1. The Starting Point of the “Mother God” Doctrine — Lois Roden
The “Mother God” doctrine promoted by the World Mission Society Church of God is neither original nor a newly revealed truth. Its roots trace back to an unusual and controversial woman in 20th-century American religious history: Lois Roden. Born in Montana, USA, in 1916, Lois Roden joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 1940s. Together with her husband, Ben Roden, she broke away from strict Adventist teachings and founded a new sect called the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. In the 1970s, Lois Roden strongly advocated for “the femininity of God,” a concept long overlooked by mainstream Christianity. She interpreted Genesis 1:27—“God created man in his own image… male and female he created them”—to mean that both masculine (God the Father) and feminine (God the Mother) aspects exist within God. She also emphasized that “Elohim,” the Hebrew word for “God,” is plural, insisting that God is not a singular being but a union of male and female—thus claiming the existence of both a Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. Roden further developed the concept of a “heavenly family,” arguing that the earthly family structure (father, mother, children) applies to heaven as well. This logic is identical to what the WMSCOG uses today when asserting the doctrines of the “heavenly family” and “God the Mother.” In short, Lois Roden was the first to systematically present the core arguments that form the basis of WMSCOG’s doctrines: the female aspect of God, the interpretation of Genesis 1, the plurality of “Elohim,” and the heavenly family concept.

2. The “Eom Soo-in Incident” in Korea and the Doctrine’s Transformation
Later, the “Mother God” doctrine resurfaced in Korea through Eom Soo-in, a WMSCOG member, in 1977. Eom authored a book titled God Who Came in the Flesh, in which she testified that Ahn Sahng-hong was the Second Coming Jesus—a book that Ahn officially adopted as church doctrine. However, not long after, Eom Soo-in began to claim that she herself was the “Mother God.” She interpreted the man and woman in Genesis 1 as God the Father and God the Mother and argued that “the Spirit and the Bride” in Revelation 22:17 also refer to them. She declared that the bride of the Lamb in Revelation 21:9 was herself and cited Galatians 4’s “Jerusalem above… our mother” as evidence of the real existence of a Mother God in heaven.

3. Ahn Sahng-hong’s Rebuttal and Confusion Over the Doctrine
Ahn Sahng-hong strongly denounced Eom Soo-in’s claims at the time, calling them “the devil’s argument” and “the ramblings of a madwoman.” Until the end of his life, he openly denied the “Mother God” doctrine in his sermons. Eom Soo-in’s teachings were essentially identical to those of Lois Roden, making it highly likely that Eom was quoting or directly influenced by Roden’s ideas.

4. The Third Repackaging of the “Mother God” Doctrine
Ultimately, today’s WMSCOG’s “Mother God” doctrine originated with Lois Roden in America, was adapted by Eom Soo-in in Korea—who, after proclaiming Ahn as the Second Coming Jesus, then declared herself as Mother God—and was finally repeated and officially systematized as the “Heavenly Mother” doctrine by the current leader, Jang Gil-ja. Thus, the “Mother God” idea was recycled three times: from America to Korea, and then from one individual to another, solidifying as a hallmark doctrine of this sect.

5. Conclusion
Religious truth must be verified by long history and the essential context of scripture. It should be clearly recognized that the WMSCOG’s “Mother God” doctrine originated with Lois Roden in America, passed through Eom Soo-in in Korea, and was artificially recycled a third time—a man-made, pseudo-religious doctrine.