Category: Preexistence
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Intelligences (Defined)
Intelligences. Mentioned in the Standard Works only in Abraham 3:21-22. It can refer to either the pre-existent spirit offspring of God or individual eternal entities that existed before the pre-existence. At one time every person existed as an intelligence. Joseph Smith stated, “Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth,…
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Grand Council (Defined)
Grand Council. Also referred to as “Council of the Gods” that took place in the pre-existence. According to Joseph Smith, this was the place where “in the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it” (Teachings…
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First Estate (Defined)
First Estate. The premortal life.Return to dictionary here.
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Council in Heaven (Defined)
Council in Heaven. A council of the gods held in the pre-existence to arrange for the creation and peopling of the earth. This council was called by Elohim, the “head of the Gods” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 349). Also present were Jehovah, Michael, and Lucifer. This council also determined how mankind would be saved.
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Does John 9:1-3 prove the preexistence is true?
In John 9:1-3 the disciples passed by a man blind from birth and asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answers, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Some Mormons have used this…
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A Vision of Mormonism’s Premortality
Did you know that no women chose the side of Lucifer in Mormonism’s premortal War in Heaven? Of course, this is not official LDS Church doctrine, but according to a vision received by Mosiah Hancock in 1855, every female spirit chose to either side with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ or to remain neutral during…
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From the Mailbag (10/24/2011)
Thank you for taking the time to document exactly what it is Mormons believe verses the Bible. I am married to a Mormon. I am a Christian and stand firm by the tenets of the Faith exactly as you have listed them. What seems clear to me is like talking to someone from a foreign…
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Proverbs 8 and the Mormon Doctrine of Preexistence
Don and Rayola Larson are Latter-day Saints who have served in various leadership roles in the Mormon Church. They have been teachers at two Church-owned and operated schools, and completed two proselyting missions. Of their mission to England, they write, “We began holding classes and taught groups of people…It soon became apparent that some of…