The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Mormon by Ron Rhodes

Author:Ron Rhodes
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736932011
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.

In the Garden of Eden, Satan (Lucifer) sought to tempt Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. He enticed her by saying, “God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5, emphasis added). The fall of man was the result of this encounter. Fallen humanity—to the present day—sinfully and pridefully yearns to be “like God.”

Mormons misinterpret certain Bible verses as teaching human preexistence. Let us consider two of the primary verses Mormons cite in this regard—Jeremiah 1:5 and John 17:5.

Jeremiah 1:5

God informed Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Mormons believe this verse proves their doctrine of “preexistence”—the idea that human beings lived in the spirit world before being born in the flesh.6

Contextually, however, this verse speaks not of the soul preexisting before birth, but rather of God calling and setting apart Jeremiah for his ministry long before he was born. “I knew you” does not refer to a preexistent soul, but to the prenatal person. Jeremiah was known by God “in the womb” (see Psalm 139:13-16).

The Hebrew word for “know” (yada) implies a special relationship of commitment. This word is related to other words, including “sanctified” (meaning set apart) and “ordained,” which reveal that God had a special assignment for Jeremiah even before his birth. “Know” in this context indicates God’s act of making Jeremiah the special object of His sovereign choice. This verse does not imply Jeremiah’s preexistence; rather, it affirms Jeremiah’s preordination to a special ministry.

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