Premortal Existence: Does it Exist?

Eliza Lino Abaya Challenges me
to Discuss the Pre-Mortal Existence.
She didn't respond actually
the last article I created about
the “Mother in Heaven”.
And here she is trying to open up
a new Discussion.

Alright, since LDS believes in life before mortality, I'll take the bait, and let's see if she can debunk it. Okay so let's make our stand -

  • So, what is the LDS belief or Doctrine about Pre-Mortal Existence (sometimes called pre-earth life, pre-existence, or life before mortality, etc.)?
  • Do LDS have a firm belief about life before they were born?
The Premortal Existence
LDS believes that we are literal Children of God. And literal means we existed with God as our Father with other members of the grand council (basically that includes our Prophets, leaders in General and our relatives and friends etc.) This means, we existed before in one Grand Heavenly Family with Our Father in Heaven, who provided a plan to help us achieve more like Him as a perfect being. The plan was made and earth life was introduced, but we will not talk more about this instead. So, where can we find that biblically? There are numbers of scripture that support this idea. First, God knew us -

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

This scripture demonstrates how God already knew each individual before they came out in mortality. This idea shows that if a man doesn't have an existence before they were born, then how come, God knows a Child and his intellectual well-being if God hasn't known or met a person in his Premortal State? Some say it was only applied to Jeremiah, for God has a mission for him, or perhaps he was prepared as some other prophets 

Another scripture that supports this doctrine of pre-existence is found in Ecclesiastes 12:7 -

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

The Hebrew word "תָּשׁ֔וּב - tā·šūḇ" simply means to go back, or to turn back, or to retreat.

Every soul after everyone dies will return to God who gives it. The word return has something to do with every soul's Existence. We cannot go back somewhere or go to a specific place if it doesn't exist or our spirits have no existence.

Just take this simple pattern. When McArthur declared that he "Shall Return" to the Philippines, Does he mean he has never been in the Philippines and that's why he will return? Of course, he was here already, and as history goes on, he went back to the Philippines the second time to assist the Filipinos in fighting for their freedom against the Japanese. But we will not go any further to that, my point is simple. As the Biblical passage shows that each spirit will return to the God who gave it, so basically, each spirit has its existence before it came to life.

My question to you Eliza Lino Abaya is -

  • If the Spirit has no Existence, then how will you apply in your theology the scriptures that said contrary to it?
Lastly, now here's the good part. Before Christ offers up himself to atone for our sins. Here's his prayer and a request from the Father in Heaven. He says this -

John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory WHICH I HAD WITH THEE BEFORE THE WORLD WAS.

Now, here are the words Christ said in his plea to the Father. So my question is -

  • Does Christ have glory before the world was?
  • Where was that and what kind of place?
  • How can Christ request something he owned while there's no such thing as pre-existence?

Notes and further reading -

See also - ,
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