Having completed a discussion of the hypocephalus, it is time to return to the text of the Book of Abraham. In the third chapter, we learn that Abraham spoke with God face to face and was shown by God all the workmanship of His hands.
Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made; And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof. (Abraham 3: 11, 12)
Now the Lord had shown unto
me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among these there were many of the noble and great ones. And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou are one of them; thou was chosen before thou wast born. (Abraham 3: 22, 23)
There are references to a pre-Earth life in the Bible, but they are isolated and somewhat obscure. Most people don't know what they mean. Most notable is this quote from the Book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament:
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 unto the nations (Jeremiah 1:5)
Essentially, Jeremiah was told the same thing as Abraham, yet many non-LDS criticize the Church for its teachings about a pre-Earth life. However, these same people have trouble explaining what Jeremiah 1:5 means without modern-day revelation.
The first stage in our pre-existent life was that of intelligences. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that the intelligent part of man has always existed: “The spirit of man is not a created being; it existed from eternity, and will exist to eternity. Anything created cannot be eternal.” (History of the Church, 3:387.)
Elder John A. Widtsoe noted that “intelligence as used by Latter-day Saints has two chief meanings. … First, a man who gathers knowledge and uses it in harmony with the plan of salvation is intelligent. He has intelligence. … Second, the word when preceded by the article an, or used in the plural as intelligences, means a person, or persons, usually in the spiritual estate. Just as we speak of a person or persons, we speak of an intelligence, or intelligences.” *(Evidences and Reconciliations, 3:74; see also Abraham 3:22–23.)
We know very little about the concept of intelligence. President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “Some of our writers have endeavored to explain what an intelligence is, but to do so is futile, for we have never been given any insight into this matter beyond what the Lord has fragmentarily revealed. We know, however, that there is something called intelligence which always existed. It is the real eternal part of man, which was not created or made. This intelligence combined with the spirit constitutes a spiritual identity or individual.” *(Progress of Man, p. 11.)
It is comforting to know, although mind-boggling to understand, that I have always existed. The God was not a beginner experimenting with the concept of mankind, but had a remarkable plan in place from the very beginning.
Now, I need to go rest my brain!
* Both quotes from Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, (2002), 217–222
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