That is what my religion teaches.
96) PRE-EXISTENCE - of Prophets
The Prophets, unlike us, are pre-existent. The soul of Christ existed in the spiritual world before His birth in this world. We cannot imagine what that world is like, so words are inadequate to picture His state of being.
(Shoghi Effendi: High Endeavors, Page: 71)
No, that is not claiming that Jesus IS God the Father, or that Jesus and God are one and the SAME.
No, it is not Jesus making this claim.... It is as you said, the author trying to understand the divinity of Jesus and put it on paper.
Good post .. my only disagreement is the "unlike us are pre-existent" part. I believe that All souls are pre-existent -not via religious belief .. but via scientific analysis and proofs.
For example -- what is the soul ? if not other than the "I AM" moment .. which happens roughly 22 weeks into the process... when the wiring to the brain is complete such that it can capacitate the "I AM" at which point the brain lights up like a xmas tree... exactly the same time when you wake up and realize "I AM"
How did you get to that moment ... when the Soul Arrives .. from where ever it was previously .. and it was somewhere previously .. by hook or by crook.. as we shall see.
Give you another hint --- Matter and Energy came together in some configuration that was able to capacitate the "I AM" of the YOU variety. looking around you notice you are not the only "I AM"
What was the probability of this event happening ? Matter-Energy configuring themselves the right way ? --- 100% .... You are here
What is the probability of this event happening again ? 100%
one assumption has been made to arrive at the above conclusion. ---->>> Time keeps on ticking ... into the Future ----->>>> YOU .. will exist again .. existence is infinite .. because what ever the probability was .. you being here .. prior to that event there was a finite probability of that event happening. Proof - You exist.
What is probability of happening again .. in an infinite amount of time .. all finite probabilities will repeat infinitely. "So it is written - So it shall be done" say the prophet and the colored girls singing dup da dup Existence is Eternal.