Life Before Life: Origins of the Soul...Knowing Where You Came From and Who You Really Are

Rating:
Summary: Great book, with one concern
Review: I am really of two minds about this book. Really, my heart goes one direction, and my mind is going in two directions. So if this review is awkward, it is because three are three people writing it.

I feel that this is a great book explaining a principle or concept that is very dear and absolutely revolutionary to Mr. Eyre and myself. We are members of the same Christian denomination, and one of the reasons why our denomination exists is to tell people about our life before life.

Mr. Eyre explains this idea without going into the High Restoration Theology of The Prophet Joseph Smith behind the idea. He presents this High Theology in terms of personal intuition, with a very calm, conversational, reassuring, affirmative and an encouraging voice. It is the tone that makes this book so sweet. By reading this book, you would never guess there is so much weight behind the concept.

So that is my heart. This book feels good. Now my mind goes in two directions.

First, he introduces this idea on terms that an person who has never heard or considered the idea would readily accept. This is the best starting place for anyone who is unfamiliar with an idea. He uses literary and philosophical sources to illustrate and support this idea, and he follows up by discussing there implications of the idea.

By discussing the implications of the idea of life before life, he should get the Congressional Medal of Honor. A lot of people have good ideas, but a genius knows the implications of the ideas. This "implication analysis" is probably the best argument for reading the book.

However, the other half of my mind has concerns. The first concern has to do with "stolen concept." He teaches an idea, but he does not cite the source of the idea. As I said, there is a lot of High Theology behind what he says, and yet he does not cite these sources. In essence, he presents a counter-factual rational for believing what he believes.

Mr. Eyre does not believe in life before life because he read a poem by Wordsworth, or liked a passage from Plato. He believes what he believes because of the revelations of a modern-day Prophet.

The benefit of this approach is that people can look at the idea with our having to worry about being hustled into a religion, or pressured to join a denomination. The idea can be studied without any emotional baggage.

The downside is that we are being very secretive about revelation and prophets, and indeed, the entire Restoration itself. If I can be so bold, and yet say this with an Everest of respect, this smacks of being ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

I do not want o condemn Mr. Eyre. In a certain way, I understand why he chose the approach. There are advantages in presenting the doctrine this way: building on common beliefs, no pressure to join the denomination, and so forth. The problem I foresee is that people will start teaching a doctrine independent of the prophetic source. Taught this way, the doctrine loses its force and imperative. There is a difference between a good idea and a revealed doctrine. It is just that if we constantly and consistently teach doctrine this way, we are hiding the talent of the Restoration.

So having spoke my peace, I believe that this book would be a good introduction for non-members, or new members of the church. It raises many good issues, provides a Revealed alternative to the reincarnation craze, and is just good reading in and of itself.

By the way, Mr. Eyre did not mention two other sources of life before life. In the Platonic dialogue "Meno," Socrates proves life before life by having a slave boy solve geometric proofs. The slave-boy could not have learned all of this geometry in this life time, so he had to have learn it in a previous life.

The other source comes from "War and Peace." During a Christmas Party, one girl says that if you keep remembering back before you were born, when you were an angel. (Book 7, Ch. X)

Rating:
Summary: Great book, with one concern
Review: I am really of two minds about this book. Really, my heart goes one direction, and my mind is going in two directions. So if this review is awkward, it is because three are three people writing it.

I feel that this is a great book explaining a principle or concept that is very dear and absolutely revolutionary to Mr. Eyre and myself. We are members of the same Christian denomination, and one of the reasons why our denomination exists is to tell people about our life before life.

Mr. Eyre explains this idea without going into the High Restoration Theology of The Prophet Joseph Smith behind the idea. He presents this High Theology in terms of personal intuition, with a very calm, conversational, reassuring, affirmative and an encouraging voice. It is the tone that makes this book so sweet. By reading this book, you would never guess there is so much weight behind the concept.

So that is my heart. This book feels good. Now my mind goes in two directions.

First, he introduces this idea on terms that an person who has never heard or considered the idea would readily accept. This is the best starting place for anyone who is unfamiliar with an idea. He uses literary and philosophical sources to illustrate and support this idea, and he follows up by discussing there implications of the idea.

By discussing the implications of the idea of life before life, he should get the Congressional Medal of Honor. A lot of people have good ideas, but a genius knows the implications of the ideas. This "implication analysis" is probably the best argument for reading the book.

However, the other half of my mind has concerns. The first concern has to do with "stolen concept." He teaches an idea, but he does not cite the source of the idea. As I said, there is a lot of High Theology behind what he says, and yet he does not cite these sources. In essence, he presents a counter-factual rational for believing what he believes.

Mr. Eyre does not believe in life before life because he read a poem by Wordsworth, or liked a passage from Plato. He believes what he believes because of the revelations of a modern-day Prophet.

The benefit of this approach is that people can look at the idea with our having to worry about being hustled into a religion, or pressured to join a denomination. The idea can be studied without any emotional baggage.

The downside is that we are being very secretive about revelation and prophets, and indeed, the entire Restoration itself. If I can be so bold, and yet say this with an Everest of respect, this smacks of being ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

I do not want o condemn Mr. Eyre. In a certain way, I understand why he chose the approach. There are advantages in presenting the doctrine this way: building on common beliefs, no pressure to join the denomination, and so forth. The problem I foresee is that people will start teaching a doctrine independent of the prophetic source. Taught this way, the doctrine loses its force and imperative. There is a difference between a good idea and a revealed doctrine. It is just that if we constantly and consistently teach doctrine this way, we are hiding the talent of the Restoration.

So having spoke my peace, I believe that this book would be a good introduction for non-members, or new members of the church. It raises many good issues, provides a Revealed alternative to the reincarnation craze, and is just good reading in and of itself.

By the way, Mr. Eyre did not mention two other sources of life before life. In the Platonic dialogue "Meno," Socrates proves life before life by having a slave boy solve geometric proofs. The slave-boy could not have learned all of this geometry in this life time, so he had to have learn it in a previous life.

The other source comes from "War and Peace." During a Christmas Party, one girl says that if you keep remembering back before you were born, when you were an angel. (Book 7, Ch. X)

Rating:
Summary: Huge Disappointment!
Review: I thought I would share a personal word or two with Amazon members (I am the author). More than any of the other 27 books I have written, this one touched (and drew from) my heart. I have decided that "self help" is ultimately an oxymoron...we all come to points where we need a higher help...and a higher sense of identity. Knowing that there is more to us than some physical genetic coincidence, that our spirits came from a higher and much older place, can change our perspective, our confidence, and our faith. For me, Life Before Life is not just the story of my own spiritual experiences, it is the paradigm in which I see both the relationships and the circumstances of my own everyday life. May it help you in the same way!

Rating:
Summary: A note from the author
Review: I thought I would share a personal word or two with Amazon members (I am the author). More than any of the other 27 books I have written, this one touched (and drew from) my heart. I have decided that "self help" is ultimately an oxymoron...we all come to points where we need a higher help...and a higher sense of identity. Knowing that there is more to us than some physical genetic coincidence, that our spirits came from a higher and much older place, can change our perspective, our confidence, and our faith. For me, Life Before Life is not just the story of my own spiritual experiences, it is the paradigm in which I see both the relationships and the circumstances of my own everyday life. May it help you in the same way!

Rating:
Summary: Huge Disappointment!
Review: This book was a huge disappointment. Author shares his "theory" of life before life, but does not share how or where he came upon his theory----dream, vision, reading other books, or just a made up theory to throw out and see if anyone would bite. This book makes the assumption that the reader is an avid believer in God as the creator of all things, so if that is not the reader's belief you will find the book to be quite preposterous, as the author's premise about "life before life" is predicated on the fact that if you believe in God then you of course will believe what the author has to say about how life began. Without any evidential information to support the author's theory I must say I found the book to be sorely lacking in any kind of depth on the subject at all. This is not a book for those who have already spent the time researching and reading more meaty books on the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book on where we really come from
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read on the origin of the human spirit. It cuts through eastern mysticism, reincarnation, karma and other popular but immplausible notions and presents a concept which has roots in ancient Judaism and Christianity, but which has been forgotten for nearly two thousand years. The ideas in this book will change the way you view yourself, others, God and the universe in which we live!