Skip to main content

Child Reincarnation

 There are really two parts to this theory.  

The first question is, why do 3-4 year old children claim in conversation to be someone else?  This is actually an extraordinary concept to emerge from anyone's psyche, and yet it is something that happens with surprising frequency.  Perhaps there is a space in the developing brain's long term memory that is emergent at that age, and yet empty.  So the developing brain either attempts to fill it up with manufactured but plausible memories, or inadvertently confuses imagination and passing information for actual memories.

the second question is perhaps more understandable:  why do those around them claim that the past lives are identifiable and recognizable?  

This answer to this question lies more in the suggestibility of the audience, rather than the intentional deception of the child.  Like a TV psychic, the child's utterances are treated with the utmost gravity and, once convinced, the adult auditors go out of their way to find historical stories that match the story that the child is telling.  They may go so far as to fill in important details on their own, modifying what the child said into something that matches the details of the story they have found.

Children have a desire to tell stories that adults want to listen to.  They also have a hesitance, once a false story is embarked upon, to actually confess to the truth.  They become very perceptive to the way that their stories are being received by the adults around them and can pick up on clues embedded in the reactions that these adults give them.  

In this way, the child and the adults are working together to create a story and work out the details, even though all of them believe in its objective veracity.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Story of Prestor John

 Prestor John was a largely medieval invention, a figure taken from Biblical beginnings and then elevated beyond proportions to a mythic hero that would save Christendom. The story of Prestor John takes place in two parts. The first part begins in the Apostolic age, in the Gospel of John.  In John 21, Jesus has been telling Peter that he should prepare for a martyr's death.  Peter then asked about John, who was the author relating the story. In verse 22, Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. However, Jesus did not say that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you?”  The apostle John seems to write to dispel a rumor that Jesus told him he would not die until Jesus returned.  In fact, though many of the apostles were martyred for Christianity, John himself was not a mart...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tom Wadsworth - The Early Church Didn't have Worship Services

Why the Early Church Didn't Have Worship Services  Origen, ca 230 AD.  "We object to building altars, statues, and temples because we have learned from Jesus Christ the true way of serving God." Wadsworth's thesis is that modern Christianity has changed from the original practices of the Early Church.  We have adopted the communion sacrament as a "sacrifice", that takes place on an Altar, officiated by the pastor, who is now a Priest.  And all of this happens within a dedicated church building that is the modern equivalent of a Temple, with its sanctuary.  Rather than edifying our fellow believers in Early Church Assemblies, we now gather in these temples to participate in a "worship service." He says that Christianity, through its history, has in effect re-created the temple practices of historic Judaism. Irenaeus:  We make an offering to God of the bread and the cup of blessing.  And then when we have perfected the offering, we invoke the Holy Sp...
Post a Comment
Read more

How were the Gospels written: mere speculation

 Let's start by setting the stage for the Early Church.  In the mid 30s AD, Jesus was crucified by the Romans.   Jesus was resurrected and appeared to many people, including his disciples.  This happened both in Jerusalem and in Galilee, on the road to Emmaus and elsewhere. Peter preached his message in Jerusalem at the day of Pentecost.  From there, new Jewish/ Christian believers dispersed to their home towns including Antioch, Ephesus, Rome. Peter remained a prominent leader in the Jerusalem church, along with James the Lord's brother and, interestingly, accompanied by John Mark.  Tradition tells us that other of the apostles embarked on missionary journeys.  For example, Phillip met the Ethiopian and traveled to north Africa.   Matthew was said by Papias (the Bishop of Hieropolis in Phrygia ca. AD 130) to have written the Oracles or Saying of Jesus in his native Aramaic.  This was probably a work in progress during the time he ...
Post a Comment
Read more