a deceased loved one commonly offer prayers for the departed for thirty days afterward.  This is supposed to speed the passage of the dead through purgatory, and gain forgiveness for some sins they committed in their lifetimes.  This practice is mentioned nowhere in the Bible, nor is purgatory itself, a presumed intermediate stage of punishment for the believers between the earth and Heaven.  The idea is that they will be "purged" of all their sins before entering into Paradise.  This practice overlooks the clear fact presented in scripture that Christ died for all our sins, and if he has already paid the price for them, why should we have to pay the price again?

Evidently, there was a similar practice in Paul's time of being baptized for the dead.  He doesn't explicitly condemn the practice, but apparently some of the same ones who denied there was a resurrection at all were themselves being baptized for some dearly departed.  Either the loved one was never saved at all before they died, or they were saved but never baptized.  Evidently some believed even then that baptism was necessary to assure salvation.

There are no second chances for us to be saved after we die.  After we leave this world, scripture says in this verse in Hebrews, the only thing left is the judgment.  The only ones that received such a second chance were those who died before the flood, when Christ preached to them between the time of his death and resurrection (1 Peter 3:18-20).  Saying prayers for those who have already died, or being baptized on their behalf, is wasted effort.

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