Christians across the denominational spectrum claim that a belief in the literal preexistence of Jesus can be traced from the pages of Scripture, down through the annals of history, to today’s orthodoxy. Indeed, the belief that Jesus preexisted in heaven before his birth in Nazareth is a cornerstone of orthodox Christianity. Passages like John 1:1-3, John 1:15, 30, John 8:58, John 17:5, and John 20:28 are said to provide proof of a preexistent, and therefore, divine Jesus. Such proof is critical because without it, there is no deity of Christ, and there is no Trinity.
So, what does the Bible have to say about preexistence? More specifically, is the belief that Jesus preexisted a Biblical teaching? In this article, we will examine two views of preexistence and determine which view is in keeping with the Bible’s position on this critical topic.
Two Types of Preexistence
Scholars indicate there are two types of preexistence: literal, also referred to as actual preexistence, and notional or ideal preexistence.[1] Literal preexistence is understood to mean that something or someone existed in reality in the heavenly realm before existing physically in the earthly realm. This type of preexistence figures prominently in the belief that Jesus is the incarnated logos or word of God. Notional or ideal preexistence, on the other hand, is the view that all things of importance existed, not literally, but rather in the mind or plan of God before they existed in the earth.
The Views of Plato and Philo
The literal view of preexistence predates the advent of Christ by at least several centuries. For example, the Greek philosopher Plato (428–347 BCE) held to a literal view of preexistence. He postulated that all things preexist in heaven in their perfect form. This view, called the Theory of Forms, included the notion that all souls preexist in heaven before coming to the physical realm. He considered the physical realm a mere reflection of the higher, eternal, and unchanging world of Forms.
Philo was a first century Hellenized Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, Egypt (c. 20 BCE—50 CE). He is known for integrating Greek and Hebraic thought. The Jewish Encyclopedia explains:
Philo included in his philosophy both Greek wisdom and Hebrew religion, which he sought to fuse and harmonize by means of the art of allegory that he had learned from the Stoics. His work was not accepted by contemporary Judaism. “The sophists of literalness,” as he calls them (De Somniis, i. 16-17), “opened their eyes superciliously” when he explained to them the marvels of his exegesis… Philo was all the more enthusiastically received by the early Christians, some of whom saw in him a Christian.[2]
Philo’s syncretic views were not accepted by first-century Jews but were later embraced by Christians who, like Philo, intertwined their Greek philosophical views of God and the world with Scripture.
One of the Platonic views that Philo fused with Hebraic thought was that of the immortality of souls. He taught that when a man died, his soul would enter a “higher existence, immortal and uncreated.”[3] The immortality of the soul gave rise to the doctrine that would arguably have the greatest impact on post-Biblical Christianity, that is, the doctrine of Jesus’ incarnation. The idea was rooted in Philo’s synthesizing of the Greek view of logos (word) with the Creation account found in Genesis. The Egyptian philosopher taught that the logos was the highest divine intermediary between God and the material world. [4] Moreover, he interpreted the logos to be the sum of God’s reason and also, allegedly, a person.[5] Philo would also offer that the logos was an angel,[6] the angel of the Lord spoken of in Hebrew Scripture,[7] the eldest of all the angelic beings, the chief messenger,[8] and the first-born Son of God. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy makes the connection between Plato’s views and that of Philo’s:
Inspired by the Timaeus of Plato, Philo read the Jewish Bible as teaching that God created the cosmos by his Word (logos), the first-born son of God. Alternately, or via further emanation from this Word, God creates by means of his creative power and his royal power, conceived of both as his powers, and yet as agents distinct from him…[9]
The Church Fathers eventually ruled the literal preexistence of souls to be a heretical view in 553 CE at the Second Council of Constantinople. Still, as Kegan Chandler points out, Jesus’ preexistence was not exempt from the decidedly Platonic view:
In fact, belief in the literal pre-existence of humans was ruled heretical in 553 AD by the Second Council of Constantinople. Even modern defenders of the literal pre-existence of Christ affirm that the pre-existence of human souls “was not the product of biblical but Platonic thinking.”[10] Not surprisingly however, the man Jesus Christ is excused from this ruling.[11] (emphasis added)
From Plato to Philo to Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr was a second century Christian apologist (c.100—165 CE)[12] who possessed only a slight knowledge of Judaism and little to no Hebrew or Aramaic.[13] He studied Greek philosophy, including Platonism, and was influenced by Philo’s work.
Justin was persuaded to convert to Christianity by an old man he encountered while walking on the beach. Despite his conversion, Justin chose to wear the philosopher’s robe, a societal mark of his Greek philosophical worldview. Not surprisingly, the apologist viewed Scripture through a Greek philosophical lens and not according to the Hebraic worldview in which it was written. More specifically, he interpreted John 1:1-3 to mean that Jesus literally preexisted in heaven as the logos or word of God, a belief that was inspired by Plato’s and Philo’s views.
In turn, Justin’s interpretation of Jesus as the literal preexistent logos of God greatly influenced Church Fathers like Irenaeus (c. 130—202), Clement of Alexandria (150—211or 215 CE), and others to the extent that, over time, it became the cornerstone of post-Biblical Christology.
Notional or Ideal Preexistence
In contrast to the Greek view of literal preexistence, the predominantly Jewish authors of the Bible held to a notional or ideal preexistence in which all things of importance existed, not literally, but notionally in the mind or plan of God before they existed in the earth. E.C. Dewick, in Primitive Christian Eschatology, writes:
When the Jew said something was “predestined,” he thought of it as already “existing” in a higher sphere of life. The world’s history is thus predestined because it is already, in a sense, preexisting and consequently fixed. This typically Jewish conception of predestination may be distinguished from the Greek idea of preexistence by the predominance of the thought of “preexistence” in the Divine purpose.[14]
An excerpt from Genesis Rabbah (c. 300-500 CE), a midrash commentary on Genesis, emphasizes this Hebraic view of preexistence:
Six things preceded the creation of the world; some of them were actually created, while the creation of the others was already contemplated. The Torah and the throne of glory were created. The Torah, for it is written, “The Lord made me as the beginning of His way, prior to his works of old” (Prov. 8:22). The throne of Glory, as it is written, “Thy throne is established of old” etc. [sic] (Ps. 93:2). The creation of the Patriarchs was contemplated, for it is written, “I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig-tree at her first season” (Hos. 9:10). [The creation of] Israel was contemplated, as it is written, “Remember Thy congregation, which Thou hast purchased aforetime” (Ps. 74:2). [The creation of] the temple was contemplated, for it is written, “Thou throne of glory, on high from the beginning, the place of our sanctuary” (Jer. 17:12). The name of Messiah was contemplated, for it is written, “His name exists before the sun” (Ps. 72:17).[15] (emphasis added)
The rabbinic commentary states that the Torah, the throne of glory, the Patriarchs, the temple, and the name of the Messiah preexisted before the creation of the world in the sense that they had been contemplated by God.
Similarly, a rabbinic teaching quoted in Everyman’s Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages explains that the Messiah existed in God’s mind before the world was created:
Seven things were created before the world was created: Torah, repentance, the Garden of Eden (i.e. Paradise), Gehinnom, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah” (Pes. 54a). In a later work there is the observation: “From the beginning of the creation of the world king Messiah was born, for he entered the mind (of God) before even the world was created.” (Pesikta Rab. 152b)[16] (emphasis added)
Did the Messiah preexist before the creation of the world? Yes, but according to these rabbinic teachings, only in the mind of God.
Preexistence in the Bible
While a literal view of Jesus’ preexistence finds its source in Greek philosophy, the Bible reveals a decidedly notional or ideal view of preexistence that we have already seen reflected in the writings of later rabbinic sages. For example, in the book of Revelation, John expresses the notional view of things existing in God’s plan before they exist in reality:
Revelation 4:11 (NASB) “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”[17] (emphasis added)
The translators of the NASB note that the text literally reads all things “were existed” and “were created.” In other words, they existed before they were created. How can that be? By first existing in the mind of God. King Solomon said something comparable when he wrote in Ecclesiastes, “Whatever exists has already been named.”[18]
Notional preexistence is also seen in the Bible’s stance that God foreknew Jesus before the foundation of the world:
1 Peter 1:20 (NASB) For He [Jesus] was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (emphasis added)
Peter writes that Jesus was a part of God’s plan before the foundation of the world, not that he literally preexisted before Creation.
Others are also said to have preexisted before they existed. The prophet Jeremiah, for example, was foreknown by God:
Jeremiah 1:5 (NASB) [God said,] “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born, I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (emphasis added)
Similarly, King David wrote of his own notional preexistence:
Psalm 139:15-16 (NASB) My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. (emphasis added)
Moreover, Peter and Paul both wrote that believers were also foreknown by God.[19]
Yet another example of notional or ideal preexistence is seen in Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost:
Acts 2:23 (NASB) [Jesus] this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.[20] (emphasis added)
Jesus’ crucifixion preexisted in God’s foreknowledge before it became a reality. This is confirmed in the book of Revelation:
Revelation 13:8 (KJV) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (emphasis added)
Surely, no one would argue that Jesus was literally slain before the foundation of the world. Instead, we understand that in God’s plan, Jesus’ death preexisted. Unfortunately, when it comes to certain passages, Orthodoxy casts aside the Biblical view of preexistence in favor of a post-Biblical, philosophical view. This abandonment of the notional view is seen most prominently in the reading of John 1:1-3 (NASB):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.
“Word” in this passage is the Greek logos. John and his Jewish contemporaries would have understood logos to mean not only God’s actual word but also His plans, thoughts, wisdom, and purposes since these are expressed in words. Just as God’s spoken word gave birth to Creation in Genesis,[21] so God spoke His redemptive plan into existence through the advent of the Messiah. In other words, His plan came to life in the person of Jesus from Nazareth.
Justin Martyr, however, adapted the logos of John 1 to fit his Platonic and Philonic views of literal preexistence. Instead of Jesus being the fulfillment of God’s word (logos), Jesus was literally the logos, a divine being who is subordinate to the Father.
The apostle Paul did not see the logos of God in this way:
Titus 1:1-4 (NASB) Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, 3 but at the proper time manifested, even His word [logos], in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. (emphasis added)[22]
In this passage, Paul makes a distinction between God, who is the Father, and Jesus, who is the Christ. Note that eternal life or the hope of eternal life was promised by God long ago. Also, note what was manifested: God’s word or logos, that is, the word of eternal life. The promise of eternal life was made then the promise was manifested at the proper time in the person of Jesus the Christ. The logos was the promise. Jesus was the fulfillment of that logos.
We see this truth confirmed in John’s first epistle:
1 John 1:1-4 (NASB) What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word [logos] of Life—2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. (emphasis added)
The phrase “from the beginning” echoes the theme of Genesis 1 and John’s gospel prologue (John 1:1-3). “Word” (of life) in verse 1 is the Greek logos. Note that John describes the logos as a “what.” “What was from the beginning, what we have heard…what we have seen…what we have looked at and touched…what we have seen and heard.” Five times, John says the logos is a what, not a who. If the Word of God was a person, he would have said, “Who was from the beginning…,” etc. Reading the word or logos in the same way in John 1 as we do in 1 John 1 helps us understand the author’s intent:
John 1:1 and 14 (NASB) In the beginning was the Word [of life], and the Word [of life] was with God, and the Word [of life] was God…(verse 14) And the Word [of life] became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word of God was God in the sense that God’s wisdom, thoughts, plans, purpose, expressions, etc. are the sum of who He is. (See this article for part one of an in depth look at John 1:1-3.)
Trinitarian theologian and author James Dunn, who specializes in New Testament Christology, articulates this truth well:
“Initially at least, Christ was not thought of as a divine being who had pre-existed with God but as the climactic embodiment of God’s power and purpose — his life, death and resurrection understood in terms of God Himself reaching out to men. Christ was identified not with some heavenly redeemer figure but with God’s creative wisdom, God’s redemptive purpose, God’s revelatory word expressed in a final way that made the Christ-event the normative definition of divine wisdom and revelation — God’s clearest self-expression, God’s last word.[23] (emphasis added)
The early Church did not take a literal view of Jesus’ preexistence. They did not see him as having preexisted in the heavenly realm as God-the-Word. Instead, Dunn writes, they saw Jesus as the embodiment of God’s wisdom, power and purpose.
Furthermore, Dunn writes that Messiah:
“ … is present in the mind of God and chosen before the creation, and from time to time revealed to the righteous for their consolation; but he is … not actually pre-existent. He is named and hidden from the beginning in the secret thoughts of God, finally to be revealed in the Last Times as the ideal Man who will justify God’s creation of the world.”[24] (emphasis added)
Hastings adds to the discussion regarding the early Church’s Jewish notional view of Jesus’ preexistence:
With regard to [literal] pre-existence…it does not belong to the primary data of Christian faith in the Historic and Exalted Jesus… It forms no element in the primitive doctrine recorded in the opening chapters of Acts… there is no emergence of the thought that His origin must be transcendent as His destiny-no hint of [literal] pre-existence. Christ’s place in eternity is in the foreknowledge and counsel of the Father.[25] (emphasis added)
Thus, historically and Scripturally, it is ineffective to argue that the early Church held to, and passed down, a literal view of Jesus’ preexistence. Indeed, New Testament scholar Larry Hurtado writes:
There is today a virtual consensus among scholars that the pre-Christian Jewish tradition provides the most important background for the idea of pre-existence in the NT.[26] (emphasis added)
Conclusion
The idea that a literal view of Jesus’ preexistence can be traced in an unbroken line from Scripture to today’s orthodoxy is a tragic misrepresentation of historical Christianity. By the mid-second century, preexistence had left its Biblical mooring and set sail for the distant shore of Platonism. Once Philo’s syncretic, allegorical interpretation of Scripture found expression in Justin Martyr’s Christology, the orthodox view of preexistence had become a non-Jewish and, therefore, non-Biblical doctrine.
It is imperative that we read Scripture with a Jewish understanding so that we may arrive at an accurate interpretation. To interpret logos passages such as John 1:1-3, 14 to mean that Jesus literally preexisted with God before Creation is beyond the intent of the Biblical authors.
Is preexistence a Biblical teaching? It depends on what you mean by the term. If you mean that all things of importance existed in the mind or plan of God before they became a reality, then yes. But if you mean that Jesus literally existed in heaven before being manifested in the earth, the answer is no.
[1] For example, New Testament scholar David B. Capes writes, “The pre-existent state may be described as ideal (existence in the mind or plan of God) or actual (existence alongside and distinct from God).” David B. Capes, “Preexistence,” in Dictionary of Later New Testament and Its Development, p. 956.
[2] C. H. Toy, C. Siegfried, J. Z. Lauterbach, “Philo Judaeus,” Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906.
[3] Philo, On the Giants, 14.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Scholarly debate continues as to whether Philo’s logos is a “Person or an abstraction.” (Stewart Salmond, Critic. Review of Theo. & Phil. Lit., Vol. 13. (Edinburgh: T &T Clark, 1903), p. 2).
[6] Philo, De Somniis. 1, 228-239; De Cherubim. 1-3; Cher. 3 and 35; Mut. 87; Deus 182.
[7]Genesis 16:7-14; Exodus 3:2-4; Judges 2:1-3.
[8] Marian Hillar, “Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 B.C.E.—40 C.E.),” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Web, 10-14-24.
[9] Dale Tuggy, “History of Trinitarian Doctrines.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University. Web, 10-14-24.
[10] Douglas McCready, He Came Down From Heaven: The Preexistence of Christ and the Christian Faith. Downer’s Grove: IL: IVP Academic, 2005. p. 220. (Affiliate link.)
[11] Kegan Chandler, The God of Jesus in Light of Christian Dogma, Restoration Fellowship, McDonough, Georgia, 2016., p. 348. (Affiliate link.)
[12] Justin is considered one of the Apostolic Fathers, a group of defenders of the Christian faith who predate the Church Fathers.
[13] Walter H. Wagner, (1994). After the Apostles: Christianity in the Second Century. Fortress Press. p. 158. (Affiliate link.)
[14] E. C. Dewick, Primitive Christian Eschatology, Cambridge: CUP, 1912, pp. 253, 254. (Affiliate link.)
[15] Rabba Genesis, Chapter 1:4, Internet Archive.
[16] Abraham Cohen, Everyman’s Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages, Schocken, 1995, p. 347. (Affiliate link.)
[17] The context of Revelation 4 and 5 shows that the one who is worthy to receive glory and honor is God the Father.
[18] Ecclesiastes 6:10.
[19] 1 Peter 1:1-2 and Romans 8:29.
[20] See also Acts 4:27-28.
[21] Genesis 1:3 (NASB) Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (emphasis added) See also: Psalm 33:6, 9 (NASB) By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host…9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. (emphasis added) Hebrews 11:3 (NASB) By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. (emphasis added)
[22] In this text, both God the Father and Jesus Messiah are rightly called “savior” because God saved us through His Messiah. See John 3:17. Also, God saved Israel through King David in 2 Sam 3:18. Examples of how God saves through the agency of man: Judges 3:31; 6;11; 10:1; 2 Sam 19:9; 2 Kings 14:27.
[23] James D.G. Dunn, Christology in the Making, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s, 1989), p. 262.
[24] James D.G. Dunn, Christology in the Making, London, SCM Press, 1989, p. 235.
[25] James Hastings, Entry for ‘Pre-Existence of Christ,’ Hastings’ Dictionary of the New Testament., accessed 10-25-24.
[26] Larry Hurtado, “Pre-existence,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. G.F. Hawthorne, et al. Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press, 1993, p. 743.
