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BRENTL TOP thelifebefore salt lake city bookcraft 1988xii 212ppap 9959.95995

reviewed by charles R harrell assistant professor of technology at brighamyounguniversity

brent tops informative and inspirational book the lifebefore traces the ideaofpreexistencepreexistence from early recordedhistorythroughthe most currentsecular andLDS thinking onthe subject

from the wealth of quotations alone the book is a valuablereference book that any student of LDS doctrine will discover

worthperusing in this respect the authorhas undertaken a com-mendableworkofcompilation andorganizationofsubjectmatter

the stated objective ofthe book is to provideinformationthatwillenlightenthemindandpreparetheheart for theinspirationthat can change our lives and buoy us up spiritually as we passthroughthis secondestate x the booksucceeds inthisregardbyprovidinga positive andreaffirming witness ofthe doctrine

the firstchapter and ahalf comprising twenty threepagesgives a historical overview of the doctrine presenting both

ancientandmodem beliefs including glimpsesofearlyjewish andchristian teachings onpreexistencepre existence whilemostofthequotesbeardirectly on the subject some have dubious relevancy such ashermanhessesbessesnotion ofourinherited ancestral past of slimeandeggshellsegg shells or M scott pecks related conceptof collectiveconsciousness thatis the inheritedwisdomandexperienceofourancestors

the remaining 176pagesofthebookare devotedtoexpound-

ing major LDS themes related to the doctrine ofpreexistencepre existencetopics are treated on alevel suitedtoageneral mormon audienceandare kept well within the bounds ofaccepted LDS orthodoxynearly eveveryery aspect ofthe doctrine is presented with only a fewtopicsomitted suchastheoriginofthesexesand the actual locationofthe preexistent spirit world

readers will findthe authors personal musmusingsings stimulatingsuch as the thought provoking probe into the fathers motive inasking whom shall I1 send knowing full well he had already

chosen his firstbornfirstborn the warinheaven is especially well treatedwith a comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the issuesinvolved

the author broadens our perspective of the doctrine offoreordination by presenting numerous possible instances inwhich the doctrine applies one aspect of foreordination doesappearproblematic however theauthor declares among those

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foreordainedforeordained to the house ofisrael were those who were furtherordained to specific callings as ministers ininthe kingdom ofgod

159 butif as the author claims noonereceivesreceives thepriesthood

inthislifeunless hewas foreordainedforeordainedtodo so andifthose whoareforeordainedforeordainedareamongthemostelectofthosebom into thehouseof israel then one is left wondering why the churchschurche currentpolicy is to ordain individuals to the priesthood regardless oflineage

overall thebook is well written buttherearareeafew aspectsofthe treatmentofofpreexistencepreexistencepreexistencethat causedme a bit ofconcern theauthor sometimes lacks objectivity inin treating issues and makes

several blanket statements that are not well supported forexample in spite ofthe numerous quotes from modem christian

thinkers insupportofthedoctrineofpreexistenceofpreexistencepreexistence topinsiststopinsists thatmodem christianity vehemently rejects the doctrine yet noevidence at all is presented to warrant this assertion further theauthor accuses the christian world ofeither ignoring orgrosslymisinterpreting newtestamentteachings on preexistencepreexistence

this indictmentseemsa little harsh especiallyin lightofwhatis offered asbeing the correct interpretation ofthese teachings

onpage 28 forexample top presentspauls references tochristasthe firstbornfirstborn then asks how can paul be referringtoanythingotherthan christs preeminentroleas firstbornfirstborn ofallofgods spiritchildren actually itis quite possibilepos sibile thatpaulmaybeusing theterm figuratively as heoften did for example incolossiansincolossians 111818he refersto christasbeing thefirstbornfirstborn from thedead bysayingthat the savior was the firstbornfirstborn ofevery creature col 115paulmaybe merelycallingattentiontochrists preeminenceasthefirstofthe creations ofthefather after all ifthestatement weretakenliterally all ofgods creations would be begotten notjusthumanbeings the authorhimselfpointsoutlaterthatthehebrewword translated as firstbornfirstborn actuallymeans preeminent one

evenifpaul did intend toconveythatchristwas literally thefirstbornfirstborn ofthefatherin thespirit it doesnot necessarily follow thatothers were bombornbormbomm as spirit children ofgod to the contrary paulteaches that one reason we know that christ was the firstbornfirstborn isthat everything else that came afterwards was created by christ

col 1

11515 16 furthermore paulexplicitly statesthat the way inwhich christ becomes the firstbornfirstborn among many brethren isthrough the righteous being adopted into the family of godrom 829

on page 31 and again on page 55 the author uses romans816 as evidence that we are the spirit offspring ofgod carefulreadingshowsthat thispassageclearly refers to theadoption ofthe

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110 BYU studies

righteous aschildrenofgod inexaminingexaminingthis thispassage and othersreferringto god asourfather such asthose citedonpages26and

27it27 itisinterestingtoconsiderthefollowingobservationfollowing observationmadebybruce R mcconkie

fewdoctrines arebetterknownbymembers ofthetruechurch thanthe doctrine ofpreexistencepreexistence what is not so well known is thatnearly allthepassages ofscripture bothancientandmodem whichspeakofgod asour father andofmenonearthbeingthe sons ofgodhave no reference to our birth in preexistencepreexistence as the children ofelohim butteach rather thatjehovah is our father andwearehischildren

thepointto be madeis thatmostofpauls teachingsthatare citedbytop provideneither obvious norconclusive evidenceofaspiritbirthandcertainly donot warrantdismissing alternative scholarlyinterpretations as being gross misinterpretations

evensomemodemscripturesandteachingsare usedasprooftexts bythe author inan attempt to provide added supportforthedoctrine ofpreexistencepreexistence the doctrine ofa literal spirit birth forexample is represented as being consistentlyand emphaticallytaught from the time ofjoseph smith to the present to say thatjoseph smith emphatically taught the doctrine is a bit of anoverstatement since no recorded teachings of the prophet existwherein hetaught that god isthe literalfather ofour spirits the tworeferences that are cited 55 are at best tenuous as a supportforspirit birth the first reference for example is dacd&c 7623 24whichhas beeninterpretedbymanyauthorities notto mentionthe

interpretationgiveninthesubjectmattersummaryat thebeginningofthesection as having referenceto spiritual rebirth not premortal

spirit birth the second quotation attributed to joseph smith isactually the prophet quoting paul rom 816 with apparentreference only to the doctrine ofadoption and not to spirit birth

I1raisetheseobjections notto disprove tops thesis butonlyto express disapproval ofthe methodology inwhichsuchtenuousevidence is used to strengthen the supportfor the doctrine ofpreexistence there is ample evidence ofscriptural and authoritativesupportforpreexistencepreexistencewithoutthe needto reach forquestionableevidence

one ofthe moreinterestingdiscussions inthe book is onthenature of intelligence unfortunately the labels given to the twoschools of thought on intelligence are too restrictive given thereferences cited tops obvious intention is to discuss whetherwehad a beginning as individuals or whether we always existedindividually the label he gives to the first school of thoughthowever is intelligence the primal element which does not

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represent the full range of beliefs cited in the quotations onintelligence while some references do equate intelligence withspirit element bruce R mcconkie and charles penrose others

defineintelligence as aninherent attributeofprimal spiritelementparley P pratt A thirdview considersintelligence to beaquick-

ening agentinfused into spiritelement by god brigham youngjoseph fieldingsmith

theauthoradmits thatthe issueofwhetherornotwealwaysexisted as individuals is unsettled yet the evidence presented isclearlyweightedinfavor ofthebeliefthatindividualswerecreatedonlyorsonprattand B H roberts eachofwhosecredentials areundermined arecitedas proponents ofeternalindividualism eventhough it is the only view that has been presented in generalconferences inrecentyears despite theauthors apparenteffortatobjectivity his ownbias is apparent

withrespect to premortal progression the author representsbrighamyoung andjosephfieldingsmith asteachingthat differ-encesin theattainment ofintelligence are duesolelytotheexerciseofagency not represented is the fact that both ofthese churchleaders alsotaughtthatspiritswerecreatedwithvaryingcapacities

and thatthisalso accounts fordifferences inlevelofprogression 2

in addition to these examples wherepassages and teachingsare not presentedasobjectivelyoras completely as theymight havebeen thebookcontainsseveral minorerrors suchasreferences tocicero and seneca as greek philosophers rather than romanselizaR snows hymn 0myfather isalso erroneously dated to1843 insteadof1845 therebygiving the falseimpression that thedoctrine ofspirit birth was well established during the prophetslifetime

overall thebookismuchmoreupliftingthandisturbing andI1 recommend it without reservation to general LDS readers ifthe authors occasional overzealousness can be overlooked thebookalso contains many thought provoking ideas worth examin-ing bythe serious scholar the authorhas done an admirablejobofconveying the spiritual depth and far reaching impact of thedoctrine

NOTES

bruce R mcconkiermcconkiemcconkle the promisedmessiahpromised messiah salt lakecity deseret bookco 19783511978 351 522seeaseeeejoseph fielding smith answers to gospel questions 5 vols saltlake city deseret book

co 1979 5138 139 brigham young journalofdiscoursesofdiscourses 1258125842684268 697