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Reincarnation: The Missing
Link in Christianity
Elizabeth Clare Prophet with Erin L. Prophet.
Summit University Press, Corwin
Springs, MT, 1997, 412 pages.
Reviewed by
Joseph P. Szimhart
The subjective
tone of this book is set in the foreword, where Erin Prophet states, “For me,
reincarnation and Christianity have always gone together.” As Elizabeth Clare
Prophet’s eldest daughter, Erin grew up in a “new age” religion lately known as
Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT) and founded by her parents. Her mother
underscores this subjectivism in the preface: “Reincarnation forms a pivotal
part of my belief system because it allows us another chance.” The elder Prophet
is alluding to the notion that earthly life is a “school” from which we cannot
“ascend” or graduate until we pass all of our tests. If we flunk, we repeat and
repeat until we get it right. The thesis or argument in this book is syncretic:
it purports to demonstrate that distinctly non-Christian beliefs, such as
reincarnation and spiritual evolutionism, have been unfairly deleted by Church
leaders, and that the “mystical” and Gnostic traditions of Christianity sustain
these beliefs. It is syncretic because Elizabeth Prophet blends a conflicting
variety of religious systems in her attempt to “prove” her beliefs.
The cover reveals
the authors’ intent. Incorporated in a Taoist yin-yang circle are the
Byzantine-style image of Christ healing a blind man and a fragment of a Nag
Hammadi Codex. Thus we have Gnosticism, orthodox Christianity, and an Oriental
tradition blended together. Prophet’s CUT presents an amalgam of nearly every
religion under the sun with its “guru” as an exclusive spokesperson for the
heavenly hierarchy of all: Prophet channels “masters” from many religions and
mythologies. Near the bottom of the front cover is an endorsement by Brian L.
Weiss, author of Many Lives, Many Masters, and a controversial promoter
of reincarnation in his psychic therapy practice.
The Prophets
rehash old themes familiar to CUT devotees and most New Agers. There are
chapters on reincarnation in Judaism, Greek religion, Gnosticism, and Jesus’
trip through India. Although reincarnation beliefs exist in Greek religion, in
certain Gnostic sects (but not all), and among some Jewish and Christian
mystics, Prophet’s continued, unfortunate suggestion that Jesus traveled through
India almost as a yogi betrays how weak in evidence this book is. The only
“scientific” research cited is that of Ian Stevenson, whose results have been
anything but compelling. Typical of Prophet’s books, especially found in the
last chapter in this one, is the recruitment pitch for her religion. She offers
a technique that is said to erase all negative karma. The authors suggest the
use of CUT “decrees,” or mantras, that should be chanted rapidly, as the viable
way to achieve an “ascension” into the spiritual worlds. “If you repeat this
[two decrees are offered out of the hundreds used by CUT devotees] and other
prayers and decrees mentally and verbally as often as it is comfortable, you
will build a momentum that can propel you into a state of divine union” (p.
314).
The book’s last
hundred pages contain notes and an impressive bibliography, giving the book a
scholarly image. Image may be enough for a New Ager, but scholars of religion
will find this book tiresome, especially in its lack of an index and its abuse
of legitimate historical research. For example, the authors often treat Gnostics
as though they were all of one kind and all believed in reincarnation: for
example, “Reincarnation was an important part of Gnostic theology” (p. 143). An
eminent scholar on gnosticism, Ioan P. Couliano, states from the very book
listed in the Prophets’ bibliography that “some gnostics” believe in the
“preexistent” soul, not all. Perhaps the Prophets should have studied Couliano’s
research before presenting theirs.
One might ask why
Prophet and her daughter needed to write this book. One answer comes through
Elizabeth Prophet’s subchapter, “Sandbox Recollections” (pp. 20–23). Like so
many immature mystics worldwide, Prophet believes that her profound “mystical”
experiences represent a literal reality without a neurological or psychological
explanation. She was a child in Red Bank, New Jersey, in her backyard sandbox in
her “own little world.” “As though someone had turned the dial on a radio, I was
on another frequency—playing in the sand along the Nile River in Egypt.” Her
mother later “confirmed” for her that she had a “past life” memory. In 1978 I
heard from CUT devotees who were close friends of mine that “Mother” (Elizabeth
Prophet) suffered from petit mal seizures, a type of epilepsy. Researcher and
long-time CUT critic, Kathy Schmook of Montana, also discovered that those
closest to Prophet are aware of her disorder. Anyone familiar with this type of
temporal lobe disorder knows how vivid and “spiritual” one’s imagination becomes
during the “aura” prior to an epileptic incident, which does not always include
a seizure. If the epilepsy connection is true, it goes a long way to explain why
it is important for Prophet to construct an alternative reality rather than
admit to embarrassing fantasies triggered by a neurological dysfunction.
In my opinion,
that is the purpose of this book: to shore up one woman’s prophecies about
herself and her devotees. CUT devotees have told me that Prophet “remembers”
that she was Queen Nefertiti, Catherine the Great, Catherine of Sienna, St.
Martha, Lady Guinevere, and others. She “remembered” that her middle daughter,
Moira, was John F. Kennedy, and her daughter-coauthor Erin was none other than
the heroic Mahatma Gandhi. Although you will not find this “personal”
information in Reincarnation, CUT devotees have been aware of the famous
lives of all the Prophet family since the early 1970s from Summit Lighthouse
books and group gossip.
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