Category: Preexistence
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Intelligence(s) and Spirits: Competing LDS Views
Joseph Smith’s evolving views on pre-mortal existence shifted from a vague, conceptual intelligence to a later synonymy of intelligence, mind, soul, and spirit, sparking diverse interpretations among his followers.
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Divine Begetting in Mormonism
We explore two LDS theological issues: the concept of pre-mortal spirit begetting and the origins of Adam’s body.
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D&C 76:24 Isn’t About “Literal” Spirit Children
LDS leaders often use D&C 76:24 to promote the notion that humans on this earth are “literal” spirit children of heavenly parents. Thomas Monson references the passage when saying, “The spirits of all men are literally His ‘begotten sons and daughters’.” (Monson) This 1832 revelation, whoever, is clearly referring to redemptive sonship, not pre-mortal “literal”…
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How Jesus and Lucifer Are Related to Humans
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormon) teaches unique doctrines contrary to biblical Christianity. One such belief is that Jesus, Lucifer, and all humans are literally spirit brothers and sisters from a previous existence. To understand the teaching, we must consider what a variety of LDS teachers have said throughout the years. The…
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Does Mormonism Agree That God Created All Things?
Limited dominion, diminished meaning When Mormons say they believe God “created all things”, this is often because: In other words, for the Mormon gods to “create all things” is to re-arrange things they did not create, and to do so in a relatively small corner of the universal sandbox. Essence, existence, and potential To create…
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Crash Course Mormonism: Preexistence / Premortality
Preexistence, also known as premortality, is the belief that God the Father and Heavenly Mother(s) produced spirit children in a spirit world. According to third President John Taylor, “We know that our spirits existed with the Father before we came here” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor, 2001, p. 187). According to Mormonism,…
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Citations on Preexistence/Premortality
The following are sections out of Bill McKeever’s book In their Own Words: A Collection of Mormon Quotations. 7th President Heber J. Grant “We of this Church have been told of the Lord that before we came to this earth we had a life running back to the remotest stretches of eternity; that as spirits…
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Is the Mormon Doctrine of Preexistence True?
Note: This article has been taken from chapter 4 (“Preexistence and the Second Estate”) in the book Mormonism 101: Examining the Religion of the Latter-day Saints (Baker, 2015), co-written by the two authors. The teaching of preexistence (also called premortality) says that “prior to their birth into mortality, all people were begotten spirit children of God…
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Mormonism 201 (Preexistence): Response to Allen Wyatt
John Divito critiques Allen Wyatt’s defense of Mormon doctrines on preexistence.
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Does Job 38:4-7 Support the Preexistence?
In Job 38:4, God questions Job and rebukes him for his pride, asking, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” This is what is known as a rhetorical question. When God formed the world, Job 38:7 says, “The sons of God shouted for joy.” If this is really referring to preexistent…
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Angels: Heavenly beings or evolved humans?
Angels: Heavenly beings or evolved humans? By Bill McKeever The following was originally printed in the November-December 2013 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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Romans 8:16-17: Are we heirs with God?
Romans 8:16-17 By Eric Johnson Romans 8:16-17 have been used by some Mormons to support the idea that there is such a thing as “preexistence” and “exaltation” as gods. It reads, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and…
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Acts 17:29: Are we the offspring of God?
In Acts 17:16-34, Paul addresses the philosophers and leaders of Greek gods and goddesses at Mars Hill in Athens. Instead of worshipping the “unknown God,” he explains in verse 23, his desire is to share the Lord of heaven and earth. In order to make his point, he uses no support from scriptural passages, only…
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Ecclesiastes 12:7: Does This Teach Preexistence?
Mormons believe in a preexistence, where spirts once existed in what is known as the First Estate. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, in part, that “the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” This poetic book is describing how the body decomposes to “dust” and the spirit returns to God for judgment; this does not imply a preexistent…
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Hebrews 12:9: Does This Verse Support the Idea of Preexistence?
Mormons believe in a preexistence, where spirits once existed in what is known as the First Estate. The Ensign magazine cited Hebrews 12:9 to support the doctrine of premortality, saying, “God is our Heavenly Father, a literal spiritual parent.”(“God is Truly Our Father,” Ensign, January 2010, 15). The verse from Hebrews reads, “Furthermore we have had fathers of…
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Jeremiah 1:5: Does This Verse Speak About Preexistence?
By Bill McKeever and Eric JohnsonCertain biblical passages have been used by Latter-day Saints to back premortality, though they have to be taken out of their context to do so. One commonly-used proof text is Jeremiah 1:5, which says,”Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of…
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War in Heaven (Defined)
War in Heaven: Conflict in the premotral life started by Lucifer when his bid to become the savior of the world was rejected. For more information, see here.Return to dictionary here.
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Spirit Children (Defined)
Spirit children: All spirits born to God the Father and Heavenly Mother in the premortal life. One-third of these spirit beings were cast out of heaven for siding with Lucifer in the war in heaven. Return to dictionary here.
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Sons of Perdition (Defined)
Sons of Perdition: Those who rebelled with Lucifer in the pre-existence. The term can also apply to Mormons who willfully and deliberately deny the Holy Ghost and the truth of Mormonism while knowing it to be true. This sin will not be forgvien and will result in outer darkness.
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Preexistence/Premortality (Defined)
Preextistence/premortality: Also referred to as the First Estate or Pre-Mortal State. Mormonism teaches all humans lived near a planet called Kolob as God’s spirit children before coming to earth and taking on human form. Since God’s children could only progress so far in the pre-existence, it was necessary that they go through a probationary state…