JOEL - I personally don't believe that there is a heirarchy
of races; that some are more superior than others;
just different races. We were all God's children of
equal importance in the premortal life where we each
had our own identities and personalities. The same is
true here, although we know there have been races of
people that have been denied certain blessings or
access to the Gospel(Matt 10:5-6) and priesthood at
different times, according to God's judgment.
We do know that certain individuals were fore-ordained
in the pre-mortal life to fulfill diffferent responsibilities here on earth.
The Prophet Joseph Smith remarked that "every man who
has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the
world was ordained to that very purpose in the
Grand Council of heaven before this world was" (TPJS,
p. 365).
This statement is based on certain scriptural
references to past prophets, such as Abraham, who
were foreordained to fulfill certain leadership
positions on the earth.
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the
intelligences that were organized before the world
was; and among all these there were many of the
noble and great ones;
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; for he stood among those that
were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he
said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast
chosen before thou wast born. (Abr 3: 22-23 See also
Jer. 1: 5.)
In Acts we read:
"And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to
dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath
determined the times before appointed, and the bounds
of their habitation;" (Acts 17:26)
So according to Paul many spirits may have been
foreordained to specific nations and generations
("bounds of habitation"), as well as to families and
to varied assignments, work, or missions on earth.
Elder B. H. Roberts, of the Seventy, taught that
people sooner or later will manifest the strength of
that intelligence and nobility to which their spirits
had attained in the heavenly kingdom before they took
bodies upon earth" (T. Madsen, Defender of the Faith
[Salt Lake City, 1980], p. 2).
I really don't think race was an issue among the
spirits in the pre-mortal life, but I suppose it is
possible that what they did and who they were there
might have had some bearing on where and into what
family they were born in to.
In the very beginning God told Abram:
"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will
bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be
a blessing:" (Gen 12:2)
And He later told the Israelites:
"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and
keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure
unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an
holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt
speak unto the children of Israel." (Ex. 19:5-6)
"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the
LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people
unto himself, above all people that are upon the face
of the earth.
The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose
you, because ye were more in number than any people;
for ye were the fewest of all people:
But because the LORD loved you, and because he would
keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers,
hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and
redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the
hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deut 7:6-8)
So the children of Abraham were "chosen" early on because of God's promise to their father and because they kept the covenants of God; not necessarily because of who they were in the pre-mortal life, even though they may have been fore-ordained to be born into Abraham's line. We can all be adpoted into this family through baptism into God's kingdom.
I have no idea what determines our sex, except that it was something that was probably determined when our spirits were formed by our heavenly parents.
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