Life After Ministry

Kings and Queens in Embryo

By Melissa Grimes

In the May 2010 General Conference Dieter F. Uchtdorf told the women of the Mormon Church-

“Sisters, we love you. We pray for you. Be strong and of good courage. You are truly royal spirit daughters of Almighty God. You are princesses, destined to become queens. Your own wondrous story has already begun. Your ‘once upon a time’ is now.” (May 2010 Ensign, page 127)

The first time I was told I would became a “queen” was during a Mormon temple ceremony when I was washed and anointed to become a queen and priestesses to my husband in the eternities. At this time I had only been a member of the Mormon Church for a little over a year, and the thought of becoming a queen in heaven was a very foreign concept to me.

At the same time I was being anointed to become a queen, my husband was being anointed to become a king and priest. Mormonism teaches these are the roles a husband and wife have as they create and rule over our own world(s) after they received their exaltation to godhood. This is ultimate goal for the temple worthy Mormon.

President Spencer W. Kimball taught the members of the Mormon Church that they have it within themselves to become just like their god. They believe just as he planned, created the earth out of pre-existing unorganized matter they too will construct their own world(s).

“You have the great powers of thinking and the ability to plan and organize and love. All these powers that were given to you were given for the purpose that you someday might become like your Father in Heaven. That is the possibility, and if you do not become that, it is your fault totally.” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.52).

He goes on to explain how through the Mormon Church every member can become a king or queen all on their own. It all depends on what they are willing do. The key here is obedience, obedience to the Mormon Gospel and leadership.

“You could be the queen of Holland, the czar of Russia, or the emperor of Japan. You could be any great person in this world, but you would be a pygmy compared to what you can be in this Church. Every one of you can be a queen who will not lose her crown when she dies, a king who will not lose his sceptre when he dies. Every one of you! Not just the smartest of you, but every one of you can become a queen or a king and have princes and princesses of your own. It all depends on what you do. “(The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 52).

As their third Article of Faith states:

“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the (Mormon) Gospel.”

Brigham Young said if the members of his church overcome the world, their flesh and the devil, Jesus will make them “king of kings and lord of lords” (JoD vol. 10, page 355). To hope to become a queen or king in heaven sounds more than a little blasphemous doesn’t it? They want to work so hard to bring glory to themselves they completely remove God from the equation.

They are so focused on bringing adoration and exaltation to themselves they can’t see what they are doing. God didn’t create us to become just like him in every way to the extent of becoming a god as well. He created us so that we would have a relationship with him, and to bring him glory.  We begin that relationship by becoming part of his family through Jesus. This is when we start to become more like him, our way of thinking changes and we want to follow him, to do his will and above all worship him. We don’t long to be worshiped and become a god ourselves.

Jesus is our King, he’s THE King there will never be another. As a Mormon I would have said to this “well yes he’s our King, and will always be our King, but the Mormon priesthood holder will to be a king to and under Him”. Reminds you of a multi-level marking, pyramid scheme doesn’t it? Yet this is how I would have thought it, Mormon doctrine twists scripture and logic just so it will fit into this maze they call “the only true church”.

Neglecting what scripture has told us about who Jesus is allows them the wiggle room they need to indulge in their self glorifying fantasy of becoming a king and god in the next life. I can see how this would stroke the ego of the moral man who is bound to a works righteous system where all his “good works” will be counted it his account for his glory.

But what about the women of the Mormon church who are told they will become queens? At first this may sound like an intriguing idea, what woman doesn’t think about living a life of comfort and ease? Like her husband she will believe she will achieve this goal only through her “good works” and obedience to the Mormon gospel.

Jeremiah (7:18, 44:17-25) talks about the “Queen of Heaven” too, this queen of heaven is a Babylonian goddess called Ashtoreth and Astarte. Women at the time of Jeremiah were worshiping her because of her reputation as a fertility goddess (1). Jeremiah warns the people not to worship false gods/goddess and engage in idolatrous practices.

Being a “queen” of your own heaven in Mormonism will be anything but a life of ease and comfort. Even though you will not be prayed to or worshipped as the Babylonian goddess was you will be expected too and “in a condition to multiply forever and ever”, as Apostle Orson Pratt put it in The Seer. He goes on to say:

“As soon as each God has begotten many millions of male and female spirits, and his Heavenly inheritance becomes too small, to comfortably accommodate his great family, he, in connection with his sons, organizes a new world after a similar order to be one which we now inhabit, where he sends both the male and female spirits to inhabit tabernacles of flesh and bones.”(2)

Keep in mind the “inhabitants” Mr. Pratt is referring to is the Mormon’s spirit children.

“The inhabitants of each world are required to reverence, adore, and worship their own personal father who dwells in the Heaven which they formerly inhabited.” (2)

So we’ve learned Mormons believe they will become a king or queen of their own world/heaven. They will be exalted and elevated to the level of their god receiving all he has and doing all they believe he has done.  Lastly they will create their own world and populate it just has they believe has been done before by other gods, and be worshiped by their own spirit children.

I feel it’s important I conclude by saying we weren’t created to receive glory through our works, but for God to receive glory through his work in us. Those who have followed Christ and lived their lives through Him will receive “crowns” for their “good works”. These crowns aren’t going to be something we will wear for others to see, but we will cast them at the feet of Jesus (Revelations 4:10) and he will receive the glory for the good works done by the believers in his name. The believers will receive everlasting life, and enjoy being in the presence of the Father for eternity. =)

References –

1) http://www.gotquestions.org/Queen-of-Heaven.html

2) Apostle Orson Pratt, The Seer, pg. 37-38