Where in the world do we find a father without a mother?
Father Christmas? No, he’s with Mrs. Claus.
Father Time? Nope, he’s paired with Mother Earth.
The Founding Fathers? Remember Martha, Abigail, and Dolley?
The Godfather? What about Carmela!
In all of human experience, (and even with these figurative
fathers) we never see a father without a mother. Sure, a mother can be absent,
missing, or deceased, but there’s still a mother somewhere in the picture.[i]
Why then should we expect any different with our divine Father?
And it makes sense. We have both a father and a mother on
earth, so why not a Father and a Mother in heaven? Only with a Mother can the
family of God be truly complete. But where in the world would we find a modern
Christian community that recognizes both a divine Father and Mother? Only in Mormon Christianity!
But the Bible doesn’t say anything about a Mother in heaven,
right? Right…well kind of. We’d be hard pressed to find an explicit reference
to her in scripture, but just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean she’s not
there.
There are lots of things that exist that the Bible doesn’t
specifically mention. Take for example germs. The Bible doesn’t mention the
word “germs,” or “bacteria,” “viruses,” “microbes,” or anything of the sort.
But does it refer to germs? It sure does! God prescribed many commandments to
the Israelites to avoid germs, such as staying away from sick people,[ii]
avoiding dead bodies,[iii] or
even how to properly dispose of your—well, you know—bodily waste.[iv] To
find germs in the Bible, you have to read between the lines a little, but just
because they’re not explicitly mentioned doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
And the same holds true for our heavenly Mother. So where
can we find her in the Bible? In the creation story, after God creates the
heavens and earth, plants and animals, he finally creates humans, saying
“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis
1:26). Interestingly, God uses first person plural pronouns. We could speculate
who that might be referring to, but why guess when the answer is given in
context, right? The next verse says, “In the image of God He created
him; male and female” (Genesis 1:27).
Let’s break it down: from clues elsewhere in the Bible, we
know that “image” refers to a physical resemblance,[v]
and we know from the pronouns that God is male. Knowing that, how can we say
that God created both a male and a female in his physical image? I suppose a
woman could have some features that physically resemble her father, but that
can only go so far. What this is more likely referring to is a male and a
female being created in the physical image of two divine Parents. Adam is made
in the image of our Father and Eve is made in the image of our Mother!
And that interpretation is not far-fetched at all. In fact,
in one fell swoop, it explains the use of plural pronouns, while simultaneously
clarifying how God could make a female in his physical image. Besides, the
creation story even mentions Adam’s father and mother. Wait, really? Yep, it’s
right there hiding in plain sight. After the Lord fashions Adam’s rib into a
female, we hear him speak for the first time in his own words. “She shall be
called Woman,” Adam reasons, “because she was taken out of Man.”
Then follows the timeless counsel on marriage: “For this reason a man shall
leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife” (Genesis 2:23-24).
Since the Hebrew manuscripts of Genesis don’t contain
quotation marks, we don’t know if the marriage counsel is still in the words of
Adam. If so, this would be an explicit reference to his own father and
mother—our heavenly Parents. But even if not, the fact that the narrator
inserts this comment about Adam and Eve in the creation story is telling. In
effect, the narrator is saying that we all should leave our father and mother
to join our spouse just as Adam left his father and mother to join his spouse.
Either way we look at it, the text refers to Adam’s mother, our divine Mother!
Our Relationship
Think of the love that you have for your earthly mother.
Many of us cannot adequately express the tender feelings we have for our mother,
and even if our relationship isn’t the smoothest, we can at least feel
gratitude for the sacrifice she made in giving us life. Now think of the deep
and enduring love she has for you. Think of the pain she experienced to bring
you into this world. Think of all the times she fed you, the dirty diapers she
changed, and the patience she displayed during your teenage years. (You weren’t
an easy child you know.)
Now multiply that by a hundred, a thousand, an infinite
number of times. That may come close to the kind of bond between you and your
heavenly Mother. It may begin to approach the measure of love she has for you.
The nature of the relationship we have with the Matriarch of
our heavenly family is beyond what words can adequately express. What we can
say though is that it’s reasonable to infer that the relationship is a lot like
our relationship with the Father—only with some slight differences.
For one, we do not pray to her. Jesus instructs us to
“pray…in this way,” (Matthew 6:9) showing us by example to direct our prayers
to the Father. Neither do we worship her, as Jesus teaches us that the subject
of our worship is the Father.[vi] But
even though we don’t pray to or worship our Mother, is she still worthy of
reverence, veneration, or praise? Absolutely!
Model of Womanhood
So who cares about a divine Mother if we don’t pray to her
or worship her? Actually, knowing that we all have a divine Mother tells us a
lot about the relationship between the genders and about ourselves. It means
that each of us—both men and women—have a standard, a model, a pattern of
perfection.
For men, their model is the Father, exemplified by the
mortal life of Jesus. Naturally, any woman would do well to imitate the actions
and character of the Father and the Son, but this emulation can only be taken
so far. You see, God and Jesus are not the foremost standards of feminine
character—they are not the model of motherhood for example, nor are they the
standard of womanly conduct—and neither do they intend to be. Instead, that
standard is exemplified in our Mother. She is the epitome of womanhood!
While women and men are equal, they are not the same. Our
Mother, by her mere existence, shows us that women are not the same as men and
were not created to be. Women have distinct and divine characteristics inherent
within themselves. They have no need to be like men and are not supposed to be
like them either. They are in fact intended to be as they are.[vii]
In our Mother in heaven, all women have a standard of being, a perfect model to
emulate.
While that sounds nice and all, does the idea of a divine
Mother have any practical implications? Most definitely! Remember that our framework—our
underlying assumptions about God, humanity, and the universe—goes beyond
abstract ideas. Our assumptions affect our beliefs, which then affect our
actions, and our actions affect who we become. Framework has a very practical
influence on what we do and how we act. It affects who we are. Framework in
fact makes all the difference.
With the doctrine of a divine Mother, the Mormon Christian Framework[viii]
inherently holds women in high esteem. While it is true that Mormon Christians
granted Utah women the right to vote 50 years before the rest of the US followed
suit,[ix]
their high regard for women is most notably manifest in personal and family
relationships. It is perhaps for this reason that many religiously-minded
feminists continue to find fulfillment in Mormon Christianity.[x]
So what else do we know about our Mother, the perfect Woman?
As the companion of God the Father, our Mother is his match in every way. She
is every bit as omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnibenevolent as her
husband. Furthermore, she is like the Father in righteousness and holiness,
mercy and compassion. Nearly any attribute we could use to describe the Father,
we could use to describe the Mother. Transcendent, honorable, flawless,
brilliant, faithful, glorious—you name it, it describes our Mother too. She is
the perfect Woman.
And while she may not have the same roles commonly
associated with the three members of the Godhead, she works alongside the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to achieve their common goal of redeeming humans
from the effects of sin and death. And being our Mother, she doesn’t just take
a backseat. Her role in fact is vital to the salvation of humanity. How so? If
nothing else, in partnership with the Father, she stands as Creator of humankind!
After understanding that we have a divine Mother, that she
loves us, that she is glorious, and that she is involved in our salvation, it
is difficult to think of heaven without envisioning a Mother. How beautiful is
it to realize that when we think of heaven, we know we have a Mother there!
[i] Even
in the modern age of cloning and other advancements in biotechnology, that
still holds true that a father must be accompanied by a mother. I suppose it’s
possible that God could have cloned himself to propagate the human race, but
that doesn’t really make him “Father,” but only a source of genetic
material—our Almighty Clone Donor. If that really is how he propagated
humankind, we would need a lengthy explanation as to why we are all so
different. And why wouldn’t he make cloning the primary method of reproduction
on earth instead of making us go through all the effort of finding a spouse,
getting married, and having children? Truly, we never see a genuine father
without a genuine mother.
[ii] See
Leviticus 13.
[iii] See
Numbers 19:11-22.
[iv]
See Deuteronomy 23:12-13.
[v] See
Just How Extraordinary Are You? blog
post for more about the image of God.
[vii]
This is in contrast to the idea prevalent in Classical Christianity that the
distinction of male and female is only a temporary necessity for mortal
procreation. When we get to heaven, we will all be male, or at least intersex
(neither male nor female, or with characteristics of both). In this conception,
women thus are not intended to be as they are, but must undergo a fundamental
change in sex and gender to enter the kingdom of God.
[viii]
See The Thing About Christians and
Mormons blog post for more about the Mormon Christian Framework.
[ix]
Mormon Christians played a key role in granting Utah women the right to vote in
1870, a mere two months and two days after Wyoming, the first US territory to
do so, and 50 years before the rest of the country granted women’s suffrage in
1920 (see https://constitutioncenter.org/timeline/html/cw08_12159.html). Mormon
Christians also played a pivotal part in electing the first female state
senator (who by the way ran against and defeated her own husband) in the United
States in 1896 (see http://historytogo.utah.gov/people/marthahughescannon.html).
[x]
Mormon feminism is alive and well, and contrary to popular belief, one can be a
faithful Mormon Christian and a feminist. As an example of feminists who find
fulfillment in Mormon Christianity, see I
am a Mormon Because I am a Feminist by Valerie Hudson Cassler (https://www.fairmormon.org/testimonies/scholars/valerie-hudson-cassler).
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