OREM, Utah -- The idea of a pre-mortal existence has been prevalent among philosophers and theologians for centuries, though it never has been accepted by the bulk of Christianity, said Terryl L. Givens, who is working on a book about the subject.

Givens, a University of Richmond professor of literature and religion, spoke Saturday at the annual meeting of the Association for Mormon Letters, on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem. Quoting Darwin to Plato, Givens laid out the paradoxes members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encounter in their faith experience, as well as the history of the belief in life before birth.

"The LDS faith is the only significant Christian denomination teaching this doctrine today," Givens said of the belief in a pre-existence. "But it turns out, literally dozens -- perhaps hundreds -- of poets, mystics, philosophers, theologians and pastors have taught this same principle across the centuries."

Givens said the writings of St. Augustine, Immaneul Kant and even psychotherapist Sigmund Freud lend themselves to a belief in the eternal nature of the soul, and these perspectives should be embraced, not resisted. Givens referenced the Prophet Joseph Smith, who sought specific truths from different sources, then wove them into a coherent message, an approach Givens referred to a syncretism.

"We too often think that Joseph (Smith) started with a clean slate, repudiating the entire Christian past and starting out fresh, only teaching that which came to him direct from the Heavens; but he emphatically resisted any such expression," Givens said. "His was a generous mind, unafraid to embrace truth wherever he found it and bring it home to Zion."



In most historical writings that reference a pre-mortal existence, Givens said the pre-existence served as a solution to a theological problem -- usually that of the argument against the notion that men have free will.

Quoting John Taggart, Givens said, "'If God created our souls, he could have prevented all sin by creating us with better features and more favorable surroundings.'" Givens went on to say "(Taggart's) argument led him to conclude that ... a human spirit rooted in an eternal pre-existence solved this dilemma."

Josephs Smith's assertion that "intelligence, or the light of truth, was neither created nor made," is in keeping with this reasoning for a pre-earth life.

Givens also spoke about the paradoxes he has observed in the Mormon faith, a topic that was the subject of his 2007 book "People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture."

Givens said he believes paradoxes are something to be celebrated, not shied away from.

"I believe paradox is actually a sign of a healthy universe, veracious enough to insist on having it both ways at the same time," Givens said. "Paradox is a sign of richness and plentitude."

Givens brushed on the four paradoxes he wrote about in his book.

First, being the conflict between authoritarianism and individualism. He said intellectuals and artists specifically have to weigh these teachings. Each member has to submit to an ecclesiastical authority, and yet there also exists the celebrated belief in individual moral agency and individual inspiration.

Some observers have held that there is a separation in the church, with those members who fancy individualism being at odds with those who take a more authoritative approach. To that, Givens said, "I think the divide ... is one that operates within thoughtful Mormons as much as among them."

Secondly, there is the idea of election, where prophets like Joseph Smith proclaim that they are destined for greatness and take on an adversarial role against the world. The concept of election brings with it the idea that the church and its people are unique, favored, set apart from society around them. Yet on the other hand, "isolation is often felt as a burden of exclusion, and is frequently transported into a quest for connections," Givens said. For instance, "Mormons insist on a need for gospel restoration, and then feel the sting of being excluded from the bulk of Christianity they just dismissed as irredeemably apostate."

The third paradox Givens identified was what he calls "the disintegration of sacred distance." Many of the doctrines of the church, such as the belief in the divine potential of souls, and the idea that the family is the prototype for heavenly sociality, seem to some to be the "invasion of the banal into the realm of the holy." It can be difficult to strike a balance of reverence and sacredness for the Savior of mankind when he is also considered to be "our big brother."

Givens illustrated this point with a quote from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees, takes off his shoes -- the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."

The fourth paradox Givens identified was that of the concrete certainty Mormons proclaim to have of the church's miraculous events vs. the seeking and searching that is an ongoing part of faith. "I fear we make too little room for those who say in the anguish of their heart not 'I know,' but: 'I believe. Help thou my unbelief.'"

Givens added a fifth paradox, not featured in his book. It pertains to the way Joseph Smith was both a prophet and a gatherer of truths. Givens identified this paradox as the "twin imperatives of innovative revelation and syncretism." On one hand Joseph Smith was a divine leader who was believed to receive revelation directly from God, and on the other hand he gathered knowledge from secular sources as well as traditional Christianity.

The Articles of Faith are an example of the paradox, as the first article asserts a centuries'-held view of God, yet the very next article is "an utter repudiation of the universal Christian doctrine of original sin," Givens said. "Joseph propounds a theory of man's inherent innocence -- a position directly at odds with centuries of orthodox."

Givens was featured on the Helen Whitney's PBS documentary, "The Mormons," and is authoring his fifth book, "When Souls had Wings: Preexistence in Western Thought."

E-mail: mfarmer@desnews.com