|
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.
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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:
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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. |
|
|
| (2) |
It is in conflict with the resurrection
of the body. |
|
|
| (3) |
It creates an unnatural separation
between body and soul. |
|
|
| (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. |
| |
|
| (2) |
A massive worldwide reanimation of corpses seems
bizarre, unnatural, and repulsive. |
| |
|
| (3) |
The few instances recorded in the Bible where corpses
were reanimated were miracles. Doctors today bring people back
from the dead with modern technology. |
| |
|
| (4) |
Reincarnation was widely believed by the
people of Israel in the days of Jesus and by people all around
the worl |
In many documented near-death
experiences
involving Jesus, the concept of reincarnation appears. In the
NDE testimony of