Plebe

Peter Kirby suggested "Try reading 1 Cor 15 and 2 Cor 5 and see what sense you can make of it" in MBR's post re:Christian afterlife and to me there are two different versions expressed of what happens when we die PLUS there's this at vs.29 of 1 Cor 15 that answers my question about why the Mormons have "Baptism for the Dead"[maybe Early Pauline Christians did too?! this is news to me!] and I am not sure what other sects of Christianity do that!Thanks to MBR and Peter Kirby for the topic and information!I would like to know what other Christian sects besides Mormons practice "Baptism for the dead."
29 Since what shall the baptised for the dead do if [those that are] dead rise not at all? why also are they baptised for them?
30 Why do *we* also endanger ourselves every hour?
31 Daily I die, by your boasting which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
32 If, [to speak] after the manner of man, I have fought with beasts in Ephesus, what is the profit to me if [those that are] dead do not rise? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.
33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
34 Awake up righteously, and sin not; for some are ignorant of God: I speak to you as a matter of shame.
35 But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what body do they come?
36 Fool; what *thou* sowest is not quickened unless it die.
37 And what thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain: it may be of wheat, or some one of the rest:
38 and God gives to it a body as he has pleased, and to each of the seeds its own body.
39 Every flesh [is] not the same flesh, but one [is] of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another [flesh] of birds, and another of fishes.

Peter Kirby

Take a look at these <a href="http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22baptism+for+the+dead%22" target="_blank">Google search results with "Baptism for the Dead"</a> to see various theological, apologetic, and polemical opinions.

best,
Peter Kirby

Geoff Hudson

Here is my alternative.

Chapter 15

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the Spirit I preached to you, which you received and by which you stand. By the Spirit you are purified if you believe in him. For the Spirit I received, I preached to you. First the Spirit appeared to John then to James. After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living. And last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the youngest of the apostles and am too young to be called an apostle. But by the Spirit of God I am what I am, and his Spirit was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them -- yet not I, but the Spirit of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

But if it is preached that the Spirit has been sent from God, how can some of you say that the spirits of the dead are not raised up? If the spirits of the dead are not raised up, then not even the Spirit has been sent from God. And if the Spirit has not been sent, our preaching is useless and so is your belief. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he sent his Spirit. But he did not send him if in fact the spirits of the dead are not raised. For if the spirits of the dead are not raised, then the Spirit has not been sent either. And if the Spirit has not been sent, your belief is futile; you are still impure. Then those also who have died in the Spirit are lost. If only for this life we have hope in the Spirit, we are to be pitied more than all men. But the Spirit has indeed been sent from God.

Now if the spirits of the dead are not raised, what will those do who believe in the Spirit? If the spirits of the dead are not raised at all, why are people believing in the Spirit? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day -- I mean that, brothers -- just as surely as I glory over you in the Spirit. If I fought five Sadducee priests at once in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the spirits of the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Come back to your senses as you ought, for there are some who are ignorant of the Spirit -- I say this to your shame.

But someone may ask, "How are the spirits of the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" How foolish! When you sow, you do not plant the seed that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All bodies are not the same: Men have one kind of body, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly spirits and there are earthly spirits; but the splendour of the heavenly spirits is one kind, and the splendour of the earthly spirits is another. The sun has one kind of spirit, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in spirit.

So will it be with the spirits of the dead. The spirit that is sown, is sown in a perishable body; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; as it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a living spirit. The spirit did not come first, but the body, and after that the spirit. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the Spirit from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the Spirit from heaven.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot enter the heaven of God. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not sleep, but our spirits will all be raised in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye. For the trumpet will sound, and our spirits will be raised. Then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is judgement. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through the Spirit. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Spirit, because you know that your labour in the Spirit is not in vain.

Geoff