Premortal World

There are several references to the premortal world in the Old Testament. The Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet” (Jeremiah 1:5). God the Father is referred to in the Old Testament as “the God of the spirits of all flesh” (Numbers 27:16). This verse indicates that before we were made flesh, we were spirits who existed some time and in some place. In the book of Job, the Lord taught that Job was alive when he (Jehovah) “laid the foundations of the earth . . . when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:4, 7). We are told that when we die, the body returns to the earth and “the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Thus, our eventual entrance into heaven is actually a returning to God.

In the New Testament Paul referred to both the “fathers of our flesh” and “the Father of spirits [God the Father]” (Hebrews 12:9). Further, he indicated that he and other followers were chosen by Christ to do a special work “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). Jude writes of “angels which kept not their first estate” (Jude 1:6). If this mortal experience and the spirit world experience that follows is the “second estate,” when and where was our “first estate”? Jude was describing those angels who violated the conditions of their former, premortal life, the first estate. The apostles of Christ asked him if a particular man blind from birth was cursed because of something he’d done before this life (John 9:2). His apostles understood that the man had lived before. Christ, of course, did not correct this assumption. In perhaps the most direct statement of all, John, referring to the Savior and to all men who will receive a celestial salvation, said, “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13).

Christ himself clearly had a premortal existence. We are taught by John that Jesus “was in the beginning with God” and only later “was made flesh” (John 1:2, 14). Christ suggested to his disciples that he would “ascend up where he was before” (John 6:62). Jesus helped create this earth (see John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-17). He referred to his own life before this life when he told his apostles he lived before Abraham (see John 8:58). He taught them he came forth from the Father and would leave the world to go again to the Father (see John 16:28). In his last prayer in Gethsemane, Christ asked God to glorify him “with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17:5).

The documents of antiquity refer frequently to the concept of a premortal existence. Sources include the ancient Greek writers (Socrates, Plato, Cicero, Seneca), Jewish theologians, apocryphal texts, other writings (from Qumran, Nag Hammadi, and the Mandaeans), and early Christian writers (Brent L. Top, The Life Before, 1-36).

Clement, one of the earliest Christian writers after the New Testament, said: “Well, if I live after, I must have lived before. Doesn’t that follow?” (Clementine Recognitions, I, 1). Clement also wrote of questions only Peter could answer: “Why don’t we remember the premortal existence?” “When was the world created?” and “What existed before that?” (Ibid., I, 2).

Origen of Alexandria, a third century Christian theologian, was particularly influential and prolific in writing of man’s premortal existence and immortality. In AD 543 the Roman emperor, Justinian, coerced the Pope to convene a council to reject the teachings of Origen. In an edict known as “Anathemas against Origen,” the teachings of Origen were declared heresy in the church. From this date onward, the doctrine of man’s premortal life and premortal relationship to God was viewed as heretical and unsupported in early Christian thought and scripture. Today, orthodox Christianity vehemently rejects the notion of a premortal existence. They ignore the fact that the doctrine was widely taught prior to that Council of AD 543. Several modern-day Christian scholars, however, view this council and its repudiation of Origen’s teachings with regret and skepticism.

Joseph Fielding McConkie concluded a review of the concept of the premortal world in the apocryphal writings as follows:

The doctrines of premortal existence, heavenly councils, and foreordinations were all a part of the theology of the ancient saints and as such are a necessary part of the promised restoration of all things. Not found in the theology of the rest of the so-called Bible-believing world, these doctrines stand as an evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that ours is an ancient church restored. . . . These doctrines, of such importance to the ancient saints, have been restored once again to a place of prominence among the saints of the latter days (Apocryphal Writings and the Latter-day Saints, 194-95).

The premortal home is the celestial residence of our heavenly parents. There is no reason to believe that premortal spirits reside with postmortal ones. We will learn that the latter reside on earth. Let us look at the few revealed characteristics of our premortal life.

#A Place of Order

God’s house is a house of order (see D&C 132:8). The Lord speaks of the order prevailing in his heavenly and earthly houses as “everlasting order” (D&C 82:20).

At the funeral of Jedediah M. Grant, President Heber C. Kimball recounted a vision Brother Grant had just prior to his death:

He said to me, “Brother Heber, I have been into the spirit world two nights in succession, and, of all the dreads that ever came across me, the worst was to have to again return to my body, though I had to do it. But O,” says he, “the order and government that were there! When in the spirit world, I saw the order of righteous men and women; beheld them organized in their several grades, and there appeared to be no obstruction to my vision; I could see every man and woman in their grade and order. I looked to see whether there was any disorder there, but there was none; neither . . . darkness, disorder or confusion.” . . . All were organized and in perfect harmony (Doctrines from the Prophets, 423).

Admittedly, this experience of Brother Grant’s occurred in the postmortal spirit world and not in the premortal, celestial heaven. We may, however, conclude that if the spirit world is so wonderfully organized, then so is God’s celestial home.

We would assume that the order prevalent in the premortal home contains three important characteristics: organization, priesthood, and instruction.

Wherever the kingdom of God exists, in premortality, on earth, or in postmortality, there have been and will be order and organization. There will be priesthood keys, presiding officers, other offices, other leaders, and assignments. It is not clear exactly how the premortal world was organized. There is ample evidence that there were councils organized to instruct, plan, prepare, coordinate, correlate, resolve concerns, and make important decisions for the implementation of the plan of salvation.

Priesthood authority and organization existed in the premortal courts of the Father. The prophet Joseph Smith stated: “The priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years. . . . Its institution was prior to the ‘foundation of this earth’” (TPJS, 166-7). The Prophet clearly states that priesthood is eternal. Through that eternal channel come the knowledge and instruction necessary to prepare the spirit children of God for eventual exaltation. This pattern of priesthood instruction applies to premortal life, this mortal life, and the postmortal world of spirits.

One aspect of this order is the continuity among the premortal, mortal, and postmortal phases. In speaking of the mortal creation, the Lord revealed, “that which is temporal [is] in the likeness of that which is spiritual” (D&C 77:2). There is a similarity of form between the premortal spirit of a living thing and the mortal body it inhabits. This similarity may not be exact, however, as in the case of birth defects and other mortal deformities. The precise degree to which individual spirits correspond to the appearance of their mortal bodies has not been revealed.

Certainly, postmortal spirits can look exactly like their deceased bodies when necessary, but whether they always do so is open to question. There is no denying the familial similarities in appearance that exist among same family members here on earth.

These similarities have their origins in mortal genetic influences. Any role that these earthly similarities may play in the appearances of postmortal spirits is unknown.

Could the above passage: “That which is temporal [is] in the likeness of that which is spiritual,” have a broader meaning? Could it apply not just to physical bodies, but also to other structures and even spiritual organizations? Could all premortal things serve as patterns for the temporal or earthly ones?

#Agency in the Premortal World

Individual agency is sacrosanct in God’s universe and was, of course, characteristic of the premortal world. In order for agency to operate, other characteristics of the premortal world must have been in place. These include abundant freedoms or alternatives, a system of moral laws making clear what is right and wrong, a competent being capable of making informed choices, an awareness or knowledge of the law, and opposition or adversity.1

When these characteristics are operative, there inevitably develops a variability of spiritual progression among the creatures of God. Among the individuals in the premortal world, there were and are various levels of righteousness and progression. While we lived with our Heavenly Parents, though we lived in a celestial heaven, there was good and evil, obedience and disobedience, diligence and sloth, righteousness and wickedness, repentance and sin.

#The Physical Setting

What of the physical setting? What of its physical splendor and beauty? Again, it is the celestial kingdom of our eternal Father and Mother. In 1921, David O. McKay, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, had a remarkable vision of the celestial kingdom. His description provides a glimpse of how the premortal heavenly home probably appeared:

I . . . beheld in vision something infinitely sublime. In the distance I beheld a beautiful white city. Though far away, yet I seemed to realize that trees and luscious fruit, shrubbery with gorgeously tinted leaves, and flowers in perfect bloom abounded everywhere. The clear sky above seemed to reflect these beautiful shades of color. I then saw a great concourse of people approaching the city. Each one wore a white flowing robe, and a white headdress. Instantly my attention seemed centered upon their Leader, and though I could see only the profile of his features and his body, I recognized him at once as my Savior! The tint and radiance of his countenance were glorious to behold! There was a peace about him which seemed sublime—it was divine (Cherished Experiences from the Writings of President David O. McKay, 109).

#The War in Heaven

The test of mortality. While in the premortal state, we learned that God’s plan for us would include a period of testing in a mortal setting. In mortality we would retain our agency and again be exposed to God’s law (Abraham 3:25). We were doubtless informed our mortal experience would be risky. We would encounter opposition and evil. Some would return to their celestial home, and others would not.

We also learned that the Father would choose one among us to be the creator of God’s universe and the savior and redeemer of all mankind. Satan aspired to the office. A superficial reading of the scriptural account may lead one to think there was a question as to whom the Father would choose. There was not. The Father’s question, “Whom shall I send?” (Abraham 3:27) was a rhetorical one. It already had a predetermined answer. Jesus was the Father’s “Beloved and Chosen from the beginning” (Moses 4:2). He was prepared “from the foundation of the world to redeem [his] people” (Ether 3:14). It appears that Jesus was the Chosen of the Father even prior to the Father’s asking, “Whom shall I send?” The Father’s question was more of an invitation for Jesus to publicly and voluntarily accept the calling that was his by invitation. It was a call for our commitment and common consent rather than a request for résumés. “Here am I, send me,” was Jehovah’s response. This was a humble acceptance of the Father’s will. It required an awesome, solemn obligation. Jehovah was selected as Creator of the universe and the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. With Jehovah’s acceptance, the heavenly home was filled with sounds of jubilation. As Job records, “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). There was jubilation among the hosts of the premortal council.

Lucifer. Not all were filled with joy and rejoicing. One was consumed with jealousy and resentment. The shouts of joy were soon shattered by the dissonance of rebellion. The scriptures record that “an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God . . . rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father. . . . He was Lucifer, a son of the morning” (D&C 76:25-26).

Elder Bruce R. McConkie has defined the phrase “son of the morning”: “This name-title of Satan indicates he was one of the early born spirit children of the Father. Always used in association with the name Lucifer, son of the morning also apparently signifies son of light or son of prominence, meaning that Satan held a position of power and authority in pre-existence (D&C 76:25-27; Isaiah 14:12-20)” (Mormon Doctrine, 744).

Although he was “a son of the morning,” the idea that Lucifer was second only to Jehovah in authority and spiritual age is not substantiated in scripture. He was, however, likely one of the older spirit children. Thus, by virtue of his authoritative prominence and spiritual age, he commanded an element of respect from his younger spirit siblings. Lucifer’s character was weakened by selfish pride and jealousy. He coveted honor, prestige, and glory. He craved the adulation and praise of others. He sought to be lifted up above the rest. He was obviously deeply flawed. The essence of his hidden weakness seems to have been a lack of spiritual character or courage.

The Father’s plan was not acceptable to Lucifer. He likely feared he would fail to qualify to return to the celestial heaven were he to voluntarily agree to an experience in mortality. His position of relative prominence in the premortal world was threatened.

Because of his fear, Satan proposed an alternate plan based on denying humankind their agency. He announced that this would guarantee “that one soul [should] not be lost.” There was actually never any thought that Satan’s plan would actually be accepted. Agency is a sacrosanct principle in God’s universe and must not be compromised. God would not and could not proceed with this round of his creation without allowing all intelligences ample opportunities to exercise their agency. Satan’s plan was never viable—it violated the most fundamental and essential of eternal principles. It was never a plan seriously considered by the Father. When the Father so announced, a “war in heaven” resulted (Revelation 12:7).

The war. The war in heaven is described in our scripture (see Isaiah 14:12-15; Revelation 8:10-11). The significance of these scriptural passages is hidden from the world. We know of the premortal war in heaven because of modern-day scripture (Abraham 3:27-28; Moses 4:1-4; D&C 76:22-27).

Lucifer’s rebellion likely began merely with his flawed proposal. It ended with his total rebellion. He betrayed and denounced both the Father and his Beloved and Chosen Son. The scriptures are silent regarding the actual nature and duration of the “war.”

This was never actually a real ideological struggle, as Satan’s “ideology” was invalid and unworkable. He deliberately and knowingly lied to the premortal spirits, hoping to deceive them and lead them to refuse to follow the Father’s “risky” plan. He led them to believe his plan was a reasonable one that was “in the running” or being considered.

It is not difficult to imagine the accusations hurled against the Savior by Satan. One can just hear the “political polemics and diatribe.” Jehovah would have been accused by Satan of indifference towards his brothers and sisters, since by the Father’s plan, many would be lost. Lucifer would have portrayed himself as a compassionate and concerned leader. He would promote his liberal agenda which would offer “salvation” to all. In his rebellion and accusing, he betrayed not only the Father and the Son. He also openly and defiantly betrayed and sought to undermine all those laws, principles, and teachings he himself previously had known to be true. His followers did the same. The prophet Joseph spoke of them, saying they denied Jesus Christ after they had understood in clarity and surety the Father’s plan. They rejected the plan of salvation with their “eyes open to the truth of it.” They were determined to make “open war” against the plan of salvation (TPJS, 357-58).

The Lord Jehovah would later say to Moses that Satan “rebelled against me” and sought “that I should give unto him mine own power” (Moses 4:3). Lucifer rejected the plan of glory and honor and power of eternal life with the Father. He desired instead to exalt himself above the Father. He desired to replace the Father and the Father’s plan with his own egocentric plan. For Lucifer to even suggest a change in the plan was the ultimate in presumption and arrogance. Lucifer did not advocate that he be the Savior under the Father’s plan, as Jesus had been chosen to do. Lucifer would have cowered at the prospects of such supreme suffering. Rather, he offered an alternate plan that would conflict with the Father’s plan. His alternative would repudiate the divine appointment of Christ. When he offered to save all, he “sought to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3), though he did not make mention of it. The abrogation of agency was part of his hidden agenda.

The participants. Doubtless there was every shade of opinion among the hosts of the premortal world as to their stand on the issues associated with the war in heaven. Some fought valiantly for the Savior. Others were firmly in Lucifer’s camp. A significant number were unsure and unsettled in their views. Finally, those who declared firmly for Lucifer were cast out of heaven and down to earth. They were never to participate in the second estate. Their progress ceased. They would never receive a mortal body. Among those who remained, there were probably many not valiant in the war. Their sins were forgivable through their faith in the future sufferings of the Savior, and through their sincere repentance.

Satan’s plan was attractive to a “third part” of heaven’s hosts. Why? Was it because he was going to force everyone to obey? No. No one wishes to be forced. His plan was popular because it would guarantee the salvation of everyone. He promised salvation without effort, excellence, hard work, and without individual responsibility. That was Satan’s big lie. He promulgated it in the pre-earthly councils. His shortcut to salvation captivated the gullible, lazy, and fearful. They wanted something for nothing. They wanted a “free lunch.” They also feared failure, were they to be subjected to a real test. On that basis, Lucifer led away many spirits. An undetermined number of God’s children sided with Satan—a “third part” of God’s children. They exercised their agency and followed Satan.

Lucifer and his followers were not cast out of heaven merely because they had unwittingly proposed and supported an illogical plan. They were cast out because of their open rebellion, their betrayal of the Father and Son, and because their sins were of the “utmost extremities of wickedness.” They knew for certain the truths of the Father’s plan. Yet, they openly, aggressively contended against it. They committed the unpardonable sin. The redemptive power of Christ’s atonement could have no claim on them.

The war continues here on earth. Michael and his forces defeated Lucifer and his hosts by the power of the Son in this premortal war. Yet, that war for the hearts and souls of the rest of God’s children rages on to the present here on earth. Elder Mark E. Petersen has fittingly described the war in heaven that now rages on earth as “the longest war.” The Prophet Joseph said of this continuation:

For we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ— Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about. And we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom he made war and overcame (D&C 76:28- 30).

Satan knows his plan can never work. Salvation cannot be attained without mortal trial. Agency cannot be destroyed. The issue is simple. He still lusts after power, recognition, and glory, but his motivations are now even more complex. He is consumed with a suffocating, hopeless despair. He knows what exaltation means. He saw it when he lived in the presence of God. He knows that such exaltation is now forever beyond his reach. He is condemned to outer darkness without chance of redemption. He is viciously angry, deeply frustrated, desperately jealous, and very frightened. He is fully aware that his “plan” is a sham and widely recognized as such by anyone with any spiritual discernment. He hates the Father and the Son without reservation. He will do anything to strike a blow at them, and he continues to strive to do this by doing what he can to aid in the spiritual destruction of the Father’s children. He will stop at nothing to entice each man to sin and limit his freedoms (Alma 12:9-11).3

The war in heaven was not merely a figurative, metaphorical event. It was a literal occurrence. The continuation of that conflict here on earth is every bit as real. Satan’s efforts are not futile. He is waging a successful campaign. He has led many, even some modern Christians, to believe there is exaltation without effort and salvation without sacrifice. Many are “saved” following a heart felt confession of belief with little in the way of subsequent effort or concern. In this way, he prevents those who succumb to his temptations from using their agency to grow toward godhood. He strives mightily to compromise the agency of man.

#Foreordination

Foreordination was an important aspect of our premortal existence. God, in the premortal world, chose individuals and groups of his spirit offspring and pre-designated them for special responsibilities. With successful fulfillment of these callings come special blessings. These premortal callings or designations are known among Latterday Saints as foreordinations.4

#The Veil of Forgetfulness

Obviously, here in mortality, our memories of premortality are shrouded by a veil of forgetfulness. The veil eliminates our recollection of our former home. It blocks our memory of premortality while we are in the second estate here on earth. This includes our sojourns in mortality and in the world of spirits. This attenuation of our remembrance has been deliberately orchestrated by God who, in his wisdom, knows it is necessary to allow and enable us to grow spiritually. The veil allows us to prove ourselves and makes necessary a greater exercise of faith. Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “Without the veil, our brief mortal walk in a darkening world would lose its meaning—for one would scarcely carry the flashlight of faith at noonday” (“Patience,” BYU Speeches of the Year, November 27, 1979, 219-220).

Elder Orson Pratt taught that even Jesus’s premortal knowledge was veiled that he might be “left, as it were, in the very depth of humility, beginning at the very first principles of knowledge and growing up from grace to grace, as the scriptures say, from one degree to another” (JD, 15:245). Doubtless, for Jesus, the veil thinned as he persisted in perfect obedience, but it remained until his death allowing him to suffer in Gethsemane “according to the flesh” (Alma 7:13).

As was the case with Jesus, it may also be with us. The more we grow in grace through righteousness and increased spirituality, the more the veil thins and the greater our understanding of our celestial home becomes. The prophet Joseph Smith taught: “The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views” (TPJS, 51). Doubtless we will not regain all of the knowledge we possessed in the premortal world until we receive a fulness in the Father’s kingdom. We can, however, recapture some of our forgotten premortal understanding through following in the footsteps of Christ. President Joseph F. Smith explained: “By the power of the Spirit, in the redemption of Christ, through obedience, we often catch a spark from the awakened memories of the immortal soul, which lights up our whole being as with the glory of our former home” (Gospel Doctrine, 13-14). Elder Maxwell referred to this “spark,” these “awakened memories”: “This inner serenity which the believer knows as he brushes against the veil is cousin to certitude. The peace it brings surpasses our understanding and certainly our capacity to explain” (“Patience,” BYU Speeches of the Year, November 27, 1979, 219).

Talents and aptitudes. The veil is a porous curtain, not a wall. We are not only what we are. We are also what we were. We come into mortality with specific talents and aptitudes packed in our spiritual luggage. Some things in life may come easier by virtue of our premortal accomplishments. However, all these capacities and tendencies

must be rediscovered, nurtured, and cultivated here in order to fully bloom.

Dispositions and desires. The Book of Mormon prophet Amulek counseled us not to procrastinate repentance, “for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world” (Alma 34:34). Just as the attitudes and inclinations we acquire in mortality follow us into the spirit world at death, it makes sense that our propensities, dispositions, preferences, and even personality traits in the pre-existence, accompany us into mortality. Genetic traits and environmental nurturings certainly have great influence in determining who we become here on earth, but premortal characteristics play a significant role as well.

President Joseph Fielding Smith gave interesting insight into the comparison of learning capacities between our premortal selves and our mortal selves:

All those salient truths which come so forcibly to the head and heart seem but the awakening of the memories of the spirit. Can we know anything here that we did not know before we came? Are not the means of knowledge in the first estate equal to those of this? I think that the spirit, before and after this probation, possesses greater facilities, aye, manifold greater, for the acquisition of knowledge, than while manacled and shut up in the prison house of mortality (The Way to Perfection, 45-46).

#Of Him unto Whom Much is Given Much Is Required (D&C 82:3)

From the subtle knowledge we come to possess of our premortal existence, we receive blessings of insight and inspiration and enrichment. However, with such blessings come weighty responsibilities.

Blessings of knowledge of the premortal life. The perspective afforded by our knowledge of the premortal life helps us, as Elder Boyd K. Packer stated, to “yield to the discipline of a loving Father and accept even the very hard lessons of life” (CR, October 1984, 82-83). It gives us a clearer vision of why we are here on earth. “We can cope with what seem to be very dark days and difficult developments” explained Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “We will have a true perspective about ‘things as they really are,’ and we can see in them a great chance to contribute.” Elder Maxwell continued by saying that this doctrine “can help us immensely in coping with the vicissitudes of life.” It is, as Elder Maxwell described, “a flash from the mirror of memory that beckons us forward toward a far horizon.” He added, “When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and we were found equal to our tasks; and therefore, let us continue, but with a more determined discipleship. When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not over program us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear (D&C 50:40)” (“Meeting the Challenges of the Day,” BYU Speeches of the Year, 1978, 155-156).

Another actuating aspect of our knowledge of the premortal world is our grasp of the fundamental fact that we have power and potential to become like our Father in heaven. The doctrine of the premortal life declares that we are literal children of God. We are of his royal lineage. We are heirs to a throne. There is no attribute we ascribe to him that we do not possess in embryo.

Responsibilities. “Premortality is not a relaxing doctrine,” proclaimed Elder Maxwell (CR, October 1985, 21). The scriptures are clear in that “he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation” (D&C 82:3). President George Albert Smith emphasized this message when he stated:

[God] has given us intelligence and wisdom above our fellow men. A knowledge of pre-existence has been given to the Latter-day Saints [D&C 49:17; 93:23, 29]; a knowledge that we are here because we kept our first estate, and that we have been given the opportunity of gaining eternal life in the presence of our heavenly Father, by keeping our second estate [Abraham 3:22-26]. We will not be judged, but according to the greater opportunities placed in our keeping. We will be among those who have received the word of the Lord, who have heard his sayings, and if we do them it will be to us eternal life, but if we fail condemnation will result (CR, October 1906, 47).

In this second estate, we can be neither smug in this special knowledge nor complacent in our commitment to the cause of Christ. Our responsibility to our fellowmen is also amplified by this doctrine. We who understand the literal nature of the brotherhood of humanity possess a greater obligation to serve others. We have the awesome obligation, by virtue of our vision of the literal relationship of humanity, to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees” (D&C 81:5). “The more we serve our fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls,” wrote President Spencer W. Kimball. “We become more significant individuals as we serve others. We become more substantive as we serve others—indeed, it is easier to ‘find’ ourselves because there is so much more of us to find!” (“Small Acts of Service,” 2, 5).

We also have a greater obligation to share the truths of the gospel. President Thomas S. Monson wrote, “The eternal truth is that which we willingly share, we keep; and that which we selfishly keep to ourselves, we lose” (“Status Report on Missionary Work,” Ensign, October 1977, 11). Elder John A. Widtsoe taught:

In our preexistent state, in the day of the great council, we made a certain agreement with the Almighty. The Lord proposed a plan, conceived by him. We accepted it. Since the plan is intended for all men, we became parties to the salvation of every person under that plan. We agreed, right then and there, to be not only saviors for ourselves but measurably, saviors for the whole human family. We went into a partnership with the Lord. The working out of the plan became not merely the Father’s work, and the Savior’s work, but also our work (“The Worth of Souls,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, October 1934, 189-90).

#Duration of Our Premortal Experience

How long did we reside in the premortal world? It is not possible to say. We cannot even be sure how time was reckoned there. It could, however, have been a very long time—so long, in fact, that our sojourn here in mortality is but a fleeting moment by comparison. By the best scientific methods available today, scientists estimate the age of our globe to be approximately 4.6 billion years. Presumably we resided in our celestial home while we awaited the creation and preparation of our earth.

Another clue to the possible age of the earth, though it is indirect, comes from a letter written by William W. Phelps, who worked as a scribe for Joseph Smith in his translation of the book of Abraham. In a letter to William Smith, the Prophet’s brother (the letter was later published in the Times and Seasons) Brother Phelps wrote: “Eternity, agreeable to the records found in the catacombs of Egypt, has been going on in this system, (not this world) almost two thousand five hundred and fifty five millions of years” (Times and Seasons 5 [January 1845]: 758). Admittedly this figure does not refer directly to the age of the earth, but if Jesus Christ, working under direction of his Father, has been active in the creative process that long, then the number is of some considerable interest.

It seems reasonably safe to conclude that we may reasonably say that our premortal existence lasted “eons of time,” an indefinite period, to be sure.

#We Come “Trailing Clouds of Glory”

The poet Wordsworth wrote that we come into this world “not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come, From God” (“Ode, Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”).

In the premortal world, we were people of great accomplishment—great glory. We likely had progressed there for eons of time. We had possessed agency, law, and knowledge of right and wrong. All the elements were in place for us to grow spiritually. And grow we did, each to a different extent. We acquired substantial attributes and attitudes, likes and dislikes, dispositions and capacities. And what of this great growth—these “clouds of glory”? Do we still have them? Do they impact our mortal lives? Awareness of our former glory should motivate us to seek out remnants of it as we sojourn here on earth.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie, speaking to religious educators at Brigham Young University, taught, “We just don’t realize how much of everything we have in this life is based on pre-existence” (unpublished paper cited by Brent L. Top in The Life Before, 170).

For a more complete discussion of this topic, see “Vital Pre-conditions for Spiritual Growth” in chapter 13, Agency and Freedom.

See a more complete discussion of Satan and his motives in chapter 16, The Role of Satan.

For a discussion of Agency and Freedom, see chapter 13.

4 We will discuss the doctrine of foreordination in volume 2, chapter 15, Foreordination.

See a discussion of talents in “Other Uses of the Term ‘Gifts,’” in chapter 7, Spiritual Growth—Gifts of the Spirit.