Mother in Heaven
lds.org – downloaded August 2024
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all human
beings, male and female, are beloved spirit children of heavenly
parents, a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. (1)
This understanding is rooted in scriptural and prophetic teachings
about the nature of God, our relationship to Deity, and the godly
potential of men and women. (2) The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints. (3)
While there is no record of a formal revelation to Joseph Smith on this
doctrine, some early Latter-day Saint women recalled that he personally
taught them about a Mother in Heaven. The earliest published references
to the doctrine appeared shortly after Joseph Smith’s death in 1844, in
documents written by his close associates. The most notable expression
of the idea is found in a poem by Eliza R. Snow, entitled “My Father in
Heaven” and now known as the hymn “O My Father.” This text declares:
“In the heav’ns are parents single? / No, the thought makes reason
stare; / Truth is reason—truth eternal / Tells me I’ve a mother there.”
(4)
Subsequent Church leaders have affirmed the existence of a Mother in
Heaven. In 1909, the First Presidency taught that “all men and women
are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother and are
literally the sons and daughters of Deity.” Susa Young Gates, a
prominent leader in the Church, wrote in 1920 that Joseph Smith’s
visions and teachings revealed the truth that “the divine Mother, [is]
side by side with the divine Father.” (5)
And in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” issued in 1995, the
First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declared, “Each
[person] is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and,
as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.” (6)
Prophets have taught that our heavenly parents work together for the
salvation of the human family. “We are part of a divine plan designed
by Heavenly Parents who love us,” taught Elder M. Russell Ballard of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. (7)
President Harold B. Lee stated, “We forget that we have a Heavenly
Father and a Heavenly Mother who are even more concerned, probably,
than our earthly father and mother, and that influences from beyond are
constantly working to try to help us when we do all we can.” (8)
Latter-day Saints direct their worship to Heavenly Father, in the name
of Christ, and do not pray to Heavenly Mother. In this, they follow the
pattern set by Jesus Christ, who taught His disciples to “always pray
unto the Father in my name.” Latter-day Saints are taught to pray to
Heavenly Father, but as President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “The fact
that we do not pray to our Mother in Heaven in no way belittles or
denigrates her.” Indeed, as Elder Rudger Clawson wrote, “We honor woman
when we acknowledge Godhood in her eternal Prototype.” (9)
As with many other truths of the gospel, our present knowledge about a Mother in Heaven is limited. (10)
Nevertheless, we have been given sufficient knowledge to appreciate the
sacredness of this doctrine and to comprehend the divine pattern
established for us as children of heavenly parents. (11)
Latter-day Saints believe that this pattern is reflected in Paul’s
statement that “neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman
without the man, in the Lord.” (12) Men and women cannot be exalted without each other. Just as we have a Father in Heaven, we have a Mother in Heaven. (13)
As Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said,
“Our theology begins with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is
to be like them.” (14)
Critique Notes
(1) Christianity teaches that there is only one God eternally.
“You are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “And My servant whom I have
chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me.” Isaiah
43:10
(2) Jesus Christ teaches that believers will be like angels in heaven.
Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the
Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither
marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels of God in heaven.”
Matthew 22:29-30
(3) Mother gods is a cherished belief among pagans.
Pre-Christian cultures in Europe, like the Norse and Roman societies,
honored the deities of women, with their shrines and temples built to
honor such goddesses as Bona Dea, Cybele, Frigga, and Hella.
Ultimately, that reverence for the archetype of "mother" has been
carried over in modern Pagan religions. learnreligions.com
(4) Joseph Smith was a false prophet per Jesus Christ.
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” Matthew 11:13
(5) Christianity teaches that there is only one God eternally.
“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of
hosts: I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.”
Isaiah 44:6
(6) LDS apostles never saw Jesus Christ and are false apostles.
Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 1 Corinthians 9:1
(7) LDS prophets are false per Jesus Christ.
“The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom
of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.” Luke 16:16
(8) The work of God is sincere belief in Jesus Christ.
Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of
God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that
you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:28-29
(9) God destroyed Judah for honoring a false goddess.
But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring
out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been
consumed by the sword and by famine.” The women also said, “And when we
burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to
her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink
offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?” Then Jeremiah spoke
to all the people—the men, the women, and all the people who had given
him that answer—saying: “The incense that you burned in the cities of
Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings
and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember
them, and did it not come into His mind? So, the LORD could no longer
bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the
abominations which you committed. Therefore, your land is desolation,
an astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day.
Jeremiah 44:18-22
(10) The Christian Gospel is only about Jesus Christ.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to
you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you
are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless
you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I
also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
(11) Christianity teaches that there is only one God eternally.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope
of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father
of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians
4:4-6
(12) Paul’s example was for human relationship before God.
For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for
the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason, the woman ought to
have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman
independent of man, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so
man also comes through woman; but all things are from God. 1
Corinthians 11:8-12
(13) There is no mother god in heaven.
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him
who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four
elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who
lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne,
saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were
created.” Revelation 4:9-11
(14) Christian theology begins and ends with Jesus Christ.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess
Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we
worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses
and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who
abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If
anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive
him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his
evil deeds. 2 John 1:7-11