This is an aptly titled book. Matlock is a research fellow at the Parapsychology Foundation of New York, and his thesis is that reincarnation actually occurs and is not just a fantasy. In the introduction the author writes that "because beliefs about reincarnation provide the backdrop against which the evidence appears, [he] gives some attention to beliefs but ... focuses on the interaction between belief and experience rather than on beliefs as strictly intellectual data.” He goes on to define reincarnation and address its challenge to materialism; summarize signs, beliefs, and customs in animistic cultures; and provide a brief history of belief in rebirth and karma (the effect one’s beliefs and actions have on future lives). In the remaining chapters he discusses his research methods and studies principal signs of reincarnation, secondary signs, and recollections of past lives. The final chapter describes the process of reincarnation. Matlock’s thesis is impossible to prove, but so are other views of the afterlife, for example biblical views of heaven and hell.
Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.
— Choice
An excellent introduction to the important but little-known body of evidence for human rebirth. James Matlock relentlessly and properly confronts traditional beliefs, the behavior of would-be critics, and recent attempts to provide conceptual frameworks accommodating rebirth data. A major contribution!
— Edward F. Kelly, Ph.D., professor of perceptual studies, University of Virginia, coeditor of Beyond Physicalism: Toward Reconciliation of Science and Spirituality
Matlock writes a compelling history and analysis of the data supporting cases suggestive of reincarnation. As a neuroscientist, I believe that the data from many cases reported by Matlock and others concerning memories of past lives, cannot be easily explained by any other alternative hypothesis.
— Marjorie Woollacott, Ph.D., emeritus professor of neuroscience, University of Oregon, author of Infinite Awareness: The Awakening of a Scientific Mind
Matlock has written the first comprehensive exploration of reincarnation across cultures. Signs of Reincarnation should be read by anyone seriously interested in the many facets of reincarnation.
— Robert Rosenberg, Ph.D., historian of science and technology, former editor, Thomas Edison Papers at Rutgers University
Matlock’s work, particularly his processual soul theory, deserves to be carefully considered by all hard scientists, psychologists, anthropologists, and philosophers, especially in the context of our materialistic world and our understanding of science.
— Antonia Mills, Ph.D., professor emerita, First Nations Studies University of Northern British Columbia Canada.
In this cogently reasoned, appropriately critical, and extremely well sourced book, Matlock makes a strong case for the reincarnation hypothesis, largely by demonstrating that it accounts for the full range of data and case reports better than the paranormal and conventional alternatives. A must read for anyone with a scholarly interest in post-mortem survival and an open mind.
— John Palmer, Ph.D., former research director, Rhine Research Center, former editor, Journal of Parapsychology