Washings And Anointing: Is It Masonic And Or Ancient

mfbukowski · October 23, 2011

I think the best way to characterize my present opinion of all this, is that Joseph, through inspiration from God, drawing on various sources in his environment, was able to come come up with a pragmatic re-construction of ancient wisdom rituals which convey the same spiritual messages found therein.

In the patchwork quilt he was inspired to create, he included ancient and elements which presented themselves to him, to assemble a ritual which conveys the spiritual power of exaltation.

Each historical element may or may not reflect the historical context of the source of that element, but taken together, the ordinances provide the spiritual power and necessary spiritual keys which God wanted to bestow on this generation in the latter days.

In this way, it is a true spiritual restoration of the endowment, without it necessarily being a reproduction of any single set of ancient mysteries provided in earlier dispensations.

By way of analogy, it could be said that he put together, though inspiration, old words from of various languages into a new meaning and context, creating from all those languages, a new one, unique to, and best fitted, for this dispensation.

On this view, it doesn't much matter what the source was for any single element, the only question that remains is "Is the overall message a Spiritual endowment from God with all the power to raise us to exaltation?"

In my opinion, the answer is clearly a resounding "yes"!

Edited October 23, 2011 by mfbukowski

wenglund · October 23, 2011

In the posts to follow, I intend to set forth, in addition to what others have already presented, historical evidence for the liturgical washings and anointing (baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost), including those performed in the temple on behalf of the dead.

However, before doing so, it may be of interest to briefly consider why there are multiple washings and anointing in the Church? In particular, why are there two fairly similar initiatory/purification rituals? Why do we baptize and give the Gift of the Holy Ghost (let's call this ritual "A") and also have the temple washing and anointing (let's call this ritual "B")?

These questions may best be answered by looking at the differences between the two rituals. First, while there are many elements in common (see my earlier post), ritual "A" may be performed in public and spoken about in public, while ritual "B" is to be performed in private in the temple and not spoken of in specific terms outside the temple.

Second, ritual "A" initiates the recipient into Christ's church and family., whereas, as intimated above, ritual "B" initiates the recipient into the process for becoming kings and priest.

Third, related to the second point as well as my previous post, ritual "A" is under the Aaronic order, and part "B" is under the Melchizedek order.

In short, ritual "A" brings a person into the royal family of God, wherein the recipients become brothers and sisters and sons and daughters of Christ. Whereas, ritual "B" begins the process of making members of the royal family to become kings and queens, priests and priestesses.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

Edited October 23, 2011 by wenglund

ChristKnight · October 24, 2011

I'm enjoying reading this thread!

That's all

livy111us · October 24, 2011

Here is a video from the FAIR Youtube site on washings and anointings. I think that this is a pretty open and shut case. The evidence of how Israel's Kings and Priests were anointed are strikingly similar to what is performed in our Temples today. They were washed, anointed, clothed, etc... I think it is telling, as Wade pointed out above, that we are to be Kings and Priests in God's Kingdom and have to go through the same ordinance as ancient King's and Priest's. To me, it gives perspective of who we really are.

wenglund · October 24, 2011

Couple of must add additions.....

Notes on this presentation can be had at Life on Gold Plates.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

wenglund · October 24, 2011

As further evidence for the antiquity of washings and anointing, Nibley has said:

Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.4, Ch.8, p.363 - p.364
The general impression one gets from reading the long discussions in the Talmud is that people in the temple at Jerusalem spent most of their time at baptisms and ablutions. Certainly baptism is one specific ordinance always mentioned in connection with the temple. "When one is baptised one becomes a Christian," writes Cyril, "exactly as in Egypt by the same rite one becomes an Osiris." Not only does Cyril recognize the undeniable resemblance between the Christian and non-Christian rites, but he also notes that they have the identical significance, which is initiation into immortality. The baptism in question, Cyril explains, is rather a washing than a baptism, since it is not by immersion. It is followed by an anointing, which our guide calls "the antitype of the anointing of Christ himself," making every candidate as it were a Messiah. Elsewhere he describes this rite specifically as the anointing of the brow, face, ears, nose, breast, etc., "which represents," he says, "the clothing of the candidate in the protective panoply of the Holy Spirit," which however does not hinder the initiate from receiving a real garment on the occasion. Furthermore, the candidate was reminded that the whole ordinance "is in imitation of the sufferings of Christ," in which "we suffer without pain by mere imitation his receiving of the nails in his hands and feet: the antitype of Christ's sufferings." Bishop Cyril further insists that Moses and Solomon had both been duly baptized in this manner: "After being washed in water, he [Moses] was anointed and called a Christ, because of the anointing which was a type. When Solomon came forth to be king, the High Priest anointed him, after a bath in Gihon. This again was a type. But with us these things are not a type but a reality." From his last remark it is plain that the early Christians actually performed the rites described. The Jews once taught that when Michael and Gabriel lead all the sinners up out of the lower world, "they will wash and anoint them, healing them of their wounds of hell, and clothe them with beautiful pure garments and bring them into the presence of God." These things are often referred to in the earliest Christian writings, but were soon lost in a manner we must now describe. (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.4, Ch.8, p.363 - p.364)

Here we have evidence that washings and anointing, similar to what is practiced in the temple today, were being practiced as early as the time of Moses.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

wenglund · October 24, 2011

Hugh Nibley, in Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2, p.112, said: "And the same thing with the baptisms here. It talks a great deal in the Serekh Scroll about the waters of niddah, the waters of purification, the waters of baptism, and then the waters of washing before the anointing. This was a very important thing. They would have their regular washings and anointings. These were regularly repeated, but with the baptism it was only once, and it was for entering the covenant. Once you had entered that, you were in it. It's the same thing here."

In Ehat & Cook, Words, 11 June 1843 Note, p.285, there is explained: "Apparently Joseph Smith believed that the place where the apostles received their endowment on the day of Pentecost was a house dedicated to the Lord for the performance of the washing and anointing ordinances. This is not explicitly stated in Acts 2:1-13."

Compare this with what was stated earlier about the pentacostal-like events at the Kirtland temple dedication, and following the washing and anointing of Church leaders.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

wenglund · October 24, 2011

Here is more from Nibley regarding washings and anointing and other temple rituals in ancient Egypt (Hugh Nibley, BYU Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2, p.179-80):

Long ago, A. Moret noted that from all of Egypt's glorious past only two types of monument remain--tombs and temples,99 and went on to demonstrate that in Egypt, tomb and temple in form and function are virtually identical.100 Recently a number of independent studies have re-examined the well-documented rites performed in the chambers and passageways beneath the pyramid of Unas, the last king of the 5th Dynasty. The ceremonies were not exclusively mortuary, for the inscriptions that describe them on the walls of the rooms and corridors are often the same as those found in the temples, whose own rooms and corridors, moreover, correspond to those in the tombs.101 Moreover, the King in his underground world was thought to be "participating in the rites of Heliopolis, which are transferred to heaven," the Temple at Heliopolis being the best-known link and common meeting-ground between the worlds above and below.102 In his remarkable studies on the royal washing and anointing, A. Blackman has shown how the funerary version corresponds exactly to the daily temple ordinances. In discussing a papyrus which scholars relate very closely to the Book of Breathings, he writes: "That representations of the lustration undergone by the dead should be approximated by those of the ceremonial sprinkling of Pharaoh in the temple-vestry is only to be expected; for both ceremonies were supposed to imitate the same performance, i.e., the sungod's daily matutinal ablutions."103 The rites of awakening, washing, dressing, etc., of the king, carried out during the ceremonies of mumification by way of preparing the dead to arise refreshed in the next world, "closely resemble the daily service performed in all Egyptian temples in historic times."104 A. Moret had already noted that there is "a perfect resemblance between the funeral rites, the temple rites, and the daily toilet of the Pharaoh,"105 which Blackman proceeded to illustrate in detail, pointing out how "all five rites, viz. the daily temple liturgy, the ceremonial toilet in the House of the Morning, the preparation of the king's body for burial, the daily funeral liturgy, and the Opening of the Mouth resemble one another in their main features," all having in common a ritual washing, annointing, robing, bestowing of insignia, and sometimes a sacral meal.106

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

wenglund · October 24, 2011

http://washings-anoi...s.blogspot.com/ I've always found this website helpful. They have a few articles dedicated to washings and anointings.

Here is something interesting from that website, in which Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 313 - 388) is recorded as saying:

You were anointed on your brow and your other sense-organs, and so while the body is anointed in outward appearance with myrrh, the soul (psyche) is sanctified by the life-bestowing Holy Spirit. First of all you were anointed on the brow (metopon, forehead and eyes, lit. “space between the eyes”) to free you from the shame which completely involved the First Man when he fell, and that you might clearly perceive (or reflect, katoptrizisthe), the glory of the Lord with wide-open mind (lit. with uncovered face). Then your ears that you might receive the hearing ears of the mysteries of God…. Next come the nostrils, that upon receiving the holy ordinance you may say: “We are the sweet odor of Christ to God among the saved.” After that (you were anointed) on the breast (tastethe, “the seat of feeling, passion and thought,” Liddell and Scott), that, clothed with the breastplate of righteousness, you may stand against the wiles of the Devil—(countering his evil thoughts with good ones).

"

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

wenglund · October 24, 2011

For a analysis of the similarity between certain Catholic rituals and the LDS temple washings and anointing, it is hard to beat Marcus Von Wellnitz' The Catholic Liturgy and the Mormon Temple, BYU Studies Vol. 21, No. 1. In it he iterates:

Examination of the solemn liturgical customs in the Roman and the Eastern rites indicates dependence on the sacred ceremonies of the Jews and the early Christians, even though the Catholic ritual is said to have "undergone additions, deletions, and alterations, which have modified their character" over the centuries.( Fernand Cabrol, The Holy Sacrifice: A Simple Explanation of the Mass, trans. C.M. Anthony [pseud.] (London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd., 1937), p. 2)… But the fundamental components and core elements of the ancient ritual can be recognized and are often distinctly apparent, though the Catholic version has become, over almost two millennia, a combination service of many diverse sources with altered and sometimes barely noticeable ordinances of an inactive nature when compared to the model of the archetype…. The temple service, however, retains its typical and ultimate objective. Mormons do not deny the dependence and association between their meetings and the Jewish rites and services, while the Catholic churches have throughout history often been somewhat hostile to the inevitable attempt to openly equate their liturgy to Jewish sources and practices.( See the excellent discussion by Hugh W. Nibley, "When the Lights Went Out (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1970))
The evidence, however, is undeniable, and modern Catholic writers and theologians now admit freely to their Hebrew origins and refer proudly to Old Testament references and antecedents incorporated into their ceremonies and doctrines. Thus it is now quite obvious that "we must expect to find within the Church of early days many relics of Judaism."( Reginald M. Woolly, The Liturgy of the Primitive Church (Cambridge, England: The University Press, 1910), p. 26.) Since "the first Christian society at Jerusalem began its existence as a group within the framework of the ancestral Jewish faith, . . . the background of early Christian worship must be sought in those two Jewish institutions of the temple and the synagogue. (Ralph P.Martin, Worship in the Early Church (London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1964), pp. 18-19) "Christian worship drew from Judaism," (Ludwig Eisenhofer and Joseph Lechner, The Liturgy of the Roman Rite, trans. A.J. and E. F. Peeler (New York: Herder and Herder, Inc., 1961), p. 5) yet the Catholic churches gave it all "a new meaning."( Dom Jean de Puniet, The Mass: Its Origin and History, trans. the Benedictines of Stanbrook (London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, Ltd., 1931), p. 27)

He goes on to provide a fascinating explanation of how the temple ceremonies became merged with or a part of the public liturgy in the synagogue and churches when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. It is very much worth reading.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

wenglund · October 24, 2011

I am pretty much done posting research for today, and I probably wont be able to post much for a couple of days pending my cataract surgery scheduled for tomorrow. Until then...

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

livy111us · October 24, 2011

I apologize for the hit and run, but I am in the middle of several projects. Here are a few quotes from early Christians on anointings:

The Catholic Encyclopedia has some interesting stuff on Chrisms. http://www.newadvent...then/03696b.htm

"That chrism may serve as valid matter for the Sacrament ofConfirmation it must consist of pure oil of olives, and it must be blessed by a bishop, or at least by a priest delegated by the Holy See...the blessing of the chrism should be special, in the sense that it ought to be different from that which is given to the oil of the sick or the oil of catechumens. (Cf. Lehmkuhl, Cas. Cons. II, n.102.)...special kind of oil that was used in religious ceremonies and functions, especially in the administration of the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation...St. Ambrose venerates in the chrism the oil of grace which makes kings and priests; and St. Cyril of Jerusalemcelebrates the praises of the mystic chrism (cf. Dict. De theol. Cath., s.v. Chreme, where many references are given to patristicpassages in which the word occurs.) The early councils of the Church have also references to chrism as something set apart forsacred purposes and making for the sanctification of men.... Frequent reference is made in the Old Testament to the use of oil inreligious ceremonies. It was employed in the coronation of kings, in the consecration of the high priest and in the ordination of the Levites, and indeed, it figured very prominently in the Mosaic ordinances generally, as can be abundantly gathered fromExodus (30:22 sqq.), Leviticus (viii), and Deuteronomy (xxvii, 40). Such being the prevailing usage of the Old Testament inadopting olive-oil for religious ceremonies, it is no cause for wonder that it also came to receive under the New Dispensation acertain religious recognition and approval." etc...

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386) wrote in lecture XXI “On the Mysteries” about being anointed with oil: to newly-baptized Christians, comprising lectures 19-23 in the

collection. In the first lecture (19:10-11), he speaks of the converts being "clothed in the garment

of salvation, even Jesus Christ." And reminds them that "these things were done in the outer

chamber. But if God will, when in the succeeding lectures on the Mysteries we have entered into

the Holy of Holies, we shall there know the symbolical meaning of the things which are there

performed."11 In the second lecture (20:2-4), he reminds his listeners that "those things, which

were done by you in the inner chamber, were symbolical. As soon, then, as ye entered, ye put off

your tunic; and this was an image of putting off the old man with his deeds. Having stripped

yourselves, ye were naked . . . Then, when ye were stripped, ye were anointed with exorcised oil,

from the very hairs of your head to your feet, and were made partakers of the good olive-tree,

Jesus Christ

“Which ointment is symbolically applied to thy forehead and thy other senses; and while thy body is anointed with the visible ointment, thy soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit. . And ye were first anointed on the forehead, that ye might be delivered from the shame, which the first man who transgressed bore about with him everywhere; and that with unveiled face ye might reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord. Then on your ears; that ye might receive the ears which are quick to hear the Divine Mysteries, of which Esaias said, The Lord gave me also an ear to hear; and the Lord Jesus in the Gospel, He that hath ears to hear let him hear. Then on the nostrils; that receiving the sacred ointment ye may say, We are to God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved. Afterwards on your breast; that having put on the breast-plate of righteousness, ye may stand against the wiles of the devil” (for more anointings see (Acts of Thomas 5)

After this, your new name with your new birth are verified.

Clement of Alexandria quotes from the Gospel of Mark (not in our current version) in Mark 10:32-46, of a man whom Jesus raised from the dead, and “after six days”, put a garment “around his naked body, and he remained with him through that night. For Jesus taught him the mystery of the kingdom of God.”

And I saw seven men in white clothing, who were saying to me, 'Arise, put on the

vestments of the priesthood, the crown of righteousness, the oracle of understanding, the robe of

truth, the breastplate of faith, the miter for the head, and the apron for prophetic power.' Each

carried one of these and put them on me and said, 'From now on be a priest, you and all your

posterity.' The first anointed me with holy oil and gave me a staff. The second washed me with

pure water, fed me by hand with bread and holy wine, and put on me a holy and glorious

vestment. The third put on me something made of linen, like an ephod. The fourth placed . . .

around me a girdle which was like purple. The fifth gave me a branch of rich olive wood. The

sixth placed a wreath on my head. The seventh placed the priestly diadem on me and filled my

hands with incense, in order that I might serve as priest for the Lord God. (Testament of Levi

8:2-10.)4

And the Lord said to Michael, "Go, and extract Enoch from [his] earthly clothing. And

anoint him with my delightful oil, and put him into the clothes of my glory." And so Michael did,

just as the Lord had said to him. He anointed me and he clothed me. And the appearance of that

oil is greater than the greatest light, and its ointment is like sweet dew, and its fragrance like

myrrh; and it is like rays of the glittering sun. And I looked at myself, and I have become like one

of his glorious ones (James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (Garden City: Doubleday, 1983, 1:138-9. Compare with the story in Moses 7:2-4.)

And Gabriel and Michael stand over them in that hour, and wash them, and anoint them

with oil, and heal them of the wounds of Gehenna, and clothe them in beautiful and good

garments, and take them by their hand, and bring them before the Holy One, blessed be He . . .

And when they reach the gate of the Garden of Eden, first Gabriel and Michael enter and take

counsel with the Holy One, blessed be He, answers them and says: "Let them enter and see my

Glory." (Midrash Alpha Beta diRabbi Akiba.) (The English translation used here is from Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts: Jewish Legends of Three Thousand Years (Detroit: Wayne State University,

1988), 252-53.)

In a passage in his Stromata, Clement represents the mysteries as being taught "only after certain purifications and previous instructions.” (Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5.4, in ANF, 2:449)

“When we have come from the font, we are thoroughly anointed with a blessed unction [oil]. This practice comes from the old discipline, where on entering the priesthood, men used to be anointed with oil from a horn...In our case, the oil runs physically, but it profits us spiritually. It is similar to the act of baptism itself, which is also physical–in that we are plunged in water. Yet, its effect is spiritual, in that we are freed from sins...Next, the hand is laid on us, invoking and inviting the Holy Spirit through a benediction...This is derived from the old sacramental rite in which Jacob blessed his grandsons who were born of Joseph–Ephraim and Manassah–with his hands laid on them and crossed....Then that the most Holy Spirit willingly descends form the Father over our cleansed and blessed bodies” (Ante-Nicene Fathers 3:672-673, Tertullian, W)

“You should anoint the person beforehand with the holy oil and then baptize him with the water. Finally, you should seal him with the ointment. This is so that the anointing with oil may be the participation of the Holy Spirit, that the water may be a symbol of death, and that the ointment may be the seal of the covenant. However, if there is neither oil nor ointment, water is sufficient both for the anointing and for the seal.” (Ante-Nicene Fathers 7:469, Apostolic Constitutions, E)

Early Christian and Jewish Rituals Related to Temple Practices by John A. Tvedtnes

A number of early Jewish and Christian documents deal with elements found in modern

LDS temples. As such, they are confirmation of the antiquity of our temple rites.1

The volume of information is such that it will not be possible to discuss all aspects in this

brief paper. In addition to some of the articles I have written, I would refer you to the temple

research written by such LDS researchers as Hugh Nibley, John M. Lundquist, Donald W. Parry,

Stephen D. Ricks, and Matthew B. Brown.

Just as an example, let me note that I have, to date, found fifteen early Christian

documents that speak of baptism for the dead, along with several Mandaean and Jewish texts.

This information will be included in my article "Baptism for the Dead in Early Christianity,"

scheduled for publication later this year in another FARMS temples volume.

Initiation

In my previously published "Olive Oil as a Symbol of the Holy Ghost"2 and "Temple Clothing in

Bible Times,"3 I discussed the initiatory nature of washing, anointing, and investiture, which are

known from priestly as well as royal initiations. All three elements are found in the priestly

ordination of Levi, described in one of the second-century B.C. Testaments of the Twelve

Patriarchs: