While not maintaining the view that there is such a thing as a living man being baptized for one who is dead, a writer in _Biblical Literature (Kitto's),_ expresses these views: "From the wording of the sentence (why are they then baptized for the dead?) the most simple impression certainly is, that Paul speaks of a baptism which a living man receives in the place of a dead one. This interpretation is particularly adopted by those expounders with whom grammatical construction is of paramount importance and the first thing to be considered." This view is also upheld by Ambrose among the early Christian writers; and by Erasmus, Scaliger, Grotius, Calistus among the moderns; and still more recently by Agusti Meyer, Billroth and Ruckert. De Wette considers this the only possible meaning of the words. Epiphanius, a writer of the fourth century, in speaking of the Marcionites, a sect of Christians to whom he was opposed, says: "In this country--I mean Asia--and even Galatia, their school flourished eminently; and a traditional fact concerning them has reached us, that when any of them had died without baptism, they used to baptize others in their name, lest in the resurrection they should suffer punishment as unbaptized." [14] This proves beyond controversy the fact that vicarious baptism for the dead was practiced among some of the sects of the early Christians. Another fact proves it still more emphatically than this statement by Epiphanius. The Council of Carthage, held A. D., 397, in its sixth canon, forbids the administration of baptism and holy communion for the dead; why should this canon be formed against these practices if they had no existence among the Christians of those days? From the revelations of God to the church in this dispensation, the following may be learned: Elijah in fulfillment of ancient prophecy, appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and delivered to them those keys or powers of the Priesthood which give to the living the right to do a work for the salvation of the dead. As a consequence, the hearts of the children are turned to the fathers; and of course, since the fathers in the spirit world through the preaching of the gospel learn that it is within the power of their children to do a work for them, their hearts are turned to the children, and thus the result to follow Elijah's predicted mission is fulfilled.