In Mormonism, every human being existed before birth as a spirit child of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. Latter-day Saints teach that these spirits were organized from eternal “intelligences” and given spirit bodies made of refined matter. God the Father, Heavenly Mother, Jesus, and all humans share the same basic nature, differing only in their degree of progression (Gospel Topics: “Premortal Life”).
Earth life is viewed as a necessary step in which spirit children receive physical bodies and are tested, with the goal of eventually becoming like their Heavenly Parents.
Biblical Christianity teaches that human life begins at conception, not in a premortal realm. God alone is eternal and uncreated (Psalm 90:2). Humans are his creatures, not his literal offspring in a heavenly sense. Through Christ, believers become God’s children by adoption, not by premortal birth (Galatians 4:4–5).
