Article
Do Latter-day Saints Believe in a Heavenly Mother?
The church’s Mother in Heaven essay teaches a Heavenly Mother, and members do not pray to her. Isaiah 44:6 says there is no God beside the LORD.
On This Page
Yes. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all human beings are spirit children of heavenly parents, a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. The church’s essay says members direct worship to Heavenly Father, in the name of Christ, and do not pray to Heavenly Mother. Isaiah 44:6Isaiah 44:6 · King James VersionThus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Isaiah 44:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the LORD is the first and the last, and beside him there is no God.
Key Points
- Mother in HeavenMother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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. 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. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.
Mother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (1) says the doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints. - The same essayMother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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. 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. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.
Mother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (1) says there is no record of a formal revelation to Joseph Smith on this doctrine. A recollection that he taught it was written down later. The earliest published references, the essay says, appeared shortly after his death in 1844. - O My FatherO My Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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.
O My Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (2), the hymn from Eliza R. Snow’s poem, asks whether parents in heaven are single, and answers that truth says there is a mother there. - The essay quotes the 1909 First Presidency: all men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity.
- The Family: A Proclamation to the World (3) says each person is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents.
- The essay says Latter-day Saints do not pray to Heavenly Mother. It quotes Gordon B. Hinckley: that fact does not belittle her.
- Isaiah 44:6–8Isaiah 44:6–8 · King James Version44:6
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
44:7And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
44:8Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
Isaiah 44:6–8 · King James VersionOpen the Source (4) and Isaiah 43:10Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionYe are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionOpen the Source (5) say there is no God beside the LORD, and that before him no God was formed. Jeremiah 7:18Jeremiah 7:18 · King James VersionThe children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Jeremiah 7:18 · King James VersionOpen the Source (6) is about cakes made for a “queen of heaven.”
Who Is the Heavenly Mother?
The essay states the belief in one paragraph. Mother in HeavenMother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsThe 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. 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. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.
Mother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (1):
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. 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. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.
Mother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The essay does not give her a personal name. It says present knowledge about a Mother in Heaven is limited, and that enough has been given to appreciate the sacredness of the doctrine and the divine pattern set for children of heavenly parents. It says that pattern is reflected in 1 Corinthians 11:111 Corinthians 11:11 · King James VersionNevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:11 · King James VersionOpen the Source (8), Paul’s sentence that neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. That sentence sits in a chapter about head coverings and order when the church gathers. Paul is writing about men and women in the Lord. He is not naming a mother in heaven.
The Family: A Proclamation to the World (3) says all human beings, male and female, are created in the image of God, and that each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents. The essay quotes that line and goes on to say that men and women cannot be exalted without each other, and that just as there is a Father in Heaven, there is a Mother in Heaven. Exaltation, the hope of becoming like those parents, is covered in Do Mormons Believe They Will Become Gods?.
What Did Joseph Smith Say About a Mother in Heaven?
The essay’sMother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsThe 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. 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. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.
Mother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (1) own limit is plain. 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 essay’s footnote gives one of those memories. Zina Diantha Huntington Young recalled that when her mother died in 1839, Joseph Smith consoled her by saying that in heaven she would see her own mother again and become acquainted with her eternal Mother. Susa Young Gates recorded that recollection in 1911. The essay presents it as a recollection, not as a canonized revelation.
The essay (1) says the earliest published references appeared shortly after Joseph Smith’s death in 1844, in documents written by his close associates. It names a poem by Eliza R. Snow, “My Father in Heaven,” now the hymn “O My Father,” as the most notable expression.
What Hymn Speaks of a Mother in Heaven?
O My FatherO My Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsIn the heav’ns are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare! Truth is reason; truth eternal Tells me I’ve a mother there.
O My Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (2) is Hymns, number 292. The text is Eliza R. Snow’s. The third stanza on the hymn page says:
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.
O My Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The fourth stanza addresses “Father, Mother,” and asks to meet them in their royal courts on high. The hymn page lists Romans 8:16–17Romans 8:16 · King James VersionThe Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Romans 8:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source and Acts 17:28–29Acts 17:28 · King James VersionFor in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Acts 17:28 · King James VersionOpen the Source under the text. Romans 8 says the Spirit bears witness that believers are the children of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. Acts 17 is Paul on the Areopagus: in God we live and move and have our being, and we are his offspring. Those passages are about the one God and his children. They do not name a heavenly mother.
After the hymn, the essayMother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsThe 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. 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. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.
Mother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (1) lists later leaders who affirmed the teaching. The First Presidency in 1909, in “The Origin of Man,” said 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, whom the essay calls a prominent leader in the Church, wrote in 1920 that Joseph Smith’s visions and teachings revealed “the divine Mother, [is] side by side with the divine Father.” The essay also quotes Elder M. Russell Ballard on “Heavenly Parents who love us,” and President Harold B. Lee on a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother who are even more concerned, probably, than earthly parents.
Do Latter-day Saints Pray to Heavenly Mother?
The essayMother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsThe 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. 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. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.
Mother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (1) says they do not. Latter-day Saints direct their worship to Heavenly Father, in the name of Christ, and do not pray to Heavenly Mother. The essay says they follow the pattern of Jesus, who taught his disciples to pray to the Father in his name. It then quotes President Gordon B. Hinckley: “The fact that we do not pray to our Mother in Heaven in no way belittles or denigrates her.” Elder Dallin H. Oaks is quoted on the same page: “Our theology begins with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is to be like them.”
The essay (1) cites Jesus’ instruction to “always pray unto the Father in my name,” and its note points to 3 Nephi 18:19–21, Matthew 6:6–9, and John 17. It adds a sentence from Elder Rudger Clawson: “We honor woman when we acknowledge Godhood in her eternal Prototype.” So the teaching affirms a Mother in Heaven, directs prayer to the Father alone, and says this does not lessen her standing.
Is There a Heavenly Mother in the Bible?
Isaiah 44:6–8Isaiah 44:6–8 · King James Version44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
44:7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
Isaiah 44:6–8 · King James VersionOpen the Source (4) is the LORD, the King of Israel and his redeemer, the LORD of hosts. He is the first and the last, and beside him there is no God. He asks who has declared this from ancient time, and he says, “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” Isaiah 43:10Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionYe are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionOpen the Source (5) says that before him there was no God formed, neither shall there be after him. Those sentences are about the LORD’s uniqueness. They do not describe a heavenly couple.
Jeremiah 7:18Jeremiah 7:18 · King James VersionThe children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Jeremiah 7:18 · King James VersionOpen the Source (6) is a charge against Judah. The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and they pour out drink offerings unto other gods. Jeremiah 44:17–19Jeremiah 44:17–19 · King James Version44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
44:18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
44:19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
Jeremiah 44:17–19 · King James VersionOpen the Source (7) is the people answering that they will burn incense unto the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings, as they and their fathers had done in the cities of Judah. The passage is about that worship: cakes, incense, and drink offerings given to a figure Judah called the queen of heaven. Jeremiah does not name a Mother in Heaven, and he does not comment on a nineteenth-century hymn. The charge is that Judah gave to another the offerings that belong to the LORD.
The Christian confession is that God is one: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is no goddess beside the Father. The Trinity is that confession. Do Mormons Believe God Was Once a Man? is the related claim that the Father progressed to godhood. Jesus is God, the Son, not one child among many born to a heavenly mother.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Earliest Published Reference to a Mother in Heaven?
The essay’sMother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsThe 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. 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. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.
Mother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (1) notes cite W. W. Phelps’s poem “Come to Me,” printed in the Times and Seasons on January 15, 1845, alongside Eliza R. Snow’s “My Father in Heaven.” Both appeared within a year of Joseph Smith’s death.
Who Wrote the Scholarship Behind the Essay?
The essay says the church acknowledges the contribution of scholars and uses their work with permission. Its notes cite David L. Paulsen and Martin Pulido, “‘A Mother There’: A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven,” in BYU Studies 50, no. 1 (2011).
Is the Heavenly Mother Taught in Official Statements?
Yes. The essay quotes the First Presidency in 1909 and “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” issued in 1995 by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which speaks of heavenly parents.
Keep Reading
References
- Mother in Heaven, Gospel Topics EssaysMother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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. 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. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.
Mother in Heaven · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Heavenly parents, the hymn, the 1909 First Presidency line, and the statement that members do not pray to Heavenly Mother.) - O My Father, Hymns, no. 292, stanza 3O My Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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.
O My Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (Text by Eliza R. Snow. The stanza that says there is a mother in heaven.) - The Family: A Proclamation to the World, Heavenly parents (First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, 1995. Each person is a spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents.)
- Book of Isaiah, 44:6–8Isaiah 44:6–8 · King James Version44:6
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
44:7And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
44:8Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
Isaiah 44:6–8 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Book of Isaiah, 43:10Isaiah 43:10 · King James Version
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Book of Jeremiah, 7:18Jeremiah 7:18 · King James Version
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Jeremiah 7:18 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Book of Jeremiah, 44:17–19Jeremiah 44:17–19 · King James Version44:17
But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
44:18But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
44:19And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
Jeremiah 44:17–19 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - First Letter to the Corinthians, 11:111 Corinthians 11:11 · King James Version
Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:11 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version
See Also
- Are Jesus and Satan Brothers? — Gospel Topics calls Satan a spirit son of God who rebelled. A 1986 Ensign answer calls Jesus and Lucifer spirit brothers. John 1:3 says all things were made by the Word.
- Do Mormons Believe God Was Once a Man? — The Lorenzo Snow couplet says, “As man now is, God once was.” The King Follett sermon says God was once as we are now, and is an exalted man. Isaiah 43:10 says no God was formed before or after the LORD.
- Do Mormons Believe in the Trinity? — No. Latter-day Saints teach that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, one in purpose. That is not the Nicene confession of one God in three persons.
- Do Mormons Believe They Will Become Gods? — Gospel Principles says exaltation is the kind of life God lives. The King Follett sermon says God was once as we are now, and that the faithful must learn to be gods. Isaiah 43:10 says no God was formed after the LORD.
- Does God the Father Have a Body of Flesh and Bones? — Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 says the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s. John 4:24 says God is a Spirit.