Hi Becca,
If we think alot and deeply about something that relates to the very essence of ourselves, we have been indoctrinated about a certain idea with classroom teachings as was the case with Rebecca in her class, yes, we do have dreams about such ideas. But because we dream, does not mean the dream is telling the truth.
I see you truly seeking the truth, down to the very essence of your being.
The concept of the One True God is different than Mormonismâs, that sees God as a big entity that was once a man, and that you can reach into this deep entity and learn from it and become a god yourself.
This concept of exaltation, of becoming a god contradicts pre mortal existence, it being a self-contradiction in Mormonism. If you were alive before you were born, another contradiction â why would you choose to be born to suffer in this world and how many do, fight with their mothers who carried them in their womb???
So if a premortal decided they were going to be born, then why contradict those who love and raise you? What is happening with your free choice here?
The texts Mormons use in Scripture do not refer to men as we know them, or referring to a man who lived. The references, as in Proverbs and Wisdom are instead, the voice of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, Who discourses on Wisdom, the greatest fruit of the Holy Spirit.
There are 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit and 12 gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, you mention the Immaculate Conception.
Mary was conceived without sin. Jesus came to free us from slavery of sin and the consequences of eternal death and separation from God, the Father. Mary was in need of redemption because she was created in the womb of her mother, St. Anne. In Romans 5:12, St. Paul teaches âIt was through on man (Adam) that sin came into the world, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned.â We all inherit Original Sin and its consequences.
So we are born with Original Sin and its consequences, we sin against ourselves and our parents at times, and so just this fact of life would imply that a premortal chooses to live but when it does in human form, it is inclined to sin. Some mortal existence!
Mary did not live in eternity. Only God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and it is through Jesus, the Living Word, that the universe was made. When Mary said, âYesâ, then through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, Jesus True God, became True Man.
We cannot see Our Lord in the womb that is contaminated and inclined towards sin. A poster here on another thread used the analogy of a glass bottle that is partially empty of black oil. We cannot imagine premortal existence. We cannot realize Jesus being formed in a vessel contaminated by sin.
Jesus is Redeemer for us. Redeeming grace preserves us from Original Sin, and redeeming grace is greater and is greater that than which purifies from the sins we have already committed. When we are baptized, Original Sin is washed away from our souls, but we still have the inclination to sin.
And Jesus is Greater Redeemer for Mary, but all the more for Mary, because her redemption was more exalted as she was chosen to be His Mother and to carry Jesus in her womb. Christ more perfectly through âpreservative redemptionâ â this only for Mary â shielded her from original sin because He anticipated and foresaw the merits of His passion and death.
So for all of us, there is no premortal existence. For all of us, we seek redemption and salvation in Jesus. But for Mary, she was gifted with âpreredemptionâ indicating much more graceâŚâMary, full of graceâ, and a more perfect salvation.
Back to eternity and if I understand you right, inferring Mary was premortalâŚthe question here is again, there is no premortal existence. The point going back is to Adam who sinned and this sin inherited by the whole human race. (We are not automatic saints being Christian. We must endure the consequences of sin in our lives by enduring in the Cross until the end of our lives. Only then do we face Christ and it is Him Who decides our fate. We can only trust in His mercy.)
It is not about time premortal time, todayâs existence, or exaltation in the next, before or today or after.
Mary was not in sin followed by grace. She was never for a moment subjected to moments of being in Original Sin, and subsequently the wiles of Satan, when her calling is to destroy him through Christ and His believers.
Rather than time zone, we look at nature. Mary descended from Adam and Eve, contracted the debt of original sin and was became instead infused with grace to be the Heavenly Fatherâs a daughter of God, and Mary had a special anticipation of the waiting merits of Our Savior.
Mary was created by the Heavenly Father and simultaneously infused with the fullness of grace. And she was also given free will. Mary could have said no, she would not become Christâs mother, but she said Yes, Fiat. Mary had a beginning, God with her parents. But before that, she did not exist.
Yes, we are called to Christâs redemption and salvation. And when we finally say yes, we can see that being chosen is being infused with faith in Christ through grace.
But I was pretty much not believing anything coming out of a Mormon manual by then. It wasnât long after that, when I extracted myself from all things Mormon.
