It is unknown whether the “Spirit” referred to in this verse is the Holy Ghost or the premortal personage of Jesus Christ (see McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 752; Mortal Messiah, 1:413–14; Talmage, Articles of Faith, 159–60; Roberts, Seventy’s Course in Theology, 5:60n2). After examining various interpretations, one Latter-day Saint scholar noted: “In not a single passage where it occurs can there be shown a clear-cut example favoring the interpretation that it represents the pre-existent Christ instead of the Holy Ghost” (Sperry, Problems of the Book of Mormon, 29).