Preexistence Of Souls
Preexistence Of Souls [1]
Genesis 2:7 1 Corinthians 15:45 2 Corinthians 5:41 1 Corinthians 15:44
Jeremiah 1:5 refers not to the prophet's pre-existent soul but to God's foreknowledge of a redemptive plan embracing the ministry of this prophet. The debate in John 9:2 likely concerned the possibility of sins committed in the womb (compare God's choice of Jacob over Esau while they were still in the womb Genesis 25:23; Romans 9:11-13 ).
According to Josephus, the Essenes affirmed the preexistence of souls. This claim may stem from Josephus' desire to portray Jewish sects as the counterparts of Greek philosophical schools. Origen (A.D. 185?-254?) derived the doctrine of the preexistence of souls from his understanding
of the nature of the soul and held the doctrine to be a necessary corollary of the immortality of souls. The consensus of the early church as evidenced by the Apostle's Creed is that the Christian hope is the resurrection of the body, not the inherent immortality of souls. See Immortality; Resurrection; Soul .
Chris Church
