Pre-existence

In Abrahamic religions, pre-existence is the belief that each individual human soul existed before conception, and at conception (or later, depending on when it is believed that the soul enters the body) God places one of these pre-existent souls in the body. In Christianity, pre-existence contrasts with traducianism and the more widely accepted version of creationism which both hold that the individual human soul does not come into existence until conception or later.

Pre-existence in Christianity

Early Christian writings on pre-existence

The earliest surviving Christian writings on the preexistence were from the Platonist Origen, who derived the doctrine from the writings of Plato. Origen believed that the soul was assigned a body as a penalty for its sin of looking downward toward the corrupt earth. The doctrine also derives in part from a repudiation of Greek thought by Tertullian, who argued that for each immaterial soul, a material body was created for it.

Pre-mortal existence in Mormonism

The concept of pre-mortal existence (sometimes referred to as pre-existence) is an early and fundamental doctrine of Mormonism. In 1833, early in the Latter Day Saint movement, its founder Joseph Smith, Jr. taught that just as Jesus was coeternal with God the Father, "Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be." (LDS D&C 93:21-23.)

In 1844, Smith taught:

"soul—the mind of man—the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation.... We say that God himself is a self-existent being.... Man does exist upon the same principles.... ^* with our Father in heaven." (King Follett Discourse)

After Smith's death, the doctrine of pre-mortal existence was elaborated by some other Latter Day Saint leaders, primarily within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its breakoffs. Although the "mind" and "intelligence" of humanity were still considered to be co-eternal with God, and not created, Brigham Young introduced the idea that the "spirit", which he distinguished from the "mind" or "intelligence", was indeed created and not co-eternal with God. Young postulated that we each had a pre-spirit "intelligence" that later became part of a spirit "body", which then eventually entered a physical body and was born on earth. In 1857, Young stated that every person was "a son or a daughter of Father. In the spirit world their spirits were first begotten and brought forth, and they lived there with their parents for ages before they came here." 4 J.D. 218.

Among Latter-day Saints the idea of "spirit birth" was described in its modern doctrinal form in 1909, when the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement:

Jesus, however, is the firstborn among all the sons of God—the first begotten in the spirit, and the only begotten in the flesh. He is our elder brother, and we, like Him, are in the image of God. All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity." MFP 4:203.

This description is widely-accepted by modern Latter-day Saints as fundamental to the Plan of Salvation. However, among other Latter Day Saint denominations, there are differences of opinion as to the nature of the pre-mortal existence.

Pre-existence in Judaism

While the idea of an immortal soul was not originally part of Jewish theology, it became so after Jewish contact with Persian and Greek thought.

In rabbinical literature, the souls of all humanity are described as being created during the six days of creation (Book of Genesis). When each person is born, a preexisting soul is placed within the body. (See Tan., Pekude, 3).

Pre-existence in Sufi Islam

In Sufism, the human soul is thought not only to survive physical death, but to have existed eternally prior to birth. The soul’s visit on the earth is viewed as only one stage in a long progression through various worlds and states of existence, such as that of a Master, an angel, a jinn, a human, etc. Eventually, Sufis believe that they will return to their home beyond the stars, from whence they came.

Sufis believe that in this life, they are subjected to a state of forgetfulness as to prior existence, but that it is possible to retrieve memories of the pre-existence through mystical experience, in effect, awakening from a sleep.

Pre-existence memories

Some young children claim they recall a spiritual pre-existence before they were born. Kirti Swaroop Rawat and Titus Rivas give an overview of such prebirth experiences in their article The Life Beyond for the Journal of Religion and Psychical Research. Memories of a spiritual pre-existence are sometimes accompanied by memories of a previous incarnation on earth. Some prebirth memories involve paranormal information about events that happened before the child was conceived, e.g. concerning the former appearance and situation of its parents. Pre-existence memories may involve an element of choice of earthly conditions or of telepathic communication with the future parents. Such memories resemble Near-Death Experiences in many respects and seem to confirm that NDEs offer a preview of the afterlife.