Mormonism and the nature of God/"Celestial sex"

< Mormonism and the nature of God

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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

Response

So, who invented the term “Celestial sex?"

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

∗       ∗       ∗

The quote illustrated above is a typical example of how critics twist LDS beliefs into a form that makes them look ridiculous. Quotes made by early LDS leaders are often used to support the claim that Latter-day Saints believe in “Celestial sex.” It should be noted, however, that LDS leaders have never used the offensive term "Celestial sex." This phrase was coined by critics of the Church for its “shock value” in portraying the following concepts in LDS belief:

  1. The belief that God the Father has a physical body.
  2. The belief that there exists a Heavenly Mother who also possesses a physical body.
  3. The belief that our Heavenly Father and Mother together are capable of creating “spirit children.”

Critics take these ideas and put them together in order to crudely state that Latter-day Saints therefore believe in “Celestial sex.” Various anti-Mormon works mock this idea. For example, the 1982 anti-Mormon film “The God Makers” makes reference to “engaging in celestial sex with their goddess wives." One woman in the film, who is claimed to have once been a Latter-day Saint, expresses the idea that the primary goal of women in the Church is to "become a goddess in heaven" in order to "multiply an earth" and be "eternally pregnant." The caricature that Latter-day Saints expect to have "endless Celestial sex" in order to populate their own planet is very popular among critics of the Church.

Such assumptions simply take what we know about our physical world and naively apply it to the afterlife. When one examines the critics’ point further, the following question ought to be raised: How does the union of two immortal beings in a physical manner produce spirit offspring? Latter-day Saint belief is that “spirit children” only receive a physical body upon being born on earth. This question, of course, cannot be answered. It is pointless to speculate on the exact manner in which “spirit children” are produced, and to assume that this occurs through a process called “Celestial sex” is to apply a worldly mindset to a spiritual process. The bottom line: Latter-day Saints do not know the mechanism by which “spirit children” are produced.

What have LDS leaders actually said about procreation in the afterlife?

Just because we do not know the exact process by which “spirit children” are created does not mean that LDS leaders have not speculated on the process. Let’s look at the quotes that are often used to support the critics’ concept of “Celestial sex.”

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 387

"[I]ntelligence or spirit element became intelligences after the spirits were born as individual [spirit] entities."

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 750

"Our spirit bodies had their beginning in pre-existence when we were born as the spirit children of God our Father. Through that birth process spirit element was organized into intelligent entities."

Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, 122

"[God] created man, as we create our children; for there is no other process of creation in heaven, on the earth, in the earth, or under the earth, or in all the eternities, that is, that were, or that ever will be."
— Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 11:122..

John A. Widtsoe, A Rational Theology, p. 69

The author of the anti-Mormon book Becoming Gods says the following:

"As for the sexual aspect of this event, LDS apostle John A. Widtsoe explained, 'Sex Among the Gods. Sex, which is indispensable on this earth for the perpetuation of the human race, is an eternal quality which has its equivalent everywhere.'" (p. 392, n14)

Upon reading the quote above, it does indeed sound as if Widtsoe is talking about a “sex act” among gods. It must be noted, however, that Widtsoe referred to "sex" as a "quality" rather than a "practice." Of course, the fact that two genders exist at all implies that it somehow takes both to accomplish the creation of spirit children. Looking at Widtsoe’s quote in context:

Sex Among the Gods.
Sex, which is indispensable on this earth for the perpetuation of the human race, is an eternal quality which has its equivalent everywhere. It is indestructible. The relationship between men and women is eternal and must continue eternally. In accordance with Gospel philosophy there are males and females in heaven. Since we have a Father, who is our God, we must also have a mother, who possesses the attributes of Godhood. This simply carries onward the logic of things earthly, and conforms with the doctrine that whatever is on this earth is simply a representation of spiritual conditions of deeper meaning than we can here fathom.

Would a “sex act” be considered a “quality” that was “indestructible?” Note the use of contextual presentism in the use of the term "sex". The word “sex” was used in those days as we would use the term "gender" today. It is more reasonable to consider “gender” a “quality” that is “indestructible.” Consider the following quote from James E. Talmage.

“We affirm as reasonable, scriptural, and true, the eternity of sex among the children of God. The distinction between male and female is no condition peculiar to the relatively brief period of mortal life. It was an essential characteristic of our pre-existent condition, even as it shall continue after death, in both disembodied and resurrected states .... [The] scriptures attest a state of existence preceding mortality, in which the spirit children of God lived, doubtless with distinguishing characteristics, including the distinction of sex, "before they were [created] naturally upon the face of the earth." ("The Eternity of Sex," Millennial Star, 24 August 1922, p. 530.)"

Note the phrase “the distinction of sex.” Talmage is not talking about a “sex act,” but rather the distinction between the two sexes or genders.

Conclusion

One must remember that it is the critics that invented and use the term "celestial sex." This is not a term used by Latter-day Saints. It has, in fact, never been used by Latter-day Saints. Regardless of the method by which Latter-day Saints may or may not believe that spiritual procreation occurs, the use of the term "celestial sex" by critics is intended to be demeaning and shocking to Latter-day Saints. It is a form of mockery that is not worthy of someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ. That such a term tends to be used by an author who claims to be Christian infers more about what is going on in his mind than it does the mind of any Latter-day Saint.

Endnotes

None


Further reading

FAIR wiki articles


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