Heavenly Mother (Mormonism)

This article is about Heavenly Mother within the Latter Day Saint movement. For a more broad view, see Heavenly Mother.

In Mormonism, Heavenly Mother or the Mother in Heaven is the mother of human spirits and the wife of God the Father. Those who accept the Mother in Heaven doctrine trace its origins to Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. The doctrine was not widely known, however, until after the movement's succession crisis upon the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1844.

The Heavenly Mother doctrine is mainly taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church),^[1][2] the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ ^[3] and branches of Mormon fundamentalism, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.^{[citation needed]} The doctrine is not generally recognized by other faiths within the broader Latter Day Saint movement, such as the Community of Christ, where Trinitarianism is predominant.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she is sung about in one church hymn and briefly discussed in church teaching manuals and sermons.^[4] She is also the object of prayer by a small minority of members^{[citation needed]}, though that practice is officially unacceptable.^[5][6]

Origin of the Heavenly Mother theology

The theological underpinnings of a belief in Heavenly Mother is attributed to Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, who shortly before his death in 1844 outlined a controversial view of God that differed dramatically from traditional Christian consensus.^[7] Smith's theology included the belief that God would share his glory with his children and that humans might become exalted beings, or gods and goddesses, in the afterlife (see Exaltation).

Although there is no clear record of Joseph Smith teaching of Heavenly Mother publicly, several of Smith's contemporaries attributed the theology to him either directly, or as a consequence of his theological stance. An editorial footnote of History of the Church, 5:254, presumably quotes Joseph Smith as saying: "Come to me; here's the mysteries man hath not seen, Here's our Father in heaven, and Mother, the Queen." In addition, a secondhand account states that in 1839, Joseph Smith had told Zina Diantha Huntington, one of Smith's plural wives, after the death of her mother, that "not only would she know her mother again on the other side, but 'more than that, you will meet and become acquainted with your eternal Mother, the wife of your Father in Heaven'."^[8]

In addition, members of the Anointed Quorum, a highly select spiritual organization in the early Church that was privy to Smith's teachings, also acknowledged the existence of a Heavenly Mother.^[9] Also, the Times and Seasons published a letter to the editor from a person named "Joseph's Specked Bird" in which the author stated that in the pre-Earth life, the spirit "was a child with his father and mother in heaven".^[10]

In 1845, after the murder of Joseph Smith, the poet Eliza Roxcy Snow, published a poem entitled My Father in Heaven, (later titled Invocation, or the Eternal Father and Mother, now used as the lyrics in the popular Latter-day Saint hymn O My Father), acknowledging the existence of a Heavenly Mother.^[11] This hymn contained the following language:

In the heavens are parents single?

No, the thought makes reason stare.

Truth is reason: truth eternal

tells me I've a mother there.

When I leave this frail existence,

When I lay this mortal by,

Father, Mother, may I meet you

in your royal courts on high?

Some early Mormons considered Eliza Snow to be a "prophetess".^[12] Later, however, Church President Joseph F. Smith (a nephew of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, Jr.) explained his own belief that "God revealed that principle that we have a mother as well as a father in heaven to Joseph Smith; Joseph Smith revealed it to Eliza Snow Smith, his wife; and Eliza Snow was inspired, being a poet, to put it into verse."^[13]

The doctrine is also attributed to several other early church leaders. According to one sermon by Brigham Young, Joseph Smith once said he "would not worship a God who had not a father; and I do not know that he would if he had not a mother; the one would be as absurd as the other" (Journal of Discourses, vol.9, p. 286).

Worship and prayer to the Heavenly Mother

Orson Pratt, an early LDS Apostle, opposed worshiping Heavenly Mother, because, he reasoned, like wives and children in any household, Heavenly Mother was required to "yield the most perfect obedience to" her husband (The Seer, p. 159). However, in 1865, a majority of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church officially condemned Pratt's doctrinal declarations contained in The Seer, mostly because of Pratt's vocal opposition to the Adam-God theory; thus, Pratt's views in the periodical are not considered authoritative.^[14]

Early leader George Q. Cannon thought that “there is too much of this inclination to deify ‘our mother in heaven,’ arguing that she is not part of the Godhead and that to worship her would diminish from the worship of heavenly father. ^[15] However, early 20th-century church leader Rudger Clawson disagreed, arguing that “it doesn’t take away from our worship of the Eternal Father, to adore our Eternal Mother…we honor woman when we acknowledge Godhood in her eternal prototype” ^[16]

Some Church leaders have interpreted the term “God” to represent the divinely exalted couple with both a masculine and feminine half. Erastus Snow, an early Mormon Apostle, wrote “’do you mean we should understand that Deity consists of a man and woman?’ Most certainly I do. If I believe anything that God has ever said about himself…I must believe that deity consists of a man and woman.” This notion was reaffirmed by later church leaders Hugh B. Brown, James E. Talmage, Melvin J. Ballard, and Bruce R. McConkie. ^[17]

Some feminist Mormons have adopted the practice of praying to the Heavenly Mother. However, deceased LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley opposed this practice, saying that Mormons should not pray to the Heavenly Mother, saying that Christ instructed his disciplines to address the Heavenly Father in their prayers. ^[18] A feminist professor was fired from Brigham Young University, one of the reasons being her public advocacy of praying to Heavenly Mother.^[19]

Views of various Mormon denominations regarding the Heavenly Mother

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Acknowledgment of the theology

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not formally acknowledge the existence of a Heavenly Mother until 1909, in a statement on evolution by the First Presidency marking the 50th anniversary of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species.^[20] The Church also later inferred the theology in the 1995 statement The Family: A Proclamation to the World, where the Church officially stated that each person is a "spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents". Other references to Heavenly parents can be found in Latter-day Saint speeches and literature.^[21]

Elaborations on Heavenly Mother

According to historian Linda Wilcox, Heavenly Mother "is a shadowy and elusive belief floating around the edges of Mormon consciousness".^[22] Though the belief is held by most Mormons, the doctrine is not actively advertised by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though Heavenly Mother is sometimes mentioned in talks or sermons in Sacrament meetings and in Sunday School classes. The topic is most often consistent with the theology discussed above.

The lack of focused teaching and more information about her has caused speculation among Mormons that lack of information may have an Eternal purpose, to avoid drawing attention to her and to preserve the sacredness of her existence. In 1960 a statement from an LDS seminary teacher who speculated that “the name of our Mother in Heaven has been withheld” because of the way God the Father’s and Jesus Christ’s names have been profaned.^[23] Whether he is the source of the idea or is reflecting a prevalent belief is hard to say. It should be noted that a seminary teacher is not considered an authority in the LDS faith and therefore cannot speak for the Church or alter doctrinal principles.

While no General Authority has made an official statement denying belief in a Heavenly Mother nor stating that her existence is too sacred to discuss, several factors may influence the current trend that sees even a mention of Heavenly Mother as treading on forbidden ground. Members take their cues about what is acceptable doctrine from talks of General Authorities and official Church manuals and magazines. The most recent reference to her was made by President Gordon B. Hinckley in a talk given at the General Women’s Meeting in October of 1991 and printed in that year’s November Ensign.

While President Hinckley says the prohibition (on praying to Heavenly Mother) in no way “belittles or denigrates her,” it surely makes her secondary in some way to Heavenly Father, as does President Hinckley’s assertion that men have a “governing responsibility” over women. Also while he does not forbid discussion about Heavenly Mother, he does mark her position as problematic, especially given the way he contextualizes his comments about her.

For Church members eager to follow their leaders to the letter of the law, President Hinckley’s prohibition can easily be read to mean that any who pursue the topic of the Heavenly Mother are also “misguided.” Add to this a grassroots feeling that Heavenly Mother is too sacred to talk about because her husband does not want her name “taken in vain” like his is, and the result is the disappearance of specific references to the Heavenly Mother altogether in Church publications since 1991. No doubt the publicly discussed excommunications of feminists like Janice Allred, Lynne Kanavel Whitesides, and Maxine Hanks, all of whom were disciplined in part for talking about the Heavenly Mother, adds to the general sense that discourse about her is strictly forbidden.^[24]

However, BYU Professor David Paulsen has argued that such a belief finds no official backing in statements by church leaders, and that the concept that the Heavenly Mother is consigned to a "sacred silence" is largely the result of a relatively recent cultural perception.^[25]

Statements by LDS Church leaders on Heavenly Mother

Various LDS Church leaders throughout the history of the Church have spoken openly about the doctrine of a Heavenly Mother.

Susan Young Gates, a daughter of Brigham Young and women's rights activist, stated that “[the] great Heavenly Mother was the great molder” in Abraham’s personality. “Gates speculated that Heavenly Mother has played a significant role in all our lives, looking over us with ‘watchful care’ and providing ‘careful training.’”^[26] Brigham Young preached that resurrected “eternal mothers” would “be prepared to frame earths like unto ours.” ^[27]

Early 20th century church leader B.H. Roberts pointed out that the Heavenly Mother doctrine presents a “conception of the nobility of women and of motherhood and of wife-hood--placing her side by side with the Divine Father.” ^[28] John Widtsoe, a colleague of B.H. Roberts in the Quorum of the Twelve, wrote that the afterlife “is given radiant warmth by the thought that…[we have] a mother who possesses the attributes of Godhood.” ^[29] In 1894, The Juvenile Instructor, an official publication of the LDS church, published a Hymn entitled "Our Mother in Heaven."^[30]

There has also been some more recent discussion of Heavenly Mother by LDS Church leaders. In a speech given at BYU in 2010, Glenn L. Pace, a member of the LDS Church's First Quorum of the Seventy, said, “Sisters, I testify that when you stand in front of your heavenly parents in those royal courts on high and look into Her eyes and behold Her countenance, any question you ever had about the role of women in the kingdom will evaporate into the rich celestial air, because at that moment you will see standing directly in front of you, your divine nature and destiny.” ^[31]

Brigham Young, who taught Adam is Heavenly Father, taught that his wife Eve is Heavenly Mother: "I tell you more, Adam is the father of our spirits ... our spirits and the spirits of all the heavenly family were begotten by Adam, and born of Eve. ... I tell you, when you see your Father in the Heavens, you will see Adam; when you see your Mother that bore your spirit, you will see Mother Eve." ^[32]

See also

• Divine Mother
• Great Mother
• Lady Master Venus
• Mother goddess
• Shaktism
• Sophia
• Sophiology
• Thealogy

Notes

1. ^ "The Role of Women in the Church". Restoration Church of Jesus Christ. http://home.netcom.com/~utahdude/rcjc/rcjc_wom.html. Retrieved 2006-07-17. 
2. ^ "Pre-Mortal Existence". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/beliefs/existence_1.shtml. 
3. ^ Role of women in the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ (On menu on right of website, click on "Core Beliefs" and then click on "The Role of Women"):
4. ^ O My Father, LDS hymn #292, refers to a mother in heaven. Oh, What Songs of the Heart, LDS hymn #286, refers to "heavenly parents". The Family: A Proclamation to the World mentions "heavenly parents". Various LDS curriculum materials refer to a Heavenly Mother, for instance see the conclusion of The Latter Day Saint Women, Lesson 9 and "Chapter 2: Our Heavenly Family", Gospel Principles, 11 (1997). See also a statement by a former President of the Church in Spencer W. Kimball, "The True Way of Life and Salvation", Ensign, May 1978, 4.
5. ^ "Guide to the Scriptures: Prayer". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/gs/p/45. Retrieved 2006-07-23. 
6. ^ "Pray unto the Father in My Name". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,49-1-64-31,00.html. Retrieved 2006-07-23. 
7. ^ See King Follett Discourse; Smith 1844.
8. ^ Wilcox 1987, p. 65.
9. ^ Wilcox 1987, pp. 65-67; Orson Pratt 1876, p. 292; Wilford Woodruff 1875, pp. 31-32.
10. ^ Joseph's Specked Bird 1845, p. 892.
11. ^ Snow 1845. See also Derr 1996-97; Pearson 1992.
12. ^ "Abstract of Poems, religious, historical, and political". Harold B. Lee Library/Online Collections at BYU. http://relarchive.byu.edu/MPNC/descriptions/poems.html. Retrieved 2008-06-13. 
13. ^ Wilcox 1987, p 65.
14. ^ Deseret News, Aug. 12, 1865, 373; see also B.H. Roberts, Defense of the Faith and the Saints, 2:294 (1912).
15. ^ Paulsen, David L. and Martin Pulido. 2011. “A Mother There:” A Survey of Historical Teachings About Mother in Heaven. “ BYU Studies. 50:1, 78
16. ^ Paulsen, David L. and Martin Pulido. 2011. “A Mother There:” A Survey of Historical Teachings About Mother in Heaven. “ BYU Studies. 50:1, 79
17. ^ Paulsen, David L. and Martin Pulido. 2011. “A Mother There:” A Survey of Historical Teachings About Mother in Heaven. “ BYU Studies. 50:1, 79-80
18. ^ Hinckley 1991, pp 97-100.
19. ^ (PDF) Academic Freedom and Tenure: Brigham Young University. American Association of University Professors. September–October 1997. https://www.aaup.org/Com-a/Institutions/archives/1997/Brigham.pdf. Retrieved 2006-07-20. 
20. ^ Smith et al. 1909.
21. ^ See, for example, Hinckley 1991, encouraging Latter-day Saint women not to pray to the Heavenly Mother; or M. Russell Ballard stating "we are part of a divine plan designed by Heavenly Parents who love us" in his book When Thou Art Converted.
22. ^ Wilcox 1987, p. 64.
23. ^ Melvin R. Brooks, LDS Reference Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1960), 309-10..
24. ^ Is There a Place For Heavenly Mother In Mormon Theology; Margaret Merrill Toscano; Sunstone; July 2004.
25. ^ Paulsen, David L. and Martin Pulido. 2011. “A Mother There:” A Survey of Historical Teachings About Mother in Heaven.“ BYU Studies. 50:1, 75.
26. ^ Paulsen, David L. and Martin Pulido. 2011. “A Mother There:” A Survey of Historical Teachings About Mother in Heaven. “ BYU Studies. 50:1, 75
27. ^ Paulsen, David L. and Martin Pulido. 2011. “A Mother There:” A Survey of Historical Teachings About Mother in Heaven.“ BYU Studies. 50:1, 80
28. ^ Paulsen, David L. and Martin Pulido. 2011. “A Mother There:” A Survey of Historical Teachings About Mother in Heaven. “ BYU Studies. 50:1, 77
29. ^ Paulsen, David L. and Martin Pulido. 2011. “A Mother There:” A Survey of Historical Teachings About Mother in Heaven. “ BYU Studies. 50:1, 78
30. ^ The Juvenile Instructor, XXIX, No. 8 (April 15, 1894): 263.
31. ^ http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=12982&x=55&y=2
32. ^ Manuscript Addresses of Brigham Young, Oct. 8, 1854

References

• Bickmore, Barry R., "Mormonism in the Early Jewish Christian Milieu", http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/conf/1999BicB.html#en112 (1999).
• Derr, Jill Mulvay, "The Significance of 'O My Father' in the Personal Journey of Eliza R. Snow", BYU Studies 36, no. 1 (1996–97): 84-126.
• Hinckley, Gordon B., "Daughters of God", Ensign, November 1991: 97-100.
• Joseph's Specked Bird, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons 6: 892 (May 1, 1845).
• Jorgensen, Danny L., "The Mormon Gender-Inclusive Image of God", Journal of Mormon History, 27, No. 1 (Spring 2000): 95-126.
• Origen, Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John: Book II, ¶6. Included in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols. (Buffalo: The Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1885–1896) 10:329-330.
• Litchfield, Allen W. (1987), Behind the Veil: The Heavenly Mother Concept Among Members of Women's Support Groups in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU Master's thesis, http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/MTGM,22484 .
• Pearson, Carol Lynn, "Mother Wove the Morning: a one-woman play" (October 1992) (ISBN 1-56236-307-7) (depicting, according to the video's description, Eliza R. Snow as one of "sixteen women [who] throughout history search for God the Mother and invite her back into the human family").
• Pratt, Orson, Journal of Discourses 18:292 (Nov. 12, 1876).
• Smith Jr., Joseph, King Follett Discourse, April 7, 1844, published in Times and Seasons 5 (August 15, 1844): 612-17, and reprinted in the History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, edited by B. H. Roberts, 2d ed. rev. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, (1976–1980), 6:302-17; see also "The Christian Godhead--Plurality of Gods", History of the Church, 6: 473-79.
• Smith, Joseph F. et al., "The Origin of Man", Improvement Era (November 1909): 80.
• Wilcox, Linda P., "The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven", Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective, edited by Maureen Ursenbach Beecher and Lavina Fielding Anderson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987), 64-77.
• Woodruff, Wilford, Journal of Discourses 18:31-32 (June 27, 1875).