![]() ![]() Ĭhurch-produced materials, when they specifically mention this verse, have regularly followed this interpretive approach. Packer taught, “Before we came into mortal life, we lived as spirit children of our Father in Heaven,” for which he cited Ecclesiastes 12:7 as support. In the Bible we read, ‘Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto the God who gave it’ (Eccl. ![]() Brown stated, “At a time far antedating Eden, the spirits of all men had a primeval existence and were intelligences with spirit bodies of which God was universal Father. But if we have once been there, then we can see the force of the saying of the wise man, that the spirit returns to God who gave it-it goes back where it once was.” In more recent times, Elder Hugh B. Now all of this congregation very well know, that if we never existed there we could not return there. We find that Solomon, that wise man, says that when the body returns to the dust the spirit returns to God who gave it. In 1852 he taught: “We have ascertained that we have had a previous existence. ![]() Lee, who, when referring to the premortal existence of our spirits, quoted Ecclesiastes 12:7 and stated, “Obviously we could not return to a place where we had never been, so we are talking about death as a process as miraculous as birth, by which we return to ‘our Father who art in heaven.’” Elder Orson Pratt seems to have been among the first Latter-day Saint authorities to employ this logic to provide biblical support for the doctrine of premortality. Using Ecclesiastes 12:7 to emphasize a different doctrinal dimension, a number of Latter-day Saint church leaders have taught something similar to President Harold B. are taken home to that God who gave them life.’” When so employed, the “spirit” mentioned in Ecclesiastes 12:7 is regularly assumed by Latter-day Saints to be an individual spirit personage that was created by God in premortality and that inhabits every human’s mortal body. Skinner have claimed that “the Preacher’s comment that ‘the spirit shall return unto God who gave it’ parallels the teaching in Alma 40:11 that ‘the spirits of all men. Nelson each employed this verse in the notes of a general conference address for such support. For example, in the past decade, Apostles James E. Latter-day Saint Church leaders and authors have often employed Ecclesiastes 12:7, without making a specific connection to premortality, to emphasize that our individual “spirits” return to God at death. Latter-day Saint Views on Ecclesiastes 12:7 In order to determine whether Ecclesiastes 12:7 can bear the interpretation placed on it by many Latter-day Saints, I will (1) review what Latter-day Saints have claimed about the content of this verse, (2) consider 12:7 in the context of Ecclesiastes, especially chapter 12, and (3) analyze the language and meaning of 12:7 in its biblical context. Īlthough the doctrine itself is not in question, this paper does question whether “the spirit” in Ecclesiastes 12:7 refers to individual spirit personages and considers the validity of employing this verse as biblical support of premortal existence. This verse has thus become one of several in the Old Testament that some Latter-day Saints have employed as support for premortal existence, a doctrine that is so important in the broader plan of salvation. Furthermore, Latter-day Saints have sometimes asserted, again citing Ecclesiastes 12:7, that a premortal spirit being can only “return” to God because it previously came from him. Influenced by the Restoration doctrine of premortality, some Latter-day Saints have employed the KJV translation “the spirit” in Ecclesiastes 12:7 to support the doctrine that spirit personages leave their mortal bodies at death. (New English Translation, hereafter cited as NET) (New Revised Standard Version, hereafter cited as NRSV)Īnd the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the life’s breath returns to God who gave it. (King James Version, hereafter cited as KJV)Īnd the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Pike, professor of ancient scripture and ancient Near Eastern studies at Brigham Young University, was on the international team of editors for the Dead Sea Scrolls, and was serving as associate dean of Religious Education at BYU when this was written. ![]()
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