Two very entertaining movies were “Here Comes Mister Jordan’ and “Heaven can Wait.” I enjoyed both of them. Basic plots were identical. Joe Pendelton is an athlete whose soul is collected by an inept angel 50 years or so before he was supposed to die. His body has been cremated, so he cannot be returned to it. He is given two other bodies to allow him to live out the rest of his life. The owner of the first body objected to Joe using it. He is given a second body which will be his for the remainder of his life: No objection from former owner. As mentioned above, I enjoyed both movies & would recommend either, especially the second with Warren Beatty as Joe Pendelton. My question relates to the final denouement. Joe is told that he will live out the rest of his days (approximately 50 years) in the second body, but will have no memory of himself as Joe Pendelton. His memories of the first 25-30 years of his life will be those of the original owner of the body (now in Heaven). As I view this story, Joe Pendelton no longer exists. This story reminds me of the concept of reincarnation. A person is claimed to be the reincarnation of some long dead individual, but has no memory of his former life. In what sense, if any, does the original (now dead) person exist?
Reincarnation assumes a soul which is the person. The body is only a house/vehicle for the person to experience this type or phase of life. Memories of "former lives" aren't gone from the soul, they're repressed from the awareness until the soul departs the current body. There is supposedly some divine purpose(s) for living these "lives" here which would be in vain without those memories repressed.
