On this blog, I have defended the personal pre-existence of Jesus against Socinians who deny such, instead favouring a merely notional pre-existence for Jesus:
Jesus was not a Unitarian (leads to a full review by David Paulsen et al. of Anthony Buzzard, Jesus was not a Trinitarian: A Call to Return to the Creed of Jesus [2007])
Furthermore, I have argued that to preserve the true humanity of Jesus and His personal pre-existence, one must hold that everyone personally pre-existed:
Notwithstanding, there is one common “proof-text” cited by proponents of the personal pre-existence of Jesus that is not valid, and that is Eph 3:9.
This text in the KJV reads:
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
Most modern translations omit "by Jesus Christ"; note the NRSV, for example:
And to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages i God who created all things.
The reason for this difference is that some manuscripts read διὰ Ἰησοῦ χριστου. However, only a minority of texts contain this variant: D2 (0278) Maj syrh**. The vast majority of texts lack this phrase: P46 א A B C D* F G P Ψ 33 17 39 Syrp cop. As one expert on textual criticism writes:
Since the textual evidence strongly favors the shorter reading and since there is no good reason to explain why the phrase “through Jesus Christ” would have been omitted if it was originally in the text, we must reason that the phrase was added to emphasize Christ’s role in creation (which accords with Pauline thought—see 1 Cor 8:6 and Col 1:16, which have some ideas that are similar to Eph 3:9-10).
(Philip W. Comfort, New Testament Text and Translation Commentary: Commentary on the variant readings of the ancient New Testament manuscripts and how they related to the major English translations [Carol Stream, Illin.: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.: 2008], 586-87)
As a “proof-text” for the personal pre-existence of Jesus, Eph 3:9 should be discarded by Latter-day Saints and others; there are must better texts supporting this important Christological truth (e.g., John 8:58; 17:5).
