Reference: Pre-existence of Souls
Hastings
'Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar.'
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And the children struggled together within her: and she said, If it is so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.
And said, Naked came I from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Thy eyes saw my substance, yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.
And it came to pass, that when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb: and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she spoke with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. read more. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.