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Reincarnation and
the Bible
 In many documented near-death
experiences
involving Jesus the concept of reincarnation appears. For example, in the
NDE of Jeanie Dicus (who
is Jewish) she was asked by Jesus if she would like to reincarnate. In
the NDE of Sandra Rogers,
Jesus asked her the same question. One of the reasons many Christians reject
the validity of NDEs is because these experiences
sometimes appear to conflict with their interpretation of Christian
doctrines. Such Christians would be very surprised to learn that
reincarnation was a doctrine that was held by many early
Christians. In fact, as you will see below, there is overwhelming Biblical evidence that Jesus himself
taught it. On this web page you will be able to read the Biblical evidence
supporting this claim. More Biblical evidence can be found in the
writings of Herbert Puryear, 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
reincarnation means that people don't dwell in heaven in between
incarnations. This misconception assumes that people immediately reincarnate after death.
It assumes that people will never be permanent
residents of heaven. But near-death accounts show that these misconceptions
are just that - misconceptions. People can spend an eternity in heaven
before reincarnating again - if that is their choice. The reason is because
time as we know it does not
exist in the spirit world. In fact, the ultimate
goal of reincarnation is for people to learn enough lessons from Earth lives that
reincarnation is no longer necessary. Reincarnation
is not the goal. Permanent citizenship in heaven is the goal. Reincarnation is the
means toward that goal. For more information about reincarnation and the
NDE visit my research conclusions
on this subject.
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 states that when Jesus returns he will appear in the clouds and souls
will be awakened in the graves and all corpses will crawl out of
graves like Night of the Living Dead. This doctrine is the
traditional concept called the resurrection which is an ancient doctrine which
existed long before Jesus was born.
Many Christians would be surprised to learn
that the concept of resurrection did not originate with
Christianity nor with Judaism. It originated with the Zoroastrian religion in
ancient Persia. During the Babylonian exile, the Jews
were influenced by Zoroasterian concepts such as resurrection, the final day
of judgment, the dualism of good verses evil, the hierarchy of
angels including fallen angels, and the arch rival of God who is
called Satan.
These Zoroastrian doctrines were incorporated into the religious doctrines
of Judaism. From that time
on, the new concept called resurrection competed with the much older concept called
reincarnation - a concept that can also be found in
the Hebrew scriptures.
Reincarnation
and the Hebrew religion The first-century Jewish historian
Flavius Josephus
stated that the Pharisees
were believers in reincarnation. The Pharisees were the Jewish sect that
Paul belonged to before his conversion to Christianity. Josephus wrote
that the
Pharisees' believed 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 an insistent belief that their prophets would be
reincarnated. Only the Sadducees,
a purist sect of Judaism, rejected all Persian concepts
including resurrection and all Hellenistic ideas including
reincarnation. There were a variety of afterlife beliefs that
existed at the time Jesus was born.
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 the true process of becoming born
again and that is through the resurrection of the spirit (spiritual
rebirth) and the reincarnation of the body (physical
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:
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| 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)
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|
| 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.
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| 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?" |
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| 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.
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| 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:
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| (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. |
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|
| (2) |
Jesus declared John to be Elijah when he
stated that Elijah has come. |
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| Based on these
conclusions alone, either (A) or (B)
must be true:
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| (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... |
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| (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: |
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|
|
| (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... |
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|
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| (2) |
Jesus was not the
Messiah. |
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|
| Based on all the logic presented
thus far, only one of the following conclusions is
true: |
|
| (A) |
Reincarnation is
a reality OR... |
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| (B) |
Jesus was not the Messiah OR... |
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| (C) |
Bible prophecies are not reliable. |
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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 ... |
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| 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."
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|
| "Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?"
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|
| "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." |
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| "Are you the Prophet?" |
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| He answered, "No." |
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| Finally they said,
"Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What
do you say about yourself?" |
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| 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."" |
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| 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?" |
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| "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.
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. |
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| 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. In the Old
Testament, Elijah is shown having the power to prevent rain from
occurring. Moses is shown having the power to turn water into blood and to
bring plagues. 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 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 resurrection (bodily rebirth) was common knowledge in
those days, Jesus taught a more exalted form of resurrection - spiritual rebirth by the Holy
Spirit. This teaching which was introduced by Jesus
was one of the secret doctrines which was frequently misunderstood
by the public - even the organized Roman Church. This new form of resurrection is a mystical union and
at-one-ment of
the human spirit with the divine Spirit. This is also referred to
by Jesus as becoming born again of the Spirit. It is the liberation of
the spirit from the cycle of reincarnation and permanent
citizenship in heaven. To be born again of water is a reference to
bodily resurrection (reincarnation).
The pre-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 very 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 Issac 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 will return to witness the Second Coming
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 are about bodily resurrection and this is highly problematic. This
concept of bodily resurrection was not a traditional Jewish doctrine. It
was a doctrine that Hellenized (Greek influenced) Jews held. Paul
was a Hellenized Jew who rejected the Judaism of the Pharisees which was
the sect of Judaism that Jesus belonged to. It has already been
established that the Pharisees and Jesus both believed and taught the
doctrine of reincarnation. It was Paul who introduced the Hellenistic
doctrine of bodily resurrection to Christianity - not Jesus. And this is
why the doctrine of bodily resurrection - instead of reincarnation - is a
doctrine of the Christian faith. Paul's Hellenization of Christianity is
the source of the great historical schism that occurred between the church
that Paul established in Rome and the church that Peter established in
Jerusalem. The foreign influences which Paul injected into Christianity is
so massive that scholars believe Paul hijacked Christianity from
the apostles of Jesus.
Paul's Hellenistic leanings were the result of being
born and raised in Tarsus - a center 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 (which he
established in Rome) 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 the
Hellenized church of Rome. 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.
The
reincarnation of the spirit and the
resurrection of the body
As previously
mentioned, the pagan concept of resurrection was a foreign doctrine to
Judaism. And when Jesus began resurrecting people from the
dead (much like doctors do today) this created quite a
stir in Israel as the gospels testify. The resurrection of Lazarus
by Jesus appears to be the miracle that caused the greatest stir:
| 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 the above passage, Jesus told Martha that Lazarus will "rise again" - a
reference reincarnation.
Martha then
expressed the mistaken belief that "rising again at the last day"
means corpses leaving their graves on Judgment Day. Jesus corrected her by
giving her the real meaning of "resurrection." In my opinion, by
stating that he is the resurrection and life, Jesus is affirming that
resurrection does not involve the dead - it involves the living. Through his
example, people can become spiritually reborn with the new life of the Holy
Spirit. This is the true resurrection and Jesus was a living example of it.
People don't have to wait until "Judgment Day" to have this new
life. This appears to be the reason for
bringing Lazarus back from death.
|
| Throughout the gospels, Jesus teaches
spiritual resurrection and bodily reincarnation. 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 resurrection. Jesus answered their hypothetical by refuting their
concept of resurrection ("soul sleep") and teaching them
about the true resurrection which occurs while alive. The
resurrection of the spirit. 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 is based on
the Persian form of rebirth. Jesus corrected them by giving them the true
meaning of bodily "resurrection" which is reincarnation.
Jesus described death as becoming "like
the angels." This is a direct refutation of the Persian concept of
"soul sleep" and resurrection. And Jesus' explanation of
becoming "like the angels" is a good way to describe the
process of reincarnation - the soul leaving the corpse and
returning to heaven with the possibility of a future incarnation. Once
a soul is in heaven
they are like the angels
as Jesus stated. The soul does not marry and cannot die unless another
incarnation occurs.
|
| Jesus also stated, "They are God's children, since they are
children of the
resurrection." This
is a good description of the soul rising to heaven after death and then reincarnating
to become a child again. Jesus corrects the Sadducees'
misunderstanding of resurrection 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 for a
resurrection after death to attain spiritual rebirth and life.
|
| 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.
|
| (4)
|
Reincarnation was widely believed by the people of Israel in the days of
Jesus and by people all around the world.
|
| (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.
|
| (6)
|
Much of the
Biblical references to "resurrection" are described as
spiritual events instead of physical events. |
| (7)
|
Physical rebirth
is reincarnation.
|
| (8)
|
The
Bible records Jesus himself teaching reincarnation to his
followers. |
| (9)
|
Early
Christians also believed in reincarnation and taught it to their
followers until it was declared a heresy. |
| (10)
|
Reincarnation
has been a tenet in Orthodox Judaism for thousands of years. |
| (11) |
The
concept of reincarnation is supported by many near-death accounts including those involving
Jesus. |
| (12) |
Reincarnation
is a doctrine that can be accepted by every follower of Christ. |
|
| "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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Copyright © 2008 Near-Death Experiences
and
the Afterlife |
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