Commenting on the Gospel Topics Essay addressing the muted LDS belief in
a Mother in Heaven (“Mother
in Heaven”) Christina Darlington wrote:
They admit,
“While 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 earliest published references to the doctrine appeared
shortly after Joseph Smith’s death in 1844, in documents written by his close
associates. The most notable expression of the idea is found in a poem by Eliza R. Snow, entitled ‘My
Father in Heaven’ and now known as the hymn ‘O My Father.’”
So, here we see that this foundational
teaching within Mormonism is based only on a poem written by Eliza R. Snow. (Christina
R. Darlington, Misguided by Mormonism But
Redeemed by God’s Grace: Leaving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints for Biblical Christianity [2d ed.; 2019], 47, emphasis in original)
While we
will address some of her other arguments on the topic of a Mother in Heaven, we
can already see how deceptive and disingenuous Darlington is on this point. How
so? Because the essay does not say that the doctrine is based “only” on a poem
by Eliza R. Snow (a plural wife of Joseph Smith who would have been familiar
with Joseph Smith’s teachings that may not have been publicised too much). The
essay also reference the following from another close associate of the Prophet’s
in endnote no. 4:
W. W. Phelps, “Come to Me,” in “Poetry, for
the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons
6 (Jan. 15, 1845): 783.
In hymn he composed
for the dedication of the Seventies Hall in Nauvoo in Dec 1844, W.W. Phelps
made the first known public declaration of the doctrine of a Heavenly Mother:
A VOICE FROM THE
PROPHET. "COME TO ME." BY W. W. PHELPS, ESQ. --TUNE -- "Indian
Hunter." --
Come to me, will ye
come to the saints that have died,
To the next better
world, where the.
Come to me where the
truth and the virtues prevail;
Where the union is
one, and the years never fail;
Where a heart can't
conceive, nor a nat'ral eye see,
What the Lord has
prepar'd for the just: Come to me.
Come to me where
there is no destruction or war;
Neither tyrants, or
mobbers, or nations ajar;
Where the system is
perfect, and happiness free,
And the life is
eternal with God: Come to me.
Come to me, will ye
come to the mansions above,
Where the bliss and
the knowledge, the light, and the love,
Death, the wages of
sin, is not here: Come to me.
Come to me, here are
Adam and Eve at the head
Of a multitude,
quicken'd and rais'd from the dead:
Here's the knowledge
that was, or that is, or will be
In the gen'ral
assembly of worlds: Come to me.
Come to me; here's
the myst'ry that man hath not seen:
Here's our Father in
heaven, and Mother, the Queen,
Here are worlds that
have been, and the worlds yet to be:
Here's eternity, --
endless; amen: Come to me.
Come to me all ye
faithful and blest of Nauvoo:
Come ye Twelve, and
ye High Priests, and Seventies, too;
Come ye Elders, and
all of the great company;
When you've finish'd
your work on the earth: Come to me.
Come to me; here's
the future, the present and past:
Here is Alpha, Omega,
the first and the last;
Here's the fountain,
the "river of life," and the Tree:
Here's your Prophet
& Seer, JOSEPH SMITH: Come to me. (emphasis added)
Phelps, it should
be noted, was Joseph Smith’s ghostwriter (i.e., was commissioned to write using
the name of Joseph Smith; on this, see Samuel Brown, “The
Translator and the Ghostwriter: Joseph Smith and W. W. Phelps,” Journal of Mormon History vol. 34, no. 1
[Winter 2008], pp. 26-62).
Interestingly,
a possible case for belief in a divine feminine is found in the Book of Mormon.
See Daniel C. Peterson, Nephi
and his Asherah: A Note on 1 Nephi 11:8-23.
One has to
realise that, for Darlington, as she operates under the false doctrine (and
presumption of) Sola Scriptura, there must
be an explicit scriptural statement affirming doctrine ‘x’ for ‘x’ to be true.
Of course, this is anti-biblical. For a thorough refutation (as well as
exegesis of key texts such as 2 Tim 3:16-17), see:
Interestingly enough, even Darlington admits that Sola Scriptura itself, and the cessation of special revelation (a prerequisite for the Protestant understanding of "tota" scriptura [which is required for sola scriptura to be in effect, as discussed in my essay above]) is also not directly taught by the Bible:
. . . it is true that there is no specific verse in the Bible that says that God’s revelation in the form of Scripture is completely closed. (Ibid., 7)
Continuing
on her misinformed comments about a Mother in Heaven, Darlington continues:
Yet, this teaching lies at the heart of the
Mormon belief in a preexistence. (Ibid., 47)
Actually,
one could argue rather reasonably that belief in a Mother in Heaven is not at the heart of the Latter-day Saint
belief that everyone personally
pre-existed. Indeed, the belief was explicated by Joseph Smith in uniquely
Latter-day Saint Scriptures before any mention of a Heavenly Mother was mentioned
in LDS literature, such as D&C 93 and Abraham 3 in the Pearl of Great
Price.
Furthermore,
Christology is, I would argue, at the
heart of the Latter-day Saint doctrine that we all pre-existed personally, not
Jesus only as it preserves the true
humanity of Jesus. On the issue of
pre-existence, only LDS, not the Trinitarian, model allows for one to speak
of Jesus pre-existing, as well as allowing for his (personal)
pre-existence not to conflict with his being truly and fully human. For a
fuller discussion, see:
Furthermore,
Joseph Smith did not teach the later doctrine of “spirit birth”; such would be
something developed by B.H. Roberts (1857-1933), as seen in his book, The
Mormon Doctrine of Deity (1903). For a fuller discussion, see the
following posts by Jonathan Stapley:
and
Kevin L. Barney, How to worship Our Mother in Heaven (Without Getting Excommunicated) (cf. his shorter study, published by FairMormon, Do We Have a Mother in Heaven?)
