A couple weeks ago I wrote about women holding the priesthood. The discussion turned from women holding the priesthood to a lively discussion on Heavenly Mother. Some of my Evangelical pastor friends who have followed my blog for a few years were shocked and appalled to learn that Mormons were openly discussing this. I think they kind of also felt a “bait and switch” because this is something they hadn’t heard of before in my writings, but more importantly isn’t mentioned in Mormon books they have such as: The Book of Mormon, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, Doctrine and Covenants, etc.
The reaction of my friend reminded me of a similar experience I had while I was in Germany on a Mormon mission in the mid 1990s. As a missionary, you always are worried about what a member might say when you bring a potential convert to church with you. There are many strange things out there that prophets have done or said over the years that some members full heartedly believe. You invite people to visit church with the hopes that someone doesn’t say something “crazy” and scare them off.
On this particular day, it wasn’t a Mormon church member that scared our potential convert off, but a song called “O My Father“. Part of the song discusses that there is a Mother in Heaven. When my German friend read that verse he looked like someone had punched him in the gut as he turned and looked at me with a questioning look. Right after the service he ran out the door and we really never saw him again after that.
With this experience in mind, and the fact that the doctrine of a Heavenly Mother isn’t official LDS doctrine, I tried to explain that to my non-Mormon friends online.
Other LDS, or Mormon, friends who follow the blog jumped in and shared quite a few recent comments made by Mormon prophets and apostles who discuss us having Heavenly Parents. Even with all of the educating of the doctrine of having a Heavenly Mother, I have the feeling my Evangelical friends are still very uneasy with the concept.
Why Evangelicals are Shocked
I think there is an underlying reason why Evangelicals are shocked to learn of Mormons discussing having a Heavenly Mother, and that is the way Mormons view our relationship to who God is vs. how Evangelicals view our relationship to God.
In the book “How Wide the Divide?”, Stephen Robinson states the following about how Mormons view God:
Since Latter-day Saints take seriously and literally the scriptural language about becoming the children of God (Rom 8:16), it makes sense to us that the children will grow up to be like their Father. According to Scripture, God is the Fother of spirits (Heb 12:9). We are his offspring (Acts 17:29), and offspring grow up to be what their parents are…(How Wide the Divide, pg 80)
The Evangelical point of view of man’s relationship to God is described by Craig Blomberg in the same book as God being the “Creator” and man being the “creatures”. Therefore, God is like the sculptor who sculpts a statue. Although the statue is in the image of a human, the statue does not possess the traits of a human and is a completely different creature.
I believe that Mormons who feel we are the literal offspring of God have this in mind when they discuss having a Heavenly Mother. A very good example of this is the song I mentioned previously, “O My Father”. A portion of the song reads:
I had learned to call the Father, Through thy Spirit from on high,
But until the key of knowledge Was restored, I knew not why.
In the heavens are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare!
Truth is reason, truth eternal tells me I’ve a mother there.
Conclusion
Mormons take the biblical scripture literally to mean that they are the offspring of God. With that thought in mind, many Mormons assume that it is logical that God has a wife (Heavenly Mother) who conceived our spirits. Evangelicals view man’s relationship with God much differently in the sense that God created us and formed us in His image, but we are not literal offspring of God.
If you are not a Mormon, what are your thoughts about the concept of a Heavenly Mother?
If you are a Mormon, why do you think there isn’t much discussion surrounding having a Heavenly Mother? Do you consider the concept of having a Heavenly Mother to be speculation, or do you consider it to be an official doctrine?
Grace for Grace 
9 comments
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February 9, 2013 at 9:41 am
Kevin Christensen
Rphael Patai, author of The Hebrew Goddess, William Dever, author of Did God Have a Wife? and Margaret Barker, author of The Mother of the Lord v1, The Lady in the Temple, among others, are not LDS, and have found enough to say to fill their respective books.
Daniel Peterson, author of Nephi and His Asherah, Kevin Barney in some FAIR papers and Dialogue , Alyson, Von Feldt for FARMS, Warren Aston for the Meridian Magazine online,
http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/11842
and yours truly in various places, have written on the topic without getting into trouble. There are a couple of LDS writers who did get in trouble, but there is a clear difference between those who have trouble and those who done. It’s a matter of who does research, and who speculates.
FWIW
Kevin Christensen
Bethel Park, PA
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February 9, 2013 at 6:56 pm
graceforgrace
Hi Kevin,
The article you referenced is a great one. I do have some comments though about the article.
In the article, it discusses how there are over 600 references to Heavenly Mother throughout our history. This may be true, but from what I’ve seen, you either have to read a BYU scholarly study that the majority of members don’t read, or pay very close attention because she’s mentioned in passing during a conference talk occasionally.
Also, this article discusses “numerous” times Heavenly Mother is mentioned in the Old Testament, but doesn’t go into where she is referenced. Do you have insight on that?
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February 9, 2013 at 9:46 am
Jettboy
The ship probably sailed as we had a long discussion already in the other thread, but I would like to point something out. There really cannot be a discussion of women and the Priesthood in Mormonism without talking about Mother in Heaven. What we think of Her can determine what we think of women’s place in the Church. Any “bait and switch” is for those unfamiliar with the intricacies of Mormon theology. And this has nothing to do with “hiding” anything, but its impossible to talk about everything from such expansive amount of doctrines that don’t have systematic theology to hold it together.
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February 10, 2013 at 3:22 am
Doug
As I feel responsible for steering the conversation away from women in the Priesthood I would like to comment on another piece of the puzzle regarding Heavenly Mother. I believe this goes to the heart of how we differ. My understanding of Mormon theology is this: we are literally children of Heavenly Parents. That we humans are the spiritual offspring of a Father and Mother in Heaven and thus in essence God in embryo. It appears to me that belief in a “Mother” still is there, although not discussed much, because it is logical (in Mormon theology) that there is such a person. Jettboy-would you agree with this? I’m not sure how much the typical LDS person focuses in on this-do Mormons think about exaltation to godhead a lot? We evangelicals do not believe we are of the same essence-but created beings made in the image of God. This might make for another great blog-how are we like God?-or something like that!. . .
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February 10, 2013 at 6:50 am
Jettboy
“It appears to me that belief in a “Mother” still is there, although not discussed much, because it is logical (in Mormon theology) that there is such a person. Jettboy-would you agree with this?”
Yes I would agree with this and that was actually my point in the other thread. For me Mormonism only talks of a Mother in Heaven because its a logical conclusion to other doctrines taught about our relationship to the Deity. Others go farther and argue it is a revelatory doctrine based only partly on suppositions. I don’t argue against it as a doctrine, but I do argue against it as a revelation based belief. In other words, we don’t have a doctrine and covenants section that mentions Her.
“I’m not sure how much the typical LDS person focuses in on this-do Mormons think about exaltation to godhead a lot?”
Ironically, Evangelicals and critics think about it much more than Mormons who talk more about becoming like Christ in the traditional sense of following his example. If it does come up its often more or less with the game of “If I were King” silly speculations. Beyond the general understanding of any monotheist, Mormons have very few ideas what godhead means. Other than becoming like Christ, the next most thought out doctrine would be that we are Children of God that is different than traditional orthodoxy, but generally the same spiritual connections referenced.
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February 10, 2013 at 5:08 pm
Doug
Dr. Millet in his book “A Different Jesus” talks about the desire of the Mormon people to become like Christ-that is something Evangelicals yearn for as well. To be honest-there is so much in Mormon culture that seems very familiar to me. We share so many things in common-but every so often I am reminded that there are also areas unique to Mormon culture and Mormon thought that I have a hard time wrapping my brain around. Thanks for opening up to me and letting me be part of this great conversation.. .
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February 10, 2013 at 7:18 pm
Cal
Thanks from me, too, Jettboy. (And thanks as always to GraceforGrace.)
My take: Because this is a big issue with evangelicals, it is a big issue. It’s big because it divides us.
Personally, I don’t see how believing there is a Heavenly Mother or not believing there is one affects our ability to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Therefore, in my mind, one can become a mature Christian either way.
My guess is that one reason evangelicals abhor the implication of a Heavenly Mother is that it sounds blatantly unbiblical and therefore seems to indicate to them a great disrespect for the Bible and therefore a great disrespect for God. Do you think so, Doug?
The LDS does encourage great respect for the Bible, just a little less respect than evangelicalism encourages.
GraceforGrace, would you agree, as Jettboy did, with Doug’s assertion that belief in a “Mother” still is there, although not discussed much, because it is logical (in Mormon theology) that there is such a person?
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February 10, 2013 at 8:06 pm
graceforgrace
Hi Cal,
To answer your question, I think that conversation surrounding having a Heavenly Mother is based on logic. The thing is though, prophets openly discuss our “Heavenly Parents” on occasion so theoretically having a Heavenly Mother is LDS Doctrine (based on the thought that what a prophet says is scripture).
Logically, if one believes we are literal offspring of God, then there is a Mother involved as well.
Personally, I have a hard time considering myself as ever being able to be on the same plain as God (the Father, or Jesus Christ).
What I do believe, is what is told to us in the temples. We will become “kings and queens unto the most high God” and “priests and priestesses”. I can wrap my mind around that. We will not be on the same level as them, but serving them together jointly as husband and wife.
What is your take on my thoughts?
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February 11, 2013 at 7:24 pm
Cal
Just the other day I heard Pastor Mel Bond connect a verse in Revelation that calls Jesus “the King of Kings” to a verse in Romans (5:17) that says, if you read it in the Greek, that we Christians reign as kings in life. Mel said WE are the kings that Jesus is King over! I can receive that.
When Jesus announced on the cross, “It is finished,” he had accomplished much more than most of us realize!
Have a blessed day, brother.
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