LDS - Belief in Heavenly Mother; Prayers?

[BYUChemAlum]

I don’t think you would want to here what I think of your post. It is warped, beyond belief, and plain and simply, an evil twisting. Which, isn’t all that unusual for Mormon “stuff”, just this particular subject is more personal than most, so, you can take you religion and stuff it. It certainly is not of God.

Thank you for not responding to the post, and thank you for your charity.

 

[RebeccaJ]

Thank you for not responding to the post, and thank you for your charity.

Yes, it is so incredibly charitable, this religion of yours, teaching women what you teach them and convincing them it is divine revelation! The nerve, to say I lack charity, when this is what you religion is doing.

I think it is time to put you on ignore. Have a good life, your lordship.

 

[BYUChemAlum]

Yes, it is so incredibly charitable, this religion of yours, teaching women what you teach them and convincing them it is divine revelation! The nerve, to say I lack charity, when this is what you religion is doing.

I think it is time to put you on ignore. Have a good life, your lordship.

It is okay, I have already alerted the moderator to your asking me to “stuff” my religion. How sad that we must resort to such tactics.

And I agree, if you cannot engage the actual substance of my posts, then it is best to put me on ignore so that I can dialogue with those that do.

 

[BYUChemAlum]

Thanks for any help. Really trying to understand this. It seems so far fetched from my perspective, and I just really wonder if there’s anything supporting it outside of mormonism’s claim to the modern day revelation of Joseph Smith? It seems to me that if the only real support is the modern revelations of mormonism, the claim of a heavenly mother is a novelty that rises or falls depending upon one’s acceptance of the validity of modern revelation. I’m just not convinced that is sufficient basis for setting aside what I believe to be solid apostolic teaching that has come down to us faithfully from the Christ through the Catholic Church.

Peace,
Robert

Hi Robert,

Some LDS point to the creation of males and females in the image of God as implying the existence of Heavenly Mother, however I find such an interpretation weak. Quite simply, we believe that God restored this belief through revelation to Joseph Smith (and in that, you are quite right that such a belief heavily depends on whether one accepts continuing revelation as found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Did you read the article I linked to earlier in this thread? It pointed to evidences of an Israelite Goddess. While we as LDS are different from the ancient Israelites that worshipped and prayed to this Goddess, we do believe that this shows evidence of the existence of a Heavenly Mother in the beliefs of the Hebrews who are part of Biblical history.

Hope that helps.

 

[Robert_in_SD]

Hi Robert,

Some LDS point to the creation of males and females in the image of God as implying the existence of Heavenly Mother, however I find such an interpretation weak. Quite simply, we believe that God restored this belief through revelation to Joseph Smith (and in that, you are quite right that such a belief heavily depends on whether one accepts continuing revelation as found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Did you read the article I linked to earlier in this thread? It pointed to evidences of an Israelite Goddess. While we as LDS are different from the ancient Israelites that worshipped and prayed to this Goddess, we do believe that this shows evidence of the existence of a Heavenly Mother in the beliefs of the Hebrews who are part of Biblical history.

Hope that helps.

Hello BYUChem;

Yes, I did read the article you linked and it relied entirely on the OT passages and some very interesting interpretations, that I didn’t find to be very compelling. My follow up was intending to ask if there were any New Testament scripture passages that LDS turned to for support of the idea of a Heavenly Mother (as described by the LDS church). Didn’t see any responses from anyone on the question. But if you come across something, please share a link.

Peace,
Robert

 

[zerinus]

Did you read the article I linked to earlier in this thread? It pointed to evidences of an Israelite Goddess. . . . we do believe that this shows evidence of the existence of a Heavenly Mother in the beliefs of the Hebrews who are part of Biblical history.

I find that suggestion to be very weak. Have a look at this Blog post I wrote in response to Daniel C Peterson’s article on this Asherah/goddess idea.

 

[zerinus]

Oh, I do know. The Catholic Church has it, as it has for the past 2000 years. I’m just questioning you since you claim the LDS has it.

Well, I am equally sure about my claim as you are about yours.

 

[zerinus]

Did you read the article I linked to earlier in this thread? It pointed to evidences of an Israelite Goddess. . . . we do believe that this shows evidence of the existence of a Heavenly Mother in the beliefs of the Hebrews who are part of Biblical history.

I find that suggestion to be very weak. Have a look at this Blog post I wrote in response to Daniel C Peterson’s article on this Asherah/goddess idea.

 

[zerinus]

My follow up was intending to ask if there were any New Testament scripture passages that LDS turned to for support of the idea of a Heavenly Mother (as described by the LDS church).

The short answer is that there aren’t any. The closest you can get I suppose is that the idea of the Father must carry with it the idea of a Mother!

 

[JeanMichel]

I thought you said you knew. Now you appear not to be so sure!

Zerinus, this is not helpful and you know better. Kindness should not be interpreted as doubt. You know that contributors here have a great faith in the Church. Please continue to focus on interactive discussion rather than a tit-for-tat type of sniping at one another.

 

[Eric_Hilbert]

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Remain on the topic and cease with the pettiness.

 

[KathleenGee]

Mary passed away a long, long time ago but she is alive in heaven.

Mary is the Heavenly Mother.

The theology of salvation of the Mormons is very different. Celibacy has been greatly valued for 2,000 years. Christ said there are those chosen to live for the kingdom, St. Paul himself advised living in the Lord is the better way because then one can fully commit him/herself to heavenly things and work for the kingdom with a whole heart.

Each one of us is a sheep. As Christ said, there is no marriage in heaven, but we are at an immense banquet table.

The focus in heaven is not ourselves but the Lord and the communion we have with Him. There will be no need.

 

[Robert_in_SD]

Hi Folks. I appreciate all the (name removed by moderator)ut, and I can tell that all are as passionate about their faith tradition as I am about my Catholic faith, but please stop attacking each other and questioning personal motives. I’m trying to gather information about the LDS faith and would prefer a dialogue that is respectful and sincere. I’m no angel, and I’ve gone off the rails from time to time so I understand the feelings … believe me! But let’s remember (or at least work from the assumption) that we’re all here to share in good faith.

Peace,
Robert

 

[pablope]

Actually, it completely addresses what our apostle stated. Latter-day Saints believe that for someone to receive eternal life, also known as “exaltation”, one must, among other things, be sealed to their spouse. So, a man cannot be exalted in the Celestial Kingdom without his wife, and a woman cannot be exalted in the Celestial Kingdom without her husband. What our apostle stated jives completely with that, as well as Ephesians 5:23 (which you already referred to earlier) and 1 Corinthians 11:3, Genesis 3:16, etc.

Members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ know that eternal life only comes through accepting the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We believe that one must have complete faith in Him, and it is only through Him that we can be exalted. It is not an “either, or” situation where one must choose between their spouse and Christ, but a situation where “neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:11).

I suggest you read 1 Cor 7, where Paul speaks of celibacy and its glories.

 

[flyonthewall]

I suggest you read 1 Cor 7, where Paul speaks of celibacy and its glories.

Perhaps a closer reading of 1 Cor 7 by you may shed some light on what Paul was actually saying…but that is off topic, so maybe a separate thread?

 

[BYUChemAlum]

Hello BYUChem;

Yes, I did read the article you linked and it relied entirely on the OT passages and some very interesting interpretations, that I didn’t find to be very compelling. My follow up was intending to ask if there were any New Testament scripture passages that LDS turned to for support of the idea of a Heavenly Mother (as described by the LDS church). Didn’t see any responses from anyone on the question. But if you come across something, please share a link.

Peace,
Robert

Hi Robert,

No, I am not aware of any NT verses that are referenced in support of the existence of Heavenly Mother. From what I have read thus far, most apologetic efforts on this issue tend to focus on what was going on in Israel in relation to Divine Council theology and Asherah, as mentioned in that article, and not really anything from NT times. And, as you have already noted, what it really comes down to ultimately for Latter-day Saints is the acceptance of what we believe to be latter-day revelation from God on the issue.

 

[KathleenGee]

Mary passed on to heaven and became the Mother of all Christians because of her intervention and help in the lives of Christians…I believe her first noticeable and documented help was about 200 years after the beginning of Christianity, and she has made herself known for a very long time.

If you know nothing or do not want to know about the life of the Church, you will never find out how she loves us and keeps us safe from loosing our faith in Christ.