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

Best known for his books on teaching values to children, Eyre branches off in a different direction with this exploration of a ""pre-life"" or ""pre-mortal"" existence. Gently rejecting reincarnation, Eyre proposes an alternative outlook on a soul's history that is more compatible with mainstream Christian views: we do not cycle through different bodies on earth, but enter this physical life bringing with us strengths and weaknesses inherited from an earlier stage of spiritual learning in God's presence. Although a belief in a spiritual preexistence is a major tenet of Eyre's LDS religion, he draws solely on non-Mormon sources and personal anecdotes to support his arguments, including d j vu experiences, biblical verses, teachings in early Christianity and ancient philosophy, and spiritual contacts with unborn spirits. He seeks to prompt a deeper spirituality in his readers, not to convert them to any specific religious beliefs. The book, whose core motto is ""belief in life after life gives us hope; belief in life before life gives us worth,"" is not so much a flowing narrative as a collection of bullet points aimed at inciting thought. It suffers at times from repetition and shallow documentation of arguments, but succeeds as a thought-provoking proposal that there is cause to believe in life before life, and that such a belief can inspire a deeper appreciation for physical life and a greater sense of human worth in the here and now. (Sept.)