The Mysteries of Godliness-A History of Mormon Temple Worship-Part Three Celestial Marriage (OPEN)

Two additional ceremonies were introduced in 1843 about a year following the initial conferral of the new endowment: celestial marriage for time and eternity and the fullness of the priesthood or the second anointing. Celestial marriage was applied to and equated with plural marriage until the late nineteenth century.⁶⁸ Although in March 1836 and again in May 1842 Smith declared the endowment complete and the fullness of the priesthood restored, by late August 1842 he prayed that "the Lord Almighty...will continue to preserve me...until I have fully accomplished my mission in this life, and so firmly established the dispensation of the fullness of the priesthood in the last days, that all the powers of earth and hell can never prevail against it."⁶⁹ Almost a year later on 6 August 1843, Brigham Young confirmed that the fullness of the priesthood had not yet been given: "[I]f any in the Church had the fullness of the Melchisedec Priesthood, [I do] not know it." Clearly, Smith had discussed this concept with Young, for Young added, "For any person to have the fulness of that pristhood must be a king & a priest....A person may be anointed king & priest before they receive their kingdom &c." ⁷⁰

Other facets of Mormon thinking had also matured by the time Brigham Young made that statement. Particularly important was a refinement of the Latter-day Saint view of "eternal life." Prior to receiving the "three degrees of glory" vision in February 1832 (now D&C 76), Mormons, including Smith, understood eternal life in the same sense as other Protestants—as an undifferentiated heaven as the only alternative to an undifferentiated hell. Even after February 1832 and possibly as late as 1843, Smith apparently still conceived "eternal life" as dwelling in the presence of Elohim (God) forever. It was not until May 1843 that Smith ostensibly taught that the celestial kingdom⁷¹ contained gradations, with the highest gradation reserved solely for men and women who entered into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage (see D&C 131:1- 4).⁷² In July 1843 Smith dictated another revelation (now D&C 132) which defined those achieving "exaltation" in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom as "gods."⁷³

The importance of this teaching is seen in another sermon given shortly thereafter on 27 August 1843. Significantly, these comments occurred in a discussion of three orders or levels of priesthood: the Levitical or Aaronic order, the patriarchal order of Abraham, and the fullness of the priesthood of Melchizedek which included "kingly powers" of "anointing & sealing—called elected and made sure."⁷⁴ Said Smith: "No man can attain to the Joint heirship with Jesus Christ with out being administered to by one having the same power & Authority of Melchisedec." This authority and power came not from "a Prophet nor apostle nor Patriarch only but of [a] King & Priest [of Jesus Christ]."⁷⁵

During this same sermon Smith said: "Abrahams [sic] Patriarchal power" was the "greatest yet experienced in this church."⁷⁶ His choice of words is particularly revealing, for by this date ten men had received the initiatory washings and anointings, as well as the Aaronic and Melchizedek portions of the endowment of the "Patriarchal Priesthood" on 4 May 1842. Many of these had also received the ordinance of celestial marriage for time and eternity with their wives. Joseph and Emma Hale Smith, for example, were sealed in May 1843, as were James and Harriet Adams, Brigham and Mary Ann Angell Young, Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith, and Willard and Jenetta Richards Richards.⁷⁷ When Joseph Smith said late in August that the Patriarchal Priesthood was the "greatest yet experienced in this church," he was well aware that the fullness of the Melchizedek priesthood was yet to be conferred through a higher ordinance.

In a sense the institution of this higher ordinance was the logical next step. The previous twelve years of pronouncements, sealings, and anointings "unto eternal life" guaranteed a status that, according to Smith's 1843 teachings, was subservient to that of the gods. From the perspective of these teachings, even the Nauvoo endowment administered to members of the Holy Order simply provided that the men who received it would live in the celestial kingdom as angels and servants. Until 1843 women had been excluded from these ordinances, possibly because of Smith's personal reluctance, certainly because of his first wife Emma's rejection of polygamy, as well as because of John Bennett's lurid exposé and/or the apostasy and subsequent reconciliation of Orson and Sarah Pratt over polygamy. Doctrine and Covenants 131 and 132 indicated that this exclusion deprived the men (who had received the previous ordinances) of the highest kingdom of glory—godhood. The higher ordinance was necessary to confirm the revealed promises of "kingly powers" (i.e., godhood) received in the endowment's initiatory ordinances. Godhood was the meaning of this higher ordinance, or second anointing, for the previously revealed promises in Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-26 implicitly referred not to those who had been sealed in celestial marriage but to those who had been sealed and ordained "kings and priests," "queens and priestesses" to God. Such individuals would necessarily have received a higher anointing: "Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them."

This special priesthood ordinance was first administered on 28 September 1843 to Joseph and Emma Smith. The History of the Church gives a discreet account of this event:

Joseph Smith's journal, the original source, gives a fuller account: "Beurach Ale [a code name for Joseph Smith] was by common consent, & unanimous voice chosen President of the quorum. & anointed & ord[ained] to the highest and holiest order of the priesthood (& companion)."⁷⁹ This "companion" was his wife, Emma, to whom he had been sealed for time and eternity four months earlier on 28 May. Wilford Woodruff's record of this event, found in his 1858 Historian's Private Journal, was equally explicit: "Then by common consent Joseph Smith the Prophet Received his second Anointing of the Highest & Holiest order."⁸⁰

During the next five months this higher priesthood ordinance was conferred on at least twenty men and the wives of sixteen of these men. As the accompanying figure⁸¹ shows, fullness of priesthood blessings during Smith's lifetime were reserved primarily for church leaders. He was concerned about administering to these leaders before the temple was completed, besides emphasizing secrecy and loyalty among those who entered plural marriage, was so that "the Kingdom will be established, and I do not care what shall become of me." As George Q. Cannon asserted in 1869, "It was by the virtue of this authority, on the death of Joseph Smith, that President Young, as President of the quorum of the Twelve, presided over the Church."⁸²

Formally conferring this sealing power of Elijah completed the basic form of the priesthood endowment. As Brigham Young would explain after Smith's death, "Every man that gets his endowment...[has been] ordained to the Melchisedeck Priesthood, which is the highest order of Priesthood....those who have come in here and have received their washing & anointing will be ordained Kings & Priests, and will then have received the fulness of the Priesthood, all that can be given on earth, for Brother Joseph said he had given us all that could be given to man on the earth."⁸⁴

In practice today the second anointing is actually the first of two parts comprising the fullness of the priesthood ceremony.⁸⁵ Although there have been refinements in the ceremony since Nauvoo, a brief discussion of it may be helpful. First, a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles or First Presidency recommends a couple to the president of the church. The president then issues a letter to the husband and wife inviting them to attend the temple at a specific time and ate and to bring their regular temple recommend with them. In the Salt Lake temple, second anointings are usually administered on Sunday afternoons. In newly constructed temples, they are often performed after the temple has been dedicated but before it opens to the members generally.

The first part of the ceremony—being anointed and ordained a king and priest or queen and priestess—is administered in a temple Holy of Holies or sealing room set apart for that purpose, and is performed by or under the direction of the president of the church. There are usually but not always two witnesses. Only the husband and wife need to dress in their temple robes. The husband leads in a prayer circle, offering signs and praying at an altar. He is then anointed with oil on the top of his head, after which hands are laid on his head and he is ordained a king and a priest unto God to rule and reign in the House of Israel forever. This ordinance gives him the fullness of the priesthood. He is also blessed with the following (as the officiator determines): the power to bind and loose, curse and bless; the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the Holy Spirit of Promise; to live as long as desired; to attain godhood; to be sealed to eternal life (if not done previously); to have the power to open the heavens; and other blessings.

Next the wife is anointed with oil on the top of her head, after which hands are laid on her head and she is ordained a queen and a priestess unto her husband, to rule and reign with him in his kingdom forever. She is blessed with the following: to receive all the blessings of the everlasting priesthood; to be an heir to all the blessings sealed upon her husband; to be exalted with her husband; to have ministering angels attend her; to be sealed up to eternal life; to receive the blessings of godhood; to live as long as desired; to have the power of eternal lives (of posterity without end); and other blessings. The specifics of the anointing are recorded by hand in a large leather-bound register.

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. Its significance is related to the resurrection of the dead, as Heber Kimball noted.⁸⁶ The couple is told to attend to the ordinance at a date of their choosing in the privacy of their home. At the determined time the husband dedicates the home and the room in which they perform the ordinance, which then follows the pattern of Mary's anointing Jesus in Matthew 12. What the wife does is in memory of what Mary did: she washes and anoints the body of her husband (similar to the initiatory washings and anointings performed in the temple). The ordinance symbolically prepares the husband for burial, and in this way the wife lays claim upon him in the resurrection.⁸⁷ Having authority, she also pronounces those blessings she feels appropriate upon her husband. Kimball's journal entry derives from a speculative belief taught by early Mormons that Jesus married Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus.⁸⁸ Historical records indicate that the husband and wife perform the second part of the priesthood ordinance from a few days to as much as a few years after the second anointing.⁸⁹ Only the first part of the second anointing can be performed vicariously for the dead, and only by those who have already received the ordinance.⁹⁰

Centrally embedded in the evolution of the anointing ritual in early Mormon history is the concept of hierarchy.⁹¹ As the ritual evolved, lay members of the church advanced into the inner circle, receiving ordinances and symbols formerly held only by Smith and his immediate associates, while Smith and other leaders then moved on to higher kingdoms, more sure promises, and more secret rituals. Although change in the fundamental framework of the ritual was frozen by Smith's death in June 1844, theologic perceptions dealing with certain aspects of the endowment—and more particularly the second anointing—underwent further modification.

68. After the Wilford Woodruff Manifesto in 1890, association of celestial marriage with polygamy was discouraged. Mormons now perceive celestial marriage and plural marriage as separate concepts. Andrew F. Ehat, "Joseph Smith's Introduction of Temple Ordinances and the 1844 Mormon Succession Question," M.A. thesis, Brigham Young University, 1982, 59-62, maintained that Smith never taught plural marriage to the Quorum of the Anointed, but Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994), shows that this quorum was the nucleus for polygamy and that plural wives were anointed and sealed.
69. HC, 5:2, 139-40, 31 Aug. 1842 (italics added). Since this citation is not in the regular Nauvoo Relief Society minutes or in the Manuscript History of the Church, it probably represents an anachronistic reinterpretation of Joseph Smith's original comments.
70. HC, 5:527. This account is from Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 6 Aug. 1843, Kenney, 2:271-72. Compare Orson Pratt's sermon, 24 May 1845, Times and Seasons 5 (1 June 1845): 920.
Young's remarks on kings and priests originated in the endowment ritual. As Heber C. Kimball explained to a Nauvoo temple audience on 21 December 1845, "You have been anointed to be kings and priests, but you have not been ordained to it yet, and you have got to get it by being faithful" (Smith, An Intimate Chronicle, 227). This concept was mentioned again by George Q. Cannon in 1883: "in the washing that takes place in the first endowment, they are washed that they might become clean from the blood of this generation...in the same way they are ordained to be Kings and Priests--that ordinance does not make them...Kings and Priests. If they fully received of another endowment [i.e., the second anointing], a fulness of that power, and the promises are fulfilled in the bestowal of the power upon them" (Salt Lake School of the Prophets Minute Book, 2 Aug. 1883, 14, LDS archives). In 1941 Apostle David O. McKay explained that the "first anointing" is conferred in the initiatory ordinances of the endowment where "one...is anointed to become a king and a priest of the Most High; a queen and priestess in the realms of God....We are anointed that we may become such" ("The Temple Ceremony," address at the Salt Lake Temple Annex, 25 Sept. 1941, LDS archives, in Joseph C. Muren, comp., The Temple and Its Significance, rev. ed. [Ogden, UT: Temple Publications, 1974]).
In terms of the Nauvoo endowment prior to Smith's death, it may be that the "first anointing" was an actual, not promissory, ordination, for Heber Kimball's own diary recollection of the 4 May 1842 ceremony was that he was "ordained a Preast." Notably the Kirtland endowment actually pronounced recipients "clean from the blood of this generation"; yet Kimball's 21 December 1845 diary also records him telling the same temple audience cited above of more blessings to come "if you are faithful and keep your tongue in your mouth." Apparently the concept of purification was also undergoing development and the actual form of this ceremony changed as Smith developed a fuller understanding of the priesthood ordinances and their relationship to the Mormon concept of godhood.
71. Although this is the current interpretation of this teaching, some have argued that Smith was merely redescribing the trilogistic concept of three general degrees of glory as outlined in D&C 76. In other words the "highest degree" spoken of in D&C 131:2 would be synonymous with "celestial kingdom," while the "celestial glory" in D&C 131:1 would only be referring to the "resurrection of the just" described by D&C 76.
72. An early letter published by W. W. Phelps, Messenger & Advocate 9 (June 1835): 130, suggests that Smith may have taught a variation of this doctrine eight years prior to D&C 131: "We shall by and bye learn that...we may prepare ouselves for a kingdom of glory; become archangels, even the sons of God where the man is neither without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord."
73. Although the doctrine and limited practice of plural marriage had been extant for several years prior to the 12 July 1843 dictation of D&C 132, the recording of this important revelation introduced several crucial ideas which are pivotal in understanding the theology surrounding the second anointing ritual. See Robert J. Woodford, "The Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants," Ph.D. diss., Brigham Young University, 1974, 3:1731-61; and Danel Bachman, "A Study of the Mormon Practice of Plural Marriage before the Death of Joseph Smith," M.A. thesis, Purdue University, 1975.
74. Joseph Smith Diary, 27 Aug. 1843, in Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 244.
75. In "Scriptural Items," in Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 245.
76. Compare Joseph Smith sermon of 27 June 1839, in Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 4-6.
77. Joseph Smith Diary, 28 May 1843, in Scott H. Faulring, ed., An American Prophet's Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, 1987), 381.
78. HC, 6:39.
79. Joseph Smith Diary, 28 Sept. 1843, in Faulring, An American Prophet's Record, 416. Beurach Ale was a scriptural "code" designation for Joseph Smith; see D&C 103:21 (1971 ed.), which spells it Baurak.
80. Wilford Woodruff, Historian's Private Journal, 1858, 24, LDS archives.
81. Table 1 is based on independent research by Lisle G. Brown, especially with respect to the table's design, Andrew F. Ehat, whose "Ehat Endowment Data Summary," cited in his "Joseph Smith's Introduction of Temple Ordinances," 98-100, provides most of the dating, and my own research. The listing contains only names and dates for which documentation is fairly certain. Some of the names included are documented as having received one or more of these ordinances, but no precise date has been located.
82. George Q. Cannon, sermon, 5 Dec. 1869, JD 13:49.
83. Wilford Woodruff Journal, 10 Mar. 1844, in Kenney, 2:361-62.
84. Smith, An Intimate Chronicle, 234.
85. Prior to receiving the second anointing a man receives in the temple the ordinance of the washing of the feet under the direction of the church president. This cleanses the man from the blood and sins of his generation, and should not be confused with the last ordinance of the second anointing (discussed below) when the man's feet are washed by his wife.
86. Heber C. Kimball Journal, entry entitled "Strange Events, June 1842," in Kimball, On the Potter's Wheel, 55.
87. Compare the patriarchal blessing Hyrum Smith gave John Taylor on 23 July 1843, that "shall be sealed upon your head in the day that you shall be anointed & your body prepared for its buriel" (Patriarchal Blessing Book, 3:144, LDS archives). For biblical accounts of Jesus Christ's anointing for his burial, see Matthew 26:6-12, Mark 14:3-9, John 12:1-8.
88. See Ogden Kraut, Jesus Was Married (n.p., 1969) for a compilation of early LDS citations on this belief. A more scholarly analysis of this question is William E. Phipps, Was Jesus Married? (New York: Harper & Row, 1970), and William E. Phipps, "The Case for a Married Jesus," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 7 (Winter 1972): 44- 49.
89. See Phineas Richards Journal, 22 Jan., 1 Feb. 1846, LDS archives; Robert McQuarrie Journal, 13 Nov. 1890, 1 June 1894, LDS archives; and Sylvester Q. Cannon Journal, 30 Sept. and 28 Oct. 1904, LDS archives. Wasatch Stake president William H. Smart's account of his and his wife's second anointing illustrates the two-part ceremony:
"31 May 1901: Went to Temple this morning presenting recommend which Pres. Snow gave me about 3 months ago. We had not come before for our second anointing as the baby was young, and because we desired to become settled in our new home....Bp John R Winder annointed us and Elder Madsen instructed us. These are the greatest blessings that are bestowed upon man in the flesh. We were both melted in tears and I felt the patriarchal spirit of pure affection more than I have done before. The witnesses to the annointing were John R. Winder [who] annointed. Adolph Madsen assisted John Nicholson Recorder....
"21 June 1901 [at home]: This evening from about 9-30 to 12 O.C. my wife and I attended to the second part of the ordinance of second anointings. We besides the ordinance itself sang "We thank thee O God for a prophet," conversed concerning our duties to each other and children, read from John XII: 1-8 verses, read the Rev. on the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant, Section 132. We dedicated [the] room for the purpose of this meeting. Closed by singing: "Oh my father thou that dwellest." Anna was mouth in preliminary prayer, I gave the dedicatory prayer and the benediction. The spirit of the Lord was with us and we felt nearer together than usual: were much encouraged in pressing onward in an endeavor to succeed in life. We fasted during the day and broke our fast together a little after 12 O.C." (William H. Smart Diary, 31 May, 21 June 1901, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah).
90. The description of second anointings as performed in temples today was verified by a knowledgeable individual who wishes to remain anonymous.
91. Although it oversimplifies this complex developmental process, Andrew Ehat has attempted to show how Smith's additions to the Kirtland endowment in Nauvoo did not disrupt the ultimate order of the ceremony. His listing of temple ordinances, based on the History of the Church, is intended to illustrate this point. Items first revealed in Nauvoo are italicized, while those found in both the Kirtland and Nauvoo ceremonies are not: (1) Washing of the body with water and perfumed alcohol (set wording); (2) Sealing the washing; (3) Anointing the body with oil; (4) Sealing the anointing (set wording); (5) Aaronic portion of the endowment; (6) Melchizedek portion of the endowment; (7) Marriage for time and eternity; (8) Anointing with oil; and (9) Washing of feet (cited in Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 140-41n6, and in his "Introduction of Temple Ordinances," 169).

For general discussion. Part three of three.

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the washing of the husband’s feet by his wife is explained to the couple
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Yes, but is there an explanation why she washes his and he doesnt wash hers ???

I could understand if they washed each others...

But if this is suppose to bew “biblical” its not...

Jesus (the husband) washed the feet of the disciples (His bride)

And then theres this passage...

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. Ephesians 5:25-31

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY

Freepers....I need your help....are Mormons CHRISTIAN....my Baptist friend says they are, but my Missionary Baptist friend says they are NOT. Please help me settle.
A good overview of mormon beliefs with references to mormon sources can be found here:
CARM

As to whether mormons are Christian, former Prophet and President of the LDS church Gordon B. Hinckley said this: In The LDS Church News "In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints 'do not believe in the traditional Christ. No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fulness [sic] of Times'" (June 20, 1998").

Also, my MB friend said that Mormons believe they will be Gods on their own planet when they die.....they B friend says that isn't so......HELP!!!

God, becoming a god
After you become a good Mormon, you have the potential of becoming a god, (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 345-347, 354.)
"Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them," (DC 132:20).

are Mormons CHRISTIAN

That issue has been the front line of many a discussion here. The key focuses upon the Person, nature and work of both God and Jesus. Let me just provide a quick summary of some of the issues:

Nature of God - Mormon 'god' is a being that was once a man and evolved into being a 'god' who along with his wife/wives bring forth spirit children to populate this world. This 'god' has a physical body of flesh and bones. This 'god' is only one of a countless number of other gods occupying the universe (polytheism).
Christian God is spirit, not flesh and bones. Has always been God and is the only God in existence. There is only one God (monotheism)

Nature of Jesus - Mormon Jesus is a spirit brother of satan and the rest of humanity. He is a created being and a lesser god than the heavenly Father.
Christian Jesus is the eternally divine God the Son, Second Person of the Trinity, Creator and Sustainer of all things.

You Baptist friend needs to pay closer attention to these and other significant doctrinal issues. BTW, mormons do not believe that Baptists or other non-mormon churches are Christian either, but view historically as apostate workings of the devil. The only true Christian church is that of mormonism. Even the late mormon president Hinckley openly stated that the Jesus of Mormonism is different from that of Christianity.

Also, my MB friend said that Mormons believe they will be Gods on their own planet when they die.....they B friend says that isn't so......HELP!!!

Your MB friend is correct, the mormons call the doctrine eternal progression.

Resource list:

Mormons in Transition

Witnesses for Jesus

Utah Lighthouse Ministry

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