All Our Yesterdays
"To the last
syllable of recorded time, and all our yesterdays. . ." (Macbeth V.v.)
A series of brief articles
dealing with Human Pre-existence
by Arthur & Rosalind Eedle.
30. Conclusion to this Series
We have
covered a lot of ground, and made a number of propositions. We are
not attempting to be dogmatic, even though we feel
cautiously certain in our own minds that we had a pre-existent life. The very
fact that we have had to pass through the "valley of forgetfulness"
clearly makes any foray into investigating the subject difficult, or well-nigh
impossible. However, as the various articles have shown, it would seem that the
Lord has left man with certain recollections, even though he finds it
difficult to quantify these in terms of pre-existence. Some have asked what is
the point of investigating the subject at all? Does it help in our
Christian walk? It is difficult to answer that question because it is somewhat
subjective. It will affect different people in different ways. Some may find it
helpful, whilst others might shrug their shoulders and wonder what all the fuss
is about. However, based on the number of comments received by email throughout
the running of the series, we know that considerable interest, and even
excitement, has been generated by presenting the material.
In the
first three centuries after the resurrection, there were three main ideas about
the "origin of souls." They were as follows:- 1. Pre-existence,
2. Creationism 3. Traducianism.
Pre-existence
was held by
the Alexandrian school, dominated by Origen.
Creationism was taught by some of the Eastern
Fathers, such as Jerome and Hilary. They believed that each soul was created
individually by God, either at conception or birth. There was an argument as to
which!
Traducianism
was generally
accepted in the west, where it became the basic teaching of the Roman Catholic
Church. Two prominent advocates of this theory were Gregory of Nyssa and
Tertullian. They contended that Adam bore within him the germ of all mankind.
His soul was the fountain-head of all human souls. As the body is formed from
the parents' bodies, so the soul is derived from the parents' souls, both being
formed by natural generation. Adam and Eve were the only human beings to be
directly created by God.
Our own
opinion is that Creationism falls down because it requires that God should be
continually creating souls that are born in sin. This we cannot accept. On the
other hand, if perfect created spirits inhabit sinful bodies, as suggested by
this theory, then it opens the floodgates to those who assert that Jesus
must have been born sinful. Furthermore, what happens at death? If
the sinful nature remains in the corpse, then the spirit would fly away
untrammeled by corruption, and all end up in "that upper home of
bliss." Sin could then be disposed of simply by a huge bonfire. But no,
sin was dealt with on the Cross.
Traducianism
also leaves much to be desired. Although it may appear to be taught by Pauline
theology in such remarks as us being "in Adam", and needing to be
transferred to being "in Christ", this doesn't answer such questions
as the obvious individuality of children born to the same parents. We ourselves
have a family of four. They all possess some physical characteristics from us
as parents, and certain traits of character resulting from close association
during formative years, but each one is totally different. They show all the
signs of being individual creations of God. A traducianist might argue that he
is not wholly responsible for his sin, which was passed on to him at birth. But
if we were all created individually, as pre-existence suggests, then we have to
stand before the judgment seat of Christ with no outside "supports"
to our waywardness, nothing that might exonerate us from blame.
These are
the reasons why we have argued in favour of pre-existence from the analysis of
these three possibilities. We now leave our readers to ponder all the evidence,
and adopt a conclusion that they find satisfying to their spirits. But in any
case, we value your comments, which hopefully may help us to reach a more
conclusive understanding.
- - - - - - - - - oOo - - - - - - - - - -
How about
some poetry? Perhaps it's not fully appreciated that some of our best
known poets espoused pre-existence, such as Vaughan, Wordsworth, Rosetti,
Browning, and Tennyson. For example, here is an extract from a poem by
William Wordsworth (Odes on Immortality, No.5.)
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;
Heaven lies about us in our infancy.
The
following poem was sent to us without any mention of authorship. It is worth
recording.
O my Father, Thou that dwellest
In a high and glorious place,
When shall I regain Thy presence
And again behold Thy face?
In Thy holy habitation
Did my spirit once reside,
In my first primeval childhood
Was I nurtured at Thy side.
For a great and glorious purpose
Thou hast made me here on earth,
And withheld the recollection
Of my former friends and birth;
But at times that secret something
Whispers, You're a stranger
here"
And I feel that I have wandered
From a more exalted sphere.
O my Father, Thou that dwellest
In a high and holy place,
Yet shall I appear before Thee
And again behold Thy face.
Day by day Thy Spirit leadeth
Ever onward up to Thee,
Till at last I find contentment
In Thy pure reality.
Rhoda I.
Hawtin, wife of George Hawtin of
I came to earth one summer night
In form so very frail,
Forgotten was the realm of light,
My spirit's home, supreme delight,
Now this earth's bondage is my
plight
Its sorrows I bewail.
What came I for, why am I here?
These questions face us all.
Was there a purpose very clear
To God the Father, O so dear,
That made Him subject us to fear
Of death and sin's dread pall?
Except true light in darkness shine
This life so pointless seems,
Created are our hearts to pine
For something we cannot define
And so He leads us line by line
As He in wisdom deems.
A precept here, a precept there!
A light along the way,
In answer to our inmost prayer
He'll show us truth beyond compare
Till doubts depart and spirits share
The hope that is our stay.
How great is God! How great His plan
For creatures such as we!
In ages past He planned that man
Through toil and tears in life's
short span
Should be prepared to take command
And kings with Christ to be.
Such awesome truth must make us
pause
To ponder its import,
Such glorious hope must give us
cause
To search our hearts for hindering
flaws
And lay aside all weights because
Our time grows ever short.
Then home at last from whence we
came,
Forever more at rest,
Our lessons learned through sin and
shame
Salvation wrought in Christ's dear
name
Perfection ours we now proclaim
Our being heaven blest!
Here is a
well-known song, somewhat hackneyed, but remembered from the 1960s when sung by
Jim Reeves.
This world is not my home, I'm just
a-passing thru,
My treasures are laid up somewhere
beyond the blue,
The angels beckon me from heaven's
open door,
And I can't feel at home in this
world any more.
O Lord You know I have no friend
like You,
If heaven's not my home, then Lord ,
what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven's
open door,
And I can't feel at home in this
world any more.
(With several other verses added from time to
time)
Our final
entry is a song written recently by Gloria Gaither, of Gaither & Green, in
the
"It's
not home - where men sell their souls And the taste of power is sweet,
Where
wrong is right - and neighbours fight While the hungry are dying in the street.
Nations
gone mad - Jesus is sad And I don't belong
(Chorus)
I don't belong - and I'm going some day Home to my own native land
I
don't belong and it seems like I hear The sound of a “welcome home” band
I've
always known - this place ain't home And I don't belong.
I
don't belong but while I'm here I'll be livin' like I've nothin' to lose
And
while I grieve I'll just believe My Lord's gonna see me through.
I'll
not be deceived by earth's make believe I'll close my ears to earth's siren
song
I'm
praising His Name - I'm not ashamed, I don't belong
I
belong to a
Where
children lead and captives are freed And God becomes a baby on the straw,
Where
dead men live and rich men give Their kingdoms to buy back a song
Where
sinners like me become royalty And we all belong!
Yes
I belong and I'm going some day Home to my own native land
Where
I belong and it seems like I hear The sound of a “welcome home” band
Yes
I'll belong - no foreigner there Singing
a sojourner's song
I've
always known – I’m going home Where I belong!
Yes,
I’ve always known, This place ain’t home,
I don’t belong.