Origen’s cosmology assumed the pre-existence of souls, an idea denounced by Christians who believed that God created a new soul at the moment of every conception. Did Origen believe in the pre-existence of corporate souls? I believe that. Are babies born into a preexisting family soul or are they given an individual soul at conception? Does an eternal soul finally get a body at birth or conception? Does pre-existence mean before Genesis chapters 1 and 2 of creation or some other time before the birth of a baby?

At Alexandria, Origen was formally declared condemned, a decree not honored elsewhere in the Eastern Church. The first souls in the Bible were embodied in the Genesis chapter one creations. Species or families became living souls, not individual newborns. These souls were neither pre-existent nor created when an egg was fertilized. These living souls were blessed by God and told to procreate in kind. The first four soul creations weren’t human souls. Humanity became a living soul in Genesis 2:7, after four other typical souls were already embodied in living families.

The fifth soul-creation mentioned in Genesis is the human soul. Only the human soul was being personalized in God’s image. The typical creation breath from God was in Adam’s nose. The full accomplishment of that breath of God in a man was from the moment of Jesus’ Holy Spirit conception to His Holy Spirit baptism. Jesus grew up as the only human to satisfy the law, and then the Holy Spirit remained on Him. The only immortal human soul was and is in the body of Christ. The potential for eternal life ended in AD 70. That potential was realized by way of the new covenant fulfillment of types in Christ. We no longer strive to reach the age alive in order to receive eternal life. Life to the age already resulted in eternal life. Life to the age was only in Christ.

Jesus was conceived in the old covenant humanity. Jesus was born into the typical creation of Israel as a supernatural/natural-born citizen. He moved His citizenship into the new covenant before the nation reached the age of 1000. The same Holy Spirit that gave birth to Jesus’ body in the old, re-birthed Him into the new. Pentecost was the national rebirth under the new firstborn. At 1000 years of age, the old covenant nation completely died without Him. The Holy Spirit that Jesus re-introduced to the nation at His baptism was induced into the nation on Pentecost. His baptism on the cross was for them. As they celebrated their first national birth they were born again by the same Holy Spirit who had resurrected Jesus 50 days previously.

As eschtos Adam Jesus was the only unfallen human soul in all the old covenant creation. The new covenant first-born soul never falls or dies. He took the old covenant fall to save humanity from the death of the old covenant. The new covenant body of Christ arrived to the age alive because it never dies. The Old covenant soul still in the flesh arrived to the age still dead. The new covenant breath was not given into the nose of a flesh body. The new covenant breath of the body is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus typically breathed on His disciples on the day of His firstfruit resurrection. They received the Holy Spirit 50 days later on the day of national resurrection.

Writings

Origen’s main work was on the text of the Tanakh in Greek and on the rest of the Greek Bible. However his Hexapla was his 6-column comparison of six versions of the Tanakh he had access to: the Hebrew (though incomplete) and its transliteration along side the Greek Septuagint and three other Greek versions. For the Psalms Origen included two additional translations. One version of the Psalms was discovered by him in a jar in the Jordan Valley.

He wrote the Hexapla (a sixfold text in parallel columns) to provide some solid ground wherewith to inform the disbelief of the rabbis, who believed that only Hebrew scripture was authoritative. Rabbis rejected the Septuagint because it was written in Greek. At the same time, the rabbis also rejected Matthew through The Revelation of the Christ, since it was all written in Greek. They claimed Hebrew texts only, in order to superficially maintain the basis for their belief in unbelief. Of course the Hebrew text also foretold the Messiah, which is why unbelief-ers especially dislike Daniel chapter 9 and Enoch. They most obviously foretold the Messiah.

Origen’s belief in the pre-existence of souls and his emphasis on the Greek Torah doesn’t sit well with many modern day Christians in America. Ironically, the automatic immortality of souls at conception has a Greek origin. Setting aside Origin’s proclivity for the Septuagint version of the tanakh, there is a major difference in pre-existing souls and souls that are created at conception. In reality, a pre-existing soul is not a bodiless being who has been waiting for a body since Genesis chapter one. Nor is it a being who continues to be reincarnated. Rather a soul belongs to a family of souls, who each contribute to ensouling newly born members. The true definition of soul must therefore be addressed to avoid talking around each other. The discussion of whether souls are individually or corporately created or both, depends on the definition of soul. For example: is the typical soul of a nation corporately indued into citizens after natural birth or are citizens born with a patriotic soul? The etymology of the word patriotic implies loyalty to a common father or fatherland.

Someone today who acts as if he has no soul probably wasn’t taught to act human. For Jesus, behaving correctly involved an acquisition of the human soul from both the father and the fatherland. If you act like an animal you may be judged soulless by fellow citizens who properly embody the human soul.

The first 4 mentions of the word soul were all applied to animal creations before it was applied to the human creation. The one human soul was originally commissioned to tame the animal souls. Jesus came to telos the human soul as the eschaton Adam of old covenant humanity. We usually refer to human souls when we speak of a soul today. Jesus did not take on an animal soul. He was born in the land of humanity. He was raised by first century humanity in God’s image. The other nations were being tamed by humanity and were analogous to the animal creations. Jesus called the Samaritan woman a dog. From the beginning, Adam was to rule over all creation by way of his humanity, but Eschaton Adam came to rescue the Jews first. They took that eternal life to the Gentiles after Pentecost.

The soul of humanity is the image of God. Jesus came down from heaven for the sake of the dead and dying Jewish souls in the land. They had to reach their age of accountability in the immortal soul of the new covenant or face destruction. The 12 tribes in diaspora were taming the animal souls of the nations. The Gentile Cornelius was becoming so human that by his human behavior he had gained a good reputation with the Jews. The human souls from God’s nation were creating more human souls by taming the animal souls of the other nations. The immortal soul was and is in the body of Christ. He laid down his old covenant soul only take it up again in the new covenant creation.

James 3:6-10 – Jacob addresses the 12 tribes

CLV ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of injustice. The tongue is constituted among our members that which is spotting the whole body, and setting the wheel of our lineage aflame, and is set aflame by Gehenna.” ⁷ For every nature, both of wild beasts and flying creatures, both of reptiles and those of the salt sea, is tamed and has been tamed by human nature.” ⁸ Yet the tongue can no man tame – a turbulent evil, distended with death-carrying venom.” ⁹ With it we are blessing the Lord and Father, and with it we are cursing men who have come to be in accord with God’s likeness.” ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth is coming forth blessing and cursing. There is no need, my brethren, for this to become thus.”

Affirming the delusion that unbelievers must return to the land is a death sentence for their soul. Silencing those who believe otherwise is impossible. The soul of Jesus is immortal.

John 10:17-18

CLV ¹⁷ Therefore the Father is loving Me, seeing that I am laying down My soul that I may be getting it again.” ¹⁸ No one is taking it away from Me, but I am laying it down of Myself. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to get it again. This precept I got from My Father.”

Jesus was raised in the land to be the perfect human soul. Because of that, only He would have arrived to the age of accountability in good standing. All other Jews would have been judged to destruction, had not Jesus laid down His old covenant humanity for their sakes. Dying for His brethren was an act of true humanity. He saved their human souls from destruction.

Jesus’ brother Jacob took up Jesus’ apostolic mission to save Jewish souls. Jacob applied it to the 12 tribes in diaspora. Jacob ends his letter to the Hebrews appealing for commissioners in soul saving. Paul would take that mission to all the souls of the Gentiles.

James 5:19-20

CLV ¹⁹ My brethren, if anyone among you should be led astray from the way of the truth, and someone should be turning him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns back a sinner out of the deception of his way will be saving his soul from death and will be covering a multitude of sins.

In Paul’s writings, he warns people not to follow their flesh, rather to follow the Holy Spirit. The new covenant breath of humanity (ensoulment) is the Holy Spirit within. Jesus breathed on His disciples the day the Holy Spirit resurrected His old covenant humanity. Each living organism was called to master his or her own flesh body by following the Holy Spirit rather than the body of flesh. Augustine said that it is the soul that masters the spirit of a man. Clearly the Bible calls for bodily mastery by way of the new covenant soul who sent His Holy Spirit to enable His people. Those who have the new covenant breath from Jesus (who is the perfect and immortal soul who sent His breath from heaven) are called to follow His Holy Breath rather than the breath of the flesh.

Galatians 5:24-26

CLV ²⁴ Now those of Christ Jesus crucify the flesh together with its passions, and lusts.” ²⁵ If we may be living in spirit, in spirit we may be observing the elements also.” ²⁶ We may not become vainglorious, challenging one another, envying another.”

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Sonship. The Son sent the Holy Spirit to commune with our heretofore not so holy spirits. His breath from heaven is the fulfillment of the typical breath from God into Adam’s nostrils. The Holy Spirit is the perfect image of God in us.

Romans 8:10-16

ECB ¹⁰ And if Messiah is in you, the body is indeed dead because of sin; and the Spirit is life because of justness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of him who raised Yah Shua from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Messiah from the dead also enlivens your mortal bodies through his Spirit dwelling in you. ¹² So then brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh – to live after the flesh. ¹³ For if you live after flesh, you are about to die: but if you, through Spirit, deathify the functions of the body, you live. ¹⁴ For as many as are led by Spirit of Elohim, are the sons of Elohim. ¹⁵
THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP
For you take not the spirit of servitude again to awe; but you take the Spirit of sonship, wherein we cry, Abba, Father. ¹⁶ The self-same Spirit co-witnesses with our spirit, that we are the children of Elohim:

The disembodied spirits were called demons. Like bastards who had no legal inheritance in the family, the half-human Nephilim had no proper family of souls to join after death. Demons were dead Nephilim who were not part of the original creation of souls. They lived large and strong in the flesh, but dead Nephilim were cursed to roam the land of flesh and blood as a spirit without a body. Demons continued to cross bodily boundaries as an old covenant curse on humanity.

When Samuel appears out of Hades he is not without a body. Samuel’s not yet immortal soul belonged to the body of humanity. Demons awaited their judgement on land rather than in Hades with Samuel. In the Bible demons reincarnated themselves in stolen bodies. Jesus was resurrected into the new covenant body. Jesus’ appearance in flesh and blood is as a sign of new covenant life. It is not a sign of immortality by way of eternal flesh and blood. Living for eternal flesh is greatly downplayed by Paul who specifically says flesh and blood does not inherit eternal life in the kingdom. Even demons knew they couldn’t remain in the flesh of their stolen old covenant bodies.

Matthew 8:29

YLT ²⁹ and lo, they cried out, saying, `What—to us and to thee, Jesus, Son of God? didst thou come hither, before the time, to afflict us?’

Genesis 1:20

ECB ²⁰ And Elohim says, Waters, teem with teemers having a living soul! And flyers, fly above the earth on the face of the expanse of the heavens!

Genesis 1:21

ECB ²¹ And Elohim creates great monsters; and every living soul that creeps which the waters teem in species; and every winged flyer in species: and Elohim sees it is good.

Genesis 1:24

ECB ²⁴ And Elohim says, Earth, bring forth the living soul in species – animals and creepers and live beings on the earth in species: – and so be it.

Genesis 1:30

ECB ³⁰ and to every live being of the earth and to every flyer of the heavens and to every creeper on the earth wherein there is a living soul – every green herb for food: – and so be it.

Genesis 2:7

ECB ⁷ and Yah Veh Elohim forms Adam of the dust of the soil and puffs into his nostrils the breath of life; and Adam becomes a living soul.

Genesis 2:7

Thomson ⁷ then God formed the man [‘âdâm], dust from the earth, and breathed upon his face a breath of life, and the man [‘âdâm] became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7

KJV ⁷ And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.