tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478273273186623663.post4696166781453329917..comments2024-03-12T12:03:26.474-07:00Comments on Scriptorium Blogorium: How can vicarious temple ordinances save the dead?Michaela Stephenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04163084369311708249noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478273273186623663.post-214893932946007052011-08-31T10:39:44.157-07:002011-08-31T10:39:44.157-07:00Thanks for sharing your stories, RGG; it is inspir...Thanks for sharing your stories, RGG; it is inspiring to read all your efforts to help others understand the doctrine. The principle of vicarious ordinances really is one of those "mysteries of godliness," isn't it?Michaela Stephenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04163084369311708249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478273273186623663.post-20674770782172684562011-08-31T09:31:56.194-07:002011-08-31T09:31:56.194-07:00Good answer.
I have tried to explain these very is...Good answer.<br />I have tried to explain these very issues to my brother. He is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He recently graduated from a Theological Institute, which has granted him license to officiate as a lay minister in certain churches where he lives. I had a discussion with him on vicarious baptisms. I came away with this insight: My brother was entirely overwhelmed by the abundance of information on this subject.He told me that he had never given thought to what would happens after he died. He believed the common notion that everyone when they die will either go to hell or heaven.<br />I found that the best way to approach this matter with him was at first to propose that he repent and be baptized (in the church JC of LDS). That didn’t go over so well.<br />So I proposed that he would read 1Corinthians 15 (the entire chapter, and verse 29: Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?); Apostle Paul’s dissertation on Jesus Christ and the effects of his resurrection. I have read this quite a few times and with each reading, I am understand more and more the simplicity and genius of God’s Plan of Salvation for all men, living and dead. <br />In my own personal experience and conversations with people who profess to be Christians, the simplest thing that they can agree on and believe in their heart is that Christ was born, he lived and taught, he died and he was resurrected. Most people end their believing at Pentecost when he ascended to Heavenly Father.<br /><br />When I was investigating the Church of JC of LDS, one of my questions to be answered was “What happens when we die?” I have to give credit to the missionaries who taught me. They used everything in their arsenal to “splain it” to me. But they did have some “pictures or drawings” that showed the body in life, in death and as a spirit”. I got it. <br />But as with my brother, the best way to help him understand was to show him some of my paperwork for our deceased family members. I tried to include him in the process of finding names and birth and death dates for our family members. I shared with him the experience my husband and I had in the Temple when we were confirmed for our grandmothers and grandfathers, our moms and dads. He is slowly coming to an understanding, but I believe that for anyone to really understand these things, they must have a sure testimony of Jesus Christ as their Savior.In that light, we would have a more simpler way to begin a discussion.Ramona Gordyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03897052109437761869noreply@blogger.com