"REINCARNATION : The Missing Link in Christianity"
by Elizabeth Clare Prophet with Erin L. Prophet
Published by Summit University Press in 1997
ELIZABETH CLARE PROPHET is the author of many books, including the best-selling "The Lost Years of Jesus" and "Forbidden Mysteries of Enoch". She has been lecturing worldwide on spirituality since the 1960s.
Reviews and Commentary for Reincarnation : The Missing Link in Christianity
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The publisher, Summit Beacon International 1-800-823-8330 Brandy Gubler, Promotion Coordinator , 07/17/97:
Small Press Book Review / Spring 1997 pt. 3
Prophet maintains that reincarnation was essential to Jesus's spirituality and relationship with God; yet the Catholic Church suppress from the fourth to the sixth centuries in its concentration on becoming established as a dominant religious institution. The author, however, is more concerned with treating reincarnation than a critique of the Catholic Church and with treating reincarnation in general although the spirituality of Jesus is her focus. Prophet discusses the belief in reincarnation in the ancient Judaic and Greek world and also its continuing presence in Christianity in Gnosticism and with certain orders of monks and Christian mystics. Thus, the reincarnation attributed to Jesus is seen in a very wide context. While the author's theology is loose, she does give a readable, wide ranging discussion of the subject of reincarnation.
The publisher, Summit Beacon International - sbi@alpinet.net 1-800-823-8330 ext.102 Brandy Gubler, Promotions Coordinator , 07/01/97:
Whole Life Times Review/June 1997
One in five Christians believe in reincarnation. Elizabeth Clare Prophet, a spiritual adviser of over 30 years standing, posits that, given this statistic, we need to give a closer look at the possibility that reincarnation can be a Christian belief that doesn't repudiate a belief in heaven of the resurrection. Prophet's book is essentially a history of religious thought on the topic of reincarnation. It shows how, over the last 2000 years, the idea of the rebirth of the soul in a new body repeatedly has been espoused by some Christians, only to be then renounced by the church. It may be that the possibility of a future life wherein one could earn salvation of the soul undermined the authority of the church, who wanted it's members to repent in this life. The church declared as heretics those who taught reincarnation, and sometimes burned them at the stake. Prophet closely examines the Bible to support her argument. Contradictions abound in the New Testament: "Man has but one life on earth in which to earn eternal destiny" appears here, but so do the passages stating John the Baptist was the prophet Elijah come again. She examines the biblical story of Jacob and Esau, who were predestined by God before they were born. God declared he loved Jacob and hated Esau, and that Esau would serve Jacob. Prophet, believing in a just God, could not believe he would sentence a soul to eternal damnation before it even had a chance to commit worldly good or evil, which leads to her belief that Esau must have sinned in a past life. Elizabeth Clare Prophet provides a powerful argument for why Christianity and a belief in reincarnation should peacefully coexist. This is a book that should prove stimulating to skeptics and believers alike. -Karen Baker -Summit University Press, Corwin Springs, MT.
The publisher, Summit Beacon International - sbi@alpinet.net 1-800-823-8330 ext.102 Brandy Gubler, Promotions Coordinator , 07/01/97:
Review/Napra vol. 8, no. 3
Reviewed in NAPRA Re View Vol. 8, No.3 The diametric opposition of Christianity and the principle of reincarnation is an artificial one, Prophet claims, created by Church powers in the 4th century and after to cement their position of authority over their followers. Drawing on the Bible, the Gnostic texts, and the Dead Sea scrolls, Prophet finds foundation for her assertion that Jesus actually taught reincarnation, and that it was an essential part of early Christian belief/ As an intellectual exercise examining the possibility of an alternative Christianity,/ it makes for absorbing reading; as an explication of historical manipulation, Prophet's analysis provides guidance and support for those who have sought to integrate a Karmic perspective within Christian principles of living. This is an important and will-done book, extensively footnoted with a lengthy bibliography. -PM
The publisher , 02/28/97:
Critical acclaim
"This is an extremely important book, a book providing profound insight and truth, a book which will open minds and remove fears." --BRIAN L. WEISS, M.D., author of "Many Live, Many Masters" "Interesting and accessible, this book on reincarnation is an imaginative and provacative study of one way of looking at being 'born again.' Elizabeth Clare Prophet's assertion that not only mystical Gnsotics but also a Jewish wisdom teacher like Jesus taught reincarnation is sure to rattle your karmic chain."--MARVIN MEYER, author of "The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus" Throughout the ages Christians have sought to bring the doctgrinal stepchild of reincarnation into the mainstream of accepted belief. This massivley documented work is a readable and highly sympathetic account of those men and women of good faith who have sensed that the Christian soul is on a millennial journey toward divine union."--QUINCY HOWE, Ph.D., author of "Reincarnation for the Christian" A long time ago Christians believed in reincarnation. This groundbreaking work makes the case that Jesus taught reincarnation. Elizabeth Clare Prophet traces the history of reincarnation in Christianity--from Jesus to early Christians through Church councils and the persecution of so-called heretics. Using the latest scholarship and evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Gnostic texts, she also argues persuasively that Jesus was a mystic who taught that our desitiny is to unite with the God within. Your view of Jesus--and of Christianity--will never be the same.
Customer Comments
morelife@ycsi.net from Montana, USA , 10/13/97, rating=10:
Most detailed account of reincarnation in Christianity
I thought this was going to be a dry, scholarly account of historical facts, but found it to be so readable, I had a hard time putting it down. The book gives the most detailed account I have seen of how and why the idea of reincarnation was systematically eradicated from orthodox Christianity. I have been fascinated by this topic since the age of 18 when I read in a footnote to Paramahansa Yogananda's book "Autobiography of a Yogi" that reincarnation was banned as heresy by the early church fathers. The idea that church potentates could have excluded something Jesus possibly taught was outrageous to me. I had to piece the puzzle toghether from many different sources, and I am grateful this book has finally pulled most of them together in one volume. At the same time the book gives a lot of teachings that explain many of the questions I had about reincarnation. I think just about anybody who is somewhat open to the idea of reincarnation, whether Christian or not, would find something of interest in this book. For anyone seriously interested in the topic, there are numerous references to other sources.