“What do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf” (1 Corinthians 15:29).
“I have no idea what this text means., Augustine wrote in a commentary on 1 Corinthians 15,and in reference to Paul’s phrase, “baptized on behalf of the dead."
To be Augustinian is to approach the scriptures with full awareness that we “know in part,” to never allow our certitude (how sure we are) to outstrip our certainty (how sure a thing is).
John Calvin, said, “Let this be our sacred rule: to seek to know nothing except what scripture teaches us; when the Lord closes his holy mouth, let us go no further.” Or, as Paul would say, let's not “go beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6).
I’m told that one evening after dinner at one of the Oxford colleges, a porter handed an English Lord his hat. “How did you know it was mine?” the Lord asked. “I didn’t,” the porter responded, “I just knew it was the one you came in with.”
Bully for him: A steady refusal to go beyond the facts.
David Roper
11.16.21
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