Post By Charlotte Scholl Shurtz
Myth: We don’t talk about or worship Heavenly Mother because we don’t know if we all have the same one.
Fact: The vast majority of authoritative statements teach that the Lord’s standard is monogamy, which suggests only one Heavenly Mother.
The Lord’s standard is monogamy. This is clearly taught in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Deuteronomy 17:17 instructs, “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away.”1 When describing the qualifications for a bishop, Timothy of the New Testament included, “the husband of one wife.”2 Jacob of the Book of Mormon taught, “Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none.”3 If the Lord’s standard is monogamy, then it would make sense for God the Father to only be married to one God the Mother.
While the purpose of this website is not to discuss polygamy, if you are interested in reading more on this topic, two excellent resources are Carol Lynn Pearson’s book The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy4 and Valerie Hudson’s essay “Polygamy.”5
1 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/deut/17.17?lang=eng#16
2 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/1-tim/3.2?lang=eng#1
3 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/jacob/2.27,30?lang=eng#p27
4 https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Eternal-Polygamy-Haunting-Hearts/dp/0997458208
5 http://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleCasslerPolygamy
The Nag Hammadi Library contains early Christian writings that did not make it into the Bible, but which were common among the early church.
http://gnosis.org/naghamm/sjc.html
Among these books is The Sophia of Jesus Christ or The Wisdom of Jesus Christ. This short book of early Christian scripture mentions God’s consort. A consort is a queen and the wife of a king. The book discusses her role and partnership with God the Father. It mentions only one consort, queen of heaven, and heavenly mother of the human family. Portions of the book are highly symbolic and difficult to interpret without a latter day understanding of the garden of Eden story, but what seems clear from the text is that there is one Heavenly Mother mentioned and not several.