85833 - Second Anointing

[Cognoscente]

https://theboard.byu.edu/questions/85833/

It seems to me that the question asker wasn't asking about a general idea, but referring to a very specific case: Tom Phillips, a former Stake President from England, who received the second anointing and later left the church after a faith crisis stemming from historical and scientific truth claims he couldn't find answers for.

It's a valid question and an interesting one: if LDS doctrine includes an ordinance that guarantees salvation, and someone who receives it becomes an "apostate," what is the state of salvation of that individual? Celestial Kingdom anyway? Outer Darkness? I don't know if it's covered in the standard works. Here's an archived discussion of his case, both from active and exmormon viewpoints.

[Marduk]

Yeah, I don't know how "rare" it is, exactly, nor does April Ludgate have any indication of how rare it is. Like she says, those cases aren't publicized.

However, they USED to be, and so we have a fair amount of information to go on.

[TheBlackSheep]

Well but that's the thing, isn't it? The cases where the second anointing is given and no faith crisis follows aren't publicized, but you can find cases where the second anointing was given and the person later left the church.

And I'd agree. Seems like the reader was asking about that specific case.

[Portia]

Okay, super weird to see how hush hush our cohort was about it back in 2008/09.

To me it's a bit like speculating about being cast out of a Hogwarts house, but it is troubling that it's both elitist and secretive. I'm sure they'll get around to kicking Mr. Phillips out.

[Shrinky Dink]

If they used to be publicized, is there a list anywhere? I have a few relatives that date back to the early history of the church and now I'm kind of curious.

Honestly, this is the first time that I've heard about this Second Anointing and it makes me a little uncomfortable. I do think there are some people who have had their calling and election made sure, but it almost feels like that it is being given to people instead of something that is continually worked towards. After all, no one is perfect.

[Whistler]

there was a pretty good Dialogue article on it. It used to be much more common than it is now (I've only heard rumors of the second anointing still happening, and for a while some apostles hadn't had the ordinance). http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/col ... e/id/18194

I remember when I found out about it I thought it was interesting, and also a little weird, and like maybe I wasn't supposed to know about it. But it's a recorded part of our LDS history and there's nothing bad about learning about it.