The Prophetic Telegraph - No.100
PRE-EXISTENCE
The first of five
papers on this little-known subject
In a recent edition of the
Telegraph, we mentioned a book entitled "Embraced by the
Light" by
Betty Eadie. Several of our readers have written in to say
that on reading this book, issues were raised that were totally new to their
thinking. This was also the case with ourselves, and in particular the section
on the PRE-EXISTENCE OF THE SOUL. Believers have found it
quite a "jolt" to their spirits when first presented with the
possibility of being created in the beginning as "spirits", and that
in the process of time they came down to earth to be born as human babies.
As a result, a great deal
of investigation has been carried out, and we should now like to bring the
results of this research to our readers. In brief, we have been brought to the
conclusion that God created us all in the beginning, and that through the
centuries of time we have all had to come down into the "Shadow
Lands" of human existence. However, because this subject is so new, and so
little discussed amongst Christians, we realise that we may be creating as many
problems as we are solving. Therefore, let these studies be taken as an
assessment of our present state of understanding. For those who have pioneering
minds, no doubt the Lord will bring to mind other related matters, and we
should be most grateful for a liberal quantity of feed-back on this subject.
The subject matter will be
presented as a series of articles, each one taking a topic and providing a
brief, but in-depth exposition. We believe this will make it easier to read
than sending out a lengthy booklet. After all, the world is already flooded
with literature, and sometimes it's difficult to know what to read and what to
leave unread, of all the stuff that comes through our mail boxes.
PART 1. THE EARLY CHURCH AND
THE JEWS
We were surprised to find
in our various Bible Dictionaries considerable articles on Pre-existence. We
had imagined such articles to be NON-EXISTENT!! But no, the
Apparently THREE separate
ideas were in vogue in the first three centuries AD.
1. PRE-EXISTENCE.
2. CREATIONISM.
3. TRADUCIANISM.
1.
Pre-existence
was held by Origen and the Alexandrian school. They believed that all human souls were
created at the beginning, before all worlds, as angelic spirits. When Satan
fell, there was a dichotomy, one company holding to the Lord and the other to
Satan. Hence there has been warfare in heaven. In the process of time all
spirits have been required to be born on the earth, to go through a
disciplinary process before being restored to a higher dimensional state.
Origen wrote,
"Being of perfect goodness and power, He must always have had
objects on which to exercise them: hence He has brought into existence a world
of spiritual beings, or souls, co-eternal with Himself" (De princ.1,2,1O; 1,4,3; 2,9,1)
The early church held fast
to this teaching until A.D. 543, when it was condemned by Justinian, and also by a Provincial Council
of Constantinople in the same year.
2.
Creationism
was taught by the Eastern fathers, such as Jerome and HiIary. They believed each soul to be a
new creation of God, created at the time of birth or conception. (There was an argument as to
which!) By this theory, each spirit is pure at creation, and
therefore evil is transmitted by body alone.
3.
Traducianism was
generally accepted in the West, and has become part of the teaching of the Catholic Church. Two prominent figures that appear
in this connection are Gregory of Nyassa, and Tertullian. They contended that the first Adam bore
within him the germ of all mankind. His soul was the fountain head of all human
souls. All varieties of individual human nature were only different
modifications of that one original spiritual substance. As the body is derived
from the parents' bodies, so the soul is derived from the parents' souls, both
being formed by natural generation. This they believed was more in line with
the Pauline teaching in Romans
"As by one man sin entered the world,- -and by means of sin death -
- and so death passed through to all men."
In addition to these three
classes, other ideas were canvassed by smaller minorities, and found their way
into Christian thought from eastern philosophy. These may be identified as the
TRANSMIGRATION
OF SOULS,
where a soul may later be required to enter another human form, or indeed an
animal.This has much in common with
REINCARNATION, often referred to by the Greek
word PALINGENESIS. (But the N.T. uses the word PALINGENESIS to mean "being born
again." Hence there is some confusion here when reading ancient texts, and
one must of necessity watch out for the inconsistencies.) Finally, there was
METEMPSYCHOSIS, the supposed migration of the soul
at death into another body.
These departments of
thought obviously overlap a great deal, and we believe that it has been
sufficient just to name them, before disposing of them as utterly abhorrent to
Christian theology.
Creationism requires a continual process on the
part of the Creator, and as He cannot create that which is fallen or
sinful, each
created spirit must therefore be perfect at the time it is planted in the womb,
whether at conception or at birth, or some time between.
[As an aside here - some
American writers believe that God created Satan as a murderer and a liar from
his very beginning, and Adam as having a subtle hidden weakness which had to be
manifested by the work of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. This being the
case, they would not be troubled by the thought of God creating humans as they
are today. But we repudiate this dreadful theology in the strongest possible
terms. We cannot accept that God can create ANYTHING which is not wholly good
and free from any form of corruption. We believe the Bible declares that Satan
and Adam fell by reason of their OWN POWER OF CHOICE. And this is surely born out
by the curses placed upon ALL THREE OF THEM after the event in the Garden. When
our young grandson heard us talk of this American theory about Satan, he said, "If
God created Satan as a murderer, then He would be breaking one of His own ten
commandments." Full marks for a ten year old boy! My wife's
comment was, "If God created Satan to be a liar and a murderer,
why was he cursed in the Garden for doing only that for which he had been
created?" Here then are two most cogent reasons for condemning
such awful theology. We have approached one of the exponents of this theory,
asking him to re-assess his theology, but to no avail. He was completely
impervious to any suggestions from us. We find it necessary to address this
matter here, and will have occasion to refer to it again in later issues,
because many are being sucked into the falsehood, although we find it
absolutely incredible that any sincere Christian could entertain such
blasphemous ideas about a Holy God.]
Returning then to the
subject of Creationism (as
mentioned above,) this leaves us with the assertion that sin is ONLY passed on
via the body of man. This being so, there would be good grounds for saying that
Jesus MUST have taken a sinful nature. This being an erroneous conclusion, we
believe that Creationism is a faulty concept.
Traducianism claims that both body and soul are
the products of the parents. This was an attempt to explain why sin passed
through from Adam to the rest of mankind. However, it is common knowledge that
children born to two human beings ONLY take certain characteristics from their
parents. There is far more evidence that each soul is a distinct creation from
God. Even in the case of identical twins or other multiple births, distinct
character differences are apparent, though physical similarity may sometimes
cause identification to be very difficult to determine. We have a family of
four grown children, and apart from certain derived characteristics, we have
clear evidence that each one has a distinct character, as distinct as the
finger prints on their hands. Each is a distinct creation of God. Hence, we
find the Traducian theory difficult to accept, even though we can understand
the reasoning which brought it into being.
We are left with the
concept of Pre-existence, whereby God created us all in the beginning, and formed the earth as
the theatre for His re-creational work. As such we may all have been ANGELS in the first instance. But bear in
mind that the word ANGEL, in both Hebrew and Greek means MESSENGER, or DEPUTY, and therefore only describes an OFFICE rather than origin and nature. It
would be more correct to use the expression SONS OF GOD rather than ANGELS for CREATED SPIRITS.
Obviously our readers will
ask for substantial proof that this assertion is correct, or even CAN be
correct, and in due course the Scriptural evidences will be brought forth, and
it will be seen that they are far more numerous than has hitherto been
realised.
But for the moment, our
purpose is to take a look backwards at what early history tells us, and having
investigated the grounds of the three views of the early church, we now ask
what the Jews believed in earlier times. This is contained in their
extra-biblical writings. The following entry was found in the "Jewish
Encyclopaedia". We quote from the article with only slight modification.
"PRE-EXISTENCE.
The theory that certain objects, in particular human souls, exist before coming
into being on earth, or even before the creation of the world. No such belief
has been proved to exist in the Bible, but it is firmly established in
Apocryphal literature and among the Essenes who held that souls before birth
existed in "the finest ether." It was held also by the Rabbis of the
Talmud who believed that all souls pre-existed in an abode called GUPH, that
the Torah, Messiah the King, the Throne of Glory, ideal Israel, Repentance, and
Gehenna, existed before creation, (Midrash on Psalm 8:9) and that ten or more
objects, including the staff of Aaron, and the Tablets of the Law, were
pre-created at the very end of the days of Creation. Among philosophers, Philo
and Ibn Gabirol accepted pre-existence. And it forms an essential belief of the
Kabbalah."
Whilst laying on one side
this unacceptable "deification" of objects sacred to Jewish memory,
we find in this brief statement an interesting concept, that in Jewry it was an
accredited belief that human souls were pre-existent. Turning to the Talmud,
the evidence is certainly there. We do not have a complete edition of these
Jewish works, but are able to quote from a useful book entitled "Everyman's
Talmud" by A. Cohen. In the chapter on the Doctrine of Man, we find the following entry.
"All
creatures which are formed from heaven, both their soul and their body are from
heaven; and all creatures which are formed from earth, both their soul and body
are from earth, with the exception of man, whose soul is from heaven and his
body from earth. Therefore if a man obeys the Torah and does the will of his
Father in heaven, behold he is like the creatures above; as it is written, 'I
said, ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.' (Psalm.82:6) but if
he obey not the Torah and perform not the will of his Father in heaven, he is
like the creatures below, as it is said, nevertheless ye shall die like men.'
(v.7) [quoted from Sifre Deut. #3O6;132a]
And a paragraph from
page 78 in the same book reads as follows.
The Talmud
teaches the pre-existence of souls. "In the seventh heaven, ARABOTH, are
stored the spirits and souls which have still to be created" [Chagigah
12b], i.e. the unborn souls which have yet to be united to bodies. There was a
common belief that the Messianic era will not dawn until all these unborn souls
have had their term of existence on earth. "The son of David [i.e. the
Messiah] will not come until all the souls in the GUPH come to an end."
[eb.62aj The GUPH being the celestial store-house where these souls await their
time to inhabit a human body."
In the Talmud, as in the
Midrash, the word GUPH is constantly found, as also another word, OTZAR. On turning these up in the Hebrew
Lexicon we found that GUPH means "to be hollow", or "to be
hidden away in the midst of something." It occurs in the O.T.
only once, and that in Neh.7:3 "LET THEM SHUT the doors and bar
them." The word OTZAR is more commonly found in the O.T.,
being translated "Treasury", and is used of a
corn store, a food magazine, a treasury of valuable things, and so on.
Hence the Jews used it to describe the "treasury of souls" in heavenly places, awaiting their
dispatch to earth.
[One should not dismiss the
Talmud off-hand. Evangelicals are normally taught that the Talmud is full of
ridiculous Rabbinical tales, having no substance in truth. But I have had to
change my mind about this, from being brought up with the evangelical bias.
After reading large chunks of the Talmud, I found that it was full of
Rabbinical wisdom, a collection of the sayings of Jewish sages from many
centuries, and although sometimes a strange idea is canvassed, quite the
majority of the writings are sound and worthy to be read by us all. Therefore
we learn that Jews entertained the idea of pre-existence, and this must be
borne in mind when reading the Gospels.]
Reference was made in the
Bible Dictionaries to the Essenes, and the information comes from Josephus, "Wars of the Jews"
2.viii.11.
For their
[i.e. the Essenes] doctrine is this:- "That bodies are corruptible, and
that the matter they are made of is not permanent; but that the souls are
immortal, and continue for ever; and that they come out of the most subtle
ether, and are united to their bodies as in prisons, into which they are drawn
by a certain natural enticement; but that when they are set free from the bonds
of the flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount
upward."
It should be added that
Josephus treats such a theory with some contempt, saying that it derives from Greek philosophy. Or as Tertullian put it, "What has
If the Dead Sea Scrolls are
indeed the writings of the Essenes (and there is at present some scholarly debate
on this issue,) then we can quote from a couple of the hymns, as translated by Geza Vermes in his "
"By Thy
wisdom [all things exist from] eternity, and before creating them Thou knewest
their works for ever and ever. - - Thou hast created all the spirits [and hast
established a statute] and law for all their works. - - In the wisdom of Thy
knowledge Thou didst establish their destiny before ever they were. All things
[exist] according to [Thy will] and without Thee nothing is done." (Hymn
1)
"All
these things [Thou didst establish in Thy wisdom. Thou didst appoint] all Thy
works before ever creating them: and the host of Thy spirits and the
Congregation [of Thy Holy Ones, the heavens and all] their hosts and the earth
and all it brings forth. - - Thou hast established them from before
eternity." (Hymn 13)
Next we come to Philo of Alexandria, before mentioned. Philo was a Jew
of the 1st century B.C. and 1st century A.D. He was known as "the Jewish
Plato",
seeking to harmonise the doctrines of the Pentateuch with those of Plato, Aristotle, and others. Hence he was anathema
to the more strict Jewish community, which would have despised any such attempt
at harmonisation. But
"realm of
incorporeal souls, which may be arranged in two ranks; some have descended into
mortal bodies and been released after a time; others have maintained their
purity, and kept aloft close to the ether itself." [Philo Judaeus, i,336]
Finally we refer to a
section of the Jewish writing known as the ZOHAR, which dates from the 13th century,
and although anonymous, is believed to be the work of Rabbi Simeon bar
Yohai. It
contains many commentaries on the Hebrew text of the O.T., and is a mine of
information on ancient Jewish thought. In the section to be quoted, the
question arises about the "Angel of Death." Can the
words "And behold, it was very good," include the meaning of the
angel of death? Rabbi Simeon gives the following explanation.
"And
behold it was good," refers to the Angel of Life; "very" to the
Angel of Death, for he is of greater importance. And why? When the Holy One,
blessed be He, created the world, all was prepared for the coming of man, who
is the king of this world. Man was fashioned to walk in the straight way, as it
is written, "God made man upright, but they have sought out many
inventions." [EccI.7:29] He made man upright, but he gave himself over to
corruption and was therefore driven out of the Garden of Eden. This Garden was
planted by the Holy One, blessed be He, on the earth, and made an exact
likeness of its prototype, the Paradise above, and all supernal forms were
fashioned and shaped in it, and the cherubim were there - not those carved in
gold or any material that could be fashioned by human hands, but of supernal
light, fashioned and broidered through the agency of the Perfect Name of the Holy
One.
"All the
images and forms of all things in this world were there fashioned, all having
the similitude of the things in this world. And this place is the abode of holy
spirits, both of those that have come into this world, and also of those who
have not yet come into this world. Those who are about to come are invested
with garments and faces and bodies like those in this world, and they gaze upon
the glory of their Lord until the time comes for them to appear in the world.
When they leave the Garden for that purpose, these spirits put off their
celestial bodies and garments and take on the bodies and garments of this
world; they henceforth make their abode in this world in the garments and
bodies fashioned from the seed of procreation.
"So when
the time comes for the spirit to leave this world again, it cannot do so until
the Angel of Death has taken off the garment of this body. When that has been
done, he again puts on that other garment in the Garden of Eden of which he had
had to divest himself when he entered this world. And the whole joy of the
spirit is in that celestial body. In it he rests and moves, and contemplates
continually the supernatural mysteries which, when he was in the earthly body,
he could neither grasp nor understand. When the soul clothes herself with the
garments of that world, what delights, what joys, she experiences! [N.B. the
word "she" is used here, because the Hebrew word for soul, NEPHESH,
is feminine.] And who caused the body to be inhabited by the spirit? Why, he
who took off the garment of flesh, the Angel of Death!"
There is a great deal of
value in this comment, even if it contemplates the lot of only one part of
mankind, the righteous dead. Rabbi Simeon does not even touch on the fate of
those who spurn the lovingkindness of God in this mortal existence. But that is
no barrier to the argument. In fact the same thing happened to Betty Eadie in
her journeys through
Jesus said to His
disciples, "In my Father's house there are many mansions [or,
abodes]. I go to prepare a place for you." It is highly
necessary to investigate and find out all we can about the Upper World - after
all, that is our destination! Isaiah [chapter 58] speaks about the acceptable
fast, and those who satisfy these conditions, that they shall "build
the old waste places, raise up the foundations of many generations, be
restorers of the breach, and RESTORERS OF PATHS THAT LEAD TO HOME."
[One word of caution here.
We have recently had occasion to publish some of Jane Leade's works, and then later to issue a
word of warning about her. In one of her writings she speaks about the Ultimate
Reconciliation of all beings (and we have no quarrel with that!) but
she goes on to say that everyone will be restored to their original position.
This includes Satan himself, who, she avers, will be restored to his original
station. This view we strongly repudiate. It has become the teaching of a
number of modern writers who've taken on board Jane Leade's exposition, and now
it is referred to as "The Law of Circularity." But
Scripture does not uphold such teaching. Jesus spoke about many of
the first being last and the last first. If all should return to
their first estate, for what purpose is this present life? Why should anyone
strive for anything? Judas Iscariot fell, and "went to his own
place," whilst others will become "equal to
angels." ]