Here is the answer I gave:
It is important to understand the doctrine of the eternal
nature of man and some of the processes through which he has passed.
First: Man is intelligence
which cannot be created or made (D&C 93:29).
Intelligence is the material from which spirits are made. This is the eternal aspect of man. There are divergent views on intelligence in
the Church as to whether an intelligence is an entity with self awareness or a
mass of material without entity or self awareness. The Church has taken no official position on
either of these two concepts. You can
see this referenced in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism below under the title of “Intelligence.”
Second: from intelligence man progressed to become spirit
children of God, this is the phase of their creation in the image and likeness
of God and where He becomes their father and creator.
Third: intelligences/spirits were placed into the physical bodies of
man in which the body and spirit together are called by God the “soul” of man
(D&C 88:15).
Sometimes the way we use vocabulary in reference to these
concepts confuses the way we view our nature.
Sometimes intelligence is referred to as spirit. Organized intelligences are referred to as
spirits such as in Abraham 3:22.
Sometimes soul is used to refer to a spirit and other times it is used
to refer to spirit and body together.
Therefore, the context of the term and how it is used becomes more
important than the term itself. You will see some of this in the quotes
below.
Here are two entries in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism - one on "Intelligence" and the other on "Intelligences."
Intelligence
Intelligence, however defined, is not created or made
(D&C 93:29); it is coeternal with God (TPJS, pp. 353-54). Some LDS leaders
have interpreted this to mean that intelligent beings-called
intelligences-existed before and after they were given spirit bodies in the
premortal existence. Others have interpreted it to mean that intelligent beings
were organized as spirits out of eternal intelligent matter, that they did not
exist as individuals before they were organized as spirit beings in the
premortal existence (Abr. 3:22; JD 7:57; 2:124). The Church has taken no
official position on this issue.
Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H.
Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), p.692
Intelligences
The word "intelligences" (plural) occurs
frequently in LDS literature, having reference to the period of the premortal
existence of mankind. The term has received two interpretations by writers
within the Church: as the literal spirit children of Heavenly Parents and as
individual entities existing prior to their spirit birth. Because latter-day
revelation has not clarified the meaning of the term, a more precise
interpretation is not possible at present.
The scriptural source for the word "intelligences"
is the book of Abraham 3:21-22. The Lord instructed the patriarch Abraham
regarding the premortal experiences of all who have been or ever will be upon
the earth. Among those events was the Council in Heaven, at which the Father's
Plan of Salvation for his children was discussed. Abraham wrote of this,
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were
organized before the world was; for he stood among those that were spirits, and
he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of
them" (Abr. 3:22-23). The Prophet Joseph Smith spoke of intelligences as
follows: "God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory,
because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest
could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with
God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute
laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with
himself, so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that
knowledge, power, glory, and intelligence, which is requisite in order to save
them" (TPJS, p. 354).
Concerning man's premortal existence, the Lord revealed to
Joseph Smith, "Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or
the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be"
(D&C 93:29). "Intelligence," as used here, is singular, and it is
not clear from this passage if it refers to individual, conscious identity. As
noted, Abraham referred to the spirit offspring of God as organized
intelligences, apparently using the word "intelligences" to mean
"spirits." Church authorities have indicated that spirit birth was
not the beginning. Spencer W. Kimball, then a member of the Quorum of the
Twelve, wrote, "Our spirit matter was eternal and co-existent with God,
but it was organized into spirit bodies by our Heavenly Father" (The
Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 5, Salt Lake City, 1969). Marion G. Romney, of the
First Presidency, speaking of people's divine origin as children of God,
stated, "Through that birth process, self-existing intelligence was
organized into individual spirit beings" (Ensign 8 [Nov. 1978]:14). Bruce
R. McConkie, an apostle, wrote:
Abraham used the name intelligences to apply to the spirit
children of the Eternal Father. The intelligence or spirit element became
intelligences after the spirits were born as individual entities (Abr.
3:22-24). Use of this name designates both the primal element from which the
spirit offspring were created and also their inherited capacity to grow in
grace, knowledge, power, and intelligence itself, until such intelligences,
gaining the fulness of all things, become like their Father, the Supreme
Intelligence [MD, p. 387].
While the revelations leave no doubt as to the existence of
intelligent matter prior to its being organized as spirits, speculation
sometimes arises regarding the nature of premortal existence and whether there
was individual identity and consciousness prior to birth as a spirit. Some hold
that the terms "intelligence" and "intelligences" have
reference to a form of prespirit conscious self-existence, which included
individual identity, variety, and agency (so reasoned B. H. Roberts, pp.
401-423). Others maintain that while these characteristics, attributes, and
conditions are eternal, they essentially came together for each individual at
the spirit birth. The question of whether prespirit intelligence had individual
identity and consciousness remains unanswered. Elder Joseph Fielding Smith gave
this caution in 1936:
Some of our writers have endeavored to explain what an
intelligence is, but to do so is futile, for we have never been given any
insight into this matter beyond what the Lord has fragmentarily revealed. We
know, however, that there is something called intelligence which always
existed. It is the real eternal part of man, which was not created or made.
This intelligence combined with the spirit constitutes a spiritual identity or
individual [p. 10].
No formal pronouncements have been made by the leading
councils of the Church to clarify what additional meanings and attributes may
be assigned to the word "intelligences," beyond that which identifies
intelligences as spirit children of God.
[See also First Estate; Intelligence; Premortal Life; Spirit
Body.]
Bibliography
Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H.
Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992),, p.693
McConkie, Bruce R. Mormon Doctrine, pp. 386-87. Salt Lake
City, 1966.
Roberts, B. H. "Immortality of Man." IE 10 (Apr.
1907):401-423.
Smith, Joseph Fielding. Progress of Man. Salt Lake City,
1936.
PAUL NOLAN HYDE
Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H.
Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), pp.692-693
Question: "If God is all powerful, why is he not able
to create intelligence? In the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 93, verse 29, we
read that 'intelligence or the light of truth was not created nor indeed can
be.' If he is all powerful, why does he permit evil to rule in the
world?"
Answer: Perhaps the time will not come while mortality
endures that questions of this kind will not be propounded. The first thought
that comes is that such questions should be ignored, but as they recur from
time to time perhaps it is wisdom to answer them. Moreover, we might present
other questions that belong in the same category. Did the Lord create time or
space? How foolish such a question appears. The Lord has endowed men with some
degree of intelligence or spirit of reason which he expects them to use.
The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith this great
truth: That matter is co-eternal with God and always existed. It would have
been more reasonable to have presented this question, since many in the
Christian world are imbued with the idea that God created matter out of
nothing.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols.,
3:, p.124-125
Intelligence Co-Eternal With God
If the Lord declares that intelligence, something which we
do not fully understand, was co-eternal with him and always existed, there is
no argument that we can or should present to contradict it. Why he cannot
create intelligence is simply because intelligence, like time and space, always
existed, and therefore did not have to be created. However, intelligences
spoken of in the Book of Abraham were created, for these are spirit children of
God, begotten sons.
Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences
that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many
of the noble and great ones; (Abraham
3:22.)
From among these the Father chose his rulers.
How foolish it is to declare that God, our Eternal Father,
is not all-powerful because there are some things that were not created, but
which always existed. The fact is that he has put all such things to use. He
has organized, arranged, and controls and works in harmony with all things
which eternally existed.
President Harold B. Lee, Conference Report, October 1970,
General Priesthood Meeting, p.115-
The participants in
the formulation of this plan in the premortal world were all the spirit children of our Heavenly Father. Our oldest
scriptures, from the writings of the ancient prophets Abraham and Jeremiah,
affirm also that God, or Eloheim, was there; his Firstborn Son, Jehovah,
Abraham, Jeremiah, and many others of great stature were there.
All the organized intelligences before the
earth was formed, who had become spirits,
were there, including many great and noble ones whose performance and conduct
in that premortal sphere qualified them to become rulers and leaders in carrying out this eternal plan.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols.,
3:, p.125-125
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