Redeeming the dead is central to Joseph Smith’s vision of uniting all humanity in a heavenly kinship. In Latter-day Saint practice, this doctrine is enacted through proxy ordinances—performed in temples—through which Christ’s gift of salvation is offered to every soul by linking the living with the departed. From Malachi’s prophecy in the Old Testament to Joseph F. Smith’s 1918 vision, scripture underscores that human connection is the heart of redemption. In this interview, Dr. Amy Harris shares insights from her contribution to the Maxwell Institute’s Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants book series.
Don’t Miss Our Latest Interviews!
Be part of a growing community exploring topics like the History of Latter-day Saint Temple Worship and Richard Bushman’s Rough Stone Rolling Book.
Foundations of the Redemption of the Dead in Latter-day Saint Belief
What are the fundamental principles of redemption of the dead?
Redeeming the dead rests on foundational truths:
- Every soul is of great worth (D&C 18:10).
- Our divine parents’ work is our exaltation (Moses 1:39).
- Relationships are sacred and extend beyond death (D&C 128:15).
- Mortal life is marked by deep injustice—what Elder Dale G. Renlund in 2021 called “infuriating unfairness.”
It is no surprise that baptism for the dead was established before the world began—even before baptism for the living. This shows that offering universal salvation was always part of God’s plan.
From the beginning, God knew the inequities of mortal life would deny many the chance to receive ordinances such as baptism. Yet that mortal injustice would never prevent the ultimate redemption of humanity and the earth.
How does the Restoration restore not just what had been, but things as they should be?
After reading a draft of Redeeming the Dead: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants, a friend observed that Malachi’s prophecy runs counter to nearly every story in scripture.
Family conflict dominates much of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, yet Malachi—and its iterations in Restoration scripture—rejects that pattern and calls for something better.
Malachi’s prophecy about redeeming the dead proclaims what should be: generations turning their hearts to one another so fully that the world is saved from selfishness, hardness of heart, greed, hatred, destruction, and waste.
How is baptism for the dead an indispensable part of God’s plan?
In her 2015 essay “Records, Reading, and Writing in Doctrine and Covenants 128,” Jenny Webb notes that Section 128 describes baptism for the dead as instituted before the world was—even before baptism for the living.
D&C 128 emphasizes that baptism for the dead is foundational: it extends salvation to all humanity regardless of mortal circumstance and forges a saving relationship between the living and the departed.
It is the core of God’s plan, not a come-lately fit-it to the problem that most people would never have the chance to be baptized.
Scriptural Landmarks and the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead
What scriptures talk about the redemption of the dead?
Several landmark revelations and teachings address the redemption of the dead:
- Doctrine and Covenants 124, 127, 128, 137, and 138 — key scriptural foundations.
- Malachi’s prophecy — reiterated in both the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.
- Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 — a foundational verse affirming the worth of each soul.
- Wilford Woodruff’s 1894 revelation — pivotal in establishing family history work; I would even wish for its canonization (at least in part).
- Doctrine and Covenants 130:2 — teachings on sociality that emphasize the eternal importance of relationships.
Together, these scriptures and revelations underscore that redeeming the dead is inseparably tied to the eternal value of human relationships across premortal, mortal, and postmortal life.
How many different versions of Malachi’s prophecy about Elijah did Joseph Smith encounter?
Joseph Smith encountered Malachi’s prophecy about Elijah in several different forms across the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants.
In addition to Malachi 4:5–6, the Prophet would have encountered a brief reference to turning the hearts of the children in Luke 1:16. Later, while translating the Book of Mormon, he saw Malachi’s prophecy repeated in 3 Nephi.
Similarly, the same prophecy appears four more times in the Doctrine and Covenants (Sections 2; 27:9; 98:16–17; 128:17–18).
What is unique about Moroni’s version of Malachi’s prophecy in D&C 2?
Section 2, which records Moroni’s words to Joseph in 1823, includes several unique elements:
- The focus shifts to the children rather than solely on Elijah.
- Elijah plants in their hearts the promises made to their ancestors, and the children then turn their hearts to their predecessors.
- Moroni alters the prophecy’s wording compared to 3 Nephi, giving it a Restoration emphasis that places responsibility on us to actively turn our hearts, not passively wait for it to happen.
How did Joseph Smith’s teachings and revelations connect record-keeping to the Atonement of Jesus Christ?
In his 2016 essay on Joseph Smith’s teachings about record-keeping, “Recording Beyond the Grave: Joseph Smith’s Celestial Bookkeeping,” John Durham Peters describes it as finding “eternity in a ledger”—a phrase that beautifully captures how seemingly mundane acts can become sacred. In this case, the act is made holy because it participates in the work of salvation, even if only in small ways.
At first, I thought of records in this sense: that the book “worthy of all acceptation” described in Doctrine and Covenants 128:24 referred to our efforts to account for the dead, honor their worth, and participate in salvation by turning hearts to ancestors and acknowledging the all-encompassing nature of the atonement.
As I continued my work, however, I began to compare sacred record-keeping with the kinds of records used in family history.
Many of these are unholy records—created by those in power to enforce oppression or control. American slave census schedules are an obvious example, as is the tracking of deaf individuals in the late 19th century, or any record that reduces a person’s life to details incidental to their oppression, exclusion, or victimization.
When we read records born of inhumane practices and extract the details of a single human soul from their suffering and oppression, we are, in effect, creating a new record of humanity—one that honors each of God’s children.
We then offer that record as a sacrifice, asking that it be the book by which we are judged—not the unholy records that preserve our hatred, but a holy record that preserves our love for one another.
Don’t Miss Our Latest Interviews!
Stay connected with fresh content and scholarly insights every week.
Early Latter-day Saints Who First Redeemed the Dead
Who was Jane Neyman?
Jane Neyman was the first person baptized for the dead after Joseph Smith introduced the practice in 1840. On September 13, she was baptized on behalf of her deceased son, Cyrus.
Though Cyrus had died earlier, Jane’s husband had passed away only three days before. Thus, when she gathered at the river with Vienna Jacques (as witness) and Harvey Olmstead (who performed the baptism), she came as a newly bereaved widow.
I imagine Jane, Vienna—one of the few women named in the Doctrine and Covenants (Section 90)—and Harvey, each bringing their own grief and hope, unaware of the expansive work they were beginning.
I think of them when I see youth in my ward baptized for dozens of people on a Saturday morning: they are linking themselves to that first group of three, faithful and hopeful Saints.
Hundreds were baptized on behalf of deceased friends in the Mississippi River.
Jane Neyman was the first, but following her, hundreds of Saints were baptized on behalf of deceased friends and relatives in the Mississippi River. River baptisms, in Nauvoo and in limited circumstances in other rivers, ended in Nauvoo the following year. Beginning in November 1841, baptisms for the dead were performed in the temple font.
(As an aside, I wish I had known about and read Johnny Stephensen and H. Michael Marquadt’s 2017 article “Origin of the Baptism for the Dead Doctrine.” It’s an excellent read about the broader context of the practice and revelation in 1839–1840.)
How does redeeming the dead give meaning to the daily lives of Latter-day Saints?
When we focus on relationships—with ancestors, fellow Saints, and God—rather than on numbers and checklists, we can more fully engage in redeeming the dead. Simply “doing names” at the temple can leave us exhausted instead of renewed, while heart-turning work brings strength and healing.
That meaning can come through research, but also in simple ways. For example, before performing an ordinance, taking time to read documents about the person—whether in FamilySearch, family records, or living memory—can make temple worship more personal and powerful.
In my view, they are “redeemed” again when they are remembered.
This kind of connection is not limited to a single ordinance. Learning about the time and place a person lived, reviewing basic facts, or imagining their circumstances can create genuine bonds.
- Did the census record show they owned a radio?
- That all their children survived infancy?
- That their parents were born in South Dakota?
Pausing to see them as real people, rather than names on a screen, is itself an act of redemption. In my view, they are “redeemed” again when they are remembered.
In turn, engaging with the lives of our ancestors can reshape us, helping us become more forgiving and less selfish.
As we come to understand their experiences—both the good and the difficult—we learn to forgive, recognize the limits of their choices, and value the good they contributed.
Turning our hearts to the dead builds the spiritual, intellectual, and emotional “muscle memory” needed to also turn our hearts to the living.
In this way, the dead teach us how to understand, forgive, love, and appreciate those around us today.
How did genealogy and redeeming the dead help heal Orson and Parley Pratt’s relationship?
The disagreement between Orson Pratt and Parley P. Pratt ran deep and even erupted viciously in public. Then, when Parley tried to amend the relationship, Orson didn’t reply to his letter. So this wasn’t some slight disappointment in their relationship—it must have felt like an insurmountable chasm.
And frankly, if I had the same disagreement with one of my siblings, it would feel insurmountable to me.
Several years later, Orson learned of a project to trace Pratt ancestors, which prompted him to reconsider his relationship with Parley. He wrote to his brother, reminded him of their shared family history, and asked for forgiveness. In this way, their connection to the dead inspired healing with the living.
That’s the key—redemption for the dead must be more than “doing names”; it should shape and refine how we relate to those still alive.
Wilford Woodruff’s 1894 Revelation on Redeeming the Dead
What was Wilford Woodruff’s 1894 revelation?
Wilford Woodruff’s 1894 revelation redirected temple practice by instructing members to be sealed to their own ancestors rather than to prominent Church leaders.
Between 1840 and 1894, genealogy was not a Church project. Members performed baptisms for the dead (and after 1877, white members could perform all temple ordinances for their ancestors). Some engaged in genealogical research, while others participated in adoption sealings, but there was no broad connection between genealogy and temple worship.
Woodruff’s revelation changed that.
In General Conference, Wilford Woodruff and George Q. Cannon explained that members should trace and seal themselves to their own ancestors, as far back as possible. This inaugurated the Church’s genealogical project, designed to help members identify ancestors for vicarious ordinances.
The 1894 revelation is often overlooked.
Unlike the 1890 Manifesto—widely recognized as a watershed moment—the 1894 revelation is often overlooked, likely because it was never canonized and its effects unfolded gradually. Yet over the last 130+ years, it has become foundational, making genealogy ever more central to Church programs and resources.
FamilySearch employs hundreds of staff, supported by thousands of volunteers and missionaries worldwide, to preserve records for billions of people. The annual RootsTech convention draws around 15,000 in-person attendees to Salt Lake City, with millions more participating online.
Those seem like mundane things, temporal things, but they—and their continued growth—are in line with the universalist offer of salvation embedded in the revelations about redemption for the dead.
What revelations and initiatives expanded family history work in the 20th and 21st centuries?
Microfilm and computer technology
The Church embraced microfilm in the 1930s and later adopted computer technology in the mid-20th century to support family history work.
It continues to seek new tools—both to make the work more accessible to members and to reduce duplicate temple ordinances.
FamilySearch Family Tree
While those goals are not yet fully realized, resources like FamilySearch Family Tree bring us closer than ever before. The platform facilitates collaboration in temple work while also enabling members to share photos, stories, and memories.
In this way, the Church provides support while individual members do the essential work of seeking and learning about their ancestors, for whom they then perform ordinances.
Member-supplied “names”
This shift to member-supplied “names” for temple work began in earnest in 2012, replacing 50 years of names provided through Church “extraction” projects.
Combining family history research with temple work
“Extraction” involved pulling names and details from original historical records and supplying them to temple patrons. For two generations, this meant family history research and temple attendance were largely separate activities.
Since 2012, however, there has been a deliberate effort to bring the two together.
Today, members themselves are directly engaged in compiling the book of our dead—the book “worthy of all acceptation”—even if the work is not yet perfect.
Global vision
At the same time, Church leaders have increasingly emphasized a global effort to bring all of humanity into one great family tree.
Of course, this is not fully possible, since there are no written or oral records for most people who have lived on earth. Yet the effort to do what we can with the records available stands as a testament of belief and trust in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and in the plan established before the foundation of the world.
Contextualizing sealing ordinances
Leaders also speak more often of sealing ordinances as extending beyond one’s immediate family (Elder Dale G. Renlund, “Healing and Sealing,” 2018).
The vision of all humanity united in a heavenly kinship reflects Joseph Smith’s revelations about redemption for the dead.
Finding the Joy of Redeeming the Dead in Daily Life
What do you hope people take away from your book?
I hope those who love family history will find some enlightening nuggets about the theology and history behind it.
I hope those who love attending the temple will find some insights about how to make it more meaningful and heart-turning.
I hope those who find family history boring will find ideas that expand their view and make them more excited to find their own way to engage.
I hope those who struggle with the temple will find useful concepts to benefit them, even if they do not attend the temple.
In essence, I hope that people will read Joseph Smith’s soaring language in D&C 128:22–24 and find it describes their feelings about redeeming the dead:
22 Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage… and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.
23 Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life . . .
24 Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.
D&C 128:22–24
Want More Scholar Interviews in Your Inbox?
Sign up to be notified when we publish new content, including interviews with other authors from the “Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants” series.
About the Scholar
Amy Harris is the author of Redeeming the Dead: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants, published by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. She is an associate professor of history and family/history genealogy. Her research interests center on families, women, and gender in early modern Britain. She is particularly interested in the way family and social relationships inform one another. She uses both her historical and genealogical training to study family relationships of the past.
Further Reading
Latter-day Saints interested in redeeming the dead also read these From the Desk articles:
- When Did Susa Young Gates Learn About the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead?
- How Did Early Latter-day Saints React to D&C 76?
- What Did “Shake the Dust Off Your Feet” Mean to Early Latter-day Saints?
- Are Temple Ordinances and Freemasonry Related?
- How Was the St. George Temple Built?
Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants
Explore more interviews about books in the Maxwell Institute’s series about themes in Joseph Smith’s revelations:
Redemption of the Dead
See what other leading scholars and publishers say about the Latter-day Saint theme of the redemption of the dead:
- Redeeming the Dead: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants (Maxwell Institute)
- A Review: Redeeming the Dead — Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants (Times & Seasons)
- The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead (D&C 138) (BYU Religious Studies Center)
- Subjects: Redemption of the Dead (Wilford Woodruff Papers)
- Johnny Stephenson and H. Michael Marquardt, “Origin of the Baptism for the Dead Doctrine” (John Whitmer Historical Association)
