by Pastor Doug Cox
Crossroads Newlife Fellowship Church

Shortly after I was ordained a deacon in the Mormon church and at the age of twelve, our deacon quorum went to the Salt Lake Temple to be baptized for the dead. I remember being dunked many times in a circular baptismal tub that was fixed on the back of oxen. Each time in the name of some dead person. The priesthood leaders baptizing us instructed us to be open to the influence of the dead people. They said these dead people might try to let us know somehow that they had accepted the work being done for them.
The priesthood leaders all made it all sound so spiritual and right. We were taught that the people we were being baptized for had died without knowing about the restored gospel that had been revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith. We were taught that these dead people were waiting in spirit prison and hoping that someone would stand in as a proxy and get baptized for them. Once that happened and that person accepted the baptism they could go on and have the rest of their Temple work done through proxies. The purpose was to get them into the Celestial kingdom.
I came to find out later after leaving the Mormon church and actually doing some studying on my own, that seeking after the dead is a dangerous sin. If Joseph Smith were a true prophet, he would have known that, and would not have initiated it. Belief that the living can contact the dead is called necromancy. The Bible forbids it. Necromancy is a form of spirit-ism.
In Leviticus 20:6 God says “I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community.” The CEV puts it this way “I will be your enemy if you go to someone who claims to speak with the dead, and I will destroy you from among my people.” It’s obvious that God is absolutely against consulting the dead.
In 1887 the fourth Mormon Prophet, Wilford Woodruff told followers that “The dead will be after you, they will seek after you as they have after us in St. George.” He also said that while in St. George, the spirits of the dead gathered around him wanting to know why they hadn’t had their temple work done. He said the spirit’s told him he “…had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy…” Woodruff claimed these spirits were the signers of the Declaration of Independence wanting their temple work to be done. (See Journal of Discourses 19:229).
So again we have another Mormon prophet encouraging his followers to seek encounters with the dead, totally contrary to the Biblical prophet Isaiah. Isaiah said, “Someone may say to you, let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do. But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?” Isaiah 8:19 NLT
Talking to the dead can be deceptive in more than one way. It can be a hoax on the part of a medium. It can also lead to seeking spiritual guidance from a source other than God. Added to that communicating with spirits requires an openness to the spirit world which can open the door for ungodly spirits to infiltrate the unwary person. Remember Jesus said disembodied spirits are looking for human habitation. They can make one’s life miserable. (See Matthew 12:43-45) The bottom line is people are led away from the living God rather than to Him.
Readers, it is dangerous to play around with things the Bible forbids. I hope you will steer clear of Mormonism and its cultic rituals. Put your faith and trust in the Risen Jesus today. His gospel is simple. He died and rose again for sinners, so they can have forgiveness and eternal life through Him. Once you die there is nothing left but judgement. No one can save you once you’ve died because “…it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27
Bible true – Book of Mormon false