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In 1950, Elder LeGrand Richards wrote the book A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. For many years, it was an important resource for understanding the doctrines of the restoration. The book starts with a story extracted from a pamphlet written by an early apostle, Orson F. Whitney:

Many years ago, there came to Salt Lake City a learned doctor of divinity, a member of the Roman Catholic Church…… One day he said to me: “You Mormons are all ignoramuses. You don’t even know the strength of your own position.

The account focuses on the question of the true church, but it can also be applied to the doctrines of the restoration. Too often, church members are ignoramuses because we fail to appreciate the unique, powerful, and inspiring implications of the principles that were restored. The purpose of this article is to focus on one of those doctrines—the concept of pre-mortal life—and to show what it teaches us and why that knowledge is so important. The basic question will be “So What?” Why does a knowledge of pre-mortal life matter? I will suggest 14 important reasons why our understanding and behavior are influenced by this key doctrine.

What does the doctrine of pre-mortal life entail?

A good starting point for understanding the concept of pre-mortal life is the Proclamation on the Family, which states that:

“In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.”

Specific components of the doctrine of pre-mortal life include:

Spirit Children of God: We are all literal spirit children of Heavenly Parents. We lived with Them before mortality.

The Council in Heaven: A grand council was held where Heavenly Father presented His plan of salvation, which included coming to earth to gain a physical body, being tested, and progressing toward eternal life. God’s plan guaranteed the gift of agency. Lucifer (who became Satan) rebelled against this plan, seeking to destroy agency. Those who followed Lucifer were cast out and denied a mortal body.

Preparation for Earth Life: During pre-mortality, spirits grew in intelligence, developed individual characteristics, and were prepared for their missions on earth.

The Veil of Forgetfulness: Upon coming to earth, a “veil” of forgetfulness was placed over our minds, so we would not remember our premortal life. This is necessary so that we can “walk by faith and not by sight” and fully exercise our agency.

What Do Other Faiths/Philosophies Teach About Pre-Mortal Existence?

Some of the more accurate understandings come from outside Christianity. Plato taught that we lived in a world where we knew everything, but that our knowledge was lost at birth. A belief of Islam is that we were all created at the same time as Adam, but, like Plato taught, our knowledge was taken at birth.

Many of the early Christian writers seem to have understood. For example, Clement of Alexandria, writing about 200 CE, taught that “the human soul is eternal, for it was not without existence before birth, and it does not perish when the body is dissolved.” Unfortunately, this truth was continually suppressed until, in the 553 CE 2nd Council of Constantinople, the church, under intense pressure from the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I, decreed that “if anyone accepts the fabulous (i.e., fabled) pre-existence of souls, let him be Anathema,” which means accursed or cast out.

It is difficult to characterize modern Christianity as a homogenous whole, but most sects teach that all of creation was “ex nihilo”, which means created out of nothing at a point in time. This tenant created an almost insurmountable gulf between the Creator and his creations. It implies that the parent-child description is just a metaphor and not a literal relationship—that we are fundamentally different from God.

The orthodox view is that life begins at conception and eternity exists going forward, but not backward. One Christian catechism instructs novices to the faith regarding our purpose in existence that “God made us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him forever in the next world.” That’s a far cry from Moses 1:39: For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

As is often the case, the teachings of churches don’t reflect the intuitive beliefs of their members. Many people perceive themselves as having existed before birth. This idea was most famously expressed by Wordsworth in his poem, Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home…

What do the scriptures and the prophets teach?

The Bible contains hints about a pre-mortal life, but they are sparse. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee.” John 9:2 recounts the story of a man blind from birth who was healed. The apostles ask Jesus if he was born blind, did this malady occur because he sinned, or because his parents sinned? The implication is that the apostles understood that he existed before birth. Hebrews 12:9 refers to God as the father of our spirits.

Latter-day scriptures greatly expand our understanding. In D&C 93:29, we are taught that “Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.” D&C 138 unveils the concept of the spirit world. Verse 56, speaking of the Lord’s chosen, says “…..before they were born, they received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth….”

The War in Heaven is recounted in Moses 4:1-4. Those verses describe the role of Christ and the rebellion of Satan. But the most comprehensive scriptural source regarding pre-mortal life is Abraham 3:18-26:

18 Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal.

What do we learn?—Our spirits are eternal. Joseph Smith taught that “The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end.

19 And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all.

What do we learn?—God is the supreme intelligence. But He is not a separate species. Joseph Smith said, “There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are coequal with our Father in Heaven.”

22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

What do we learn?—There are individual differences in progress and nature.

23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

What do we learn?—Some were foreordained to missions during mortality.

24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; 25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

What do we learn?—Life is a test, a probationary period.

26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

What do we learn?—Actions during pre-mortal life affect our mortal experience, and mortality impacts our eternal status.

And now I return to the question posed at the beginning: So, what? Why does understanding the doctrine of pre-mortal life matter?

Who Am I? Understanding our true heritage is crucial to understanding our destiny. The backstory of our existence helps explain the now story and the future story. Below are fourteen important reasons the doctrine of pre-mortal life is important.

 1. REVEALS OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD AND OUR TRUE IDENTITY

We are literal children of Heavenly Parents. The relationship is parent and child, not creator and creation. This concept is embedded in the Young Women’s theme, “I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents, with a divine nature and eternal destiny.”

In one of their rare official statements, the First Presidency in 1909 proclaimed, “All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother and are literally the sons and daughters of deity.” Elder Boyd K. Packer absolved us all from the duty of doing family history research when he said, “The pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line. You are a child of God!” As usual, the Primary is spot on. The first hymn in the Children’s Songbook includes the words “I am a child of God and He has sent me here……And if I but learn to do His will, I’ll live with Him once more.”

2. EXPLAINS AN INTEGRAL PART OF GOD’S PLAN

The concept of pre-mortal life is integral to God’s plan of salvation. The pieces fit together in an integrated puzzle that spans the eternities. Elder Boyd K Packer explained using the analogy of a three-act play. A young man is brought into a theatre, given a script, and told that he will be part of the play. Unfortunately, he arrived at the start of the second act and was only given the script for the rest of the play. Having no idea what had already transpired, he was bewildered and unable to play his part. Elder Packer likened this to coming to earth with no knowledge of what had happened before.

3. CLARIFIES OUR RELATIONSHIP TO CHRIST

How are we related to Jesus Christ? Then known as Jehovah, He was the Firstborn of God’s spirit children, which means he our elder brother. Because of his obedience and progression, He volunteered and was chosen to be our Savior. The doctrine of pre-mortal life clarifies His role in God’s plan.

 4. CONFIRMS OUR DIVINE POTENTIAL

As literal children of Heavenly Parents, we have a divine destiny and potential. In Romans 8: 17, Paul taught that “if children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” The apocryphal Gospel of Philip makes a rather pedestrian, but insightful comparison: “A horse sires a horse, a man begets man, a god brings forth a god.”

The famous couplet of Lorenzo Snow clearly identifies what we might become, “as man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.” And I return to what I consider perhaps the most concise and instructive verse in all scripture, Moses 1:39: For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

5. HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF AGENCY

Our understanding of the events during pre-mortal life shows that agency is fundamental and guaranteed under God’s plan. Moreover, the fact that we exist in mortality means that we made the right choice in the Council in Heaven. And it should give us confidence that we can continue to do so.

6. EXPLAINS THE IDENTITY AND ROLE OF SATAN

At the risk of oversimplification, most other Christian churches teach that angels were created to serve God eternally and that they are fundamentally different than us. Lucifer is a fallen angel from among that class of beings.

In contrast, the Church teaches that Lucifer (who was later called Satan) was one of God’s spirit children. He must have had status because he is referred to in Isaiah 14 as a “Son of the Morning.” He offered a counterplan in the Grand Council, based on his desire for power and glory. That plan would have supposedly saved all at the expense of individual agency. Rejected, He rebelled and was cast out with 1/3 of the hosts of heaven who chose to follow him.

7. RESOLVES THE ISSUE OF THE SOURCE OF EVIL IN THE WORLD

One of the age-old problems of philosophy and religion is the source of evil. The problem is the apparent conflict between three truths: God is all-powerful, God is good, and Evil Exists. If God is good and all-powerful, He would not allow evil. Since evil exists, either God does not exist, He is not all-good, or He is not all-powerful.

The argument is that, if God created us, He must be responsible for the evil we cause. But the concept of pre-mortal life teaches that we are eternal and endowed with agency. We can choose between good and evil. This agency is essential for growth and individual progression. Satan also has agency and exists as an opposition force. God isn’t the source of evil, but the principle of agency requires that He allow it to exist.

8. AFFIRMS FOREORDINATION AND REJECTS PREDESTINATION

Those who demonstrated “exceeding faith and good works” in premortal life were foreordained (called and prepared) to fulfill specific missions and responsibilities in mortality. Joseph Smith taught, “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of this world was ordained to that very purpose in the grand council of Heaven before the world was.” However, foreordination is not a guarantee and does not negate the person’s free agency in this life. Realization of pre-mortal promised blessings is predicated on mortal obedience.

9. CLARIFIES THE PURPOSE OF MORTALITY

Mortality is a probationary period to test for obedience and to learn and grow. As such, it is just part of a longer journey. Although there will be a time of judgment, life is more of a classroom than a courtroom. In the premortal war in heaven, spirits gained “gospel knowledge, testimony, and faith in the Savior.” This faith became a protection, and learning the gospel on Earth is viewed as “relearning what we once knew

10. PROVIDES UNDERSTANDING ABOUT TRIALS AND SUFFERING

Choices made in premortal life influence an individual’s mortal experience, though the exact extent has not been fully revealed. But we know that spirits voluntarily accepted the plan, knowing that it involved real “risk” and “real danger” and that they would be “subject to mortality,” which includes pain, sorrow, grief, and suffering. They chose to come to Earth knowing that trials would be a part of the experience.

The idea of knowingly choosing or accepting specific trials is not a matter of explicit Church doctrine. However, some teachings and personal accounts suggest that some individuals may have known of and even “looked forward” to the trials or responsibilities connected with their foreordained missions.

The premortal acceptance of suffering was made possible by the understanding that a Savior would be provided. The premortal Jesus Christ (Jehovah) volunteered to be the Savior, agreeing to suffer infinitely to overcome sin and death and to empower us to be stronger and better.

11. EXPLAINS INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Sometimes, people are described as the product of nature or nurture, where nature refers to our DNA and nurture to our cumulative life experiences. But it is more complicated than that. If we lived and learned in our pre-mortal life, that must have shaped our nature and understanding. President Harold B. Lee explained:

All these rewards were seemingly promised, or foreordained, before the world was. Surely, these matters must have been determined by the kind of lives we had lived in that premortal spirit world. Some may question these assumptions, but at the same time they will accept, without any question, the belief that each one of us will be judged when we leave this earth according to his or her deeds during our lives here in mortality. Isn’t it just as reasonable to believe that what we have received here in this earth life was given to each of use according to merits of our conduct before we came here?”

President Russell M. Nelson taught the youth of the Church, “You were chosen by our Father to come to earth at this crucial time because of your spiritual valor. You are among the finest, most valiant who have ever come to earth.”

12. PROMOTES CAMPASSIONATE RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS

We are part of an eternal brotherhood and sisterhood. We lived with one another for eons of time. Some of them we knew intimately. This suggests the need for a high level of compassion. Those that we see now as repugnant might have been quite different in the world before. C.S. Lewis said it beautifully in his sermon, The Weight of Glory:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship…. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit….”

13. AFFIRMS THE SANCTITY OF LIFE

Each person is an immortal entity. This perspective encourages us to treat each life with respect and dignity, recognizing the eternal worth of every individual. God’s plan gives life a purpose and meaning, reinforcing the idea that life is sacred and should be protected. Understanding our premortal existence can influence moral and ethical decisions, such as those related to abortion and end-of-life care. It encourages us to consider the eternal implications of our choices.

14. CONFIRMS GENDER IDENTITY

The Proclamation on the Family asserts that “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.” Our spirits weren’t harvested from some primeval soup and randomly assigned to be male or female. That concept has important but potentially controversial implications.

CONCLUSION

Bart Ehrman is a widely read author on religion. He started out in the ministry but became an agnostic because he was unable to reconcile the concepts of a just God and human suffering. Among his many books is Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife, published in 2020. After reviewing the history and philosophies of the afterlife, he exposes his personal belief about the matter:

None of us existed for the entire history of the universe prior to our conception and birth—some 13.8 billion years. And since none of us were troubled by that long period of oblivion, why should we be troubled by the long period of oblivion yet to come…. If I didn’t exist before I was born, why should I exist after I die?

Sounds logical, but he is dead (!!) wrong because his premise is incorrect. All of us have existed for the entire history of the universe. Elder Deiter F. Uchtdorf concisely captured the essence of the idea, “We are eternal beings, without beginning and without end. We have always existed. We are the literal spirit children of divine, immortal, and omnipotent Heavenly Parents!”

The concept of pre-mortal life is one of the most important contributions of the restoration. We need to avoid being ignoramuses and better appreciate the profound implications of this and other restored gospel truths.

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