Question
Gramps,
I remember reading that someone (I believe it was Spencer W Kimball) said that the earth is female, but I cannot find anything about that now.
Vicki
Answer
Dear Vicki,
While I don’t know what source you’re referring to, it’s probable that it stems from the account found in Moses 7:48-67 where Enoch is conversing with the Lord about the salvation of the earth. Verse 48 reads:
And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?
While there are various interpretations of this verse, some take it literally. For example, in Journal of Discourses (as found in the Scripture Citation Index), Heber C. Kimball is recorded as having said:
Some say the earth exists without spirit; [D&C 88:25-26, Moses 7:48-49] I do not believe any such thing; it has a spirit as much as anybody has a spirit. How can anything live, except it has a living spirit? How can the earth produce vegetation, fruits, trees, and every kind of production, if there is no life in it? It could not, any more than a woman could produce children when she is dead: she must be alive to produce life, to manifest it, and show it to the world.
And the cited verses in the Doctrine and Covenants say:
25 And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law—
26 Wherefore, it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.
Supporting the belief that the earth has a spirit and agency.
We each must draw our own conclusions from these verses, but they seem to suggest that the earth is indeed female.
Gramps
