Shortly after completing his lengthy confessions in 1991, Dahmer had requested to Detective Murphy that he be given a copy of the Bible.
This request was granted and Dahmer gradually devoted himself to Christianity and became a born-again Christian.
On his father's urging, he also read creationist books from the Institute for Creation Research.
In May 1994, Dahmer was baptized by Roy Ratcliff, a minister in the Church of Christ
This service was conducted in the prison whirlpool.
Following Dahmer's baptism, Ratcliff visited him on a weekly basis.
The two regularly discussed the prospect of death, and Ratcliff later divulged that, in the months prior to his murder, Dahmer had questioned whether he was sinning against God by continuing to live.
Referring to his crimes in a 1994 interview with Stone Phillips on Dateline NBC, Dahmer had stated: "If a person doesn't think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what's the point of trying to modify your behaviour to keep it within acceptable ranges? That's how I thought anyway."
According to Dahmer's family, he had long been ready to die, and accepted any punishment which he might endure in prison.
In addition to his father and stepmother maintaining regular contact, Dahmer's mother, Joyce, also maintained regular contact with her son. Prior to his arrest, the two had not seen each other since Christmas 1983.[Joyce related that in her weekly phone calls, whenever she expressed concerns for her son's physical well-being,
Dahmer responded with comments to the effect of: "It doesn't matter, Mom. I don't care if something happens to me."
Jeff says
“there has to come a point where a person has to become accountable for what he’s done. You can’t go around making excuses, blaming other people”.
“I’ve since come to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true creator of the heavens and the earth…and I have accepted him as my Lord and Saviour, and I believe that I as well as everyone else will be accountable to him”.
“if a person doesn’t think there’s a God to be accountable to, what’s the point in trying to modify your behaviour to keep it within acceptable ranges?”
“I’ve since come to believe the Lord Jesus Christ is truly God”.
people asked if there were any limits on God’s mercy, given the incomprehensible barbarity of Dahmer’s crimes, and how Dahmer’s declaration of repentance could possibly be sincere, given how far he had fell.
Ratcliff is clear in his responses: “I don’t know of any sins too evil for Christ’s blood to wash away” he told Dahmer during a prison visit in which the killer shared his fear that Ratcliff would tell him he couldn’t be baptised because his sins are too evil.
He’s equally clear on the question of sincerity: “How unfair that question is! Will God judge the sincerity of our baptism on our pre-Christian lives?”
