As promised, here are the rest of the notes from Thomas Olmstead on A History of Heaven: The Singing Silence by Jeffrey Burton Russell. There is some really great information here regarding bodily resurrection, the state in which we return to heaven, and early Christian thought regarding intelligences.

Chapter three: The Heaven of the Early Christians.

            However monolithic Christianity may have looked to the Romans, the early Christians were in fact minimally organized, and only in the second century did the lines between orthodox and heterodox begin to be drawn.  The most important distinction was that between the majority of the Christian community and the Gnostics.  Christian Gnosticism, a powerful movement in the second century, departed sharply from majority belief on a number of central questions, especially on the nature of body and soul.  The Gnostics held the dualist belief that the material body is the evil prison of the soul, which must break free of matter in order to be saved.  (p.40)

The Christian notion of salvation derived directly and fully from the view expressed in the Hebrew Bible and the Mishnah.  Christianity continued to emphasize the salvation of the community and broadened it immensely by transforming the qehel, the saving remnant of Israel, into the ecclesia, the community of all believers in Christ, both Jew and gentile.  (p.41)

The salvation of the community does not mean that the individual is submerged;  witness the parable of the Dives (the rich man) and Lazarus and Christ’s promise to the good thief.  Rather, one joins with God and with the ecclesia in the communion of saints without losing one’s identity.  Individuality remains as an incandescence amidst the great glow of light.  (p.41)

The New Testament follows the Old Testament in viewing the human personality as a unit rather than separating it into soul, spirit, and body.  The entire human being is saved.  Yet the unavoidable fact that the body decays after death forced speculation along one of two paths:  if the whole person is saved, then salvation cannot occur until the whole person, body and soul, is reconstituted as the resurrection.  If, on the other hand, the person is saved at the time of death then the state of salvation must be a disembodied one.  There is little Jewish precedent and no New Testament support for this second option… (p.46)

The general resurrection is patterned on Christ’s, though he alone of humans is God.  Christ rose in a real body; he ate fish and let Thomas touch his wounds (Jn.20-21).  It was his own physical body, yet qualitatively changed from the body he was born with and even from his body at the Transfiguration.  It could appear quite different from his body in this life, for the disciples did not recognize him on the road to Emmaus.  In the overt sense, Christ’s body is the physical body of Jesus the carpenter…  The meaning of corporeality can be multiplied and expanded, but on no account can physical corporeality be subtracted.  Thus, our resurrected bodies, however different, are the physical bodies we are now.  It is these very bodies that become imperishable, incorruptible, and immune from illness, weakness, or blemish. (p.47)

…Justice Martyr (d.165) believed that soul at death cannot enjoy eternal life in heaven before the resurrection.  (p.54)

Irenaeus (second century) summed up the tradition as it was in his time.  All the blessed in heaven will see Christ, the glory of the communion of saints, and the renovation of the world.  They will dwell in their true home, where with Christ they enjoy eternal peace and comfort.  Paradise, the heavenly city, the celestial abode, and the reign of God come together at the endtime, when the Word of God restores the cosmos to himself.  We were originally created in Eden in God’s image and likeness, and the grace of the Holy Spirit will restore and further perfect that blessed state.  The image (imago) is the natural image of God intrinsic in every human soul; the likeness (similitude) is the potential, through grace of  becoming like him in eternal life.

Ireanaeus defended the psychosomatic integrity of the human being as unified body and soul against Gnostic belief that the soul is saved independent of the body.  The Holy Spirit grafts eternal and immutable life onto our earthly bodies, Changing them into spiritual bodies.  As Christ’s descended into the shadow of earth until the third day, so the souls of the just will pass an invisible place God has designated for them and there await the resurrection.  When at last we rise in our bodies, we will see God, and be taken unto him, for “those who see God are within God, sharing His glory” (Against Heresies, 4:40:5)… (p.55-56)

            Note:  Compare the above with the following from scriptures.

“For man is spirit.  The elements are eternal, and spirit and element inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy.  And when separated, man cannot receive a fullness of joy” (D&C 93:33–34).

“For the dead (who were in the spirit world) had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage” (D&C 93:50)

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:  but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is” (1 Jn.3:2).

“Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Phl. 3:21)

“And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matt.27:52-53).  

Chapter 4: Returning to God

            Tertullian (160-225) himself elsewhere insisted that bodies, however mutilated, will recover their perfect integrity in the resurrection.  If God does not raise the entire person, he cannot be said to raise the dead at all.  Wholeness and integrity entail lack of disease and deformity, and they ought also to entail the fulfillment of all our potentials, including parental, filial, and sexual love.   Without parental and filial love, and without love between the sexes, we could scarcely be whole.  Tertullian’s answer was to change the meaning of “body.”   We will lose nothing essential in our corporeal identity, and bodies will retain characteristics such as gender, but the function of these characteristics will change.  Every organ will have a function in heaven, though we cannot yet know what that will be” (p.67).

Note:  “The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame” (Alma 40:23)

            Tertullian fought the Gnostic belief that salvation was for souls who had shed the evil body.  He argued that the elect must wait for the resurrection to experience the beatific vision and fullness of joy.           

The great Greek fathers of Alexandria, Clement and Origen, firmly grounded in Scripture, were also influenced by Platonism and Stoicism.  Clement’s affirmation of the inconsistent doctrine of salvation of the soul and salvation of the body, typical of many fathers, also intensified the problem of the interim state.  Clement defined heaven as the place of state where the elect receive the vision of God, theoria, a kind of “seeing” or “understanding” that eventually surpasses knowledge.  It is neither Platonic nor Gnostic knowledge, but a divine gift of wisdom, nurtured and developed throughout a person’s life.  (p.69)

 Note.  “Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection-Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all me, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.  And then shall it come to pass, that the sprits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow” (Alma 40:11–12).

Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150-225) introduced the terms theosis and theopoiesis, “divinization,” which then passed through Athanasius (d.373)  and Gregory of Nyssa (340-95) to Eastern Christianity as a whole.  Both terms refer to the potential of every human being and of the Christian community in general to become divine, not in the impossible sense of participating in God’s essence, but in the sense of Jesus’ command to be perfected and Paul’s teaching that the saved are members of Christ’s body.  For Clement, the theosis is attained through wisdom.

 Note.  Irenaeus  maintained that our salvation would not have been secured unless it was God himself who accomplished it.

“And how shall man pass into God, if God had not been caused to pass into man?”

” The Logos of God, Jesus Christ our Lord… was made that which we are , in order that he might perfect us to be what he is.”  (See Keith E. Norman, Deification: the Content of Athansian Soteriology, p.13)

Clement is also noted for his stress on the pedagogical function of the Incarnation, and this shows up in his references to deification: 

“The Logos of God was made man in that you might learn from a man how to become a god.” (See Norman, p.15).

St Athanasius of Alexandria (295-373) also explained that

“God became man, so that we might be made gods.”  (See Jordan Vajda, OP, “Partakers of The Divine Nature, p.10)

 “Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my father; for which of those works do ye stone me?  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said , Ye are gods” (John 10:32–34)

“God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods… I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the most High”  (Ps. 82:1–6).

“And it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection… and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, and all heights and depths…  then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall the be above all, because all things are subject unto them.  Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject to them”  (D&C 132:19–20).

 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Origen’s doctrine of creation in his work First Principles expresses his complex and sometimes inconsistent view of soul and body.  In the beginning, God created a number of intelligent beings, both equal and free.  After creating the intelligences, God created matter.  The intelligences all freely chose to depart from the divine unity, but in differing degrees, so that each sank as far away from God into matter as its choice dictated…

This universe that God has created departs from him, and it will return: once fallen, each intelligence embarks on a pilgrimage back to God.  Its progress back to God depends partly on its freedom and partly on providence.  Human souls. Like all the intelligences, are essentially immortal, since none can avoid returning to their divine source in God himself.  Still, the elect, those whom God chooses, are granted more than other creatures:  the fulfillment of their potential to know and love Christ is this world and the next.  Origen insisted that Christ’s redeeming sacrifice is necessary to salvation. (p.72)

Note.  “And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all” (Abram. 3:19)

“Now the Lord had shown un to me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;  And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and said: These I will make my rulers; 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; thou wast chosen before thou wast born” (Abram. 3″22-23)

             When the intelligences are about to return to God, they regain their pristine purity.  But if that were all, there would seem no point in the whole process, nor would Christ’s Incarnation have any ultimate purpose.  Therefore Origen had to argue for a paradox: a return to an original state that when renewed is actually better than it was before.  The concept of reformation in melius, “a return to a better state,” appears in many cultures and institutions with historical consciousness, and it is a powerful motif in Christian thought.  The celestial paradise recapitulates the original paradise but in even greater goodness and glory. (p.76) 

Note.  “And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him; We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will made an earth whereon these may dwell;  And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;  And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their fist estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever” (Abram 3:24-26).

Intelligences

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992),, p.692

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   

Many will probably find this post a bit beyond the parameters of my normal style and subject matter, but I have been wanting to write on this for some time now.  The purpose of this post is to introduce you to a book called The Soul’s Remembrance: Earth is not our Home (Seattle: Onjinjinkta, 1999), by Roy Mills. This is, believe it or not, a book about a man who can remember his life in Heaven before he was born. Roy Mills is not LDS, but is a Southern Baptist from Georgia. However, when my father (who is quite an expert in Near Death Experiences and related matters) gave me this book, I was amazed to find the author speaking very naturally about a pre-mortal life, claiming that his mission here on Earth was to not have a veil of forgetfulness so that he could teach people about our heavenly origins.

When I first picked up this book, I had some reservations–However, as I read the book, I felt a certain sincerity that caused me to set some of those doubts aside.  So I will let you decide whether you believe Mills or not. I will present here some highlights from this most intriguing book.

In The Soul’s Remembrance, Roy Mills tells the story of his life, which he remembers beginning well before he was born on this Earth. He tells of living in Heaven and of being put through a school, of sorts, to teach and train him about how life would be here. He tells of the angelic guides and teachers that helped him learn, and of the other relationships that he had in Heaven before his mortal life. He tells of heavenly gardens, of recognizing the intelligence that even the flowers had, and of seeing the prayers of mortals reaching heaven as beams of powerful energy. Among the most amazing recollections that Mills recounts are his interactions with both Jesus and God the Father, whom he often terms “the Spirit Father.” He remembers receiving a mission to perform here on Earth, coming down to this sphere, and even having his spirit placed within his physical body inside his mother’s womb. As he grew older, he continued to have contact with familiar angelic beings that he knew from Heaven, although as he “became more earth-bound” in his thinking, he began to forget some of what he knew from Heaven. In April of 1995, his angel guide once again appeared to him, and the memories of his heavenly home flooded back into his mind. This angel, whom he knew so well, told him that the time had come to share his recollections of Heaven and that he should write a book.

Mills begins by describing Heaven and his first memories of being “in-training” to come to Earth. He recounts:

The first of my soul’s remembrances is of being in a place of very bright, white light. Even the people and angels there glowed with the same pure light. In fact, everything in Heaven radiated light. It is impossible to accurately describe heavenly things with earthly language, because there just aren’t words to describe them. All I can say is that Heaven was the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

I didn’t experience any physical sensations like we do on earth. I was never hot or cold or hungry, and I didn’t feel any pain. In Heaven we had spiritual bodies, like the Bible describes, instead of physical bodies. But I did experience many of the same emotions we have in this life: excitement, joy, caring, compassion, and, most of all, love. There was always a lot of love everywhere…

Before birth into mortality, I saw that we were young spirits–much like children–and we needed to learn and develop in order to prepare for life on earth… I can’t say how long it lasted–if it was months or years–because there was no day or night and no way to track time like we do on earth…

The building where I received my prebirth education had a lot of rooms, and each one was for teaching me a specific thing. For example, one room was used to introduce me to people who would play an important role in my earthly life, another room was where I selected certain life experiences and was taught about them…And I had several angel guides during my schooling to assist me in my training and education, but one particular guide stayed with me longer than the rest…(pp. 6-8)

This particular angelic guide was his principal teacher and was the same being who appeared to him in 1995. Mills believes that we all have this type of guardian angel assigned to watch over each of us. On the idea that spirits begin young and eventually grow to maturity, see the current manual, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, Chapter 14, subtitle “Parents who lose children in death will receive them in the resurrection just as they laid them down,” pages 176-178.

One of the most important tools used for his pre-Earth training was the Life Book. He describes the nature of these books and how they worked.

I wasn’t sure what the Life Books were, but when I entered the room where I was to learn about them, they were impossible to miss. A heavenly light shown in the room, flowing from every corner, even from the Life Book itself. The book was very large and thick, as big as a small suitcase. It had an ornate cover and sat on a table about five feet tall. Just looking at it, my excitement grew. I sensed the importance of the Life Book and how special it would be to my training.

The angels were always careful not to let me or anyone else touch the book. When one of the angels spoke, the book opened by itself to reveal pure white pages. In an excited voice, my instructor asked me what I saw. I replied that I did not see anything except blank pages.  He told me to stare into them and concentrate. I did as he said, and watched in amazement as the book revealed events that would happen in my earthly life. Each page showed me one part of my life, much like a television, and then the page turned by itself (pp. 9-10).

Mills was shown, in detail, many of the things that would happen to him in his mortal life: what his body would look like, who his mother would be, his schooling, his marriage, and other experiences. At one point he asked his angel guide if he would eventually return to Heaven.  She replied that it was up to him, and that that was what free will was all about. When he asked about free will, she replied:

It is each person’s right to choose to do good or bad when they are on earth…To love or not to love, to help others or not to help others, to believe in God or not to believe in Him, to live in the light or live in the darkness (p. 12).

Mills goes on to tell of the end of his training and the “Exit Room” or “Holding Room” that spirits enter as they are being transported to Earth. He can actually remember being led by an angel to where his mother lived and then being “pushed” into his infant body inside his mother’s womb. He recounts how it was difficult getting used to being in a mortal body, how quickly his mortal mind absorbed his spirit’s knowledge, and how he struggled to make his spirit and body work as one.  Compared to the free movement of the spirit existence, being in a body felt like “wearing a jacket made of lead” (p. 28). He goes on to tell of how he was frequently visited by angelic beings as a baby, comforting him and helping him accustom to his new Earth life.

One of the greatest points that Mills emphasizes throughout his story is that our trials in this life have a purpose and that God is always willing to help us overcome them. He tells of how he was given the opportunity to choose which trials he would have in life, and shown the blessings that he would receive for enduring them well. Each challenge we go through in life helps build our faith and allows us to use the spiritual gifts given to us in Heaven.  Our trials were chosen by us and approved by God to fit our specific mission in life. He explains:

Our physical bodies are only a temporary home for our spirits, and nothing can truly harm who we really are. So when I selected my earthly experiences, I had no concern for what they would do to my physical body. I knew that the more I suffered for others, or because of others, the more I would grow in spirit. And with that knowledge, I had a completely different perspective on adversity and the experiences I chose for my own life (p. 118).

The mightiest spirits are those who, like Jesus, chose to suffer the most.  It is important for us, says Mills, to never just accept the problems we face in life. In the spirit realm, we did not choose our trials in order to just live with them–we chose them in order to learn and grow by overcoming them. God did not let us choose any challenge that we would not be able to overcome, and has given us the tools and spiritual gifts necessary to do so. We need to learn to depend on God to help us overcome these trials.

While there is much more of interest in this little book (144 pgs.), I will conclude by giving the two most special and glorious recollections that Mills shares from his pre-mortal experience. In the first, Mills describes entering an immense room divided by a veil.

I saw two figures standing behind the sheer curtains. One was a large angel, and the other was a man with the kindest face I’ve ever seen. The room was filled with a golden tint, but the space all around the man glowed with a bright, pure white.  The light was radiating from him, and I had never seen anyone whose light was so pure and glowed so strongly. I entered the room, and the man looked at me, smiling.  A knowing passed between us, and I immediately knew that this was Jesus, my Savior (p. 111).

As the angel tried to show him something, Mills found that he could not draw his eyes away from Jesus. The other angel became rather upset that Mills was not listening, but Jesus showed only love. He tells of how Jesus then embraced him:

Then He did come closer, and He swooped me up in His arms like I was a child. Both Jesus and I were glowing brightly from the wonderful light of His love, and as He held me to his chest, I imagine I was the happiest spirit in Heaven that day. I held on tight, telling him how much I loved Him, and we talked and laughed and hugged each other over and over again (p. 113).

At the conclusion of the book, Mills recalls the most wonderful experience that he can remember from his pre-Earth life. This event took place before his preparatory training began. He remembers being in a large and glorious room, which he soon realized was the Throne Room of the Father.

As I looked around, I saw that this section of the auditorium faced a large elevated platform that was several feet higher than the area where I was standing. A very large, pure white chair sat in the center of the raised floor, a few feet back from the edge.  The chair was simple in design, but very impressive. It glowed with a powerful, pure white light. It was then that I realized I was in the Throne Room, and that I was waiting in the area where the audience of souls was to stand before the Spirit Father…I was going to see the Father (p. 131)!

A great multitude of spirits was gathered there, waiting to receive their mortal life’s mission from God himself.

Once the audience of souls was assembled, an incredibly bright sphere of light appeared at one side of the throne area…[it] moved across the floor and came to rest on the glowing throne. Looking at the light was like seeing the sun from only a few yards away.  But it didn’t burn my eyes, though it was infinitely brighter than the noonday sun. It was the most brilliant, pure, and magnificent light I’ve ever seen. it was the source of all light in Heaven and elsewhere–the Spirit Father, God, Himself (p. 132).

A heavenly escort of a couple dozen high-ranking angelic beings accompanied the Father as He entered. They wore white, crimson, or blue robes trimmed with gold. Two special beings stood near the throne, shining with such glory that they appeared to Mills to be engulfed in flames. However, the brightest glory surrounded the Father, whose light was so bright that Mills could only see his forearms and the lower half of his legs and feet. Eventually, it was Mills turn to approach the Father and receive his personal mission (which would be a special mission to remember Heaven and share his memories with others). He was called by name and brought to the Throne in a ball of light. After he had received his mission, the Father allowed him to see into His glory and behold Him directly.

Then He allowed me to see into His light, and I saw Him, and he looked like a man. We are truly made in the image of our Creator.

His appearance was one of great wisdom and strength. He was powerful-looking and very tall–much taller than the average man. The robe He wore shone with a pure white light, and He wore no shoes. There was a neat fringe of white hair around his head, and a crown of light suspended above his head. His face was very kind and loving, yet strong and marked with authority.  As I stared at Him, I was filled with awe and humility, but I also felt safe and very loved (pp. 139-140).

Grand Council by Robert Barrett

The Father reviewed with him the difficulties his earth life would hold, but assured him that He would always be ready to help him and that he could always call on Him. He told him that Jesus died so that he could return to Heaven. This experience with the Father has helped Mills through all the difficult times of his life.

I recommend that you take at look at this unique book. As Latter-day Saints, we believe in, teach and wonder about our pre-mortal life with God in Heaven–but how often do you come across someone who can actually remember it? If what Mills has written is true, The Soul’s Remembrance is an amazing example of someone who can. And what’s more, this comes from a non-LDS source. In his closing thoughts, Mills declares:

God sent us here to learn love in a greater way and to share our love with everyone around us.  We must always remember that we are much, much more than our minds and our bodies, and that earth is definitely not our home. Thanks to my heavenly memories, I know that all of us are here for a reason. Life does have a purpose–and that purpose is love. Everything we think or say or do is important to our growth and the growth of every other spirit on earth (p. 143).

Note: The pictures included in this post are not taken from Mills’ book.