Museum of Mysteries » Study on Christian Belief in Reincarnation, Children’s Past Life Stories, and FOX Reincarnation Themed TV Series Fuel American Fascination With Past Lives

According to a December 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, 22% of Christians in the U.S. believe in reincarnation, a revelation the Christian community didn’t welcome. Instead of exploring why a significant percentage of Christians believe in reincarnation, I think it’s interesting why the other 78% don’t believe in it.

For some it’s a matter of memory. Or more specifically a lack of memory. If we all lived previous lives, skeptics ask, we’d have conscious memories of those lives, wouldn’t we?

But when presented with people who do have memories of past lives, the same skeptics suggest those memories are pleas for attention or lies fabricated for financial gain.

Josh Ryder first started having memories of his past life in ancient Rome after he was nearly killed by a bomb explosion while on assignment in Italy. A photojournalist from New York City, when Ryder woke up in his hospital bed, he had overwhelmingly vivid memories of a past life in ancient Rome. His regressions became so powerful and disturbing they invaded his present life to the point of distraction. He was certain there was something he’d not completed in a previous life that he had to finish in this one. His career suffered and his marriage fell apart. Ryder’s past life was destroying his present reality.

That’s the story of the lead character in “The Reincarnationist.” My novel, which is just where most people believe reincarnation belongs. But memories of past lives don’t just live between the covers of thrillers, and it’s not only fictional characters whose lives today are being invaded by memories of past lives.

Read an excerpt of “The Reincarnationist”

Dr. Jim Tucker, assistant professor in the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia has spent his entire career studying children who have past life and prenatal memories. He has filing cabinets filled with the stories of these children and his fact-checking of their stories has led him to believe that their past life memories are exactly that – fact-based memories of a previous existence.

Even though there are many who don’t believe in reincarnation, most of us are fascinated by it. My own fascination with the subject led me to write a suspense novel with a reincarnation theme, and it’s the public’s fascination that led Fox to create an emotional dramatic TV series called “Past Life” which was inspired by my book.

If you are one of the many who are fascinated (even secretly) by reincarnation click here to download a free excerpt of “The Reincarnationist” and read Josh Ryder’s reincarnation story. I also invite you to watch a documentary about a small boy in Scotland who had vivid past life memories and Dr. Tucker’s investigation of that in the videos below.

• Find out more about the “Past Life” TV series premiering on FOX February 9, 2009
• Read about the “many world” theory about why there is no such thing as death
• More research about reincarnation

Children with Past Life Memories – Part 1