Evidence of Anointing of the Dead in Early Church?

Do you meaning administering the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick? If someone were dead, there would be no point. Regarding baptism, as has always been the case in Church history, a person could be baptized if there were any uncertainty the person had died.

In any event, carrying on the great spiritual tradition of Jewish ancestors, there have always been prayers offered on behalf of the dead (2 Macc. 12:41–45).

For more information on this subject, see our tract on “The Roots of Purgatory.”