One of the distinctive beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the idea of a preexistence—that we lived with God before we were born. Truthfully, this was one of the ideas that initially attracted me to the LDS Church when I first looked into it. I loved the idea that we had an existence before this life and that we chose to come here. Those ideas of fairness really resonated with me as a young college student.
But when we examine what the Bible says, does this belief really hold up? Does Scripture actually teach a preexistence or not? In this post, I want to argue that the Bible not only fails to support the doctrine of human preexistence, but also consistently contradicts it.
Part I – Verses That Are Opposed to Preexistence
Before responding to the usual LDS proof texts, it is important to start with the passages that most clearly speak on and oppose the idea of a human preexistence. These texts consistently present human beings as created, contingent, and dependent on God, while reserving true preexistence for Christ alone.
1.1 Human Dependence on God (Acts 17; 1 Corinthians 4)
Scripture consistently speaks of human beings as entirely dependent on God for their existence. We are not presented as independent intelligences or eternal agents, but as contingent creatures.
Paul says in Acts 17:28, “In him we live and move and have our being.” And again in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive?”
Our existence itself is a gift. There is no biblical category for human selves existing apart from God’s creative act. Unlike Latter-day Saint theology, which grants humans an eternal identity independent of God, Scripture presents us as radically dependent beings—sustained by God at every moment.
1.2 Creation at Birth (Psalm 139, Ecclesiastes, Psalm 102, Colossians)
Other passages in the Bible teach that our creation comes from God at the time of our birth, rather than pre-existently. Psalm 139:13–16 says, “For thou didst form my inward parts; thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb. … Thine eyes did see my unformed substance; and in thy book were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them” (ASV). This emphasizes that God forms and creates us in the womb, not beforehand.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 similarly says, “Then shall the dust return to the earth, as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it,” showing that our spirit is given by God at the moment of creation, not as a pre-existing entity.
Likewise, in Psalm 102:18, the Psalmist speaks of his desire to write enduring words of praise: “Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the Lord.” The word for created is Bara, which is the same term used in Genesis 1 to describe God’s creative work. This verse, therefore, seems to describe future generations of believers who have not yet been created at the time when the Psalmist was writing. This verse by itself is not a slam dunk, but it is a valuable part of the collective witness of scripture.
By contrast to these verses, Colossians 1:16–17 speaks of Jesus: “For in him were all things created… and he is before all things, and all things consist in him” (ASV). Jesus is described as independent, self-existent, and eternal, whereas we are contingent, created beings who did not have a preexistence.
1.3 Jesus’ Unique Preexistence (John 8; Matthew 22)
Jesus himself also distinguishes his own existence from ours. In the Gospel of John, he tells the Pharisees, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23). Later he says, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).
Jesus explicitly claims an existence prior to Abraham. But this is presented as something unique to him, not something shared by all humans.
Jesus also raises this issue when he asks how the Messiah can be both David’s son and David’s Lord: “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” (Matthew 22:45).
John reinforces this distinction throughout his Gospel. “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). And again, “He who comes from above is above all” (John 3:31).
Again and again, Jesus is set apart from humanity. He comes from above. We do not.
1.4 The Blind Man and Premortal Sin (John 9)
Other texts even more explicitly refute the idea that something we did before being born has an influence on our earth life. Consider the episode where Jesus is asked about a blind man—a beggar who was born blind. In John 9, Jesus’ disciples ask him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). The question itself reflects a belief that the man could have sinned before he was born.
Jesus explicitly rejects this idea. He responds, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). Jesus does not affirm any notion of premortal sin. Instead, he denies that the man’s condition is the result of any moral action at all—whether before birth or after.
This directly challenges a view that is very common in LDS theology: that our actions in a preexistence influence our circumstances in this life—how we are born, where we are born, or what position we hold. Historically, this has even been used to explain things like skin color, nationality, or one’s place in the church or society, as rewards or punishments for premortal behavior.
1.5 God’s Sovereign Choice (Romans 9)
Finally, one of the clearest rejections of the idea that the blessings or challenges in this life are the result of premortal merit or failure comes in Romans. Paul speaks of God’s election and how God chose Jacob rather than Esau before they were born. In doing so, Paul expressly rejects the idea that this chocie was a result of anything done before their birth. As Paul explains in Romans 9:11–13, “Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue… she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’”
The point is explicit: God’s choices are made before human action, not on the basis of it. The basis of God’s purposes is not what we did before birth, but God’s own will and grace.
After all, if we did nothing “good or bad” before our birth, then how could we have fought on behalf of Jesus and against Satan in a war in heaven?
Part II – Responding to Common LDS Proof Texts
In Part I, we examined a series of passages that directly contradict the idea of human preexistence, showing that Scripture consistently presents human beings as created, contingent, and dependent on God, while reserving true preexistence for Christ alone. In this section, I want to turn to the two passages most often cited in favor of preexistence within Latter-day Saint theology: Job 38 and Jeremiah 1.
Job 38
One of the most common proof texts for preexistence is found in Job 38, where God asks Job, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth… when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4,7).
At first glance, this passage may appear to support preexistence, but when read in its immediate context, it actually reinforces the opposite conclusion already established in Part I. God is not telling Job that he was there; he is emphasizing that Job was not there.
God’s entire speech is a series of rhetorical questions designed to humble Job: Were you there? Do you know? Do you understand? The implied answer to every question is no. Job was not present at creation. He does not share God’s perspective. He does not know God’s purposes.
This is confirmed by Job’s response in Job 42, where he repents and says, “I have uttered that which I understood not, things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” Job’s repentance only makes sense if God’s point was precisely that Job was not present and does not possess divine knowledge.
Ironically, a passage meant to emphasize human limitation is being used to argue for human preexistence.
Jeremiah 1:5
Jeremiah 1:5 says, “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 is often treated as the strongest biblical evidence for preexistence, but like Job, it must be interpreted in light of the broader scriptural teaching already discussed. This passage is not speaking about Jeremiah existing prior to his birth. It is speaking about God’s foreknowledge and sovereign calling.
This same kind of language is used by Paul in Galatians 1:15, where he says, “He who had set me apart from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace.” Paul is not claiming preexistence. He is describing God’s gracious purpose for his life.
The ambiguity around the language of Jeremiah is best understood in light of the clear and explicit teachings described above, refuting the notion of preexistence. Even if Jeremiah is ambiguous, we should not read it as supporting the expansive LDS doctrine of preexistence in contradiction to the weight of scripture.
Conclusion
I understand why the idea of the preexistence is so compelling for Latter-day Saints. It appeals to our sense of fairness and justice. We want to believe people to receive lives that match their merit and qualities. We love to see ourselves as self-existent beings. And the idea that we chose to come here, feels democratic and just.
But Scripture does not merely fail to teach this idea; as Part I showed, it actively contradicts it.
Not only is this belief unsupported, but it can also lead to harmful thinking. Consider the blind man in John 9: people assumed that either he or his parents must have sinned to justify his condition. Similarly, leaders like Brigham Young used the idea of pre-existent merit to justify racial restrictions, claiming a lack of valiance in the preexistence as the cause. These interpretations are deeply mistaken and they come from the false doctrine of a preexistence.
The truth is that before we were born, we did not do anything to merit this life or earn salvation. Both life and salvation are freely given by God. He is sovereign and in charge. We can fully trust and rely on Him.
Rather than lifting ourselves up as pre-existent beings, we can be grateful for the one who truly was pre-existent: Jesus Christ. He came into this world to redeem us and all of creation. The eternal One, the great “I Am,” humbled Himself, took on flesh, and died on a cross for our sins. This is the foundation of our confidence and assurance, rather than our preemortal merit or the fact that we “kept our first estate.”