Bible Dictionaries
Preexistence of Souls

Holman Bible Dictionary

Doctrine that souls exist prior to being joined to a body. Disdain for the material body as evil or disregard for the body as inferior to the soul are common corollaries of this doctrine. Scripture affirms the material body as the good creation of God. Indeed, one does not become a living “soul” apart from the material body (Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:45 ). Though the Greeks longed to free their souls from the prison of the body, the Hebrews feared separation from the body as the end of personal existence. Thus, Paul hoped not to be an “unclothed” soul, that is, without a body, but one clothed in a spiritual body (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