Anoint

In LDS scripture and ritual, anointing connotes the healing of affliction as well as preparing or marking someone or setting them apart as a full heir to God’s glory within God’s literal kingdom.

In the scriptures, the terms Messiah in Hebrew and Christ in Greek both mean "one who is anointed." It is noteworthy that Jesus of Nazareth is not the only individual called by this title. The Prophet Isaiah called the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great a “Messiah” for conquering Babylon and liberating the Jews from captivity (Isaiah 45:1). Several other prophets and kings are anointed to serve missions of liberation, and in Latter-day Saint tradition, both scriptural and modern prophets are often referred to as the Lord’s “anointed servants.”

Mormon theology teaches further that all Latter-day Saints take upon themselves the name of Christ, and are anointed to participate in the atonement of Christ by becoming instruments through whom salvation is brought to other children of God.

This radically egalitarian conception of participatory salvation brings new meaning to the covenant that Latter-day Saints make in the holy temple to avoid “evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed.” More than just an injunction against slandering their leaders, this admonition exhorts the Saints to be thoughtful in how they speak of all the servants of God, from the least to the greatest.

See also atonement.