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{{Short description|Rare Latter-day Saint ordinance}}
In [[Mormonism]], the '''Second Anointing''', also known historically and in [[Mormon]] scripture as the "fulness of the priesthood," is a very sacred and obscure [[ordinance (Mormonism)|ordinance]] usually conducted in [[temple (Mormonism)|temple]]s. It is an extension of the [[Endowment (Mormonism)|Endowment]], and was performed historically as part of the endowment process. Culturally today, however, some believe that the ceremony is reserved for a relatively small number of married couples selected by the President of the Church.
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}


[[File:Salt Lake Temple Holy of Holies.png|thumb|right|[[Holy of Holies (LDS Church)|Holy of Holies]] in the Salt Lake Temple, a room where second anointings have taken place.]]
The Second Anointing may have been intended to symbolize or to literally fulfill scriptural references to the fulness of the priesthood such as in The Doctrine and Covenants, {{sourcetext|source=The Doctrine and Covenants|book=Covenant 124|verse=28}}, a revelation by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] commanding the building of a temple in [[Nauvoo, Illinois]], in part, because "there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the ''fulness of the priesthood''." (emphasis added). [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|LDS Church]] leaders often connect this ordinance with a statement by Peter in his second Epistle. In {{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=2 Peter
|chapter=1|verse=10}}, he talks about making one's "calling and election sure," and further remarks, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy" ({{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=2 Peter
|chapter=1|verse=19}}). Joseph Smith, Jr. referenced this process in saying, "When the Lord has thoroughly proved [a person], and finds that the [person] is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the [person] will find his[/her] calling and election made sure".<ref>''Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith'', p. 150, paraphrased by [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/doctrines/calling_election_eom.htm Roy W. Doxey] in ''The Latter-day Prophets and the Doctrine and Covenants'', pp. 406–409</ref>


In the [[Latter Day Saint movement]], the '''second anointing''' is the pinnacle [[ordinance (Latter Day Saints)|ordinance]] of the [[Temple (LDS Church)|temple]] and an extension of the [[Endowment (Mormonism)|endowment ceremony]].<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Blythe |first=Christopher James |date=May 2011 |title=Recreating Religion: The Response to Joseph Smith Innovations in the Second Prophetic Generation of Mormonism |type=MA |publisher=[[Utah State University]] |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1912&context=etd|page=31|quote=Smith revealed the pinnacle ordinance of Mormonism, the second anointing .... Through this ceremony, Joseph Smith ordained [Alpheus] Cutler to the office of king and priest, a position that contained the fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood.}}</ref>{{r|name=Buerger 1983|q=[E]ven faithful temple-goers, know little of the capstone of the endowment: receiving the 'fulness of the priesthood' through the 'second anointing,' an ordinance also sometimes referred to as the 'other endowment,' 'second endowment,' 'second blessing,' 'higher blessings,' etc.|pp=11}} Founder [[Joseph Smith]] taught that the function of the ordinance was to ensure [[Plan of salvation (Latter Day Saints)|salvation]], guarantee [[Exaltation (Mormonism)|exaltation]], and [[Apotheosis#The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|confer godhood]].{{refn|{{r|name=High|q=On 10 March 1844 Smith delivered a discourse on the subject of Elijah in which he gave his most complete explanation of the second anointing. He said ... [t]he function of the ordinance was to assure salvation ... Other ordinances considered essential for exaltation were generally held to be conditional—that is, the ordinance enabled exaltation, but the subsequent righteousness of the recipient secured it. By contrast, the second anointing guaranteed one’s exaltation, and thus may be viewed as the crowning ordinance of Smith’s ministry.|pp=189, 191}}{{r|name=Buerger 1983|q=Godhood was therefore the meaning of this higher ordinance, or second anointing ... Most of the earliest nineteenth-century comments ... clearly imply that the ordinance was then held to be unconditional. ... The unconditional promise of exaltation in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom as gods and goddesses inherent in this priesthood sealing ordinance of Elijah was weighty indeed ....|pp=21, 36–37}}{{r|name=Mysteries|q=Brother Brigham Young, I [Heber Kimball] pour this holy consecrated oil upon your head and anoint thee a king and a priest of the most high God ... And I seal thee up unto eternal life, that thou shalt ... attain unto the eternal Godhead and receive a fulness of joy, and glory, and power; and that thou mayest do all things ... even if it be to create worlds and redeem them.|pp=89}}}} In the ordinance, a participant is anointed as a "priest and king" or a "priestess and queen", and is sealed to the highest degree of salvation available in Mormon theology.<ref name=Priestess>{{cite book |author-first=Elizabeth|author-last=Hammond |editor1-last=Brooks |editor1-first=Joanna |editor1-link=Joanna Brooks |editor2-last=Hunt Steenblik |editor2-first=Rachel |editor3-last=Wheelwright |editor3-first=Hannah |title=Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings |chapter=The Mormon Priestess: A Theology of Womanhood in the LDS Temple |date=2 November 2015 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0190248031|edition=1st |chapter-url={{google books | plainurl=y | id=c2FjCgAAQBAJ}}}}</ref>{{rp|286}}
The Second Anointing differs from the "first anointing" (part of the Endowment ceremony) in that, the first anointing promises blessings in the afterlife contingent on the patron's faithfulness, the Second Anointing actually bestows those blessings. According to prominent [[20th century]] [[Latter-day Saint]] [[Apostle (Mormonism)|Apostle]] [[Bruce R. McConkie]], those who receive the Second Anointing "receive the more sure word of prophecy, which means that the Lord seals their exaltation upon them while they are yet in this life. . . . [T]heir [[exaltation]] is assured." <ref>Bruce R. McConkie, ''Mormon Doctrine'', 2nd edition, p. 109–110</ref>


In [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church), [[Mormonism|Mormonism's]] largest denomination, the ordinance is currently only given in secret to select couples whom top leaders say God has chosen.<ref name=Silence/> The LDS Church regularly performed the ceremony for nominated couples from the 1840s to the 1920s, and continued less regularly into the 1940s.<ref name="Buerger 1983">{{cite journal| last= Buerger|first= David John| title='The Fulness of the Priesthood': The Second Anointing in Latter-day Saint Theology and Practice| journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]]|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]| volume=16| year=1983| url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V16N01_12.pdf|issue=1|pages= 10–44|doi= 10.2307/45225125|jstor= 45225125}}</ref>{{rp|40}} By 1941, about 15,000 second anointings had been performed for the living, and over 6,000 for the dead.<ref name="Buerger 1983"/>{{rp|41}} The practice became much less common thereafter,{{r|name=Buerger 1983|q=Judging from his remarks seven years later, however, in a 1949 letter presented to the Council of the First Presidency and Twelve, [George F.] Richards still expressed frustration: 'For a long time I felt that I would like to express to you the disappointment I feel in that we have practically discontinued the administration of Second Anointing in the church'.|pp=42}} but has continued into modern times.{{refn|<ref name=Currently>{{cite book| last= Quinn| first= D. Michael| author-link= D. Michael Quinn| chapter= Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood Since 1843| editor-first= Maxine| editor-last= Hanks| editor-link= Maxine Hanks| title= Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2vZAAAAMAAJ | year=1992| publisher=[[Signature Books]]| location= Salt Lake City| chapter-url= http://signaturebookslibrary.org/women-and-authority-17/| isbn = 1-56085-014-0|page=377|quote=Currently some women have received this 'fullness of the priesthood' with their husbands. In the Salt Lake temple, the second anointing still occurs in the 'Holy of Holies' room which James E. Talmage wrote 'is reserved for the higher ordinances in the Priesthood...' The second anointing for both men and women is distinct from ordination to church priesthood offices.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209011516/http://signaturebookslibrary.org/women-and-authority-17/|archive-date=February 9, 2022|url-status=dead|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>{{r|name=Buerger 1983|q=Nonetheless, occasional instances of present-day anointings have occurred. Vicarious second anointings are also performed, but are less frequent.|pp=42–43}}{{r|name=Mysteries|q=In practice today the second anointing is actually the first of two parts comprising the fullness of the priesthood ceremony. ... First, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or First Presidency recommends a couple to the president of the church. ... The first part—being anointed and ordained a king and priest or queen and priestess—is administered in a temple Holy of Holies or a sealing room .... There are usually but not always two witnesses. Only husband and wife need to dress in temple robes. The husband leads in a prayer circle, offering signs and prayers at an altar.|pp=66}}}} Most modern LDS adherents are unaware of the ritual's existence.<ref name=Fire>{{cite book |last1=Brooke |first1=John L.|author-link=John L. Brooke |title=The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 |date=31 May 1996 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=978-0521565646 |page=294 |url={{google books | plainurl=y | id=eyvftt-1F_kC | page=294 }}|quote=The frequency of second anointings declined after the turn of the century, and they were virtually eliminated under the authority of Heber J. Grant in the 1920s, to the point that modern Mormons are generally unaware of the rituals existence ....}}</ref> Instructors in the church's [[Institute of Religion|institutes of religion]] are told, "Do ''not'' attempt in any way to discuss or answer questions about the second anointing." (emphasis in the original).<ref name=Eternal>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel/chapter-19?lang=eng| url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel?lang=eng |publisher=[[LDS Church]] |publication-place=Salt Lake City, Utah |title=Doctrines of the Gospel Teacher Manual (Religion 430 and 431) |chapter=Chapter 19: Eternal Life |orig-date=1987|date=2000 |quote=Caution: Exercise caution while discussing the doctrine of having our calling and election made sure. Avoid speculation. Use only the sources given here and in the student manual. Do ''not'' attempt in any way to discuss or answer questions about the second anointing.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228062814/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel/chapter-19?lang=eng |archive-date=February 28, 2023|url-status=live|access-date=April 7, 2023|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> The ordinance is also performed by many [[Mormon fundamentalism|Mormon fundamentalist]] groups. However, it is not performed by denominations such as the [[Community of Christ]], who historically did not practice the Nauvoo endowment ceremony.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rich |first1=Ben E. |title=Scrapbook of Mormon Literature, Vol. 1: Religious Tracts |chapter=The 'Reorganized' Church vs. Salvation for the Dead by Joseph F. Smith, Jr. 1905|page=82| date=5 August 2018 |publisher=Forgotten Books | url={{google books| plainurl=y| id=4xymDgAAQBAJ}} |location=London, UK |isbn=978-1331622215 |edition=Classic Reprint |chapter-url= {{google books|plainurl=y |id=4xymDgAAQBAJ |page=82}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Compilation of General Conference Resolutions, 1852-1907 |date=1908 |publisher=[[Community of Christ]] |location=Lamoni, Iowa |pages=82–83|url={{google books | plainurl=y | id=nHxNAAAAYAAJ | page=83 }}|quote=Adopted April 9, 1886 ... No. 308 ... 3. ... That as to the alleged 'temple building and ceremonial endowments therein,' that we know of no temple building, except as edifices wherein to worship God, and no endowment except the endowment of the Holy Spirit of the kind experienced by the early saints on Pentecost Day.|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Elbert A. |author-link=Elbert A. Smith |title=Differences That Persist Between the RLDS and the Utah Mormon Church |date=1949 |publisher=[[Herald Publishing House]] |location=Independence, Missouri |page=12|url=http://www.centerplace.org/library/books/Differencesthatpersist.pdf|quote=In the Kirtland Temple of the Reorganized Church [Community of Christ], there are no secret meetings of any kind, no secret rites, ceremonies, oaths, or practices. All meetings are open to the public, and no parts of the building are closed to the public; everything may be visited under guide service. ... Not one of the sacraments and ordinances ... is secret. Their nature may be freely revealed to the world. They are not guarded by secret oaths or obligations or secret covenants.|access-date=April 7, 2023}}</ref>
⚫
==See also==
*[[Temple (Mormonism)]]
⚫
*[[Washing and anointing]]
*[[Endowment (Mormonism)]]


==Notes==
==History==
===Under Smith (1842–1844)===
<references/>
====First Performance of the Ritual====
Joseph Smith introduced the Nauvoo endowment in 1842, but stated that his work in establishing the "fullness of the priesthood" was not yet complete.<ref name=HotC5>{{cite book|title=History of the Church|volume=5|pages=139–40|url=https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-book/history-of-the-church-volume-5/|via=[[Brigham Young University]]|publisher=[[LDS Church]]|date=1902}}</ref>{{rp|139–140}} In August 1843, church [[apostle (Latter Day Saints)|apostle]] [[Brigham Young]] stated that "[i]f any in the Church had the fullness of the priesthood, he did not know it". Young understood that the "fullness of the priesthood" involved an anointing as "king and priest", with the actual kingdom to be given after resurrection.{{refn|<ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of Wilford Woodruff Typescript |editor-last=Kenney| editor-first=Scott G.| url=https://archive.org/details/WWJFinal/page/n560/mode/1up |via=[[Internet Archive]]|volume=2|page=169}}</ref>{{rp|169}}<ref name=HotC5/>{{rp|527}}}} The first time a Second Anointing was performed was on September 28, 1843, when Smith and [[List of Joseph Smith's wives|one of his wives]], [[Emma Smith|Emma]] received it.{{refn|<ref name=High>{{cite book |last1=Prince |first1=Greg |author-link=Gregory Prince |title=Power from on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood |date=15 August 1995 |publisher=[[Signature Books]] |chapter=Ordinances: The Second Anointing |location=Salt Lake City |isbn=978-1560850717 |chapter-url=http://signaturebookslibrary.org/power-from-on-high-06/|via=[[Internet Archive]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817204045/http://signaturebookslibrary.org/power-from-on-high-06/|archive-date=August 17, 2022}}</ref>{{rp|189}}<ref name="Buerger 1983"/>{{rp|22}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-december-1842-june-1844-book-3-15-july-1843-29-february-1844/116|title= Diary of Joseph Smith|date=28 September 1843|page=110|via=[[Joseph Smith Papers]]}}</ref>}} During Smith's lifetime, the second anointing was performed on at least 20 men and 17 women.<ref name="Buerger 1983" />{{rp|22–23}} Historian Gary James Bergera stated that the ordinance functioned as a de facto [[Sealing (Mormonism)|marriage sealing]], though recipient [[Alpheus Cutler]] (founder of the [[Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)|Cutlerite]] branch of Mormonism) and two of his five wives (Abigail Andrews and Sally Cox) who also received the ordinance were not sealed at the time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jorgensen |first1=Danny L. |last2=Leary |first2=Andrew |date=2018 |title=Anointed Queens and Priestesses: Alpheus Cutler's Plural Wives |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26583439 |journal=The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal| publisher=[[John Whitmer Historical Association]] |volume=38 |issue=1 |page=61 |jstor=26583439 |issn=0739-7852}}</ref><ref name=Identifying>{{Cite journal |last=Bergera |first=Gary James |date=2005-10-01 |title=Identifying the Earliest Mormon Polygamists, 1841-44 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/45227374 |journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]]|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |volume=38 |issue=3 |page=10 |doi=10.2307/45227374 |jstor=45227374 |issn=0012-2157}}</ref>{{rp|10}} Additionally, [[Orson Pratt]] and [[Parley P. Pratt]] received the ordinance without their wives.<ref name=Identifying/>{{rp|10}} Many of the [[Anointed Quorum]] and [[Council of Fifty]] received their second anointing under Smith. About 40% of all male recipients of the ordinance in Smith's lifetime were in [[Mormonism and polygamy|polygamous marriages]].<ref name=Identifying/>{{rp|48}}

===LDS practice under Young (1842–1877)===
After Smith's death, and the subsequent [[Succession crisis (Latter Day Saints)|succession crisis]], Young became leader for the majority of Smith's adherents. In January 1846, he began administering the second anointing in the nearly completed [[Nauvoo Temple]]. Young re-administered the ordinance to many of those who had received it under Smith, and he delegated his authority to others, who performed nearly 600 second anointings (some to [[plural marriage|polygamous]] unions) before the temple was closed on February 7, 1846.<ref name="Buerger 1983" />{{rp|26}} After migration to the [[Salt Lake Valley]], records don't show the administration of further LDS second anointings for two decades (until 1866).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/WWJFinal/page/n2075/mode/1up|page=195|volume=6|title=Journal of Wilford Woodruff Typescript|editor-last=Kenney| editor-first=Scott G.|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Davis County Clipper]]|date=August 11, 1987|location=[[Woods Cross, Utah]]|via=[[University of Utah]]|url=https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6xh0kj8/958580|page=17|title=The Journal of Anson Call|access-date=April 14, 2023|quote=March 5, [18]67 ... received our Second anointing wish [sic] gave us great joy. This was promised me in Nauvoo 21 years before I received it.}}</ref> Beginning in the 1870s, second anointings began to be performed vicariously for dead members of the church.<ref name="Buerger 1983" />{{rp|30}}

===LDS practice under Taylor and after (1877–1950)===
In the 1880s, [[President of the Church (LDS Church)|church president]] [[John Taylor (Latter Day Saint)|John Taylor]] was concerned that too many second anointings were being performed, and he instituted a series of procedural safeguards, requiring recommendation by a [[Stake (Latter Day Saints)|stake president]], and a guideline that the ordinance "belonged particularly to old men".<ref name="Buerger 1983" />{{rp|32–33}} In 1901, church president [[Lorenzo Snow]] further limited accessibility to the ordinance by outlining stringent criteria for worthiness.<ref name="Buerger 1983" />{{rp|33–34}}

By 1918, over 14,000 second anointings had been performed for the living and the dead.<ref name="Buerger 1983" />{{rp|39}} During the administration of church president [[Heber J. Grant]] in the 1920s, the frequency of second anointings was dramatically reduced.<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Buerger | first=David John | title=The Development of the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony | journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]] |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]| volume=20 | issue=4 | page=60 | year=1987 | doi=10.2307/45228107 | jstor=45228107 | doi-access=free }}</ref> Stake presidents at the local congregation level were no longer permitted to recommend candidates for the ordinance; rather, recommendations could only be made by higher-ranking leaders in the [[Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church)|Quorum of Twelve Apostles]].<ref name="Buerger 1983" />{{rp|39–40}} By 1941, just under 15,000 second anointings had been performed for the living, and just over 6,000 for the dead.<ref name="Buerger 1983" />{{rp|41}} The church has not allowed historians to have access to second anointing records subsequent to 1941; therefore, the current frequency of second anointings is unknown. It is known that in 1942, 13 of the church's 32 [[general authorities]] had not received the second anointing.<ref name="Buerger 1983" />{{rp|41}} In 1949, one apostle wrote the rite had been "practically discontinued".

===Modern LDS practice===
Second anointings continue to be practiced in the modern-day church.{{refn|<ref name=Currently/>{{r|name=Buerger 1983|q=Nonetheless, occasional instances of present-day anointings have occurred. Vicarious second anointings are also performed, but are less frequent.|pp=42–43}}{{r|name=Mysteries|q=In practice today the second anointing is actually the first of two parts comprising the fullness of the priesthood ceremony. ... First, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or First Presidency recommends a couple to the president of the church. ... The first part—being anointed and ordained a king and priest or queen and priestess—is administered in a temple Holy of Holies or a sealing room .... There are usually but not always two witnesses. Only husband and wife need to dress in temple robes. The husband leads in a prayer circle, offering signs and prayers at an altar.|pp=66}}}} The modern Latter-Day Saint practice is kept absolutely secret and is only given to a very small number of adherents, usually after a lifetime of loyal service to the church.<ref name=Silence>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Kramer |first=Bradley H. |date=2014 |title=Keeping the Sacred: Structured Silence in the Enactment of Priesthood Authority, Gendered Worship, and Sacramental Kinship in Mormonism |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] |page=33 |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/107060/bhkramer_1.pdf?sequence=1 |quote=The public/open secrecy of temple-work in general stands in contrast to the actual and absolute secrecy of one particular feature of its ritual corpus: the ordinance known variously as the Second Anointing (or Second Anointings), second endowment, or the Fullness of the Priesthood. The blessings of this ordinance are conferred onto only a very small number of Mormons, usually after the better part of a lifetime of faithful and loyal service. ... These rites are a closed, absolute secret. Only those Mormons considered most trustworthy by high Church leadership are invited to participate, and they are expressly instructed not to disclose anything about the ordinance, including their own participation in it, to anyone, including family (only married couples participate in the rite).}}</ref> One British former stake president and former area executive secretary, Tom Phillips, said his spouse and he had received the ordinance before his public disaffiliation.<ref name=Anatomy>{{Cite book |last=Beverley |first=James A. |title=Mormon Crisis: Anatomy of a Failing Religion |publisher=Castle Quay Books |year=2013 |isbn=9781927355336 |location=Pickering, Ontario |pages=190|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=2m-hCwAAQBAJ|page=190}}|url-access=limited|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wagner |first=Dennis |date=February 14, 2014 |title=Mormon president ordered to appear in British court |work=[[USA Today]] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/04/mormon-president-ordered-to-court/5216645/ |access-date=2023-03-28}}</ref> According to historian [[D. Michael Quinn]], both the late church president [[Spencer W. Kimball]] (president from 1973—1985) and current church president [[Russell M. Nelson]] (president from 2018—2024) received their second anointing in 1974; Nelson alluded to this experience in his 1979 autobiography.<ref>{{cite book| last= Quinn| first= D. Michael| author-link= D. Michael Quinn| chapter= Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood Since 1843| editor-first= Maxine| editor-last= Hanks| editor-link= Maxine Hanks| title= Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2vZAAAAMAAJ | year=1992| publisher=[[Signature Books]]| location= Salt Lake City| chapter-url= http://signaturebookslibrary.org/women-and-authority-17/| isbn = 1-56085-014-0|page=377, footnote 71|quote=In the Salt Lake temple, the second anointing still occurs .... ... For example, President Spencer W. Kimball’s heart surgeon and his wife received their second anointing in the Salt Lake temple on Sunday, 9 June 1974. See Russell M. Nelson, From Heart to Heart: An Autobiography (Salt Lake City: By the author, 1979), 360.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209011516/http://signaturebookslibrary.org/women-and-authority-17/|archive-date=February 9, 2022|url-status=dead|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=Russell |author-link=Russell M. Nelson|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/from-heart-to-heart-an-autobiography-russell-m.-nelson/page/mode/1up |title=From Heart to Heart: An Autobiography |date=1979 |page=360 |chapter=Highlights of 1974|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

===Eligibility===
Some members of the church were historically or are currently ineligible for the second anointing ordinance. All candidates for the rite cannot be single and must be temple married before receiving it,<ref name=Silence/> and between 1847 and 1978 all LDS endowment-related temple ordinances including the second anointing were denied to all members with Black ancestry.{{refn|<ref name=Kendall>{{cite journal |last1=White |first1=O. Kendall Jr. |title=Integrating Religious and Racial Identities: An Analysis of LDS African American Explanations of the Priesthood Ban |journal=[[Review of Religious Research]] |date=March 1995 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=296–297 |doi=10.2307/3511536 |jstor=3511536 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3511536|quote='Celestial' or 'temple' marriage is a necessary condition for 'exaltation' ... Without the priesthood, Black men and women ... were denied complete exaltation, the ultimate goal of Mormonism.}}</ref><ref name="Harris2015">{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Matthew L.|last2=Bringhurst|first2=Newell G. |author2-link=Newell G. Bringhurst|title=The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=Pn20CgAAQBAJ}}|date=2015|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|location=Chicago|via=[[Google Books]]|url-access=limited|isbn=978-0-252-08121-7|id={{ProQuest|2131052022}}}}</ref>{{rp|164}}<ref name=BushDialogue>{{cite journal |last1=Bush |first1=Lester E. Jr. |author-link=Lester E. Bush Jr. |date=1973 |title= Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview|url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V08N01_13.pdf |journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]] |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|volume=8 |issue=1 }}</ref>{{rp|261}}}} All temple ordinances continue to be denied for non-heterosexual couples and transgender couples as of 2023.<ref name="GA">{{cite thesis |last=Simmons |first=Brian |title=Coming out Mormon: An examination of religious orientation, spiritual trauma, and PTSD among Mormon and ex-Morman LGBTQQA adults |institution=[[University of Georgia]] |journal=University of Georgia Theses and Dissertations |date=December 2017 |type=PhD |page=65 |url=https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/simmons_brian_w_201712_phd.pdf | quote=[A] current temple recommend [allows one] to participate in temple ordinances. In order to hold a current temple recommend, a person must attest to their ecclesiastical leaders that they maintain faith in the LDS Church, and live according to the standards (including no sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage and abstaining from coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs).|location=Athens, Georgia}}</ref><ref name=GTT>{{cite web |url = https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/temples?lang=eng |title= Gospel Topics: Temples |publisher= [[LDS Church]] |access-date=February 27, 2023|date=June 2019}}</ref><ref name=Publishes>{{cite news|title=LDS Church publishes new handbook with changes to discipline, transgender policy|url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/02/19/lds-church-puts-new/|newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]|date=19 Feb 2020|author1-last=Fletcher Stack|author1-first=Peggy|author2-last=Noyce|author2-first=David|author1-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack}}</ref>

===Confidentiality===
The ordinance is currently only given confidentially to select couples,<ref name=Silence/> and most current LDS adherents are unaware of the ritual's existence.<ref name=Fire/> Additionally, church class instructors are emphatically told not to discuss the ceremony at all.<ref name=Eternal/> Historically, the church's newspaper openly discussed the rite's occurrence in print,<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Deseret News]]|publisher=[[LDS Church]]|date=March 17, 1858|location=Salt Lake City|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-deseret-news-j-smith-diary-of-trip/95512408/|page=4|title=History of Brigham Young|access-date=April 14, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Deseret News]]|publisher=[[LDS Church]]|date=March 24, 1858|location=Salt Lake City|via=[[University of Utah]]|url=https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6x935r2/2614966|page=1|title=History of Brigham Young|access-date=April 14, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Deseret News]]|publisher=[[LDS Church]]|date=January 13, 1875|location=Salt Lake City|via=[[University of Utah]]|url=https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s69s2kfv/2583371|page=15|title=Christmas Assembly in St. George|access-date=April 14, 2023}}</ref> and at least one obituary from a largely LDS Utah city mentioned the ordinance in 1909.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Emery County Progress|publisher=[[LDS Church]]|date=May 29, 1909|location=[[Castle Dale, Utah]]|via=[[University of Utah]]|url=https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6t73d3t/2848172|page=1|title=Death of Christina Elizabeth Christensen|access-date=April 14, 2023}}</ref> In response to a researcher publishing an academic article on the topic in the 1980s the church banned him from future access to its historical archives and increased restrictions on public access.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]| date=January 3, 1987|location=Salt Lake City| via=[[University of Utah]]|url= https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6dn9r09/29195201 |page=B1|title=LDS Close Archives, Presidential Collections to Researcher | access-date=April 14, 2023|last=Tracy| first=Dawn}}</ref> In 1978 [[Mark Hofmann]] forged a handwritten document purporting to be a historical description of the secret ordinance and sold it to [[Utah State University]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]| date=February 15, 1987|location=Salt Lake City| via=[[University of Utah]]|url= https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6dn9r09/29195201 |page=2E|title=First 'Hofmann' history-mystery | access-date=April 14, 2023}}</ref>

==Ceremony==
[[File:Feet washing.JPG|right|thumb|Part of the ceremony consists of a feet washing similar to a [[The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)#Ordinances|Bickertonite Latter Day Saint feet washing]] shown here.]]

According to 19th-century journal entries and contemporary sources, the LDS second anointing ceremony consists of three parts:

# '''Prayer and Washing''' - First the couple and an officiator or two participate in a [[Prayer circle (Mormonism)|prayer circle]] (conducted by the husband) in a dedicated temple room, and then a male officiator washes only the husband's feet.{{refn|{{r|name=Priestess|q=The second anointing comprises the ordinances in which the promised blessings of the temple endowment are sealed as binding. First, a prayer circle is conducted by the husband. A General Authority washes the feet of the husband (to cleanse him from "the blood and sins of this generation," a blessing unique to men).|pp=286}}{{r|name=Mysteries|q=In practice today the second anointing is actually the first of two parts comprising the fullness of the priesthood ceremony. ... First, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or First Presidency recommends a couple to the president of the church. ... The first part—being anointed and ordained a king and priest or queen and priestess—is administered in a temple Holy of Holies or a sealing room .... There are usually but not always two witnesses. Only husband and wife need to dress in temple robes. The husband leads in a prayer circle, offering signs and prayers at an altar.|pp=66}}{{r|name=Buerger 1983|q=[T]oday it is understood that if the Church president does not perform the ceremony, he ordinarily must be present in the room while it is done by a designated individual .... The policy of the Church president calling up candidates to receive the second anointing still continues. In the past the ordinance typically was held in a special room called the Holy of Holies .... At present, any room in a temple specifically set apart for the purpose will suffice.|pp=42–43}}}}
# '''Anointing''' - Next the officiator anoints the husband as a king and priest to God, and then anoints the wife as a queen and priestess to her husband.{{r|name=Priestess|q=The husband is anointed as King and Priest unto the Most High God, and the wife is anointed as Queen and Priestess to her husband. ... The anointing rite parallels the original Initiatories in both content and form.|pp=286}}{{r |name =Mysteries |q=He is then anointed ... and he is ordained a king and a priest .... This ordinance gives him the fullness of the priesthood. He is also blessed with ... the Holy Spirit of Promise ... [and] to attain godhood .... Next the wife is anointed ... and she is ordained a queen and priestess unto her husband ....|pp=66}} For example, the following words were used by [[Heber C. Kimball]] during the second anointing of Brigham Young in the Nauvoo temple in 1846: "Brother Brigham Young, I pour this holy consecrated oil upon your head and anoint thee a king and a priest of the most high God, over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and unto all Israel. ... And I seal thee up unto eternal life, that thou shalt come forth in the morn of the first resurrection ... and thou shalt attain unto the eternal Godhead and receive a fulness of joy, and glory, and power; and that thou mayest do all things whatsoever is wisdom that thou shouldst do, even if it be to create worlds and redeem them."<ref name=Mysteries>{{cite book |last1=Buerger |first1=David J. |url={{google books | plainurl=y | id=P08mAQAAIAAJ }} |title=The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship |chapter= Joseph Smith's Ritual |date=15 December 2002 |publisher=[[Signature Books]]|url-access=limited |isbn=978-1560851769|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>{{rp|88}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Willard |author-link1=Willard Richards| title=The Book of Anointings |date=11 Jan 1846 |publisher=[[LDS Church]] |location=Nauvoo, Illinois |url=http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv36898}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Lisle G |title=Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, And Anointings: A Comprehensive Register of Persons Receiving LDS Temple Ordinances 1841-1846 |date=25 January 2006 |publisher=[[Signature Books]] | isbn=1560851988| url= https://archive.org/details/nauvoo-sealings-adoptions-and-anointings/page/348/mode/1up | via =[[Internet Archive]]|page=348}}</ref>
# '''Washing of the Husband''' - Later,the wife symbolically prepares her husband for his death and resurrection as his priestess by [[washing and anointing]] the husband's feet and then laying her hands on his head to give a blessing. This portion of the ceremony was historically done at home, in a room dedicated by the husband.{{refn|<ref name="Buerger 1983"/>{{rp|26–27}}{{r|name=Priestess|q=The wife performs a ceremonial washing and anointing of the husband's feet .... Later, the Priestess-wife lays hands on her husband's head to administer a blessing ... an extemporaneous pronouncement.|pp=286–287}}{{r| name= Mysteries|q=At the conclusion of this ordinance, the washing of the husband's feet by his wife is explained to the couple. It is a private ordinance, without witnesses. ... At the determined time the husband dedicates the home and the room in which they perform the ordinance .... [S]he washes and anoints the body of her husband .... The ordinance symbolically prepares the husband for burial, and in this way the wife lays claim upon him in the resurrection.|pp=66}}}} Elder [[Hans Mattsson]], and his wife Birgitta described that they were led into a private room that would normally be used for the [[Temple endowment]], where a bowl of water and towel were prepared for Birgitta to wash Han's feet and give him a [[Priesthood blessing]].<ref name=Seeking>{{cite video |last1=Birgitta |first1=Mattsson |title=Mormon Stories, Episode 985: Truth Seeking with Hans and Birgitta Mattsson, Part 2 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_4lWznJ5TE |publisher=[[Mormon Stories Podcast]] |time=16:30 |date=27 September 2018 |quote=[A]lso after this anointing every couple had there had to go to their own room second part of it and we came in in this room for a session in the temple and there was a water in the bowl of water on the floor and a towel and I was supposed to keep clean my husband's feet ... I was supposed to give him a blessing and that felt so weird ... I put my hands on his head.|via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

Before 1846 the woman was also anointed as a "priestess unto God," but Brigham Young changed the ceremony and readministered the rite such that the wife would now be a "queen and priestess unto thine husband." The woman would also be exalted through her husband instead of through God, but only if she "dost obey [her husband’s] counsel."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hanks |first1=Maxine |title=LDS Women's Authority and the Temple: A Feminist FHE Discussion with Maxine Hanks |journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]]|date=25 February 2019 |volume=52 |issue=1 |page=71 |doi=10.5406/dialjmormthou.52.1.0045 |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|s2cid=246628694 |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/V52N01_hanks.pdf#page=27}}</ref>

==Meaning and symbolism==
{{Religious text primary|date=March 2023}}

===First anointing meanings===
The "first anointing" refers to the [[washing and anointing]] part of the [[Endowment (Latter Day Saint)|endowment ceremony]], in which a person is anointed ''to become'' a king and priest or a queen and priestess unto God. In the second anointing, on the other hand, participants are anointed ''as'' a king and priest, or queen and priestess. When the anointing is given, according to Brigham Young, the participant "will then have received the fulness of the Priesthood, all that can be given on earth."<ref name="Buerger 1983"/>{{rp|p=24}}<ref name=Expansion>{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Thomas G. |author-link=Thomas G. Alexander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEqTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 |title=Brigham Young and the Expansion of the Mormon Faith |date=2019-05-02 |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |isbn=9780806164465 |via=[[Google Books]]|page=52}}</ref> The "first anointing" promises blessings in the afterlife contingent on the patron's faithfulness, while the second anointing actually bestows those blessings.{{refn|{{r|name=High|q=On 10 March 1844 Smith delivered a discourse on the subject of Elijah in which he gave his most complete explanation of the second anointing. He said ... [t]he function of the ordinance was to assure salvation ... Other ordinances considered essential for exaltation were generally held to be conditional—that is, the ordinance enabled exaltation, but the subsequent righteousness of the recipient secured it. By contrast, the second anointing guaranteed one’s exaltation, and thus may be viewed as the crowning ordinance of Smith’s ministry.|pp=189, 191}}{{r|name=Buerger 1983|q=Godhood was therefore the meaning of this higher ordinance, or second anointing ... Most of the earliest nineteenth-century comments ... clearly imply that the ordinance was then held to be unconditional. ... The unconditional promise of exaltation in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom as gods and goddesses inherent in this priesthood sealing ordinance of Elijah was weighty indeed ....|pp=21, 36–37}}}}

===Second anointing meanings===
Church leaders have stated that those who participate in the second anointing ordinance have received the "fullness of the priesthood", their "calling and election made sure", their eternal [[celestial marriage|temple marriage]] "sealed by the holy spirit of promise", and received the "more sure word of prophecy", "higher blessing," or "second endowment".<ref>{{cite book |editor-link= Joseph Fielding Smith |editor-last= Smith |editor-first= Joseph Fielding |title= [[Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith]] |year= 1976 |publisher= [[Deseret Book Co.]] |isbn= 0-87747-626-8 |oclc= 22984603 |pages=322–323|quote=The anointing and sealing is to be called, elected and made sure.}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last= Flake| first= Lawrence R.| entry= Holy Spirit of Promise| entry-url= https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/EoM/id/3769| page= 651| editor-last= Ludlow| editor-first = Daniel H| editor-link= Daniel H. Ludlow| year= 1992| encyclopedia= [[Encyclopedia of Mormonism]]| location= New York| publisher= [[Macmillan Publishing]]| isbn= 0-02-879602-0| oclc= 24502140|via=[[Brigham Young University]]}}</ref>{{r|name=Buerger 1983|q=[E]ven faithful temple-goers, know little of the capstone of the endowment: receiving the 'fullness of the priesthood' through the 'second anointing,' an ordinance also sometimes referred to as the 'other endowment,' 'second endowment,' 'second blessing,' 'higher blessings,' etc.|pp=11}} According to prominent 20th-century LDS Church [[Apostle (Mormonism)|apostle]] [[Bruce R. McConkie]], those who have their calling and election made sure "receive the more sure word of prophecy, which means that the Lord seals their [[Exaltation (Mormonism)|exaltation]] upon them while they are yet in this life. ... [T]heir exaltation is assured."<ref name=Mormon>{{cite book|last1=McConkie|first1=Bruce R.|author-link=Bruce R. McConkie|title=Mormon Doctrine|date=1966|edition=2nd|via=[[Internet Archive]]|url=https://archive.org/details/mormondoctrine0000mcco_f0f5/page/109/mode/1up|publisher=[[Bookcraft]]|orig-date=1958|url-access=registration}} 1971, 7th reprinting.</ref>{{rp|109–110}}

The second anointing may have been intended to fulfill scriptural references to the "fulness of the priesthood", such as that in [[Doctrine and Covenants]], {{lds|Doctrine and Covenants|dc|124|28}}, a revelation by Joseph Smith commanding the building of a temple in [[Nauvoo, Illinois]], in part, because "there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the ''fulness of the priesthood''" (emphasis added).{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} LDS Church leaders have connected this ordinance with a statement by [[Saint Peter|Peter]] in his [[Second Epistle of Peter|second Epistle]].{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} In {{lds|2 Peter|2-pet|1|10}}, he talks about making one's "calling and election sure," and further remarks, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy" ({{lds|2 Peter|2-pet|1|19}}).{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} Smith referenced this process in saying, "When the Lord has thoroughly proved [a person], and finds that the [person] is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the [person] will find his calling and election made sure".<ref>{{cite book |editor-link= Joseph Fielding Smith |editor-last= Smith |editor-first= Joseph Fielding |title= [[Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith]] |year= 1976 |publisher= [[Deseret Book Co.]] |isbn= 0-87747-626-8 |oclc= 22984603 }}</ref>{{rp|150}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last= Doxey| first= Roy W.| author-link= Roy W. Doxey| entry= Calling and Election| entry-url= http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/EoM/id/5575| page= 248| editor-last= Ludlow| editor-first = Daniel H| editor-link= Daniel H. Ludlow| year= 1992| encyclopedia= [[Encyclopedia of Mormonism]]| location= New York| publisher= [[Macmillan Publishing]]| isbn= 0-02-879602-0| oclc= 24502140|via=[[Brigham Young University]]}}</ref>

===Feminine priestesshood===
The second anointing is performed only on married, heterosexual couples. Some writers have argued that because of this, women who receive the second anointing (in which they are anointed as "priestesses") are ordained to the "fulness of the priesthood" in the same manner as their husbands. These scholars suggest that Smith may have considered these women to have, in fact, received the power of the [[Priesthood (Mormonism)|priesthood]], though not necessarily a specific priesthood office.<ref name=Currently/>

==Controversy and criticism==
The ceremony has been criticized and viewed as controversial. One former member stated that learning of the [[elitism]] and secrecy around the second anointing started him questioning LDS church authority.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jindra |first=Ines W. |date=June 2022 |title=Deconversion from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Quest for Identity |journal=Pastoral Psychology |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]]|volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=337 |doi=10.1007/s11089-022-01001-7 |issn=0031-2789 |pmc=8930479 |pmid=35317008}}</ref> A 1910 [[Salt Lake Tribune]] editor's criticism of LDS temple practices stated in a negative tone that one LDS leader who had received his "second anointings" prayed in 1867 for the damnation of all Americans.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]| date=August 31, 1910|location=Salt Lake City| via=[[University of Utah]]|url= https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6v13g0j/14115219 |page=5|title=Where Destruction Was Invoked | access-date=April 14, 2023}}</ref>

[[Hans Mattsson]], a former member of the [[area authority seventy]] spoke publicly about his experience receiving the second anointing in the [[Frankfurt Temple]].<ref name=Seeking/>

⚫
==See also==
{{Portal|Latter Day Saint movement}}
* [[Anointed Quorum]]
* [[Sealing power]]
⚫
* [[Washing and anointing]]


==Sources==
==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
*Anderson, Devry S., "The Anointed Quorum in Nauvoo, 1842-45", 29 ''Journal of Mormon History'' 137-157 (Fall 2003).
* {{cite journal | author=Buerger, David John | title="The Fulness of the Priesthood": The Second Anointing in Latter-day Saint Theology and Practice | journal=Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought | volume=16(1) | year=1983 | pages=10&ndash;44 | url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/docviewer.exe?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=18347&CISOSHOW=18195}}
*Buerger, David John, ''The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship'', (2002), Signature Books, ISBN 1560851767
*Doxey, Roy W., comp. ''The Latter-day Prophets and the Doctrine and Covenants'', Vol. 4, (1965), Salt Lake City
*Hanks, Maxine (editor), ''''Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism'', (1992), Signature Books, ISBN 1560850140
*McConkie, Bruce R., ''Mormon Doctrine'', (1958), Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, ISBN 0884944468, 2nd edition 1966: ISBN 0884940624
*Smith, Joseph F., ''Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith'', (1976), Deseret Book Co., hardcover: ISBN 0877476268, paperback: ISBN 087579243X, Covenant 2002 edition: ISBN 1591560284


{{Latter Day Saint movement}}
{{Latter-day Saints}}


[[Category:1843 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:1843 in Christianity]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint ordinances, rituals, and symbolism]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint ordinances, rituals, and symbolism]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint temple practices]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

Latest revision as of 11:29, 20 December 2024

Holy of Holies in the Salt Lake Temple, a room where second anointings have taken place.

In the Latter Day Saint movement, the second anointing is the pinnacle ordinance of the temple and an extension of the endowment ceremony.[1][2]: 11  Founder Joseph Smith taught that the function of the ordinance was to ensure salvation, guarantee exaltation, and confer godhood.[5] In the ordinance, a participant is anointed as a "priest and king" or a "priestess and queen", and is sealed to the highest degree of salvation available in Mormon theology.[6]: 286 

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Mormonism's largest denomination, the ordinance is currently only given in secret to select couples whom top leaders say God has chosen.[7] The LDS Church regularly performed the ceremony for nominated couples from the 1840s to the 1920s, and continued less regularly into the 1940s.[2]: 40  By 1941, about 15,000 second anointings had been performed for the living, and over 6,000 for the dead.[2]: 41  The practice became much less common thereafter,[2]: 42  but has continued into modern times.[9] Most modern LDS adherents are unaware of the ritual's existence.[10] Instructors in the church's institutes of religion are told, "Do not attempt in any way to discuss or answer questions about the second anointing." (emphasis in the original).[11] The ordinance is also performed by many Mormon fundamentalist groups. However, it is not performed by denominations such as the Community of Christ, who historically did not practice the Nauvoo endowment ceremony.[12][13][14]

History

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Under Smith (1842–1844)

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First Performance of the Ritual

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Joseph Smith introduced the Nauvoo endowment in 1842, but stated that his work in establishing the "fullness of the priesthood" was not yet complete.[15]: 139–140  In August 1843, church apostle Brigham Young stated that "[i]f any in the Church had the fullness of the priesthood, he did not know it". Young understood that the "fullness of the priesthood" involved an anointing as "king and priest", with the actual kingdom to be given after resurrection.[17] The first time a Second Anointing was performed was on September 28, 1843, when Smith and one of his wives, Emma received it.[19] During Smith's lifetime, the second anointing was performed on at least 20 men and 17 women.[2]: 22–23  Historian Gary James Bergera stated that the ordinance functioned as a de facto marriage sealing, though recipient Alpheus Cutler (founder of the Cutlerite branch of Mormonism) and two of his five wives (Abigail Andrews and Sally Cox) who also received the ordinance were not sealed at the time.[20][21]: 10  Additionally, Orson Pratt and Parley P. Pratt received the ordinance without their wives.[21]: 10  Many of the Anointed Quorum and Council of Fifty received their second anointing under Smith. About 40% of all male recipients of the ordinance in Smith's lifetime were in polygamous marriages.[21]: 48 

LDS practice under Young (1842–1877)

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After Smith's death, and the subsequent succession crisis, Young became leader for the majority of Smith's adherents. In January 1846, he began administering the second anointing in the nearly completed Nauvoo Temple. Young re-administered the ordinance to many of those who had received it under Smith, and he delegated his authority to others, who performed nearly 600 second anointings (some to polygamous unions) before the temple was closed on February 7, 1846.[2]: 26  After migration to the Salt Lake Valley, records don't show the administration of further LDS second anointings for two decades (until 1866).[22][23] Beginning in the 1870s, second anointings began to be performed vicariously for dead members of the church.[2]: 30 

LDS practice under Taylor and after (1877–1950)

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In the 1880s, church president John Taylor was concerned that too many second anointings were being performed, and he instituted a series of procedural safeguards, requiring recommendation by a stake president, and a guideline that the ordinance "belonged particularly to old men".[2]: 32–33  In 1901, church president Lorenzo Snow further limited accessibility to the ordinance by outlining stringent criteria for worthiness.[2]: 33–34 

By 1918, over 14,000 second anointings had been performed for the living and the dead.[2]: 39  During the administration of church president Heber J. Grant in the 1920s, the frequency of second anointings was dramatically reduced.[24] Stake presidents at the local congregation level were no longer permitted to recommend candidates for the ordinance; rather, recommendations could only be made by higher-ranking leaders in the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.[2]: 39–40  By 1941, just under 15,000 second anointings had been performed for the living, and just over 6,000 for the dead.[2]: 41  The church has not allowed historians to have access to second anointing records subsequent to 1941; therefore, the current frequency of second anointings is unknown. It is known that in 1942, 13 of the church's 32 general authorities had not received the second anointing.[2]: 41  In 1949, one apostle wrote the rite had been "practically discontinued".

Modern LDS practice

[edit]

Second anointings continue to be practiced in the modern-day church.[25] The modern Latter-Day Saint practice is kept absolutely secret and is only given to a very small number of adherents, usually after a lifetime of loyal service to the church.[7] One British former stake president and former area executive secretary, Tom Phillips, said his spouse and he had received the ordinance before his public disaffiliation.[26][27] According to historian D. Michael Quinn, both the late church president Spencer W. Kimball (president from 1973—1985) and current church president Russell M. Nelson (president from 2018—2024) received their second anointing in 1974; Nelson alluded to this experience in his 1979 autobiography.[28][29]

Eligibility

[edit]

Some members of the church were historically or are currently ineligible for the second anointing ordinance. All candidates for the rite cannot be single and must be temple married before receiving it,[7] and between 1847 and 1978 all LDS endowment-related temple ordinances including the second anointing were denied to all members with Black ancestry.[33] All temple ordinances continue to be denied for non-heterosexual couples and transgender couples as of 2023.[34][35][36]

Confidentiality

[edit]

The ordinance is currently only given confidentially to select couples,[7] and most current LDS adherents are unaware of the ritual's existence.[10] Additionally, church class instructors are emphatically told not to discuss the ceremony at all.[11] Historically, the church's newspaper openly discussed the rite's occurrence in print,[37][38][39] and at least one obituary from a largely LDS Utah city mentioned the ordinance in 1909.[40] In response to a researcher publishing an academic article on the topic in the 1980s the church banned him from future access to its historical archives and increased restrictions on public access.[41] In 1978 Mark Hofmann forged a handwritten document purporting to be a historical description of the secret ordinance and sold it to Utah State University.[42]

Ceremony

[edit]
Part of the ceremony consists of a feet washing similar to a Bickertonite Latter Day Saint feet washing shown here.

According to 19th-century journal entries and contemporary sources, the LDS second anointing ceremony consists of three parts:

  1. Prayer and Washing - First the couple and an officiator or two participate in a prayer circle (conducted by the husband) in a dedicated temple room, and then a male officiator washes only the husband's feet.[43]
  2. Anointing - Next the officiator anoints the husband as a king and priest to God, and then anoints the wife as a queen and priestess to her husband.[6]: 286 [4]: 66  For example, the following words were used by Heber C. Kimball during the second anointing of Brigham Young in the Nauvoo temple in 1846: "Brother Brigham Young, I pour this holy consecrated oil upon your head and anoint thee a king and a priest of the most high God, over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and unto all Israel. ... And I seal thee up unto eternal life, that thou shalt come forth in the morn of the first resurrection ... and thou shalt attain unto the eternal Godhead and receive a fulness of joy, and glory, and power; and that thou mayest do all things whatsoever is wisdom that thou shouldst do, even if it be to create worlds and redeem them."[4]: 88 [44][45]
  3. Washing of the Husband - Later,the wife symbolically prepares her husband for his death and resurrection as his priestess by washing and anointing the husband's feet and then laying her hands on his head to give a blessing. This portion of the ceremony was historically done at home, in a room dedicated by the husband.[46] Elder Hans Mattsson, and his wife Birgitta described that they were led into a private room that would normally be used for the Temple endowment, where a bowl of water and towel were prepared for Birgitta to wash Han's feet and give him a Priesthood blessing.[47]

Before 1846 the woman was also anointed as a "priestess unto God," but Brigham Young changed the ceremony and readministered the rite such that the wife would now be a "queen and priestess unto thine husband." The woman would also be exalted through her husband instead of through God, but only if she "dost obey [her husband’s] counsel."[48]

Meaning and symbolism

[edit]

First anointing meanings

[edit]

The "first anointing" refers to the washing and anointing part of the endowment ceremony, in which a person is anointed to become a king and priest or a queen and priestess unto God. In the second anointing, on the other hand, participants are anointed as a king and priest, or queen and priestess. When the anointing is given, according to Brigham Young, the participant "will then have received the fulness of the Priesthood, all that can be given on earth."[2]: 24 [49] The "first anointing" promises blessings in the afterlife contingent on the patron's faithfulness, while the second anointing actually bestows those blessings.[50]

Second anointing meanings

[edit]

Church leaders have stated that those who participate in the second anointing ordinance have received the "fullness of the priesthood", their "calling and election made sure", their eternal temple marriage "sealed by the holy spirit of promise", and received the "more sure word of prophecy", "higher blessing," or "second endowment".[51][52][2]: 11  According to prominent 20th-century LDS Church apostle Bruce R. McConkie, those who have their calling and election made sure "receive the more sure word of prophecy, which means that the Lord seals their exaltation upon them while they are yet in this life. ... [T]heir exaltation is assured."[53]: 109–110 

The second anointing may have been intended to fulfill scriptural references to the "fulness of the priesthood", such as that in Doctrine and Covenants, Doctrine and Covenants 124:28, a revelation by Joseph Smith commanding the building of a temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, in part, because "there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fulness of the priesthood" (emphasis added).[citation needed] LDS Church leaders have connected this ordinance with a statement by Peter in his second Epistle.[citation needed] In 2 Peter 1:10, he talks about making one's "calling and election sure," and further remarks, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy" (2 Peter 1:19).[citation needed] Smith referenced this process in saying, "When the Lord has thoroughly proved [a person], and finds that the [person] is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the [person] will find his calling and election made sure".[54]: 150 [55]

Feminine priestesshood

[edit]

The second anointing is performed only on married, heterosexual couples. Some writers have argued that because of this, women who receive the second anointing (in which they are anointed as "priestesses") are ordained to the "fulness of the priesthood" in the same manner as their husbands. These scholars suggest that Smith may have considered these women to have, in fact, received the power of the priesthood, though not necessarily a specific priesthood office.[8]

Controversy and criticism

[edit]

The ceremony has been criticized and viewed as controversial. One former member stated that learning of the elitism and secrecy around the second anointing started him questioning LDS church authority.[56] A 1910 Salt Lake Tribune editor's criticism of LDS temple practices stated in a negative tone that one LDS leader who had received his "second anointings" prayed in 1867 for the damnation of all Americans.[57]

Hans Mattsson, a former member of the area authority seventy spoke publicly about his experience receiving the second anointing in the Frankfurt Temple.[47]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Blythe, Christopher James (May 2011). Recreating Religion: The Response to Joseph Smith Innovations in the Second Prophetic Generation of Mormonism (MA). Utah State University. p. 31. Smith revealed the pinnacle ordinance of Mormonism, the second anointing .... Through this ceremony, Joseph Smith ordained [Alpheus] Cutler to the office of king and priest, a position that contained the fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Buerger, David John (1983). "'The Fulness of the Priesthood': The Second Anointing in Latter-day Saint Theology and Practice" (PDF). Dialogue. 16 (1). University of Illinois Press: 10–44. doi:10.2307/45225125. JSTOR 45225125.
  3. ^ a b c Prince, Greg (August 15, 1995). "Ordinances: The Second Anointing". Power from on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN 978-1560850717. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Buerger, David J. (December 15, 2002). "Joseph Smith's Ritual". The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship. Signature Books. ISBN 978-1560851769 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ [3]: 189, 191 [2]: 21, 36–37 [4]: 89 
  6. ^ a b c d Hammond, Elizabeth (November 2, 2015). "The Mormon Priestess: A Theology of Womanhood in the LDS Temple". In Brooks, Joanna; Hunt Steenblik, Rachel; Wheelwright, Hannah (eds.). Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190248031.
  7. ^ a b c d Kramer, Bradley H. (2014). Keeping the Sacred: Structured Silence in the Enactment of Priesthood Authority, Gendered Worship, and Sacramental Kinship in Mormonism (PDF) (PhD). University of Michigan. p. 33. The public/open secrecy of temple-work in general stands in contrast to the actual and absolute secrecy of one particular feature of its ritual corpus: the ordinance known variously as the Second Anointing (or Second Anointings), second endowment, or the Fullness of the Priesthood. The blessings of this ordinance are conferred onto only a very small number of Mormons, usually after the better part of a lifetime of faithful and loyal service. ... These rites are a closed, absolute secret. Only those Mormons considered most trustworthy by high Church leadership are invited to participate, and they are expressly instructed not to disclose anything about the ordinance, including their own participation in it, to anyone, including family (only married couples participate in the rite).
  8. ^ a b c Quinn, D. Michael (1992). "Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood Since 1843". In Hanks, Maxine (ed.). Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. p. 377. ISBN 1-56085-014-0. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022 – via Internet Archive. Currently some women have received this 'fullness of the priesthood' with their husbands. In the Salt Lake temple, the second anointing still occurs in the 'Holy of Holies' room which James E. Talmage wrote 'is reserved for the higher ordinances in the Priesthood...' The second anointing for both men and women is distinct from ordination to church priesthood offices.
  9. ^ [8][2]: 42–43 [4]: 66 
  10. ^ a b Brooke, John L. (May 31, 1996). The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 294. ISBN 978-0521565646. The frequency of second anointings declined after the turn of the century, and they were virtually eliminated under the authority of Heber J. Grant in the 1920s, to the point that modern Mormons are generally unaware of the rituals existence ....
  11. ^ a b "Chapter 19: Eternal Life". Doctrines of the Gospel Teacher Manual (Religion 430 and 431). Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church. 2000 [1987]. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Internet Archive. Caution: Exercise caution while discussing the doctrine of having our calling and election made sure. Avoid speculation. Use only the sources given here and in the student manual. Do not attempt in any way to discuss or answer questions about the second anointing.
  12. ^ Rich, Ben E. (August 5, 2018). "The 'Reorganized' Church vs. Salvation for the Dead by Joseph F. Smith, Jr. 1905". Scrapbook of Mormon Literature, Vol. 1: Religious Tracts (Classic Reprint ed.). London, UK: Forgotten Books. p. 82. ISBN 978-1331622215.
  13. ^ Compilation of General Conference Resolutions, 1852-1907. Lamoni, Iowa: Community of Christ. 1908. pp. 82–83 – via Google Books. Adopted April 9, 1886 ... No. 308 ... 3. ... That as to the alleged 'temple building and ceremonial endowments therein,' that we know of no temple building, except as edifices wherein to worship God, and no endowment except the endowment of the Holy Spirit of the kind experienced by the early saints on Pentecost Day.
  14. ^ Smith, Elbert A. (1949). Differences That Persist Between the RLDS and the Utah Mormon Church (PDF). Independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House. p. 12. Retrieved April 7, 2023. In the Kirtland Temple of the Reorganized Church [Community of Christ], there are no secret meetings of any kind, no secret rites, ceremonies, oaths, or practices. All meetings are open to the public, and no parts of the building are closed to the public; everything may be visited under guide service. ... Not one of the sacraments and ordinances ... is secret. Their nature may be freely revealed to the world. They are not guarded by secret oaths or obligations or secret covenants.
  15. ^ a b History of the Church. Vol. 5. LDS Church. 1902. pp. 139–40 – via Brigham Young University.
  16. ^ Kenney, Scott G. (ed.). Journal of Wilford Woodruff Typescript. Vol. 2. p. 169 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ [16]: 169 [15]: 527 
  18. ^ Diary of Joseph Smith. September 28, 1843. p. 110 – via Joseph Smith Papers.
  19. ^ [3]: 189 [2]: 22 [18]
  20. ^ Jorgensen, Danny L.; Leary, Andrew (2018). "Anointed Queens and Priestesses: Alpheus Cutler's Plural Wives". The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal. 38 (1). John Whitmer Historical Association: 61. ISSN 0739-7852. JSTOR 26583439.
  21. ^ a b c Bergera, Gary James (October 1, 2005). "Identifying the Earliest Mormon Polygamists, 1841-44". Dialogue. 38 (3). University of Illinois Press: 10. doi:10.2307/45227374. ISSN 0012-2157. JSTOR 45227374.
  22. ^ Kenney, Scott G. (ed.). Journal of Wilford Woodruff Typescript. Vol. 6. p. 195 – via Internet Archive.
  23. ^ "The Journal of Anson Call". Davis County Clipper. Woods Cross, Utah. August 11, 1987. p. 17. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via University of Utah. March 5, [18]67 ... received our Second anointing wish [sic] gave us great joy. This was promised me in Nauvoo 21 years before I received it.
  24. ^ Buerger, David John (1987). "The Development of the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony". Dialogue. 20 (4). University of Illinois Press: 60. doi:10.2307/45228107. JSTOR 45228107.
  25. ^ [8][2]: 42–43 [4]: 66 
  26. ^ Beverley, James A. (2013). Mormon Crisis: Anatomy of a Failing Religion. Pickering, Ontario: Castle Quay Books. p. 190. ISBN 9781927355336 – via Google Books.
  27. ^ Wagner, Dennis (February 14, 2014). "Mormon president ordered to appear in British court". USA Today. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  28. ^ Quinn, D. Michael (1992). "Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood Since 1843". In Hanks, Maxine (ed.). Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. p. 377, footnote 71. ISBN 1-56085-014-0. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022 – via Internet Archive. In the Salt Lake temple, the second anointing still occurs .... ... For example, President Spencer W. Kimball's heart surgeon and his wife received their second anointing in the Salt Lake temple on Sunday, 9 June 1974. See Russell M. Nelson, From Heart to Heart: An Autobiography (Salt Lake City: By the author, 1979), 360.
  29. ^ Nelson, Russell (1979). "Highlights of 1974". From Heart to Heart: An Autobiography. p. 360 – via Internet Archive.
  30. ^ White, O. Kendall Jr. (March 1995). "Integrating Religious and Racial Identities: An Analysis of LDS African American Explanations of the Priesthood Ban". Review of Religious Research. 36 (3): 296–297. doi:10.2307/3511536. JSTOR 3511536. 'Celestial' or 'temple' marriage is a necessary condition for 'exaltation' ... Without the priesthood, Black men and women ... were denied complete exaltation, the ultimate goal of Mormonism.
  31. ^ Harris, Matthew L.; Bringhurst, Newell G. (2015). The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-08121-7. ProQuest 2131052022 – via Google Books.
  32. ^ Bush, Lester E. Jr. (1973). "Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview" (PDF). Dialogue. 8 (1). University of Illinois Press.
  33. ^ [30][31]: 164 [32]: 261 
  34. ^ Simmons, Brian (December 2017). Coming out Mormon: An examination of religious orientation, spiritual trauma, and PTSD among Mormon and ex-Morman LGBTQQA adults (PDF). University of Georgia Theses and Dissertations (PhD). Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia. p. 65. [A] current temple recommend [allows one] to participate in temple ordinances. In order to hold a current temple recommend, a person must attest to their ecclesiastical leaders that they maintain faith in the LDS Church, and live according to the standards (including no sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage and abstaining from coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs).
  35. ^ "Gospel Topics: Temples". LDS Church. June 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  36. ^ Fletcher Stack, Peggy; Noyce, David (February 19, 2020). "LDS Church publishes new handbook with changes to discipline, transgender policy". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  37. ^ "History of Brigham Young". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: LDS Church. March 17, 1858. p. 4. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ "History of Brigham Young". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: LDS Church. March 24, 1858. p. 1. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via University of Utah.
  39. ^ "Christmas Assembly in St. George". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: LDS Church. January 13, 1875. p. 15. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via University of Utah.
  40. ^ "Death of Christina Elizabeth Christensen". Emery County Progress. Castle Dale, Utah: LDS Church. May 29, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via University of Utah.
  41. ^ Tracy, Dawn (January 3, 1987). "LDS Close Archives, Presidential Collections to Researcher". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. p. B1. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via University of Utah.
  42. ^ "First 'Hofmann' history-mystery". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. February 15, 1987. p. 2E. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via University of Utah.
  43. ^ [6]: 286 [4]: 66 [2]: 42–43 
  44. ^ Richards, Willard (January 11, 1846). The Book of Anointings. Nauvoo, Illinois: LDS Church.
  45. ^ Brown, Lisle G (January 25, 2006). Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, And Anointings: A Comprehensive Register of Persons Receiving LDS Temple Ordinances 1841-1846. Signature Books. p. 348. ISBN 1560851988 – via Internet Archive.
  46. ^ [2]: 26–27 [6]: 286–287 [4]: 66 
  47. ^ a b Birgitta, Mattsson (September 27, 2018). Mormon Stories, Episode 985: Truth Seeking with Hans and Birgitta Mattsson, Part 2. Mormon Stories Podcast. Event occurs at 16:30 – via YouTube. [A]lso after this anointing every couple had there had to go to their own room second part of it and we came in in this room for a session in the temple and there was a water in the bowl of water on the floor and a towel and I was supposed to keep clean my husband's feet ... I was supposed to give him a blessing and that felt so weird ... I put my hands on his head.
  48. ^ Hanks, Maxine (February 25, 2019). "LDS Women's Authority and the Temple: A Feminist FHE Discussion with Maxine Hanks" (PDF). Dialogue. 52 (1). University of Illinois Press: 71. doi:10.5406/dialjmormthou.52.1.0045. S2CID 246628694.
  49. ^ Alexander, Thomas G. (May 2, 2019). Brigham Young and the Expansion of the Mormon Faith. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 52. ISBN 9780806164465 – via Google Books.
  50. ^ [3]: 189, 191 [2]: 21, 36–37 
  51. ^ Smith, Joseph Fielding, ed. (1976). Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Deseret Book Co. pp. 322–323. ISBN 0-87747-626-8. OCLC 22984603. The anointing and sealing is to be called, elected and made sure.
  52. ^ Flake, Lawrence R. (1992). "Holy Spirit of Promise". In Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. p. 651. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140 – via Brigham Young University.
  53. ^ McConkie, Bruce R. (1966) [1958]. Mormon Doctrine (2nd ed.). Bookcraft – via Internet Archive. 1971, 7th reprinting.
  54. ^ Smith, Joseph Fielding, ed. (1976). Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Deseret Book Co. ISBN 0-87747-626-8. OCLC 22984603.
  55. ^ Doxey, Roy W. (1992). "Calling and Election". In Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. p. 248. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140 – via Brigham Young University.
  56. ^ Jindra, Ines W. (June 2022). "Deconversion from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Quest for Identity". Pastoral Psychology. 71 (3). Springer Publishing: 337. doi:10.1007/s11089-022-01001-7. ISSN 0031-2789. PMC 8930479. PMID 35317008.
  57. ^ "Where Destruction Was Invoked". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. August 31, 1910. p. 5. Retrieved April 14, 2023 – via University of Utah.
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