Christians: do you believe in a 'before-life?'

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I was discussing this with my mom a couple days ago.  I'm agnostic on the question and I suspect that belief was considered a heresy at one point like everything else was/is.  My mom happens to think we did exist prior to our conception, but made no conscious decision to be born.

[Frodo]

By 'before-life, do you mean reincarnation?  It sounds like it. 

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

By 'before-life, do you mean reincarnation?  It sounds like it. 

No, it implies that you were literally with God prior to being conceived on earth - not that you had past lives, necessarily.

[Mr. Smith]

Yes, and with the conscious decision to be born.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

TJ, DC, Ernest, RFayette?  I'm curious to hear your takes.

[DC Al Fine]

TJ, DC, Ernest, RFayette?  I'm curious to hear your takes.

I'm not aware of any scriptural support for the idea and there's some snippets of evidence against. I suppose God could have given us a before life and not told us, but I doubt it personally. I just know the doctrine as a quirk of Mormonism and haven't really dealt with it, so I can't give a more detailed response. Sorry.

[TJ in Oregon]

Generally, the Church holds our eternal soul to be created upon conception. I'm not sure of any clearly condemned heresy of someone arguing that it existed prior, but generally, one of the highlighted differences between our birth and the Incarnation of Christ is that we actually begin then and Jesus took on the form of a man but existed before.

The most closely related debate I am aware of is this one, which isn't quite the same question.

[RFayette 🇻🇦]

TJ, DC, Ernest, RFayette?  I'm curious to hear your takes.

I'm not aware of any scriptural support for the idea and there's some snippets of evidence against. I suppose God could have given us a before life and not told us, but I doubt it personally. I just know the doctrine as a quirk of Mormonism and haven't really dealt with it, so I can't give a more detailed response. Sorry.

Same.  I don't see any evidence in the Bible for it, but it's not something where there is a super-explicit statement against it; that being said, I do think TJ is right-on here.  And this is an example where I think the argument from silence holds up:  the absence of the mention of pre-existence of souls is the Bible is indeed evidence of their absence from a Christian perspective, since we would expect information about the pre-existent self, given how much we see about the soul and the afterlife.

[Mr. Smith]

It's toyed with in some of William Wordsworth's works too

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Reincarnation is an obvious falsehood, but if you just mean did our souls exist in heaven in some capacity before conception, then I don't know and I don't believe the bible answers that question.

[Small L]

Origen believed this. He thought original sin happened before we had bodies. If I remember correctly, he thought demons were angels that betrayed God and angels those that stayed faithful. We did not betray God, but we 'doubted' in some way. Our earthly existence is a kind of chance to make a final decision and end up like either the angels or the demons. Some details of that may be a little off. Most people think his belief in the pre-existence of the soul is what got him labeled a heretic later on.

Often (not in the case of mormons), I see the 'before-life' belief as either the result an over-influence of Platonism in Christianity or a confused interpretation of the idea that Heaven is our true home.

[DC Al Fine]

Generally, the Church holds our eternal soul to be created upon conception. I'm not sure of any clearly condemned heresy of someone arguing that it existed prior, but generally, one of the highlighted differences between our birth and the Incarnation of Christ is that we actually begin then and Jesus took on the form of a man but existed before.

2nd Constantinople anathematized Origen, who taught the pre-existing of the soul so I guess it was condemned, albeit indirectly.

[136or142]

Reincarnation is an obvious falsehood, but if you just mean did our souls exist in heaven in some capacity before conception, then I don't know and I don't believe the bible answers that question.

Tell that to  James Leininger and James Huston's World War II friends.

[BenBurch]

I believe the soul is created when the egg is fertilized by the sperm.

[Mr. Smith]

TJ, DC, Ernest, RFayette?  I'm curious to hear your takes.

I'm not aware of any scriptural support for the idea and there's some snippets of evidence against. I suppose God could have given us a before life and not told us, but I doubt it personally. I just know the doctrine as a quirk of Mormonism and haven't really dealt with it, so I can't give a more detailed response. Sorry.

FWIW, William Wordsworth alluded to the idea in some of his works well before The Second Great Awakening.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I believe the soul is created when the egg is fertilized by the sperm.

Were Adam and Eve soulless?  Or did they get a special one-time prototype soul that was created some other way?

[BenBurch]

I believe the soul is created when the egg is fertilized by the sperm.

Were Adam and Eve soulless?  Or did they get a special one-time prototype soul that was created some other way?

I don't take parts of the Bible literally.  I believe the Bible gives messages through stories.  Now, I know you're disappointed.  You missed the chance to defeat the guy who doesn't like killing babies.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I believe the soul is created when the egg is fertilized by the sperm.

Were Adam and Eve soulless?  Or did they get a special one-time prototype soul that was created some other way?

I don't take parts of the Bible literally.  I believe the Bible gives messages through stories.  Now, I know you're disappointed.  You missed the chance to defeat the guy who doesn't like killing babies.

Yeah, I'm wrecked.

[CatoMinor]

Unless I'm mistaken that's largely just a Mormon thing. I can't think of any major denominations that would hold that view.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Unless I'm mistaken that's largely just a Mormon thing. I can't think of any major denominations that would hold that view.

What about the non-denominations?

[Santander]

lol no.

[CatoMinor]

Unless I'm mistaken that's largely just a Mormon thing. I can't think of any major denominations that would hold that view.

What about the non-denominations?

Until proven otherwise, I assume every non-denom is unofficially Baptist.