by Marinus Jan Marijs
Next to the question whether there is life after death, there is the question whether what survives death, also existed before its physical existence. The Greek philosopher Plato had the opinion that if the spirit lived on after death, it should also exist before birth.
It is possible to interpret the paradise story in the bible book Genesis as a symbolic/ allegoric description of the pre-existing of the soul, meaning the existing of the human spirit before birth. In this interpretation Adam and Eve would represent the spirit and the soul. The garments of skin in genesis would represent the physical bodies and Paradise would be the supernatural world. St. Paul but also Christ himself do use the term paradise as a reference for heaven.
Reincarnation is also directly connected with pre-existence.
Thomas Cole (February 1, 1801 – February 11, 1848)
