Consider This

The Society for the Prevention of Salvation for the Unshriven Dead [SPUD] attacks the belief and practise of Baptism for the Dead and Salvation for the Dead.  Why do they take the trouble to do so?

If Baptism for the Dead as believed and practised by Latter-day Saints is - as they say it is - a false belief based on an errant understanding of 1 Corinthians 12.29, then it need not concern anyone that is not a Latter-day Saint. 

Have they asked themselves why the practice of proxy Baptism for the Dead was forbidden by the Catholic Church in the 4th century?   Why would it need to be banned if it wasn't practised?  The verfy fact that it was banned confirms that it was practised by early Christians in the first few Christian centuries.  Had it not been so, it would have been farcical to prohibit its continued use.

If it is a false doctrine that does not accomplish what Latter-day Saints believe it does then why is it such a big issue for certain non-Latter-day Saints?  If it is false, who is harmed thereby? 

Is anyone hurt by believing that the earth is flat, that the moon is made out of green cheese, that the sun circles the earth, or that, as the Bible says, the earth is square and has four corners?  

My Great-Great-Grandfather James Bray

Could it be an issue because most non-Latter-day Saint Christians do not have an answer to the question:

“What happens to my Great-great-grandfather James Bray who was excomm-unicated from membership of Highfield Independent Chapel in 1790 for not stopping his daughters dancing?  

Are the terpsichorean elegances of my great aunts sufficient to preclude their sire from passing through the gates of heaven?  That particular question will wait for another time, but the question about the ultimate destination of the unshriven and unbaptised dead remains an open question that demands an answer from those that claim to be supporters and believers of Holy Bible Christianity.

Silence Reigns - And We All Get Wet

Whether we like it or not, there are many beside myself in this predicament, but there are no answers coming from the opponents of Latter-day Saint belief in baptism for those that died beyond the pale of Christianity.  

Enter The Society for the Prevention of Salvation of the Unshriven Dead

The Society for the Prevention of Salvation of the Unshriven Dead places an obstacle in their way and insists that theirs must be the final word on the matter. 

Their Proof Text Barricade

SPUD's prooftext is Hebrews 9:27;

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement” 

It is obvious that this sentence is incomplete as it is presented and is part of a larger issue.  But, according to SPUDs that is the opening and closing of that case.  So, must we accept their diktat that that’s it! Must we, therefore, let the pressing question fall? 

Does it not strike you as a reasonable person as odd that any would speak against a practice that would bring more people into the fold of Christ and extend the opportunity of salvation to millions upon millions of people whose only wrong was being born in times and places where good news of the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ did not penetrate?  

They Change God's Love and Limit Christ's Atonement

Yet again it is necessary to man the barricades against the unruly hordes that have no purpose in life except to stand in the way of God's Justice and Love for His creatures and limit the scope and bounds of the Infinite Atonement of Christ Jesus so that the unChristianised are left floundering in the roiling waters of eternity having had their hands crushed by the blows delivered to them as they attempt to climb aboard the Ark of Salvation.  

Stumbling Blocks

That the Gospel of Jesus Christ has more than its fair share of stumbling blocks, both Jesus, Paul, and other have noted.  A major one is that we mortals cannot easily understand God's reasons nor grasp the full extent of his purposes. 

For example, it is puzzling to non-Christians to understand why Christians believe that our Saviour Jesus Christ had to suffer, bleed, and die in the place of humanity in order to achieve something that we are unable to achieve for ourselves. 

They, like Christians, cannot understand our insistence on the necessity of surrogacy where another stands as proxy for us to accomplish that which we have not the power to do for ourselves, but which, if left undone, disqualifies us from entering into the presence of God, and thereby bars us from obtaining the salvation and exaltation we are promised as the fruits of obedience.  

Jesus Stands For Us To Save Us

That Jesus took upon himself our sins, our faults, our sorrows, and our condemnations, so that none of the consequences or stains of our wrongdoing would remain to prevent us entering into the presence of God is fundamental to all expressions of Christian thinking.  Therefore, proxy or surrogacy is the foundation on which the Christian drama is built.

Team Jesus

Jesus invites men and women to be part of the team he calls to become engaged in the ministry of saving souls.  Those that extend the invitation stand in the place of Jesus as proxy and witnesses for him to spread the Good News or Gospel; of Jesus Christ and to teach the promises.  If Jesus was the only one able to invite people to "Come unto Christ" he would hardly get through the works because of the astronomical number of people in the world.  Those that serve on this team act under authority as proxies for Jesus.

And the Unshriven. What of them?

Let's look at them on another page.