The following is an entry on the topic of the pre-existence of souls in the Bible written by S. Kent Brown, a well-respected Latter-day Saint scholar, which appeared in the prestigious Anchor Bible Commentary:
SOULS, PREEXISTENCE OF. A doctrine which teaches that the souls of humans and even animals had a prior existence before being born into mortal bodies. In its appearance among Jewish and early Christian writings, this teaching commonly exhibited influences from Platonic thought. But it also has biblical ties. A notable example consists of these words of the Lord to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5). A second excerpt which recalls this notion is found in the series of questions put to Job by the Lord about the formation of the earth: “On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:6–7). Antecedent influences on this excerpt are difficult to trace, although the Psalms speak of celestial hosts who sing praises to the King of Heaven, echoing Ugaritic poetry (cf. Pss. 19:2; 29:2; 148:2–3).
In the NT, the idea appears in the story of Jesus healing the man born blind. At its outset, “his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ” (John 9:2). The concept of a premortal life, in which an individual is able to make choices, lies at the base of the question, indicating that at least the evangelist and his audience shared this view. One must not rule out the possibility that Jesus’ disciples also believed the doctrine.
It is conceivable that this concept formed an aspect of Paul’s belief, its origins likely lying in his Jewish background. Referring to his turning away from persecuting followers of Jesus, Paul speaks of God as “he who had set me apart before I was born” (Gal 1:15). Another passage, which consists of a thanksgiving to God, reads as follows: “even as he [God] chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). Aside from the issue of the Greek vocabulary used here, the verse seems to affirm that in the beginning a celestial plan had been formulated to select persons to fulfill God’s purposes; a second dimension may be that God’s selection was carried out among persons during a preexistent state.
Jewish sources also reveal the idea of a preexistence. The Wisdom of Solomon, dating to the 1st century b.c.e. and exhibiting Platonic influence, has Solomon say the following in a prayer: “As a child I was by nature well endowed, and a good soul fell to my lot; or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body” (8:19–20). 2 Enoch, whose origin is likely Jewish, states that “all souls are prepared for eternity, before the composition of the earth” (23:5), and later hints at Adam’s preexistence (chap. 32). In a passage that may be laced with Greek influences, Josephus records that the Essenes, who denigrated the body, believed that “the soul is immortal and imperishable. Emanating from the finest ether, these souls become entangled, as it were, in the prison house of the body, to which they are dragged down by a sort of natural spell” (JW 2.8.11). Later rabbinic writers, as well as Philo of Alexandria, also held to this teaching.
Among early Christian writers, the most notable proponent of the doctrine of the preexistence of souls was Origen. For him, the eternal goodness of God required that, since he now dispenses gifts to his creatures, he must always have done so. “It is absurd and impious to suppose that these powers of God have been at any time in abeyance for a single moment … We therefore can imagine no moment whatever when that power was not engaged in acts of well-doing. Whence it follows that there always existed objects for this well-doing, namely, God’s works or creatures” (Princ. 1.4.3). The justice of God, which operates even in the station of life which one inherits, demands that “all rational creatures [be] of one nature, and it is only on this ground that the justice of God in all his dealings with them can be defended, namely, when each contains within himself the reasons why he has been placed in this or in that rank of life” (3.5.4). Thus Origen’s concept affirmed a premortal period in which individual souls were able to make choices. His views were condemned officially in a.d. 553 in the opening Anathema of the Second Council of Constantinople.
Texts recovered in the Nag Hammadi library, of both Jewish and Christian origin, illustrate that the belief in a preexistence was shared by some gnostics. According to the Gos. Eg. in Codex III, Adam was known as a premortal great one who associated with the “holy men of the great light,” “men of the Father” (50:12–14). In a related vein, the heavenly Seth was said to have proposed the gathering of a council of premortal souls, then spelled out a plan “to the whole multitude of the multitudinous assembly” which was received with rejoicing by “the whole house of the Father of Truth.” Consequently, Seth was sent “to reveal the glory [of the Father] to [his] kindred and [his] fellow spirits” (Treat. Seth, 50.1–24). In addition to notable personalities, there is evidence that the souls of others enjoyed a preexistent life. In Saying 4 of the Gos. Thom., the following is attributed to the risen Jesus: “The man who is old in days will not hesitate to ask a child seven days old about the place of life, and he will live.” The sense is that a child who has not yet been circumcised on the eighth day has retained an impression of the “place of life,” which allows the old man to inquire. Both the Ap. Jas. and the Tri. Trac. hint at the notion of a premortal life for at least the souls of the elect. See also IDB 3:869–70; ERE 10:235–41.
Bibliography
Winston, D. 1978. Preexistence in Hellenic, Judaic and Mormon Sources. Pp. 13–35 in Reflections on Mormonism, ed. T. G. Madsen. Provo, UT.
Brown, S. K. (1992). Souls, Preexistence of. In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 6, p. 161). New York: Doubleday.
