| We do not know what custom Paul is referring to in this passage since it is not explained in the context or elsewhere in Scripture. Those who baptize for the dead are referred to as "they" not as "we" or "you." The church fathers say that this is a practice which Paul disapproved of, which he refers to only as evidence of people's belief in a resurrection. There is no evidence of baptism for the dead in the early history of the orthodox church. The allusion apparently was clear to the Corinthians, but it is now longer clear to us.
Scripture clearly says that nothing can change the spiritual condition of a person after death (Luke 16:26. Hebrews 9:27-28), so this obscure allusion does not provide a basis for a rite of baptism for the dead. If such a baptism was practiced in the early church, it apparently had a symbolic meaning of some kind. We can say nothing certain about it.
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