Source: Bergera, Gary James. Line Upon Line: Essays on Mormon Doctrine. Signature Books, 1989. Archived online copy. Google Books link. Kindle link.

• Most Mormons accept the idea that “we came from a premortal existence where our spirits were literally begotten by a heavenly father and a heavenly mother.” (115)
  • “Closely related is the belief that the resurrected faithful of this earth will do what God has been doing: procreate spirit children for future worlds.” (115)
• “The doctrine clearly did not originate in scripture.” (116)
  • No explicit statements in the church’s four standard works (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price) support the spirit birth doctrine.” (115)
  • Cited to support the idea, Hale concedes that verses like Acts 17:28, Galatians 4:4-7, Romans 8:16, Hebrews 12:9 “do not state that God procreated our spirits, and while a premortal spirit birth may be inferred by the terms ‘Father,’ ‘sons,’ and ‘offspring,’ the more likely intent of these biblical authors is that God is the father of those who accept the gospel and are adopted as his spiritual children.”
    • [Hale miscategorizes at least Acts 17:28, which, though not about premortal spirit birth, neither is it about redemptive sonship. It instead speaks of God as the special creator of humans.]
    • D&C 76:24 “does not refer to the idea of literal procreation by God”, but about “begotten sons and daughters unto God through Jesus Christ.”
• Late Nauvoo theology ∉ early LDS scripture
  • “Most LDS scripture was produced while Mormon theology was in its infancy, and there is little in LDS canon from the theologically productive Nauvoo, Illinois, period of the early to mid-1840s.” (116)
• Despite extensive Mormon literature from this period, none of Joseph Smith’s recorded sermons explicitly teach spirit procreation.
• “Smith’s own doctrinal teaching was that the human spirit as a conscious entity is eternal—as eternal as God.” (p. 116)
• “Smith used the terms ‘spirit,’ ‘soul,’ ‘intelligence,’ and ‘mind’ synonymously to describe the inchoate, indestructible essence of life.” (p. 116)
• Eight documentary sources (from 6 May 1833 to 7 April 1844)
  • D&C 93:29 (1833): “Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.”
  • Willard Richards (c. 1839-1841): “The Spirit of Man is not a created being; it existed from Eternity & will exist to eternity.”
  • Joseph Smith (February 6, 1840): “I believe that the soul is eternal; and had no beginning; it can have no end… . the soul of man, the spirit, had existed from eternity in the bosom of Divinity.”
  • Joseph Smith (January 5, 1841): “If the soul of man had a beginning it will surely have an end… . Spirits are eternal.”
  • Joseph Smith (March 28, 1841): “The spirit or the inteligence of men are self Existant principles before the foundation [of] this Earth.”
  • Book of Abraham 3:18, 22-23 (1842): “If there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal. 22. 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…”
  • George Laub (1845, summarizing Smith sermon dated April 6, 1843): “How came Spirits? Why, they are and ware Self Existing as all eternity & our Spirits are as Eternal as the very God is himself…”
  • King Follett discourse (April 7, 1844)
• Early formation
  • Lorenzo Snow and Orson Pratt promoted the spirit birth doctrine during Smith’s lifetime.
  • Published in the church’s official organ, Times and Seasons, and through sermons by apostles and Eliza R. Snow.
  • Orson Pratt’s Prophetic Almanac (1845): Introduced a catechism stating that humans are the offspring of God, implying literal spirit begetting.
  • Phelps
  • Eliza R. Snow’s “My Father in Heaven” (1845): References a mother in heaven and spirit birth, indicating these concepts were embraced post-Smith.
• Two main theories:
  • 1. Spirits formed from eternal, unorganized spirit matter through spirit birth.
    • Suggests spirits can have a beginning and potentially cease to exist, which conflicts with Smith’s view of eternal spirits.
  • 2. Individual intelligences are eternal and uncreated; spirit bodies are created through procreation by heavenly parents.
    • Supported by B. H. Roberts and others, though it diverges from Smith’s original teachings.
  • Both theories attempt to align Smith’s eternal spirit doctrine with the later spirit birth belief.
• Brigham Young
  • Taught that God and exalted beings are literal progenitors of both physical and spirit children.
    • First physical bodies on each world are begotten by the world’s god.
  • Reinforced the spirit birth doctrine, aligning it with the belief in eternal progression and exaltation.
• B. H. Roberts posited that the intelligences are eternal and uncreated, and that spirit bodies are procreated by divine beings
  • John A. Widtsoe adopted Roberts’ view, affirming the eternal nature of intelligence and supporting the idea of procreated spirit bodies
  • James E. Talmage
  • Joseph Fielding Smith
• The spirit birth doctrine is widely taught by Mormon leaders but contradicts Joseph Smith’s recorded teachings.
  • According to Hale, it likely emerged from early followers’ interpretations or unrecorded teachings rather than directly from Smith.

See also

• D&C 76:24 isn’t about “literal” spirit children (MRM article)