Reincarnation and the Bible
From: jagbir singh
<www.adishakti.org@gmail.com>
Date: Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:44 am
Subject: Reincarnation and the Bible
Reincarnation and the Bible |
In
many documented near-death experiences involving Jesus, the
concept of reincarnation appears. In the NDE testimony of
Jeanie Dicus, she was asked by Jesus if she would like
to reincarnate or return.
Sandra Rogers was asked the same question by Jesus
during her NDE. One of the reasons many Christians reject
the validity of near-death testimony is because they
sometimes appear to conflict with their interpretation of
Christian doctrines. But Christians are usually very
surprised to learn that reincarnation was a doctrine once
held by many early Christians. Not only that, as you will
soon see there is overwhelming evidence in the Bible of
Jesus himself teaching it. More Biblical evidence can be
found in Herbert Puryear's outstanding book entitled
Why Jesus Taught Reincarnation and
Dr. Quincy Howe, Jr.'s
excellent book entitled
Reincarnation for the Christian.
Many Christians have
misconceptions about reincarnation. One particular
misconception is that it means people don't inhabit heavenly
realms between earth lives. The misconception is that people
reincarnate immediately after death. It ignorantly assumes
people will never be permanent residents of heavenly realms.
But near-death testimony reveals these misconceptions to be
just that - misconceptions. People are free to spend an
"eternity of eternities" in afterlife realms before
reincarnating to earth again. There is freedom of choice.
This is because
time, as we know it on Earth, does not exist in the
afterlife realms as it does here. The ultimate purpose
for reincarnation is for us to learn enough lessons and gain
enough experience from earth lives that reincarnation is no
longer necessary. Like a graduation. Reincarnation is not
the goal. Eternal life means never having to die anymore.
That is the goal - overcoming death and rebirth.
Reincarnation is the method and means to attain this goal.
For more information on this visit my
research conclusions on reincarnation.
A
good understanding of reincarnation begins by understanding
the ancient teachings on the subject and comparing them to
what we know about NDEs. The following are teachings of the
various ancient religions on reincarnation.
Resurrection and the
Persian Religion
For
thousands of years, Christians believed that when a person
dies their soul would sleep in the grave along with their
corpse. This soul sleep continues until a time in the future
known as the "last day" or also known as the "final
judgment." This doctrine concerns a time when Jesus
supposedly returns in the sky and clouds with the angels to
awakened sleeping souls in the graves. Then all corpses will
crawl out of their graves like in the movie "Night of the
Living Dead." This doctrine is the orthodox Christian
doctrine called "resurrection" and it is the result of a
misunderstanding of the higher teachings of Jesus concerning
the reincarnation of the spirit into a new body and the real
resurrection which is a spiritual rebirth or "awakening"
within a person already alive. The orthodox concept of
resurrection as the "Night of the Living Dead" is also the
result of a great schism which occurred in early Christian
history concerning pre-existence and the nature of Jesus.
Was he a man who became God? Was he God born as a man? The
struggle was between the Church established by Paul in Rome
and the remnants of the Jerusalem Church who fled to Egypt
after Rome invaded Israel in 70 AD. The Roman faction
rejected pre-existence and reincarnation and believed Jesus
was God become man. The Jerusalem faction knew Jesus was a
man who achieved the human-divine at-one-ment which is the
goal of everyone to escape reincarnation cycle of birth and
death and have eternal life. But Rome won the political
battle and orthodox resurrection became the "Night of the
Living Dead."
Many
Christians would be surprised to learn that the resurrection
of corpses did not originate with Christianity nor with
Judaism. It originated with the
Zoroastrian religion in ancient Persia (of Magi fame).
During the Babylonian exile of the Jews in Old Testament
times, the Jews were influenced by Zoroastrian concepts such
as the resurrection of corpses, a final day of judgment, the
dualism of good versus evil, the hierarchy of angels
including fallen angels, and the arch rival of God called
Satan. Over time, these Zoroastrian doctrines were
incorporated into the religious doctrines of Judaism. From
those days forward, a foreign concept of regeneration called
"resurrection" competed with the much older concept of
reincarnation and the concept of Sheol - concepts that can
be found in the Hebrew scriptures.
Reincarnation and the
Hebrew Religion
The
first-century Jewish historian
Flavius
Josephus wrote about the
Pharisees being believers in reincarnation. The
Pharisees were the Jewish sect which Paul belonged to before
his NDE and conversion to Christianity. Josephus wrote about
the Pharisees' belief that the souls of evil men are
punished after death. But the souls of good men are "removed
into other bodies"
and they will
have "power to revive and
live again."
From time
to time throughout Jewish history, there was a persistent
belief about dead prophets returning to life through
reincarnation.
But the
Sadducees, a purist sect of Judaism, rejected the
Persian concepts of resurrection and all Hellenistic
influences involving reincarnation that was happening in
Jesus' day. The Sadducees accepted only the orthodox Hebrew
belief in Sheol. So there were a variety of influences going
on in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus.
When Jesus began his
ministry, many people wondered if he was the reincarnation
of one of the prophets. Some people wondered the same thing
concerning John the Baptist. And even Jesus affirmed to his
disciples that John the Baptist was indeed the reincarnation
of the prophet Elijah. Throughout his ministry, Jesus taught
people about the true resurrection - a spiritual rebirth
within a living person. Thus, when Jesus stated that he was
the resurrection and the life, he was teaching them a
radical new principle. It was a rebirth of the spirit - not
into a new body - as when we are born from our mother's womb
- but a rebirth of our spirit within the body we now
inhabit. Jesus was distinguishing between what was already
believed in those days concerning the afterlife and a new
teaching concerning a spiritual change within us that can
lead to liberation. He was making a distinction between "the
resurrection of the body" (returning to life from physical
death) and "the resurrection of the spirit" (returning to
life from spiritual death). As you will soon see, this
confusion concerning Jesus teachings is documented in John 3
when Jesus had to explain to Nicodemus the difference
between physical rebirth and spiritual rebirth.
Reincarnation
and Early Christianity
The
first great Father of the early orthodox Church was
Origen (A.D. 185-254) who was the first person since
Paul to develop a system of theology around the teachings of
Jesus. Origen was an ardent defender of pre-existence and
reincarnation. Pre-existence is the religious concept of the
soul as not being created at birth; rather the soul existed
before birth in heaven or in a past life on earth. Origen
taught that pre-existence is found in Hebrew scriptures and
the teachings of Jesus.
Origen was a disciple of Clement of Alexandria who was a
disciple of the apostle Peter. Clement and Origen wrote
about receiving secret teachings of Jesus handed down from
the apostles. One of these secret teachings was the concept
of physical and spiritual rebirth. The existence of secret
teachings and mysteries from Jesus is recorded in the Bible.
Here are some of them:
|
He
replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the
kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to
them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have
an abundance." (Matt. 13:11-12) |
|
I
have become its servant by the commission God gave me
to present to you the word of God in its fullness -
the mystery that has been kept hidden
for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the
saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the
Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col.
1:25-27) |
|
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed. (1 Cor. 15:51)
|
The
doctrines of pre-existence and reincarnation existed as
secret teachings of Jesus until they were declared a heresy
by the Roman Church in 553 A.D. It was at this time that the
Roman Church aggressively destroyed competing teachings and
so-called heresies within the Church. Along with the
destruction of unorthodox teachings came the destruction of
Jews, Gnostics, and ultimately anyone who stood in the way
of the Inquisition and Crusades.
But
on December, 1945, writings containing many of these secrets
of early Christianity were unearthed in upper Egypt. This
area was one of the the main locations where Christians fled
to when the Romans invaded Israel. It was here that these
secrets were continued to be taught. Undisturbed since their
concealment almost two thousand years ago, these writings of
the secret teachings belonged to a early sect of Christians
called Gnostics and these writings ranked in importance with
the Dead Sea Scrolls which were discovered two years later.
These so-called secret teachings concerning life and death
are strikingly similar to what we know about near-death
experiences.
Reincarnation and the
Secret Teachings of Jesus
There
are many Bible verses that affirm the reality of
reincarnation. We will examine some of them here.
The
episode in the Bible where Jesus identified John the Baptist
as the reincarnation of Elijah the prophet is one of the
clearest statements which Jesus made concerning
reincarnation.
|
For all the prophets
and the law have prophesied until John. And if you are
willing to receive it, he is Elijah who was to come.
(Matt. 11:13-14) |
In
the above passage, Jesus clearly identifies John the Baptist
as the reincarnation of Elijah the prophet. Later in
Matthew's gospel Jesus reiterates it.
|
And
the disciples asked him, saying, "Why then do the
scribes say that Elijah must come first?" |
|
But
he answered them and said, "Elijah indeed is to come
and will restore all things. But I say to you that
Elijah has come already, and they did not know
him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also
shall the Son of Man suffer at their hand." |
|
Then the disciples
understood that he had spoken of John the Baptist."
(Matt. 17:10-13) |
In
very explicit language, Jesus identified John the Baptist as
the reincarnation of Elijah. Even the disciples of Jesus
understood what Jesus was saying. This identification of
John to be the reincarnation of Elijah is very important
when it comes to Bible prophecy. By identifying the John
with Elijah, Jesus identified himself as the Messiah. The
Hebrew scriptures mentions specific signs that would precede
the coming of the Messiah. One of them is that Elijah will
return first.
|
Behold I will send you
Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord. (Mal. 4:5) |
This
is one of the major Messianic promises from God that is
found in the Bible. And these John is Elijah references
clearly demonstrate the reality of reincarnation. So there
are two important conclusions we can draw from this:
|
(1)
|
The Hebrew
scriptures prophesied that Elijah himself - not
someone like him or someone in the
same ministry as him but Elijah himself -
would return before the advent of the Messiah. |
|
|
(2)
|
Jesus declared
John to be Elijah when he stated that Elijah
has come. |
|
|
Based on these
conclusions alone, either (A) or (B)
must be true: |
|
(A)
|
John was Elijah
himself which means that Elijah reincarnated as
John the Baptist. And if this is true then
reincarnation must belong once again in
Christian theology. It also means that the
concept of corpses crawling out of graves on
Judgment Day can be discarded. OR... |
|
|
(B)
|
John
was not Elijah reincarnated which means that
Elijah himself did not return. And if this is
true then either
(1)
or
(2)
listed
below is true: |
|
|
(1)
|
Malachi's
prophecy concerning Elijah's return to life
before the coming of the Messiah failed to
happen. This would mean that God does not keep
his promise and that the Bible is fallible.
OR... |
|
|
(2) |
Jesus was not the
Messiah. |
|
|
Based on all
the logic presented thus far, only one of the
following conclusions is true: |
|
|
I. |
Reincarnation is
a reality OR... |
|
|
II. |
Jesus was not the
Messiah OR... |
|
|
III. |
Bible prophecies
are not reliable. |
|
There
is no way around this logic. Only one of the above options
can be true. And because Jesus' declaration that John is
Elijah is overt and direct, then the only option that can be
logically true is (A).
After
the beheading of John, Jesus took a few of his disciples to
the top of a mountain and transfigured into a Being of
Light. On the mountain with them as Elijah and Moses.
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with
him and led them up a high mountain, where they were
all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His
clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in
the world could bleach them. And there appeared before
them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus ... |
|
As
they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them
orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the
Son of Man had risen from the dead. |
|
They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising
from the dead" meant. |
|
And
they asked him, "Why do the teachers of the law say
that Elijah must come first?" |
|
Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first,
and restores all things." |
|
"Why then is it written that the Son of Man must
suffer much and be rejected?" |
|
"But I tell you,
Elijah has come, and they have done to him
everything they wished, just as it is written about
him." (Mark 9:9-13) |
The
passage above describes the disciples seeing the spirit of
Elijah and wondering again about Elijah's role. Jesus again
identifies John to be the reincarnation of Elijah.
The
description of Jesus shining with light as the sun and
clothes as white as the light is remarkably similar to
descriptions of Jesus in many near-death accounts. This
transfiguration of Jesus event in the Bible is just one of
many events in the Bible that corresponds with near-death
experiences.
Another point to make is
that the appearance of Elijah and Moses in spirit with Jesus
refutes the concept of people sleeping in graves until the
last day. In other words, it refutes the concept of
resurrection.
Skeptics of reincarnation like to quote the following Bible
verse in an effort to refute Jesus' clear teaching of the
reincarnation of Elijah as John the Baptist.
And he [John the
Baptist] will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and
power of Elijah. (Luke 1:17) |
Skeptics claim that the above Bible verse affirms John to be
merely a prophet who performed the same ministry as
Elijah - not that John was actually the reincarnation of
Elijah. But this is not what the verse actually says. In
fact, the verse gives a perfect definition of reincarnation:
the return of a person's spirit and power into
another body. It is the spirit and power that reincarnates.
Therefore this verse clearly states that John the Baptist
had the spirit and power of Elijah. And this is exactly what
reincarnation means. It does not get much clearer than this.
Although John carried the living spirit of Elijah he did not
carry his conscious mind and memory. Reincarnation involves
only the higher consciousness of the spirit. Because John
did not have the conscious mind and past-life memories of
Elijah, John denied being Elijah. With very few exceptions,
nobody has a conscious memory of past lives. The following
is the Bible passage that shows John denying that he is
Elijah.
They asked him, "Then
who are you? Are you Elijah?" |
|
He
said, "I am not." |
|
"Are you the Prophet?" |
|
He
answered, "No." |
|
Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to
take back to those who sent us. What do you say about
yourself?" |
|
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am
the voice of one calling in the desert, "Make straight
the way for the Lord."" |
|
Now
some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, "Why
then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor
Elijah, nor the Prophet?" |
|
"I baptize with water,"
John replied, "but
among you stands one you do not know. He is the one
who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am
not worthy to untie." (John 1:21-27) |
Notice that the Pharisees
questioning John were expecting the reincarnation of an Old
Testament prophet. And John did not refute the concept of
reincarnation when he stated his ignorance about having a
past life as Elijah. But Jesus was not ignorant about John.
Jesus knew better and said so in the plainest words
possible:
This is the one ... there has not risen anyone greater
than John the Baptist....And if you are willing to
accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who
has ears, let him hear. (Matt. 11:11-15) |
Jesus revealed John to be
Elijah; but John denied it. Which of the two people are
right - Jesus or John? The answer should be very clear.
John's denial of his own past identity as Elijah does not
mean he did not have a past life as Elijah. This is
especially true when Jesus claimed that John was indeed
Elijah.
The following is another
Bible passage which describes other people who believed John
to be Elijah or some other prophet:
Now
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on.
And he was perplexed, because some were saying that
John had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah
had appeared, and still others that one of the
prophets of long ago had come back to life.
(Luke 9:7-8) |
Perhaps it was the
appearance of Elijah at the Mount of Transfiguration that
led some to believe that John was still alive even after he
was killed by Herod. This would also explain the rumor going
around then that Elijah was raised from the dead.
Even when we compare the
physical description of John with Elijah we find a striking
similarity.
John the Baptist:
John's clothes were made of
camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his
waist. (Matt. 3:4) |
|
Elijah the
prophet: He was a man with
a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his
waist. (2 Kings 1:8) |
The similarity between
John and Elijah should not be dismissed as a coincidence.
Believers of the concept of reincarnation know that
personality traits can be passed on from one life to the
next - even though conscious memories are not passed along.
Another interesting parallel between John and Elijah has to
do with karma. The Bible describes how Elijah had the
priests of Baal killed with the sword because their
sacrifice failed to catch fire whereas his did. Here are the
two Bible verses that describe it:
"Then Elijah commanded
them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone
get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them
brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered
there." (1 Kings 18:40) |
|
"Now Ahab told Jezebel
everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all
the prophets with the sword." (1 Kings 19:1) |
Having all the priests of Baal beheaded seems like an
incredible injustice on Elijah's part. This may explain why
Elijah had to pay the karmic debt for this injustice by
reincarnating as John the Baptist and having his own head
cut off:
"Prompted by her
mother, she said, "Give me here on a platter the head
of John the Baptist." The king was distressed, but
because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered
that her request be granted and had John beheaded in
the prison." (Matt. 14:6-10) |
Because Elijah had people beheaded, the law of "eye for an
eye" and "reaping what we sow" demanded that Elijah be
beheaded. This is a good example of how those who live by
the sword will die by the sword - if not in the same
lifetime then in another.
The
Bible does not limit the reincarnation of Elijah to John the
Baptist either. The Bible suggests that another
reincarnation of Elijah will occur around the time of Jesus'
second coming. And not only does Elijah appear again at this
time, but Moses is reincarnated as well. In the same way
that John and Elijah appeared together on the Mount of
Transfiguration so will they appear together at Jesus'
return. Here is the Bible passage:
And
I will give power to my two witnesses, and they
will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.
These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands
that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone
tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and
devours their enemies. |
|
This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. |
|
These men have power to shut up the sky so that it
will not rain during the time they are prophesying;
and they have power to turn the waters into blood and
to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often
as they want. (Rev. 11:3-6) |
While this verse does not
specifically identify these two witnesses as Elijah and
Moses, the miraculous powers they perform suggests it is
them. Just like the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation,
Elijah had the power to prevent rain from occurring (1 Kings
17:1; Jam. 5:17) and Moses is shown having the power to turn
water into blood and to bring plagues (Exod. 7-12). The
Bible passage in Revelation describes two prophets who have
these identical powers as Elijah and Moses. Is this a mere
coincidence? You be the judge. But if Elijah and Moses are
to appear again at the second coming of Jesus then the only
realistic way for this to occur is through reincarnation.
With the appearance of
Elijah and Moses at the first coming of Jesus, it is not a
stretch to believe that Elijah and Moses will appear again
at the second coming of Jesus. Also, the Malachi prophecy
may actually be a reference to both of these incarnations of
Elijah.
Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
(Mal. 4:5) |
There
are two comings of Jesus to the world and it would be
logical to assume that God will send Elijah at the second
coming as he did at the first coming.
During his first coming, the Bible records people
wondering if Jesus was
the resurrection of John the Baptist or a reincarnation of
Elijah or some Old Testament prophet. Here is the verse:
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he
asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man
is?" |
|
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say
Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the
prophets." (Matt. 16:13-14) |
First of all, in the
above Bible passage Jesus actually asks his disciples the
identity of the person he was in a past life. Notice that
the disciples knew exactly what Jesus was talking about and
their answer to Jesus referred to people who died a very
long time ago. Notice also that there is no Bible passage
that shows Jesus refuting the concept of reincarnation
whenever the concept is brought up. Instead Jesus teaches
reincarnation.
The next Bible passage
shows Jesus telling his disciples that they don't know the
spirit they possess. This is an important statement coming
from the lips of Christ concerning one particular fact
concerning reincarnation. People did not have a conscious
awareness of the spirit they possess from a past life.
Because of this people do not know who their spirit
previously incarnated. The following passage demonstrates
this:
And
when his disciples James and John saw this, they said,
"Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down
from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?" |
|
But
he turned, and rebuked them, and said, "Ye know not
what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of
man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save
them." |
|
And
they went to another village. (Luke 9:54-56, KJV) |
The above passage shows
the disciples asking Jesus if they should call down fire
upon a city just as Elijah did. Jesus responded by telling
them that they don't know what spirit they have to be able
to accomplish this. The spirit of Elijah can call down fire
but this does not mean the disciples can.
[Note:
In the original text, the phrase "manner of" was not part of
the above Bible verse nor in the Vulgate version. The phrase
"manner of" was added at the time that the Bible was being
translated into English. Without the words "manner of" in
the verse it would be even more a clear reference to
reincarnation. It would show Jesus telling his disciples
that they "don't know what spirit they are of." However, in
modern translations of the Bible this mistranslation is
corrected.]
The
Pre-Existence of the Soul
As previously mentioned,
pre-existence is the doctrine that a person's soul (and
spirit) existed before they were conceived. This also means
that all the Bible verses referring to reincarnation also
refer to pre-existence. The pre-existence of the soul
naturally assumes that reincarnation is a reality. Both
reincarnation and pre-existence were concepts that were
common knowledge in Jesus' day. And although the Jewish
doctrine of reincarnation and the Persian doctrine of
resurrection was common knowledge in those days, Jesus
taught a more exalted form of resurrection - a spiritual
rebirth (awakening) within the body by the Spirit of God.
This
teaching of Jesus was one of his higher teachings which he
passed on only to his closest disciples. But it was
frequently misunderstood by the public - especially in later
centuries when the Church of Rome yielded more political
power. This new form of "resurrection" is a mystical union
and at-one-ment of the human body and spirit with the divine
Spirit of God. In fact, this mystical teaching of uniting
the human with the divine is a very ancient teaching that
has been around for thousands of years before Jesus but has
existed primarily in the East. Jesus referred to this
mystical process as becoming "born again of the Spirit." It
is the liberation of the spirit from the cycle of birth and
death. And it means eternal citizenship in heaven never to
experience death again. To be "born again of water" is a
reference to reincarnation (the resurrection of the spirit
into a new body).
The p re-existence
of the soul was a secret teaching held by early Christians
until it was
condemned by the Roman Church in 553 A.D., perhaps
because it implied reincarnation spirit. The following Bible
verses describes the pre-existence of souls.
He chose us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blemish in his sight and love.
(Eph. 1:4) |
The
above Bible verse states how God knew his chosen people
before the world was created. This implies that these chosen
people existed before before the world began. Someone may
object to this interpretation by stating that these chosen
people existed only as a thought in the Mind of God. But
even if these chosen people existed only as a thought in the
Mind of God it does not negate pre-existence. After all,
there may be no difference between being a thought in the
Mind of God and pre-existing as a soul. They are probably
the same thing.
Another Bible passage that supports pre-existence can be
found
in the Book of Jeremiah.
The author of this book uses the metaphor of a potter (God)
and clay (flesh) to describe how God creates, destroys and
recreates (reincarnation) better pots (people). This
perfection process that humans undergo is an excellent
description pre-existence and reincarnation. The purpose for
reincarnation is instruction and perfection. The following
is the passage in Jeremiah:
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: |
|
Go
down to the potter's house, and there I will give you
my message. |
|
So
I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him
working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from
the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed
it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. |
|
Then the word of the Lord came to me: |
|
"O
house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter
does?" declares the Lord." (Jer. 18:1-6)
|
For those skeptics who
doubt this interpretation refers to reincarnation, Paul uses
this same metaphor to describe how God is like a potter who
can prefer one pot of clay over another - even before they
were created:
Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I
hated." |
|
What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For
he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have
compassion." |
|
It
does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort,
but on God's mercy. |
|
For
the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for
this very purpose, that I might display my power in
you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the
earth." |
|
Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have
mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. |
|
One
of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame
us? For who resists his will?" |
|
But
who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is
formed say to him who formed it, "Why did you make me
like this?'" |
|
Does not the potter have the right to make out of the
same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and
some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his
wrath and make his power known, bore with great
patience the objects of his wrath - prepared for
destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of
his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he
prepared in advance for glory. (Rom. 9:13-24) |
By comparing the
sovereignty of God over humans with the sovereignty that a
potter has with clay, Paul is affirming the pre-existence of
Jacob and Esau. The central point Paul is making is that God
created Esau as an object of wrath because of his so-called
hatred for him before he was even born. This is also a good
analogy when it is applied to the divine justice of God. God
hated Esau because of a past incarnation that displeased God
which would explain why God had him reincarnated as an
object of wrath. The reverse of this is the case of Jacob.
Because he led a previous life that pleased God he was
reincarnated as an object of his mercy. Therefore this
metaphor is rich with hidden knowledge concerning divine
justice, the sovereignty of God, pre-existence,
reincarnation, predestination and election. The following is
another Bible verse supporting pre-existence.
"I
tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham
was born, I am!" (John 8:58) |
The
above Bible verse shows Jesus telling his critics that he
existed before Abraham was even born. This would be an
impossibility unless Jesus pre-existed before he was born.
And because Jesus had a human nature along with a divine
nature, it does not take a leap of faith to believe that all
humans pre-existed. The fact that Jesus taught reincarnation
is reason enough to assume that all humans pre-existed.
But
if a person assumes that pre-existence and reincarnation are
false doctrines then they must explain why there is such an
incredible amount of inequities and injustices in life. We
can see all over the world how some people are born into
rich families with excellent health, provided the best
education, live in palatial estates, and many other
favorable conditions. On the other hand, some people are
born in extreme poverty, with severe handicaps, uneducated,
destitute, and many other unfavorable conditions. Without
pre-existence and reincarnation this apparent inequity and
injustice between people might make a person conclude that
God is extremely unjust. Without pre-existence and
reincarnation how are we to explain this? This very question
was asked of Jesus by his disciples in the Bible passage
below:
And as he was passing
by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples
asked him, "Rabbi, who has sinned, this man or his
parents, that he should be born blind?" |
|
Jesus answered,
"Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents, but the
works of God were to be made manifest in him.'"
(John 9:1-3) |
The
disciples asked Jesus if the man committed a sin that caused
him to be born blind. Given the fact that the man was blind
since birth, this is an unusual question to ask unless
pre-existence and reincarnation were a fact. How can a man
sin before he is even born? The only conceivable answer to
this question is a sin that was committed in a past life.
And although Jesus stated that the reason the man was born
blind was to manifest the works of God and not because of
sin, this does not logically imply that everyone who is born
in unfavorable circumstances are not born that way because
of sin from a past life; unless you believe that all people
who are born blind are born that way for the purpose of
manifesting the work of God. Just the fact that this blind
man and his circumstances are described in the Bible may be
what Jesus was referring to concerning his manifesting the
works of God.
When
this same blind man was brought before the Pharisees, they
rejected the blind man's testimony because they believed he
sinned before he was even born:
You
were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?
(John 9:34 NAS) |
This
shows that even the Pharisees believed is possible to sin
before you are born and this implies pre-existence and
reincarnation.
It
should also be pointed that Jesus did nothing to dispel or
correct the idea that the disciples (and the Pharisees)
believed in the possibility of sinning before being born.
And because Jesus did not correct the implication of
pre-existent sin, we can assume that pre-existence is
certainly a possibility.
The
following Bible verse also supports pre-existence.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my
mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5) |
Unless pre-existence and
reincarnation are true, the above Bible verse is completely
absurd.
Reincarnation and Divine
Justice
According to the Bible, divine justice demands that sinners
pay for their own sins. Jesus taught this when he declared:
All who take the sword
will perish by the sword. (Matt. 26:52) |
|
If
any one slays with the sword, with the sword must he
be slain. (Rev. 13:10) |
Common sense should tell
us that everyone who lives by the sword (a life of crime for
example) do not always die by the sword. A vast multitude of
people throughout history have gotten away with their
crimes. In fact, this is another apparent injustice that
some people even use to deny the very existence of God. This
statement from Jesus is completely absurd and ignorant
unless reincarnation is true. For the divine justice that
Jesus refers to as being true, people who don't pay for
their sins in their life must pay for them in a future life.
This fact also applies to the man born blind.
Jesus also taught this
law of divine justice in his parables:
In
anger his master turned him over to the jailers until
he should pay back all he owed. This is how my
heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you
forgive your brother from your heart. (Matt. 18:
34-35) |
This law of divine
justice was also taught by Paul:
Do
not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A person reaps
what he sows. (Gal. 6:7) |
This is the law of divine
justice is also found in the Old Testament:
Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for
hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound,
bruise for bruise. (Exod. 21:24-25) |
This law of divine
justice is practically a universal religious concept. In
eastern religions, this law of divine justice is known as
karma.
This law of divine justice is equal to the concept of
reincarnation. This law of living by the sword and dying by
the sword is the principle of reincarnation. In other words,
this law of divine justice is the law of reincarnation.
Only reincarnation can
satisfy the divine justice of reaping what we sow, an eye
for an eye, live by the sword and die by the sword. This
universal law of God explains why some people are born under
favorable conditions and others are born under unfavorable
conditions. It is the very mechanics of birth and rebirth.
Reincarnation is the missing link - the long lost doctrine -
the key to understanding the secret and mystical teachings
of Jesus.
This law of God is the
key to the following parable of Jesus:
Again, it [the kingdom of heaven] will be like a man
going on a journey, who called his servants and
entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five
talents of money, to another two talents, and to
another one talent, each according to his ability.
(Matt. 25:14-15) |
This idea that God gives
people varying amounts of abilities at birth - each
according to his ability - is the heart of reincarnation and
the law of divine justice. The great Church Father Origen
used this very parable to teach pre-existence and
reincarnation.
The
soul has neither beginning nor end... [They] come into
this world strengthened by the victories or weakened
by the defeats of their previous lives. (Origen, De
Principiis) |
When Origen used the
parable of the talents to refer to reincarnation and
pre-existence he was not introducing some foreign religious
concept into the Christian religion. He was merely
expressing what is described throughout the Bible and
believed by early Christians to be one of the secret
teachings of Jesus.
Some early Christian
sects not only believed that Jesus paid the debt of divine
justice for Adam's original sin, they also believed that
Adam was one of many reincarnations of Jesus. These early
Christian sects were called the
Ebionites, the
Elkasaites and the
Nazarites. Even
the concept of Jesus paying the debt from Adam's sin makes
more sense if reincarnation is assumed to be true.
This law of divine
justice is so universal that it even applies to science. It
is Isaac Newton's law of cause and effect. It is also known
as a law in physics: For every action there is an equal and
opposing reaction and what goes up must come down. In fact,
this law of divine justice is the very law of nature.
Breaking the law of divine justice is very similar to
breaking the law of gravity. The result is impersonal. Both
are a transgression of the law of nature. Because of this we
cannot blame God for the apparent injustices that happen to
us. Like the law of gravity, if we go against this law of
divine justice it is completely our fault and due to our
ignorance of divine justice.
The Dead Inherit the
Earth
The following Bible
passage is a promise that Jesus makes to those who have
forsaken everything to follow him:
No
one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother
or father or wife or children or land for me and the
gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in
this present age - homes, brothers, sisters, mothers,
children and fields ... and in the age to come,
eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30) |
Without reincarnation and
pre-existence, this promise of Jesus is completely ludicrous
because it would be impossible to happen. For example, it
would mean that those who leave their parents for the sake
of Christ will receive even more parents in the age to come.
And those who leave their children for the sake of Christ
will receive even more children in the age to come. It is
evident that this promise by Jesus intends to be fulfilled
in a future life on earth.
In the
Sermon on
the Mount Jesus taught the following principle:
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
(Matt. 5:5) |
This principle begs the
question: When will the meek inherit the earth? For millions
of years it has been the aggressive and the strong who have
ruled the earth. In this world the law of evolution (another
principle of reincarnation) applies and only the fittest and
aggressive survive - certainly not those who are meek. This
promise that the meek will inherit the earth can only be
fulfilled in future reincarnation. It means the meek will
eventually rule the world when they reincarnate into meek
rulers of the world - a promise that can only be fulfilled
at another time.
The Disciples Returning
to Witness Jesus' Next Incarnation
In the Book of Revelation
there is a verse that only makes sense if reincarnation is a
fact:
Look he is coming with
the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who
pierced him. (Rev. 1:7) |
The
above Bible verse reveals an astonishing fact about the
second coming of Jesus. The people who killed Jesus will be
alive and living on earth when Jesus returns. Given the fact
that the people who killed Jesus have been dead for
thousands of years, the only possible way that this prophecy
can be fulfilled is through the killers reincarnating before
Jesus returns.
Jesus
gave another prophecy about the second coming that can be
fulfilled only if reincarnation is a fact. The prophecy
concerns those people who were present when Jesus gave this
prophecy and refers to the signs heralding the return of
Jesus.
I tell you the truth,
this generation will certainly not pass away
until all these things have happened. (Matt. 24:34) |
Jesus
told the followers around him that they would be alive on
earth when all the signs of the times have been fulfilled.
Without reincarnation this prophecy would be a false
prophecy. In fact, this prophecy was responsible for some
followers of Jesus to believe that the second coming would
occur in their lifetime or that it had already happened. The
historical evidence shows how disappointing it was for some
of people when the apostles died off and the hopes for an
imminent return of Christ was dashed. Paul addresses this
concern that some people had for their deceased loved ones
in his epistle to Thessalonians:
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about
those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the
rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus
died and rose again and so we believe that God will
bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that
we who are still alive, who are left till the
coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede
those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself
will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call
of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with
the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with
these words. (1 Thess. 4:13-5:11) |
Despite Paul's reassuring words in this matter, these words
concern bodily resurrection which is highly problematic. As
mentioned earlier, the concept of bodily resurrection was
not an orthodox Jewish doctrine. It was a doctrine that
Hellenized (Greek influenced) Jews held. Paul was a
Hellenized Pharisee converted to Christianity and rejected
the Judaism which Jesus and the Jerusalem Church belonged
to. The Pharisees and Jesus were both believers and teachers
of reincarnation. So Paul renounced his Judaism, the law,
and reincarnation and began teaching the Gentiles the alien
doctrine of bodily resurrection perhaps out of a
misunderstanding of Christ's resurrection. It is evident
from scripture that Paul refused to come under the authority
of the Church in Jerusalem. And this brought him into
conflict with them. Pauline Christianity became Christianity
minus the Judaism of Jesus and plus the Hellenization that
ultimately led to the great historical schism within
Christianity between Pauline Christianity established in
Rome and Jerusalem Christianity established by Jesus and the
twelve. The foreign influences which Paul introduced into
the teachings of Jesus is so massive that it is said by
scholars that Paul hijacked Christianity from the apostles
of Jesus. However, to give Paul the credit due him, I have
doubts he ever intended his letters become "God's Word" and
the Christian religion to be based on him.
Paul's Hellenistic bias and influence was certainly the
result of being born and raised in Tarsus - one of the major
centers of Hellenistic philosophy in Asia minor. It is more
than likely that Paul was taught bodily resurrection there.
Paul wrote in Greek and quoted the Septuagint (the Greek
form of the Scriptures) rather than communicating in Hebrew
- the language of Jews in Jerusalem. Hellenistic philosophy
was more fitting to Roman culture than to Jerusalem Judaism.
As Rome began to exert more and more power, Paul's pagan
version of Christianity fostered in Rome and became
victorious over the Christianity established by Peter. The
schism between Paul's paganized version of Christianity and
Peter's Jewish Christianity meant that only one version
could be victorious. As Rome completely destroyed Jewish
culture in Israel in 70 AD, it was clear which version of
Christianity was left standing. Jewish Christians in
Jerusalem clearly resented the victory of Roman influence
over Judaism. They believed that Rome's victory was achieved
at the expense of assimilating the teachings of Jesus with
the Hellenistic philosophy and culture of Rome.
The Bible describes the disputes between Paul
and the Jerusalem church. Peter and James did not want Paul
to separate Judaism from the teachings of Jesus. They did
not believe that Jesus rejected Judaism and the law of Moses
as Paul did. It is a wonder of wonders why Paul chose not to
invest his time to learn from those who knew Jesus, lived
with Jesus, and were taught by Jesus. Instead, Paul believed
that his vision of Jesus was superior to theirs, proclaimed
himself an apostle, created his own version of Christianity,
and chose to dispute with the church established by Jesus.
Even worse than Paul's rejection of Christian
Judaism is the tremendous influence of his anti-Semitism
expressed in his epistles had on western civilization.
Atrocities such as the Inquisition, the Crusades, the
Holocaust, and the history of anti-Semitism in the west can
all be lain at the feet of Paul. Paul's anti-Semitism
clearly must offend the King of the Jews.
Paul's epistles also bears witness to his
severe hostility toward Christian Gnosticism. Despite this
fact, there is
compelling historical evidence that particular teachings
of Christian Gnosticism, such as reincarnation, was a part
of the secret teachings that Jesus taught only to his
closest disciples. Also the historical fact that Origen had
Christian Gnostic ties and was a believer in pre-existence
and reincarnation demonstrates that reincarnation was a part
of the early church's teachings in Jerusalem. Origen was the
most influential Christian theologian since Paul. The
historical evidence shows that the early Jerusalem church
did not view bodily resurrection as part of the scheme of
redemption. Again, bodily resurrection was a foreign
doctrine to traditional Judaism and Christian Judaism.
Reincarnation was the doctrine held by the Pharisees.
Reincarnation was the doctrine taught by Jesus and the early
church in Jerusalem. Reincarnation is a doctrine of orthodox
Judaism even to this day. Reincarnation should be the
doctrine of every Christian. Perhaps there is a divine
reason for the recent discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls
and the writings of the early Jerusalem Christians
discovered in upper Egypt - both of which proclaim
reincarnation, not bodily resurrection, to be the real faith
of Israel.
So
now we can give these definitions:
Resuscitation |
= |
The restoration of
life to a physically dead body |
Resurrection |
= |
The giving of
spiritual life to a spiritually dead but physically
alive person |
Reincarnation |
= |
The physical
rebirth of the spirit of a dead person into the body
of a fetus |
As previously mentioned,
reincarnation was an established belief in the days of
Jesus. The Persian concept of resurrection, while held by
some Jews, was considered a foreign doctrine to the
Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. When Jesus began
resurrecting people from the dead (as modern physicians do
today) this created quite a stir in Israel as the gospels
testify. This becomes evident during an event in the gospels
when Jesus performed one of his greatest miracle - the
bodily resurrection of Lazarus. Here is the passage:
"Jesus
said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
Martha
answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at
the last day."
Jesus
said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever
lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe
this?'" (John 11:23-26)
In this passage, Jesus
told Martha that Lazarus will "rise again" - a reference to
the rebirth of the spirit in a new body (i.e.,
reincarnation). Martha then expressed the confusion in those
days of believing that "rising again at the last day" refers
to corpses crawling out of graves on Judgment Day. Jesus
corrected her by revealing to her the real meaning of
"resurrection" - that it doesn't involve the dead, but
rather the living. By stating, "I am the resurrection and
the life" Jesus was telling her that he is the living
example of the true resurrection which is of the spirit -
not the body. He was teaching them that they don't have to
wait until after death or until "Judgment Day" to have this
new life. To emphasize his point, he raised Lazarus from
bodily death.
Throughout the gospels,
Jesus teaches about the spiritual resurrection of the living
and the spiritual reincarnation of the dead. In Luke
20:27-38, the Sadducees, who did not believe in either one,
tested Jesus by posing a hypothetical which they believed
disproved the concept of an afterlife. Jesus answered their
hypothetical by refuting their assumption that resurrection
meant "soul sleep" until Judgment Day. He did this by
telling them about the resurrection of the spirit of the
living. The passage is as follows:
"Some of
the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to
Jesus with a question.
"Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's
brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must
marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there
were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died
childless. The second and then the third married her, and in
the same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally,
the woman died too. Now then, at the resurrection whose wife
will she be, since the seven were married to her?"
Jesus
replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in
marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part
in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will
neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no
longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's
children, since they are children of the resurrection.
But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the
dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God
of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."
(Luke 20:27-38)
The Sadducees wanted to
know which brother would be married to the woman when their
corpses are resurrected at the Last Judgment. The Sadducees
argument assumes the Persian form of resurrection. Jesus
corrected them by telling them that bodily death means
becoming like the angels. In other words, they are alive -
not asleep or non-existent. Jesus' association of death with
becoming "like the angels" is a good way to refute the
Sadducees who didn't even believe in angels. Death means the
soul leaves the corpse and returns to heaven with the
possibility of returning.
Jesus also said, "They are God's children, since they are
children of the resurrection." This is a good description of
how the soul returns to heaven after death with the
possibility of reincarnating and becoming a child again.
Jesus then corrected the Sadducees' misunderstanding of the
afterlife by telling them that God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living. These words of Jesus are the key to
his teachings - that people do not have to wait until after
death or wait for a revival after death to attain liberation
from death. It can be attained in life. In fact, as we will
see later, it must be attained in life - this spiritual
renewal (or as I like to refer to it "bringing your higher
self (your spirit) into conscious awareness").
In the gospels, Jesus
expressed a special interest for children. Jesus' reference
to the "children of the resurrection" may be better
understood when comparing it with the following passage:
"And he
said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become
like little children, you will never enter the kingdom
of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this
child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever
welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.""
(Matt. 18:3-5)
"See that
you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell
you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my
Father in heaven.”(Matt. 18:10)
Jesus' teaching about
people becoming like children could be a reference to
reincarnation. As for children having "angels in heaven,"
this is a good metaphor for the souls of children in heaven
- an impossibility if bodily resurrection ("soul sleep") was
a fact.
When Jesus equates humans
with "the angels in heaven" he may have been expressing a
concept that was well-known in his day and which could be
found in Hebrew scriptures (i.e., the Book of Enoch). This
book describes the pre-existence of the human soul as an
angel that fell from heaven long ago. In the Old Testament,
Jacob had a dream of a heavenly "ladder" on the earth that
extended into heaven with angels ascending and descending on
it.
"And he
dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the
top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God
ascending and descending on it." (Gen. 28:12)
This vision of a
passageway from earth to heaven appears in many near-death
experiences and has been described as a tunnel, a cylinder,
a funnel, a tube, a vortex, and other descriptions. In
near-death experiences, it is the souls of humans that can
be seen ascending and descending through this passageway.
Here is an example:
"I
saw spirits going to and from the earth and the city [in the
heavens]. I could tell the development of the spirits going
to and from by the energy they emanated. I could see that
animals came to and from earth just like humans do. I could
see many spirits leave earth with guides and could see
spirits returning to earth without guides. The being told me
that some of the spirits passing were the ones that were
doing the work with humans on earth. I could make out the
type of spirits that were doing the work and the spirits
that were coming to the great city to become replenished to
eventually go back to earth to experience and further
evolve. I could feel the emotions of the ones coming back
for replenishment. I could feel that some of them were sad,
beaten and scared, much like I felt before my being came to
me." (David
Oakford)
In both Jacob's dream and
David Oakford's near-death experience, spirits can be seen
ascending up the ladder and then descending the ladder for
reincarnation. Because the traditional concept of
resurrection involves the soul sleeping until the time of
the end and not being active, the conclusion is that bodily
resurrection is false because it is refuted by the Book of
Enoch, Jacob's dream of a passageway where souls return and
leave heaven, the teachings of Jesus, and the multitude of
near-death experiences that prove the soul journeys to
heaven and returns to reincarnate.
This concept is even
found in the Book of Revelation. Jesus told the believers of
the Church of Philadelphia that when they overcome the world
they will never again have to leave heaven.
"He who
overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.
Never again will he leave it." (Rev. 3:12)
This is a clear statement
affirming the pre-existence of the soul and its
corresponding concept - reincarnation. The assumption here
is that people who do not overcome the world will have to
leave this heavenly temple and return to earth.
Believing in the concept
of bodily resurrection can be dangerous. One particular
well-known near-death experience revealed exactly how
dangerous it is to believe in "soul
sleep." The following is a portion from the account of
Dr. George Ritchie's near-death experience when he was given
a guided tour of the afterlife by Jesus:
"One of the places we observed seemed to be a receiving
station. Beings would arrive here oftentimes in a deep
hypnotic sleep. I call it hypnotic because I realized they
had put themselves in this state by their beliefs. Here were
what I would call angels working with them trying to arouse
them and help them realize God is truly a God of the living
and that they did not have to lie around sleeping until
Gabriel or someone came along blowing on a horn." (Dr.
George Ritchie)
The dangers of believing
in sleeping in graves until the resurrection is also
affirmed by others near-death experiencers:
"Things change little in the hereafter. Suppose we have the
fixed idea that we'll sleep till the resurrection of the
body. Then suppose there isn't a resurrection of the body.
We might sleep a very long time." (Arthur
Yensen)
"Those that died believing they would sleep until awakened
by Gabriel, reported a black darkness, a feeling of being
trapped and alone, stranded. What I've finally come to
realize is we truly and most literally create our own
realities. When we die, the reality we created is where we
will live and what we will become." (PMH
Atwater)
"If you
don't believe in God or an afterlife, you will probably be
kept in a sleep state for the first two to three day period.
You will wake up in a beautiful meadow or some other calm
and peaceful place where you can reconcile the transition
from the death state to the continuous life. You are given
teachings in the hope that you do not refuse to believe that
you are dead." (Betty
Bethards)
"He expects to find nothing when he passes through the door
called "death", and for a long time that is usually what he
finds - nothing. He is in a state like unto death for a
goodly while, until at last something arouses him." (Ruth
Montgomery)
Concerning
entering and leaving heaven, Jesus gave an interesting
insight when he rebuked the Pharisees for rejecting the
message of John the Baptist while the prostitutes and tax
collectors did not:
"Jesus
said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and
the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of
you. For John came to you to show you the way of
righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax
collectors and the prostitutes did."" (Matt. 21:32)
In this passage Jesus
described two different groups of people entering heaven at
different times. This statement is a clear refutation of the
resurrection of souls at the end of time. Resurrection
assumes that everyone will enter heaven at the same time.
Reincarnation assumes that everyone enters heaven at the
moment of death. For this reason, the only way for these tax
collectors and prostitutes can enter heaven before the
Pharisees is through the process of reincarnation.
Some Bible verses do
appear to suggest that corpses are resurrected at the end of
time. Here is one of them:
"And this
is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of
all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son
and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day .... No one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise
him up at the last day." (John 6:39-44)
By raising several people
from the dead and teaching the correct concept of
resurrection, Jesus demonstrated that there is no final
resurrection of corpses at the end of time. So when Jesus
referred to people being "raised up at the last day" he must
be using it in a spiritual sense rather than a literal
sense. For example, it is very common in near-death
experiences for Jesus to appear and help people rise to
heaven. The idea of a literal 24 hour time period when Jesus
will judge the dead can be refuted with the following Bible
verses:
"With the
Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years
are like a day." (2 Peter 3:8-9)
Using the above
definition, it is possible that we may already be living in
the "day of Judgment." Perhaps this is the correct
interpretation of the following passage:
"In the
time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I
helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now
is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2)
Whether the "day of
salvation" and the "day of judgment" and the "day of the
Lord" and the "end of days" and the "day of death" are all
references to the same day is anyone's guess. Nevertheless,
near-death experiences and early Christian and Buddhist
writings suggests that "Judgment Day" is the day of death.
The following passage refers to this time of judgment:
"For it
is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's
sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared
righteous ... This will take place on the day when God will
judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ." (Rom. 2:12-16)
Because many people in
the Bible were declared righteous during their life and did
not have to wait until the end of days, the conclusion is
that people don't have to wait until the end of days for
judgment.
"For in
the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a
righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as
it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." (Rom
1:17)
Also, the Bible describes
many instances where God judged entire nations. There are
also many instances in the Bible where people do not wait
until a Judgment Day to enter heaven. And finally, the fact
that multitudes of people who had a near-death experience
describes being judged by God after death is strong
testimony that "Judgment Day" when the dead are "raised" is
actually the day of death.
One of the most
controversial passages of scripture dealing with the
doctrine of reincarnation is the conversation that Jesus had
with Nicodemus, a Pharisee who believed in reincarnation (as
all Pharisees did in those days). The controversy, as it was
with Nicodemus, has to do with the metaphor "born again" and
what it means. Jesus uses the concept of rebirth to explain
both physical rebirth (reincarnation) and spiritual rebirth
(regeneration by the Holy Spirit). Jesus explains to
Nicodemus:
"I tell
you a truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is
born again." (John 3:3)
Jesus affirms that the
way to heaven is through spiritual regeneration by the Holy
Spirit. Although Nicodemus knew how people are reborn into
the world through reincarnation, he couldn't understand how
people are reborn into the kingdom of God through
reincarnation. This confusion becomes apparent with
Nicodemus' next statement:
"How can
a person be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a
second time into his mother's womb to be born!" (John
3:4)
Nicodemus was confused
about Jesus' use of the phrase "born again" when not used to
describe physical rebirth (i.e., reincarnation). As an
intelligent Pharisee, he was well aware that souls come from
a past life to be born as babies. But he couldn't understand
how a soul can get to heaven through physical rebirth.
Because of this, Jesus explained to him the difference
between physical rebirth and spiritual rebirth:
"I tell
you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he
is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." (John 3:5-6)
Jesus defined for
Nicodemus the difference between physical rebirth (i.e.,
bodily reincarnation, "born of water") as all babies are
born; and spiritual rebirth (i.e., spiritual resurrection,
"born of the Spirit" ). Jesus explains even further:
"You
should not be surprised at my saying, "You must be born
again." The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its
sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it
is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
(John 3:7-8)
Jesus stated that it is
not known where the spirit (represented by the metaphor of
the wind) came from when it comes to reincarnation. Jesus
then affirms that it is the same way with spiritual rebirth;
that is, nobody knows where the Holy Spirit comes from or
where it goes.
The Bible contains many
references to "resurrection" not as a physical event but as
a spiritual event. Here are some of them:
"This is
why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and
Christ will shine on you."" (Eph. 5:14)
Paul uses the concept of
resurrection to describe spiritual rebirth - not physical
rebirth.
"You were
taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off
your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful
desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and
to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness.”(Eph. 4:22-24)
Here, Paul is even more
explicit when using the concept of resurrection to describe
spiritual rebirth and not physical rebirth. The same is true
for the following verses:
"In the
same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in
Christ Jesus.”(Rom. 6:11)
"But
because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in
transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.”
(Eph. 2:4-5)
"In him
you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful
nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but
with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried
with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith
in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you
were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your
sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.”(Col.
2:11-13)
"We know
that we have passed from death to life, because we love our
brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.”(1
John 3:14)
"But
these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have
life in his name.”(John 20:31)
"Or don't
you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with
him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ
was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we
too may live a new life. If we have been united with him
like this in his death, we will certainly also be united
with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self
was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -
because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if
we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with
him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead,
he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life
he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves
dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”(Rom.
6:3-11)
The writers of the Bible
not only use bodily death as a metaphor for spiritual
rebirth, they also use bodily birth as a metaphor for
spiritual rebirth. Here are some examples:
"I tell
you a truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is
born again." (John 3:3)
"He chose
to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be
a kind of first fruits of all he created.”(James 1:18)
"Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his
great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ...”
(1 Peter 1:3)
"If you
know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does
what is right has been born of him.”(1 John 2:29)
"Everyone
who loves has been born of God and knows God." (1 John
4:7)
Concerning other Bible
verses that refer to reincarnation, the following passage is
a clear statement:
"All
these people were still living by faith when they died. They
did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and
welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they
were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such
things show that they are looking for a country of their
own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left,
they would have had opportunity to return. Instead,
they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he
has prepared a city for them." (Heb. 11:13-16)
The above passage
describes people who had an opportunity to return to earth
after death. This could only come about through
reincarnation. Continuing on:
"Women
received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were
tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain
a better resurrection." (Heb. 11:32-35)
The above passage
describes women receiving their dead through reincarnation
which is the only method this can happen. Bodily
resurrection can only happen through a miracle or at the end
of time on Judgment Day according to the Persian concept of
resurrection. But because this passage refers to an event in
the past, then this cannot be a reference to a future
"Judgment Day" when corpses crawl out of graves. The passage
also mentions people refusing to die so they can live longer
to do good works and obtain more favorable conditions in the
next life.
The verse below from the
Book of James is one of the clearest references to
reincarnation in the Bible:
"And the
tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is
the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on
fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by
hell." (James 3:6, ASV)
The phrase "wheel of
nature" is mistranslated in other versions of the Bible as
"the whole course of life." But James actually uses the
phrase "trochos tes geneseos" which had a special meaning in
those days. It literally means the "wheel of nature." By
using this phrase, James gave this statement a specific
technical reference to reincarnation (full references in the
commentaries of Mayor and W. Bauer). The revolution of the
wheel symbolizes the cycle of successive lives. The
comparison of life to a wheel and the symbol of the wheel
itself was and is a common symbol in many religions and
civilizations referring to reincarnation. According to
Flavius Josephus, the Jewish temple at Jerusalem had the
wheel of the zodiac inlaid in its floor. The wheel of the
zodiac is mentioned in the Talmud and even in the Bible (Job
38:32) (See Hebrew translation of "constellation").
The wheel is also related to the mystical wheel of fortune
which is another reference to reincarnation. For thousands
of years, orthodox Jews have been believers in reincarnation
and their scriptures, the Zohar, is a book of great
authority among orthodox Jews. It states the following:
"All
souls come in reincarnation (literally "wheeling") and
humans don't know the ways of the Lord and how the Scales
stand and how people are judged every day and time. How the
souls are judged before entering this world and how they are
judged after leaving it" (Zohar, Mishpatim 32)
The verse in James
referring to the "wheel of nature" is stating how harsh the
consequences can be when words are used inappropriately.
While on the cycle of life, peoples' own words can condemn
them. It can set their whole life on fire. It can cause them
to cycle through the fire of hell. It can have consequences
in their next cycle of life as well.
Another Old Testament
verse describes this cycle of nature:
"Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains
forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to
where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the
north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its
course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never
full. To the place the streams come from, there they return
again ... What has been will be again, what has been done
will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."
(Eccl. 1:4-9)
The
Jewish Kabbalists interpreted this verse to mean a
generation dies and subsequently returns through
reincarnation.
Continuing on in this
passage from Ecclesiastes, the writer makes a reference to
the reincarnation concept of a "veil" that causes people to
not remember their past lives.
"Is there
anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something
new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our
time. There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those
who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who
follow." (Eccl. 1:7-11)
A passage in Isaiah uses
the metaphor of Jerusalem as a mother feeding her babies
which can be interpreted as people returning to Jerusalem as
infants:
"Rejoice
with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her;
rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For
you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts;
you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing
abundance." (Isaiah 66:9-11)
The following verse in
Lamentations destroys the concept of eternal damnation.
Because of this, the idea of people having only one chance
at salvation (i.e., one lifetime), as in the concept of
resurrection, can be discarded. The only logical meaning is
reincarnation.
"For men
are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings
grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing
love." (Lam. 3:31-32)
In the Book of Amos, an
excellent reference to reincarnation can be found. It
describes God taking the dead to heaven then bringing them
back to earth.
"Though
they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand
will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens, from
there I will bring them down." (Amos 9:2)
In the Book of Job, Job
wonders if he will live again after death:
"If a
person dies will he live again? All the days of my hard
service I will wait for my renewal to come." (Job 14:14)
Job asks if there is life
after death. He answers his own question by stating that he
will live again when he is renewed. According to the Hebrew
dictionary, the word translated "renewal" is chaliyphah {khal-ee-faw'}.
Its meaning is: (1) a change, change of garments,
replacement (2) changing, varying course of life (3) relays
(4) relief from death. In my opinion, this definition fits
the concept of reincarnation than it does resurrection.
In the Book of Psalm,
David rejoices that he will be rescued after death:
"Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body
also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to
the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You
have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me
with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your
right hand." (Psalm 16:9-11)
The word "grave" in the
above passage is an English mistranslation of the Hebrew
word "Sheol," the Hebrew abode of the dead - a shadowy
non-world beyond hope, beyond feeling, and beyond the
presence of God. The Hebrews spoke of going to Sheol with
dread. This passage refers to David being rescued from Sheol.
The next passage refers
to prisoners in chains and in the darkness which is another
reference to Sheol. This same idea can be found in 1 Peter
3:18-20 which is also provided below. The Psalm passage
refers to prisoners being freed in the past tense which
rules out the resurrection at the end of time. For this
reason it is suggestive of reincarnation.
"Some sat
in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in
iron chains, for they had rebelled against the words of God
and despised the counsel of the Most High. So he subjected
them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to
help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he
saved them from their distress. He brought them out of
darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains."
(Psalm 107:10-14)
"For
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the
body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went
and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long
ago..." (1 Peter 3:18-20)
The reference to
imprisoned spirits whom Jesus freed from the "prison" of
Sheol is incompatible with a resurrection at the end of time
but is a good reference to reincarnation. This liberation of
spirits from Sheol is mentioned several times in the Bible:
"When he
ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave
gifts to men." (Eph. 4:8)
In another letter by
Peter, he referred again to these imprisoned spirits:
"For if
God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to
hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for
judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he
brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah,
a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he
condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them
to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to
happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous
man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
(for that righteous man, living among them day after day,
was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he
saw and heard) - if this is so, then the Lord knows how to
rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for
the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment."
(2 Peter 2:4-9)
Peter is referring to
angels and souls who were held in "prison" until the day of
judgment. These verses by David, Peter and Paul, all refer
to the same event: human souls being liberated from hell.
And because this freeing of souls is past tense in the
Ephesians verse, this means it has already occurred. The
conclusion is that the day of judgment for these souls
already occurred. This too is incompatible with
resurrection. Going a step further, the concept of human
souls leaving heaven and being put in "prison" is a
Christian Gnostic reference to the soul being incarnated
into the flesh.
Here is another passage
concerning being being freed from prison coming from a
parable of Jesus that is suggestive of reincarnation:
"Settle
matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to
court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he
may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you
over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I
tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid
the last penny." (Matt. 5:25-26)
Concerning this passage,
the interesting aspect to it is that it states a person will
not get out of prison until the debt has been paid. In the
parables of Christ, Jesus uses the word "prison" as a
metaphor for "Sheol" or "hell." This reference of getting
out of prison suggests that people are able to get out of
hell when their debt has been paid. Since people are able to
get out of hell, one wonders where they would go. It would
be reasonable to assume that they would be raised to life
through the process of reincarnation. Being able to get out
of hell is also a good case against eternal damnation.
The author of the Book of
Jude also refers to these souls in "prison" who were freed
by Jesus:
"And the
angels who did not keep their positions of authority but
abandoned their own home - these he has kept in darkness,
bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great
day." (Jude 6)
The writer of the Book of
Jude incorporates heavy Christian Gnostic concepts which
shows the writer was a Christian Gnostic. Gnostics viewed
the human soul as being pre-existent, incarnating into a
"prison" of flesh, and being subject to reincarnation.
Gnostics believed humans were identical to angels and whose
origin was heaven. This becomes even more apparent later in
the Book of Jude when the writer actually quotes from a
Gnostic book called the Book of Enoch - a Hebrew book about
the heavenly origin of the soul:
"Enoch,
the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men:
"See, the
Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy
ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of
all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and
of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against
him."" (Jude 14-15)
The Book of Enoch was a
part of Hebrew scripture which was accepted as canon in
Jesus' day. It is very likely that, as a rabbi, Jesus
himself was familiar with this book. The fate of this book
as canon came hundreds of years later when a group of
bishops decided the book was heretical, For this reason it
wasn't included in the New Testament even though the New
Testament itself quotes from it.
The idea of Jesus going
to hell to free souls can be found in another Bible passage:
"For as
Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge
fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth." (Matt. 12:40)
Jesus' crucifixion is
compared to the Hebrew myth of Jonah. According to the myth,
Jonah was swallowed by a whale and lived in its belly for
three days until being spit out. Because it is impossible
for such a thing to happen, like other Hebrew myths, there
is a higher spiritual interpretation to it. This myth was
also not limited to the Hebrews and has astrological and
spiritual meaning. The Semitic translation for the name
"Jonah" is "sun". This international myth refers to the sun
as it "dies" for three days on December 22nd, the winter
solstice, when it stops in its movement south, to be "born
again" or "resurrected" on December 25th, when it resumes
its movement north. Because Jesus himself referred to this
myth when referring to his coming afterlife journey (see the
previous passage), it is worth examining the myth as
described in the Book of Jonah:
"From
inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
He said:
"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you
listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the
very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, "I have
been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward
your holy temple."
"The
engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the
mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in
forever. But you brought my life up from the pit [Sheol], O
Lord my God." (Jonah 2:1-6)
We can also understand
how the myth of Jonah is a metaphor for the spirit rising to
heaven after death as the sun rises after the winter
solstice. This cannot be a reference to resurrection and
"soul sleep" until resurrection day. It can only correspond
with reincarnation.
A passage in Matthew
involves Jesus explaining why an old ritual is not performed
by his disciples:
"Then
John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and
the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus
answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while
he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will
be taken from them; then they will fast. No one sews a patch
of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull
away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men
pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will
burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be
ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both
are preserved." (Matt. 9:14-17)
The disciples of John the
Baptist asked Jesus why his disciples don't practice the
ritual of fasting. Jesus answered with a metaphor of pouring
new wine in old wineskins. Jesus is using his disciples as a
metaphor for "new wine" which shouldn't be put into "old
wineskins" (i.e., the old practice the ritual of fasting).
Although these words of Jesus were used to describe the
practice of fasting, they can also be applied to
resurrection. Resurrection is like putting "new wine" (i.e.,
the spirit) into "old wineskins" (i.e., the corpse). It is
not a good idea.
And finally, the verse
below is often used to refute reincarnation.
"Man is
destined to die once, and after that to face judgment"
(Heb. 9:27)
This verse is used to
show that humans die only once, thereby supporting
resurrection and refuting reincarnation. But if this verse
affirms that people are only allowed a single death, then
this itself excludes many people of the Bible. All of the
people in the Bible who were "raised from the dead"
experienced death more than once (with the exception of
Jesus). Other people in the Bible such as Enoch, Elijah and
Melchizedek did not even die at all. But most convincing of
all, the apostle Paul himself died more than one as recorded
in his second letter to the Corinthians:
"I know a
person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the
third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body
I do not know - God knows. And I know that this person -
whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know,
but God knows - was caught up to paradise. He heard
inexpressible things, things that humans are not permitted
to tell." (2 Cor. 12:1-4)
Paul uses
the Greek idiom "I know a person" which means that he was
humbly speaking about himself. He explained that he didn't
know if he was taken up in his body or in his spirit, but he
was in paradise ("the third heaven") one of the many
Christian Gnostic heavens in the afterlife hierarchy. This
near-death experience that Paul had cannot positively be
identified with a recorded event in Paul's career because
his letters describe many times he may have died. It is
probable that Paul had his death experience when he was
stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19,20). The reason that
Paul related this incident to the Corinthians was to
establish his authority as an apostle to them.
This verse in James does
affirm a one body/one death reality. But because
resurrection and near-death experiences are defined as the
reanimation of the same body, then this subjects the person
to another death including the so-called "second death" as
described in Rev. 2:11.
Reincarnation
is defined as the permanent death of the body and the soul
incarnating into a different body. This satisfies the one
body/one death requirement of this verse in James. For this
reason, Heb. 9:27 refutes resurrection and not
reincarnation.
Due to the
condemnation of pre-existence (and reincarnation) by church
authorities in 553 A.D., reincarnation became an enemy
concept to the Judeo-Christian West. The reason
reincarnation was declared heresy was given by Gregory, the
Bishop of Nyssa. The five reasons he gave were:
|
|
|
|
(1) |
It
seems to minimize Christian salvation. |
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(2) |
It is
in conflict with the resurrection of the body. |
|
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(3) |
It
creates an unnatural separation between body and soul. |
|
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(4) |
It is
built on a much too speculative use of Christian
scriptures. |
|
|
(5) |
There
is no recollection of previous lives. |
In conclusion, this
Biblical defense of reincarnation leads to the following
conclusions:
|
|
(1)
|
The religious
concept of a massive worldwide reanimation of corpses
at the end of time is a foreign concept originating
from ancient Persia. |
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(2)
|
A massive worldwide
reanimation of corpses seems bizarre, unnatural, and
repulsive. |
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(3)
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The few instances
recorded in the Bible where corpses were reanimated
were miracles. Doctors today bring people back from
the dead with modern technology. |
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(4)
|
Reincarnation was
widely believed by the people of Israel in the days of
Jesus and by people all around the world. |
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(5)
|
All Hebrew and
Christian
scriptures support
reincarnation: the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the
Christian Gnostic gospels, the Torah, the Hebrew
Bible, the Apocrypha, the Kabbalah and Zohar. |
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(6)
|
Many of the
Biblical references to "resurrection" refer to
spiritual regeneration while already physically alive
instead of the reanimation of corpses on the so-called
"Last Day." |
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(7)
|
Reincarnation is
the rebirth of a person's spirit into a new body to be
born again as an infant.
Resurrection is the "spiritual awakening"
of a living person's spirit by the power of the Holy
Spirit. |
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(8)
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The Bible records
Jesus himself teaching reincarnation to his followers. |
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(9)
|
Early Christians in
Jerusalem believed in reincarnation and taught it
until it was declared a heresy by the Church of Rome. |
|
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(10)
|
Reincarnation has
been a tenet in Orthodox Judaism for thousands of
years and continues to this day. |
|
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(11) |
The concept of
reincarnation is supported by many near-death
experiences including those where Jesus appears. |
|
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(12) |
Reincarnation is a
doctrine which can be accepted by every follower of
Christ and should be a part of orthodox Christian
doctrine. |
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"If anyone asserts the fabulous pre-existence
of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration
which follows from it, let him be anathema
[excommunicated]." - Decree of
the Fifth Catholic Council declaring reincarnation
to be heresy |
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Reincarnation and the Bible
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen03.html
|