What is a Spirit?
The origin and nature of our consciousness, intelligences, and spirit bodies
Has our consciousness always existed? What is its origin?
You and I are conscious beings. We have an awareness of our existence, individuality, thoughts, emotions, actions, and are able to reflect on our experiences. We are aware, conscious beings.
Is Our Consciousness Merely Physical?
Scientists and Materialists argue consciousness is inherently linked to the physical body. Under this assumption, death of the physical body would also necessitate the destruction of the consciousness.
If death destroys consciousness, Jesus Christ would have ceased to exist following His death upon the cross. Was God dead? Did He no longer exist? Was He re-created at the resurrection?
God did not cease to exist with the death of Jesus Christ. These problems are resolved when we acknowledge that consciousness is separate and independent from the body.
The scriptures deepen our understanding of consciousness by enlightening us about the origins of our spirit body and the intelligence that dwells within it.
The gospel of Jesus Christ rejects a purely materialistic viewpoint.
We declare that we are dual beings. That within every person exists a spirit — one composed of both a spirit body, made of spirit matter, and an inherent force or intelligence known as the Light of Truth, which dwells within it. We affirm that our consciousness is an emergent property of this intelligence and is thus eternal in nature.
Characteristics of an Intelligence
What then are the characteristics of an intelligence?
- It is an eternal, uncreated energy/light that is fundamentally distinct from the spiritual and physical bodies.
- It is a being of light/energy — it has no material form. D&C 93:29–31.
- It can dwell within a body of spirit matter and control it.
- It is an eternal entity — it has always existed, will exist, and can in fact never be destroyed. Abraham 3:21.
- It can make choices — to accept knowledge or reject that knowledge.
- It can remember — it can grow in knowledge and can remember what it learned, at least to some degree.
- It is sentient — it has a consciousness and self-awareness, for without agency there is no existence. D&C 93:30.
- It is limited in its capacity as mere energy and can progress through embodiment — gaining more energy/power under its control.
What is Embodiment?
Intelligences possess the capacity to grow and progress, yet their potential remains limited without embodiment. Embodiment is the union of energy and matter, enabling the intelligence within to govern and exercise dominion over its spirit body form.
Embodiment is essential for achieving a fullness of joy and increased capability (D&C 93:33–34). The Plan of Salvation, or God’s work and glory, is centered around empowering intelligences through the process of embodiment, which allows them to progress.
Therefore in order for intelligences to progress, God organized spirit bodies from a unique form of matter called spirit matter. This matter is like physical matter but is more pure and refined and can be directly controlled by an intelligence that dwells within it. It has form, extension in space, and features like physical bodies, including hands, eyes, and gender (D&C 131:7, Ether 3:16–17).
By giving these intelligences new spirit bodies to dwell within, God and his wife are considered the Parents of all humanity, as described in Romans 8:16–17. For the process of creating a new body and embodying a being within it is the definition of being a parent.
The method and means by which these spirit bodies are organized/created has not been revealed and we have absolutely no revelation concerning it. We just don’t know how they are created.
We know that when an intelligence is placed within a spirit body, it becomes more organized than before. In this state, it gains control over matter, which is a denser, more concentrated form of energy than mere light.
At the beginning of this phase of development, all intelligences are equal, starting from the same state. However, as they exercise agency, their choices determine their progression. Through their decisions, they gain greater light and knowledge, leading to increased capabilities and expanded opportunities (Alma 13:3–5, Abraham 3:19–22, D&C 93:36–39, D&C 50:24, D&C 93:29–32, D&C 138:50). In this process of growth, individuals developed distinct traits, personalities, and abilities, becoming uniquely themselves among the children of God.
After a period of time, God selected individuals based upon these choices, to receive different experiences in this life in order for their perfection and improvement, their empowerment and their development. It wasn’t just God’s whim — it was based upon law and thus receipt based upon that obedience to law. (D&C 130:19–21)
In the premortal life, all spirits progressed at different rates based on their choices and obedience to divine principles. Jesus Christ excelled in intelligence and righteousness, becoming “like unto God” (Abraham 3:19). This progression set the stage for our mortal journey, where we continue to exercise agency and strive for eternal growth.
Intelligence Within the Body and Energy Under Control
Bodies contain embedded intelligence, such as systems that operate independently of conscious control. For example, the immune system, the sympathetic nervous system, and reflexes are aspects of the body that exhibit organized, dynamic intelligence. The DNA, cellular structures, and systems work together harmoniously, reflecting an intricate design that adds to the embodied intelligence of beings. Thus when embodiment occurs the intelligence gains control of a massive amount of new energy and intelligence that it never had before. It has Progressed. (D&C 93:33–34)
God’s Embodiment and Progression
God the Father himself is an intelligence who has been embodied as a spirit and later as an immortal, resurrected physical being. Humans, as God’s children, share his essence and possess divine attributes and potential for growth. As God and his wife stand at the pinnacle of progression, they continue to work and advance by empowering others, fulfilling their purpose and glory through their development. (D&C 130:22, Moses 1:39)
The Soul — Spirit and Body United
Having seen how an intelligence is clothed in a spirit body, and how God dwells in an immortal physical body, we are prepared to answer a deeper question: what is the soul? The world often uses “soul” and “spirit” as though they were the same thing. The revelations of God draw a sharper and more glorious line. The soul is not the spirit alone. The soul is the spirit and the body joined together as one living being.
The Lord gave the definition Himself in unmistakable language:
“And the spirit and the body are the soul of man.”
This single revealed sentence reorders everything. The soul is a compound being — spirit plus body. A spirit without a body is not yet a complete soul, and a body without a spirit is lifeless clay. Only in their union does the soul of man exist.
The First Soul: Genesis 2:7
This same pattern is taught at the very dawn of creation. The body of man was formed from the dust of the earth, and then the breath — the spirit — of life was added to it. Notice carefully when the man is called a soul:
“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.”
The man did not become a living soul when his body was formed, nor when the spirit existed on its own. He became a living soul at the moment the two were joined — body plus the breath of life. Genesis and Doctrine and Covenants 88 teach precisely the same doctrine: the soul is the union of spirit and body.
Why This Matters: A Fulness of Joy Requires Both
This is not a mere matter of definitions. It strikes at the very purpose of our existence. The Lord revealed that the highest joy — a fulness of joy — is impossible for a spirit alone. It requires spirit and element joined together and never again parted:
“For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; and when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.”
Here is the reason embodiment is the heart of the Plan of Salvation. The disembodied spirit, however glorious, is incomplete. It cannot reach the fulness of joy God intends for His children until it is inseparably connected to a body. The soul made whole — spirit and element joined forever — is the very object of God’s work and glory.
The Resurrection Is the Redemption of the Soul
If the soul is spirit and body united, then death — which tears the two apart — is the great enemy of the soul. And the resurrection, which permanently reunites them, is nothing less than the redemption of the soul itself. The Lord ties these truths together in a single, breathtaking passage:
“And the spirit and the body are the soul of man. And the resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul.”
The resurrection is not the rescue of a spirit from a body — it is the rescue of the whole soul by restoring the body to the spirit forever. The Book of Mormon teaches this same restoration with perfect clarity:
“The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame… and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works.”
“O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls…”
The Spirit Longs for Its Body
Because the soul is whole only when spirit and body are joined, the separation of death is felt by the spirit as a genuine loss — a bondage from which it longs to be freed. President Joseph F. Smith, beholding the spirit world in vision, saw this longing plainly:
“For the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.”
Here, then, is the whole arc of God’s plan gathered into one truth. The soul is spirit and body united (D&C 88:15). It came into being when the two were first joined (Genesis 2:7). Its fulness of joy depends on that union being made permanent (D&C 93:33–34). Death is a bondage the spirit longs to escape (D&C 138:50). And the resurrection — the everlasting reuniting of spirit and body — is the redemption of the soul (D&C 88:15–16). God’s purpose is not merely to save spirits — it is to restore the whole soul, spirit and body, glorified and inseparable, forever.
Summary
- God organized bodies for these intelligences that were formed of a type of matter known as spirit.
- They have extension in space and have form and features similar to physical bodies — i.e. hands, eyes, and gender.
- Embodying a being into a new body that has been formed is by definition becoming the parent of that existing individual.
- Therefore God is considered the Father of all mankind, having embodied them into new spirit bodies.
- The process of embodiment is the way and means by which Intelligences progress.
- When they gain a body they gain control of a massive amount of energy that this body contains.
- Spirit bodies provide extension in space and control of a new form of energy — i.e. spirit matter.
- They can gain and learn and know and understand more than before.
- They gain senses and capabilities far more than their mere intelligence possessed.
- They gain intelligence — matter has capacities that come along with it.
- Our physical body has capabilities that our conscious mind does not, generally, control directly.
- The immune system, the sympathetic nervous system, reflexes, and many other systems in our body have embedded intelligence within them.
- The organized matter — DNA, Cell Structure, and systems of the body — are intelligent, organized, and work together dynamically.
- God himself is an intelligence that has been embodied as a spirit, and yet he has also been embodied in an Immortal Resurrected Physical Body.
- Thus we as his children, who are also of the same type/essence structure, also have attributes and potentials that are like God.
- He is at the pinnacle of progression and he has all knowledge and all power.
- He progresses only through empowering others — and this is his work and glory.
- The soul of man is the spirit and the body united (D&C 88:15).
- A fulness of joy requires spirit and element inseparably connected (D&C 93:33–34).
- The resurrection — the permanent reuniting of spirit and body — is the redemption of the soul (D&C 88:15–16, Alma 11:43).
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Questions and Answers
#1 How Can We Demonstrate That Intelligences Are Eternal?
The Law of Conservation of Mass (also known as Lavoisier’s Law) states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a closed system; it can only change forms.
The Law of Conservation of Energy (also known as the First Law of Thermodynamics) states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another.
We claim that Consciousness is an emergent property of a specific type of light known as an intelligence. Thus it is eternal.
Just as Dark Matter and Dark Energy cannot be directly observed — we can know of their existence through their effects. We can even know some of their characteristics. There is no empirical evidence whatsoever that they can be directly detected, nor is there likely ever to be any. Yet we know via the effects on other things that these things do in fact exist. So also with intelligences and spirits.
#2 When Does the Spirit Enter the Body?
The correct answer is — we don’t know.
A Scriptural Perspective
In 3 Nephi 1:13, the Savior speaks to Nephi on the night before His birth:
3 Nephi 1:13
“Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world.”
This passage provides an intriguing insight. How could Christ communicate with Nephi if He had not yet been born? Clearly, His spirit was capable of interacting independently of His body, suggesting that the connection between spirit and body does not prevent spiritual movement or communication.
I offer the following as my personal opinion: When a fetus is developing, there is a moment — presently unknown — when the spirit enters and is bonded to that body. I believe this occurs early in fetal development. Once bonded, the spirit is connected in a way that remains intact until death. However, this bond does not necessarily prevent the spirit from temporarily leaving the body. Many individuals have reported out-of-body experiences, often referred to as Near-Death Experiences (NDEs). These experiences suggest that a spirit can separate from its physical form without breaking its connection.
Thus, Christ’s ability to speak with Nephi before His birth may not be unusual. It aligns with what some individuals have experienced — leaving their bodies, perceiving the world from an external viewpoint, and then returning without physical death. While we do not have definitive answers, this perspective offers an intriguing possibility regarding the nature of our spirits and their relationship with our bodies.
#3 Where Does Scripture State That Intelligences Are “Given Spirit Bodies”?
The distinction between intelligences and spirit bodies is further clarified when we recognize that intelligence is described as “the light of truth”, while spirit bodies are composed of spirit matter. These two descriptions indicate that intelligences and spirits are not identical, but rather that intelligences are later embodied into organized spirit bodies.
1. Intelligence as the Light of Truth
“Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.”
This verse equates intelligence with “the light of truth,” implying that it is a fundamental, eternal essence, rather than a structured entity. It is unorganized.
- Intelligence is not made or created, meaning it predates spirit bodies.
- If spirits and intelligences were the same thing, then spirits would be uncreated — contradicting scripture that teaches God is “the Father of our spirits” (Hebrews 12:9).
- And the concept that He organized spirit bodies from spirit matter.
2. Spirit Bodies Are Made of Spirit Matter
“There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes.”
- Spirit is a form of refined matter, meaning that spirit bodies are composed of something tangible, even if it is more refined than physical matter.
- This directly contrasts with intelligence, which is “the light of truth” — a being of pure energy and light.
- Thus demonstrating a clear difference in substance between intelligences and spirit bodies, and supporting the idea that intelligences are later embodied into organized spirit bodies.
3. Intelligences Are Organized into Spirit Bodies
“Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was… And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers.”
- The phrase “intelligences that were organized” suggests that they underwent a transformation — most commonly interpreted as being embodied in spirit bodies.
- This aligns with the doctrine that God is the Father of our spirits, meaning there was a point at which we became spirits, rather than merely existing as intelligences.
4. Joseph Smith’s Teachings on Intelligence and Spirit
King Follett Discourse (1844)
“The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end.”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 354
“The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal with God himself.”
Conclusion
The key distinction is that:
- Intelligence is an eternal, uncreated essence referred to as “the light of truth” (D&C 93:29).
- Spirit bodies are created from spirit matter, a refined form of matter (D&C 131:7–8).
- God organizes intelligences into spirit bodies, making Him the Father of our spirits (Hebrews 12:9, Abraham 3:22–23).
This doctrinal understanding clarifies why intelligences are not synonymous with spirits but instead become spirits through divine organization.
#4 Doesn’t the Idea That a Spirit Body Looks Like the Physical Body Present a Problem of Morphology?
Imagine that you are a spirit that is very malleable — very malleable indeed. Yet you are in the presence of a God, an eternal immortal resurrected being who does in fact have a glorious physical immortal body.
Why would you not think that those spirits would form the shape of that being?
Does a Baby look like an adult? Well you can see the person inside there — but they change as they grow up. In fact babies’ eye colors can change, even hair color, as they grow. Does that mean they don’t look like who they were as a child?
So yes — I believe the physical body looks like the spirit body, much as a baby looks like who they are as an adult. Similar, but clearly not the same. This does not represent a problem at all.
#5 Why Are Some Creatures of Different Capacities Than Others?
Order, Not Shape, Defines Our Humanity. We believe it is the Order that classifies us as human, not merely the shape or form of our body. Yet, scripture affirms that individual shape and form remain consistent:
“That which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created.”
This passage emphasizes that there are orders of intelligence that define the classes of beings that exist — not merely their shape.
“Every man in his own order, until his hour was finished, even according as his Lord had commanded him, that his Lord might be glorified in him, and he in his Lord, that they all might be glorified.”
Thus, it is the order of intelligence and its capacity to become like God that defines us as human, as God’s children — not merely our physical shape.
In Isaiah’s vision, seraphim are described as having six wings:
“Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”
Clearly, this form is distinct from human morphology. Yet, despite their unique shape, they belong to a high divine order in God’s celestial hierarchy. This reinforces the principle that classification is based on order rather than shape.
Latter-day Saint doctrine acknowledges divine orders of beings, though it does not elaborate extensively on seraphim beyond their biblical descriptions. D&C 88:107 hints at different classes of exalted beings, suggesting that celestial beings may vary in order, purpose, and perhaps even form.
Ultimately, it is our divine potential and intelligence — not our physical attributes — that define our status as children of God.
After all, Terrestrial and Telestial human beings have the same shape as Celestial humans.