What of So-Called Past Lives? (Part 1 of 2)

There’s a lot of talk in the alternative press and publishing industry these days about past lives some claim they have experienced. Oddly, most of these supposed past lives seems to have taken place in ancient Egypt or the supposed Atlantis, two centerpieces of a lot of modern cultism. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I don’t believe in coincidences.

What typically happens is someone goes to a hypnotist. Under hypnosis, the subject is regressed to his birth and then just continues backward . . . all the way to ancient Egypt or Atlantis! The subject is then able to relate, often quite accurately, events of some person who lived during that time period—usually someone who can be checked on.

Not only have most of these hypnotized people lived in ancient Egypt or Atlantis, a large preponderance of them seem to have inhabited the bodies of various royal households. Another coincidence?


While the Bible doesn’t have anything to say about past-life regression, it does have something to say about past lives. If you’ve been following this blog, you might remember a few such verses.

In “Is There One Creation Story or Two? (Part 3)”, we learned we were created as spirit beings during Day 6 (See Genesis 1:26-27)—that is, during the spirit creation of the earth. You might also recall that all the host of heaven and earth, including us, were created prior to Day 7 of the creation story (see Genesis 2:1), and this was before “every plant of the field . . . was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew” (Genesis 2:5; underscoring mine).

So right from the beginning, we find we existed before mortality. Hence, you could say we indeed have experienced past lives. But in Egypt, Atlantis, or some other place, through a previous mortal birth? I don’t think so, and the Bible certainly doesn’t support this idea.

What this so-called past-life regression preaches is the supposed reality of reincarnation. In other words, we are born, die and are born again into another physical body—maybe human, maybe as an insect, according to which version of reincarnation one subscribes to.

This continues until one finally reaches the state of nirvana, a place or state characterized by freedom from or oblivion to pain, worry and the external world. It also signals the end of the cycle of personal reincarnations. It is attained as a result of the extinction of individual passion, hatred and delusion (Dictionary.com).

What likely is taking place in these past-life regressions is the act of channeling. Channeling takes place when one is highly open to suggestion, usually while under hypnosis or entrancement.

My belief is this: A lying spirit takes possession of the one entranced and speaks through him, or more likely, her, sometimes even with a different voice. (Check out the bookstores and you’ll see that most channeling books are authored by women.)

Lying spirits have been around since Adam and Eve. Satan wasn’t the only evil one on earth, although he is the only one mentioned at that time. These other evil ones, with Satan, were together cast out of heaven for rebellion.

““And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9; see verses 3-4,7-12).

Thus we know that when Satan was cast to the earth, his followers—his angels—were cast out with him. So we know they were at least on earth at the time of Adam and Eve. Whether they were present in the Garden of Eden is irrelevant. The point is: Satan was present, and that was enough. (The subject of Satan and his angels will be covered at length in a future blog.)

Most would consider this narrative of the war in heaven to apply to some future date, being in the Book of Revelation and all. However, the fact that Satan and his angels have been around since the days of Adam and Eve would belie that idea.

Therefore, any one of Satan’s angels or followers could have been present in ancient Egypt, Atlantis (if there were such a place), Greece or anywhere else. Thus, he would have a personal knowledge of the events that transpired in that ancient one’s life. And these lying spirits don’t have a veil of forgetfulness placed upon them, they being without physical bodies.

So the lying spirit may actually be telling the truth about real events in the life of someone who lived long, long ago. However, he speaks in the first person through the entranced or hypnotized one, giving one the impression that the person is actually speaking as though he were that ancient person. (Confused?)

Even though the lying spirit might be speaking the truth about the events in the ancient one’s life, the lie would be that past-life regression validates reincarnation.

Whatever the case may be, there is nothing in the Bible that supports reincarnation, although many use various scriptures out of context to try and support this idea.

Still, we really did have past lives. What they consisted of we cannot now say, having a veil of forgetfulness placed upon us. Therefore, it would be fruitless to try and speculate. We simply have no information to go on, other than we existed before mortality. Hence, we lived past lives.

Nevertheless, the Bible does contain information, other than those verses previously referred to, that support the idea of our having lived before we were born into physical bodies. In fact, we can take it as far back as the beginning of the creation of the physical world.

“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars [i.e. daughters of God] sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7).

We can see from these verses that the sons and daughters of God were present at the laying of the foundations of the earth. We know this to be the physical creation because we, as part of the hosts of heaven and earth, were created before “every plant of the field . . . was in the earth and every herb of the field before it grew” (Genesis 2:5).

The interesting thing is: This celebration was at the laying of the cornerstone of the earth when “the [daughters of God] sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy”.

Webster defines a cornerstone as “a stone laid in the corner of a building, especially at a ceremony for beginning a building” (Webster’s NewWorld Dictionary, Second Concise Edition, 1982).

It would be easy enough to apply that definition to the earth as it was being created. And in honor of the laying of earth’s cornerstone, whatever that may have been, all the sons and daughters of God were gathered together for this special occasion and all were thrilled at what was happening. That must have been quite a crowd.