What the growing interest in reincarnation says about our culture

In a recent article for the New York Times, Saskia Solomon profiled the Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS), a parapsychology research unit that is part of the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine. DOPS was started in 1967 by Dr. Ian Stevenson and has spent the better part of sixty years investigating the stories of children who claim to remember a past life. The team has logged hundreds of cases from “all continents except Antarctica,” and Dr. Jim Tucker, who led DOPS until his retirement in 2015, said the frozen locale’s exclusion is “only because we haven’t looked for cases there.”

The eight-person team at DOPS is one of a few labs around the world investigating such phenomena, with the Koestler Parapsychology Unit at the University of Edinburgh the most notable of their peers. Yet despite its affiliation with the University of Virginia’s medical school, DOPS’s research has been something of a behind-the-scenes pursuit since its inception, and that’s largely to the benefit of both the school and DOPS.

When Dr. Stevenson started the group, he was wary of their work becoming more of a carnival show than science. As such, they meet a couple of miles away from the school in a series of would-be condominiums inside a residential building. But while their work was—and, to an extent, still is—largely maligned within the scientific community, the notion of reincarnation and the remembrance of past lives is having something of a revival in the larger culture.

“This is not just a pointless existence”

A 2023 Pew Research Study found that “About one-quarter of adults say it is definitely or probably true that the dead can be reincarnated (i.e., reborn again and again in this world).” So while Solomon reports that the most frequently reported cases of a remembered past life come from South Asia, where the belief in reincarnation is more culturally and religiously prevalent, the notion is growing here as well.

Every year, parents send the group more than 100 emails asking about strange or troubling things their child has said that they believe could be tied to a past life. Dr. Tucker says that “very few” of these reports yield enough evidence to think the child’s statements could really point to reincarnation and, to their credit, they try to maintain a fairly high bar for legitimizing such claims.

The team at DOPS also understands that there’s probably not “going to be one finding or one study that suddenly convinces everyone that we need to change how we understand reality.” Yet they hope that “a greater acceptance of life being a continuous cycle could have a positive effect on the way we live” by helping people to value the lives of those around them to a greater degree.

As Dr. Tucker put it, “There would be a stronger sense that we’re all kind of in this together, this is not just a pointless existence.”

Our hope for a better life

While the Bible does not leave room for the idea of reincarnation—the author of Hebrews, among others, is clear that “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27)—the sentiment that life is not “just a pointless existence” should be a truth Christians can get behind. However, the differences in how we view that existence say a lot about the kind of hope sought by proponents of reincarnation.

In both systems, people persist long after death. However, reincarnation offers more of this life, whereas the Christian version of eternity offers the prospect of a better life—one in which we experience the kind of existence God intended for us to have before sin got in the way. That so many in our culture would rather entertain the idea of another shot at this life is telling and speaks to the fundamental flaw in our fallen nature.

The desire to live life on our terms rather than God’s drove Adam and Eve to sin in the Garden and continues to drive people to sin today. Most recognize that this world is flawed and that there are problems woven into the fabric of our existence this side of heaven. But the idea that we can do better, be better, and overcome those mistakes if we can just get another chance is among the most human beliefs we find in religion.

By contrast, Christian teaching is that it doesn’t matter how many lives we get. The problem of sin will always be a problem.

Only one being was ever able to live a sinless existence, and, by the grace of God, that’s enough if we’re simply willing to put our faith in him rather than in ourselves.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to be better, kinder, and pursue a sinless life. The Bible is clear that God’s call is to be perfect as he is perfect (Matthew 5:48), and Jesus offers us the best example of what that looks like. But failure to live up to that standard is inevitable, and if our hope for a better eternity was contingent upon being the exception to that fact, we would be truly hopeless.

Praise God that doesn’t have to be the case.

Denison Forum

Facing an unknown future with joyous faith

“I’m young, pretty, and friendly—all very good, positive qualities that you have too.” This is how Sister Inah Canabarro, the world’s oldest living person at nearly 117, greets visitors to her retirement home in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

In a video shot, the smiling Canabarro can be seen cracking jokes, sharing miniature paintings she made of wildflowers, and reciting the Hail Mary prayer. The nun is a fan of the local soccer club, which celebrates her birthday every year by decorating her room with gifts in the team’s colors.

The secret to her longevity? Her faith, she says.

Wildfires threaten thousands in California

We can all use such faith in challenging times like these.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency yesterday as wildfires forced the evacuation of thirty thousand people in the Los Angeles area. A polar vortex has prompted school closures and caused power outages and flight cancellations across the US. Dozens of hostages in Gaza are enduring another winter as their families plead for their release.

Despite all our scientific advances and technological prowess, anticipating the future is as challenging as ever. Consider these predictions made by “experts” at the beginning of 2024:

• “Biden will beat Trump and Kamala Harris will play a huge role”
• “If Trump wins, he will still lose the popular vote”
• “Iowa poll: Kamala Harris leapfrogs Donald Trump to take lead near Election Day”
• “Netanyahu will be unseated as Israeli prime minister”
• “The US now has an 85% chance of recession in 2024”.

Famed management consultant Peter Drucker noted, “Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.”

Since the future is inherently unknowable, we should obviously turn to the One whose omniscience is unbounded by time (Psalm 90:4), seeking his “plans to prosper you” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) as we follow his “perfect” will (Romans 12:2).

What keeps us from seeking and following his will for our lives?

How can we experience his best every day of this new year?

Watching the NFL on Netflix

My wife and I watched the 1954 movie White Christmas again this year on Christmas evening. In one scene, a popular TV show is about to begin, so a group gathers on chairs around a console television to watch. The image struck me because I remember doing exactly the same thing with my parents as a child. We had three channels available through the “rabbit ears” antenna that sprouted from the back of the massive wooden box sitting on the floor.

That was then; this is now.

Earlier in the day, we joined fans from over two hundred countries who watched two NFL games on television via Netflix. Across the year, viewers streamed over one billion hours of content daily to their televisions via YouTube. Not to mention all the content getting downloaded on laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. Meanwhile, cable television is declining as fast as streaming services are accelerating.

Marshall McLuhan famously asserted, “The medium is the message.” He was right: When we can watch nearly anything we choose whenever we choose on nearly any technology we choose, it seems that the outside world is subject to our command. And when content producers vie for our attention, we become the customer in control of the encounter.

But this is just what they want us to think. The more they appeal to our “will to power,” the more likely we are to buy their products, watch their shows, or do whatever else they want us to do.

“The most reliable way to predict the future”

Abraham Lincoln claimed, “The most reliable way to predict the future is to create it.” However, since only a timeless being is able to see and create the future, our wisest decision is to trust him rather than ourselves.

But the more prosperous we become, the more tempted by self-reliance we are.

In Revelation 3, Jesus states, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (v. 20). This verse is often used for evangelistic purposes, but it is actually directed to the prosperous church at Laodicea (v. 17). If their self-reliance could keep them from experiencing the presence of Jesus, the same can happen to us.

By contrast, the Magi who saw the star at Jesus’ birth journeyed hundreds of miles to honor him as their king (Matthew 2:1–2). They were obviously prosperous, judging by their gifts for the Christ, yet “they fell down and worshiped him” (v. 11).

We are wise to call them “wise men.” And even wiser to emulate them.

“Be not proud of race, face, place, or grace”

To be people who reject self-reliance for God-dependence, let’s take three steps today.

1. Spend significant time with our Lord. The more we are with him, the more we become like him. Louie Giglio was right: “Humility is not a character trait to develop, it’s the natural by-product of being with Jesus.”
2. Focus on our Lord and our neighbor, seeking practical ways to serve both. C. S. Lewis noted, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
3. Remember that we are who and what we are by God’s grace. Charles Spurgeon advised us, “Be not proud of race, face, place, or grace.”

St. Augustine asked: “What greater grace could God have made to dawn on us than to make his only Son become the son of man, so that a son of man might in his turn become a son of God?” Then he added: “Ask if this were merited; ask for its reason, for its justification, and see whether you will find any other answer but sheer grace.”

How will you respond to “sheer grace” today?

My latest website articles:

• “First US patient dies of bird flu: How to fight fear with faith”
• “Winter storms are closing schools and canceling flights: Remembering ‘Icemageddon’ and grappling with mortality”
• “Dutch online archive identifies suspected Nazi collaborators: Why does justice take so long?”
• “Why young men are joining a more ‘muscular’ church: Lions on Noah’s ark and the power of unconditional obedience”

Quote for the day:

“When thinking about life, remember this: no amount of guilt can solve the past, and no amount of anxiety will change the future.” —Ruth Graham

Denison Forum