Mormonism and the nature of God/"Celestial sex"

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Criticism

• Critics claim that Latter-day Saints believe in a practice called "Celestial sex," and that this is the manner in which "spirit children" are formed.

Source(s) of the criticism

• Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism (Harvest House Publishers: 2005). 154, 157, 255, 331n35. ( Index of claims )
• Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003), 285, 573n21 ( Index of claims )
• The God Makers (film)

Response

Coexisting with these two deities was a limitless amount of cosmic spirit matter known as "intelligence," out of which Elohim and Heavenly Mother made countless spirit babies via celestial sex.
—One Nation Under Gods, p. 285

Quotes made by early LDS leaders are used to support this claim. It should be noted, however, that LDS leaders never used the offensive term "Celestial sex." This phrase was coined, and continues to be used, only by critics of the Church.

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 387

Brigham Young, June 18, 1865, Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, 122.

Orson Pratt, "The Pre-Existence of Man," The Seer, March 1853, vol. 1, no. 3, 38

Endnotes

None

Further reading

FAIR web site

• FAIR Topical Guide: