Pre-Existence (Pre-Earthly Existence)
The premortal life of spirits with God before earthly birth.
Also known as: First Estate · Preexistence · Premortal Life
143 documents · 10 libraries · 1971–2026
Gospel Topics overview
Emphasis over time
Peak: 8 documents in 1973
Documents tagged with this topic each year. Libraries cover different years (Liahona starts in 2021), so the rate compares eras more fairly than the count.
Where it lives
- General Conference95 documents
- BYU Speeches12 documents
- Gospel Topics and Questions9 documents
- BYU Studies6 documents
- Scripture Central6 documents
- Interpreter5 documents
- Liahona Articles4 documents
- Religious Educator4 documents
- Hymns1 document
- Journal of Book of Mormon Studies1 document
Latest
BYU Speeches
To BYU, or Not to BYU: That Is the Question—It’s Up to You (opens in a new tab)
Dale G. Renlund · Apr 2026
Scripture Central
Role of the Premortal Savior (opens in a new tab)
Jan 2026
Scripture Central
Adam’s Premortal Existence (opens in a new tab)
Dec 2025
Scripture Central
Why Do Latter-day Saints Believe in a Premortal Existence? (opens in a new tab)
Aug 2025
General Conference
Foreordained to Serve (opens in a new tab)
Steven R. Bangerter · Apr 2024
Interpreter
Premortal Life and Mortal Life: A Fearful Symmetry (opens in a new tab)
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw · 2024
Liahona Articles
The Greatest of All the Gifts of God (opens in a new tab)
Brent H. Nielson · Dec 2023
Liahona Articles
What Is the Relationship between Foreordination and Agency? (opens in a new tab)
Oct 2023
BYU Studies
“Show Them unto No Man” (opens in a new tab)
Barry R. Bickmore · 2023
Interpreter
“Signals of Transcendence” 1 (opens in a new tab)
Daniel C. Peterson · 2023
Earliest
General Conference
Eternal Joy Is Eternal Growth (opens in a new tab)
Joseph Anderson · Apr 1971
Most frequent voices
- Marion G. Romney8 documents
- Boyd K. Packer5 documents
- Bruce R. McConkie4 documents
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf4 documents
- Neal A. Maxwell4 documents
- Robert D. Hales4 documents
- Dallin H. Oaks3 documents
- Elaine S. Dalton3 documents
- Joseph Anderson3 documents
- M. Russell Ballard3 documents
- Neil L. Andersen3 documents
- Russell M. Nelson3 documents
People with the most documents on this topic.
How topics are assigned
Topics come from a reviewed list of about 2,500 subjects. A document's topics were chosen by an AI model from that list or carried over from labels the source or an earlier import already had. Tags are not ranked, and a few are wrong. The scriptures and the Apocrypha are not tagged yet. Counts update daily.
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