ome of this information is paraphrased from “The Bible Has the Answer” by Henry M. Morris & Martin E. Clark.
Does everyone have many different lives and different forms? The Bible says no, but reincarnationists believe in a recurring cycle of existence. Hebrews 9:27 It is appointed for men once to die, and after this comes judgment. Jesus described death as requiring a man’s soul (Luke 12:20).
When a believer dies, his soul enters an eternal estate in heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:8 “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord”. The rich man and Lazarus prove the soul goes either to hell or heaven. The Bible proves life is not a cycle of reincarnations.
In reincarnation each person ceases to exist at death except his karma. Karma is an accumulation of good and evil exhibited throughout a life. At the end of a life, karma enters a new born person with no connection to the last person. The one inheriting tis karma suffers the penalties of the last person’s karma and all others prior who had inherited the same karma. Each successive person is weighted down with the total accumulated karma of all before him.
Some believe karma can be reincarnated in objects or animals. The advancement of this karma is contingent on past lives, present lives, and future lives it possesses. If the last person to use this karma was Hitler, the next 1000 people will have to suffer terribly for his actions. It is unjust for the next person to suffer for the actions of the last person possessing this karma. The evil karma debt is paid by successive person’s who had nothing to do with the acts.
Since the karma does not remember each person from cycle to cycle it merely requires suffering from past indebted karma? According to the laws of science, randomness leads to more randomness. The karma debt becomes worse after each cycle. Who takes care of all the credits and debits of each life of the karma? They claim there is no God, so who keeps up with the karma debt?
Salvation is not earned by a Christian. Salvation is a free gift of God and it is made available by the substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ for the believer. Ephesians 2:8-9 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Karma dictates the next man’s spiritual, physical, and moral conditions are determined by former lives and not under his control. This leads to a passive, pessimistic acceptance of misery unjust to the present life.
It is devastating for the followers of reincarnation who have no chance for redemption. The Bible reveals that no person is bound in sin against his will. Even though born under Adam’s curse, “if we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). However, reincarnationists have no hope.
We may have redemption from our sin, “though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). The Christian has no worry about merits outweighing demerits. His sin has been forgiven, because God promised, “I will remember their sin no more”.
Reincarnation and the resurrection are totally opposite beliefs. Reincarnation teaches future successive lives on earth with similar constraints and physical laws. Resurrection teaches a transformation into an immortal body to match the eternal estate inherited in heaven or hell.
Reincarnation states all matter is evil. God made everything perfect; only mankind’s sin is the catalyst for evil. Those resurrected into their eternal immortal bodies will never see evil again. Those resurrected into their eternal bodies adapted for hell will remain in an evil state for eternity.
The resurrection of the Christian body in 1 Corinthians 15:42, 44, “it is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body . . . it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body”.
Some try to use “past life recall” as proof of reincarnation. The articles below are paraphrased from Ian Stevenson’s works. In these articles, most children are under age 10. Investigation of these events discloses circumstances which make the claims of the children suspect.
Two Indian girls, Swarnlata and Shanti Devi, are two of the most famous cases. At ages 3 & 4 respectively, both claimed of living previous lives. Both were past wives and mothers of children in a distant village. They mentioned specific facts about their previous lives. The son of a deceased mother was shocked when visited by a 4-year-old girl claiming to be their mother.
These cases are always rife with emotional disturbances; we know Satan is the author of confusion. Reincarnation causes confusion to its believers as well as confusion and problems for those affected by the claims. Satan’s ploy is to name these experiences “reincarnation” rather than satanic possession.
Possession of children by spiritual beings is a valid. It is similar to channeling, except children are forced to transmit messages of a spirit without conscious contributions to the process. The spirit enters the child, takes over his consciousness, and acts the part of a past life personality manifesting itself in the child.
Each fallen angel has possessed many people in the past 6000 years. Children, between the ages of 2 to 5, have almost nonexistent discernment of spirits. They are easily manipulated by the spirits around them. As a child ages, the entities lose their influence on them. This explains why past life experiences are lost after age 10. Children in the 2-5 age groups have many fantasies and strange unseen friends.
Some claim spirits have no reason to lie about their identity, and these children do not manifest violence. Violence is not the only form of manifestation of spiritual possession. A lying spirit and big egos are huge traits of demons.
Investigations find many cases matching the possession hypothesis. An Indian boy named Jasbir (3 1/2) became ill, went into a coma, and died. He came out of the coma, and began to exhibit a completely different behavior.
Jasbir claimed he was Brahmin (Sobha Ram), who died in an accident while Jasbir was ill. Since Sobha died when Jasbir was 3 1/2, it is obvious Jasbir’s past life recall cannot be reincarnation. Evidence indicates Ram took possession of Jasbir prior to the death of Ram. This action points toward Sobha Ram being possessed prior to his death by this same spirit that entered Jasbir.
Sobha Ram & Jasbir lived side by side in nearby villages. When Ram spoke through Jazbir, he said a Saint told him to enter Jasbir’s body. This indicates both the personalities of Ram and Jazbir were present in the child’s (Jasbir) body. This is a strong indication of possession and not reincarnation.
Lurancy Vennum (age 1) displayed the personality of Mary Roff after Roff died. Roff’s personality stayed with Lurancy for several months, left, and never returned. Stevenson says the other 20 similar cases appear to be possessions and not reincarnation.
A Buddhist monk, Chaokhun Rajsuthajarn, was born a day before Nai Leng died. Chaokhun claimed to have been Nai Leng in his previous life. When Jesus cast the devils out of the possessed man, they were granted permission to enter the swine. “Satan is like a roaring lion seeking those whom he may devour”. It is easy to see the demon finding another body to possess, instead of walking about in dry places.
Possession could account for other spoofs of reincarnation. Corresponding wounds and birthmarks on children are used to claim reincarnation. Most cases do not need the possession theory as an explanation as most are discarded as fallacies. Those who believe in reincarnation are more apt to be possessed than those disbelieving it.
Stevenson found this in the Tlingit tribe of Alaska. A man told his niece he would come to her. He showed her two scars, one on his nose and another on his back. He eventually died and later his niece birthed a boy with the marks at those two places. The boy was 8-10 when Stevenson photographed the marks.
Isolated cases seem to give validity to reincarnation, but it cannot be proven and can still falls under demonic tinkering. If the Uncle was possessed, the demon could have set up the situation. The demon could have come upon the niece as she carried the baby and caused the scar marks.
Stevenson found many tales of reincarnation to be cultural. Asian countries believing in reincarnation have, by far, the greatest incidences of reported reincarnation cases. They teach it, and believe it. When their cases are investigated, they are more vivid with their accounts than Westerners who tend not to believe in reincarnation.
There are reasons for this, the power of suggestion by the Asians and the desire for this to be true. Also, more Asians are possessed because they give in to these suggestions. Cases in the West are generally very flimsy with little detail as opposed to cases in the East.
Ian Stevenson admitted in his book the cases he studied are only suggesting reincarnation and cannot be considered proofs. Stevenson admitted: “All the cases I’ve investigated have shortcomings. Taken together, they offer no proof”.
METAPHYSICAL REASONS FOR REJECTING PAST LIFE RECALL EXPERIENCES AS PROOF FOR REINCARNATION
If hypnotic regression and spontaneous recall of past life by children were free of any contradiction, there still would be another major argument against their validity. According to the classic doctrine of reincarnation, the entity which reincarnates is the impersonal self (atman or purusha), accompanied by karmic debt.
Memory or personhood traits cease to exist at death. The only thing passed on is the impersonal spirit and the karmic debt. Karma supposedly represents an impersonal and mechanical law functioning with mathematical precision. Man cannot communicate with his karma, so he cannot tell the next person which debts are to be paid from previous lives. Karma only insures punishment or reward for a past life on the next life.
Some meditative techniques are claimed to be used by an advanced Yogi which might shed some light on past lives during altered states of consciousness. This method has many faults. The Yogi may be getting false information from a demon angel who has possessed the Yogi.
At best, karmic debts can only be guessed. If a man is murdered, he is receiving his just reward for a murder he committed in a previous life. Not even past life-recall experiences reveal information about the evils committed in previous lives. Best guesses are made about past lives by actions occurring in the present life.
Past life recall does not prove the justice of karma. Past life recalls are used only as proof by the reincarnationists that he lived in a past life.
Most Eastern gurus do not consider experiences of past life recall as valid proofs of reincarnation. Stevenson met an Indian swami of the Ramakrishna order. The swami commented, “Yes it is true [reincarnation], but it does not make any difference, because, in India, we have all believed in reincarnation and accepted it as a fact, yet it has made no difference in the betterment of our society”.
The swami also stated, “We have as many rogues and villains in India as you have in the West”. The main argument for reincarnation in the East has another nature and will be analyzed next.
REINCARNATION AND COSMIC JUSTICE
Moral nature of Reincarnation is the most important aspect of their belief. They fantasize that karma and reincarnation provide perfect justice, by rewarding one’s deeds and thoughts in future lives. Over successive lives, sins and good deeds will even out. Supposedly this comforts those in present bad situations, and gives hope for a future better life. There is no forgiveness for the “sins” of the past, only accumulation of karmic debt, followed by paying the debt in future lives.
Swami Shivananda states: “If a virtuous person does not commit evil acts in this birth and suffers, it is debt paid for previous lives. He is rewarded in his next life. If a wicked man commits evil actions, while enjoying this life, he is rewarded for good karma from a previous life, but he will suffer in his next life.
If the karmic debt is enormous, the next life is not enough to compensate. He has to live many lives to rectify it. Man is alone in his struggle with his past. Eastern religions are incapable of solving his loneliness in this struggle. Karma and God’s grace cannot be reconciled without totally compromising one of them. Grace, stated a guru, contradicts the basic role of karma and renders its actions useless. Gurus cannot erase bad karma of their disciples. Through asceticism and meditation, man has to bear alone the dictates of karma.
Some claim karma and reincarnation achieves justice; there are two main contradictions to the theory.
1. Suffering or rewards are experienced only at the physical and psychical level, since the person ceases to exist at physical death. Another person, in another physical body, bears the consequences of the karma from the dead person. The impersonal self (atman or purusha), which reincarnates, has nothing to do with suffering.
It is a mere observer of the psycho-mental life. When there is no more karmic debt, separation of self from the physical and psycho-mental world is permanent. This achieves liberation. If not, self is forced to enter a new association with other successive persons until all karma is equalized. A new person is born each time self enters a new human body. The new person must bear the karma of the previous persons inhabited by the same self.
Since there is no God, or gods, who keeps up with all this? This system is grossly unfair, contradicting the idea of perfect justice. Natural disasters, plagues and accidents affecting innocent people cannot be explained as being generated by karma.
“A man reaps what he sows” cannot be used by the reincarnationists. According to them, one person sows and another reaps. Buddhism rejects the idea of one soul (at death) passing into the body of another person. This makes the idea of sowing and reaping in Buddhism even more absurd.
(Diamond Sutra 16) If it be that good men and women, who receive and retain this discourse, are downtrodden, their evil destiny is the inevitable retributive result of sins committed in their past lives. By virtue of their present misfortunes the reacting effects of their past will be worked out, and they will be in a position to attain the Consummation of Incomparable Enlightenment.
Who works out the effects of his past? Who attains enlightenment and where does he go? This process cannot render perfect justice. The person committing evil is absolved all at his death and the innocent baby born bears the results of the wicked man’s life.
2) The next objection is attaining liberation from karma and reincarnation. A person should live out the results of his karma in a spirit of resignation and submission. Actual results oppose this assumption. Man reacts with indignation to this bad karma and accumulates a growing karmic debt.
Experience proves evil generates evil, and a balance between good and evil is never attained. A vicious cycle is generated in which karmic debt constantly grows. Karmic debt is always growing and the situation is never resolved. Karmic debt creates more problems than it solves.
Since most accumulate bad karma, a suggested solution of attaining liberation is “Jain Fasting to Death”, as stated by Mahavira: This is starving oneself to death, thus dissolving the body. Suffering to death releases the person from karmic debt. This type of death is no worse than others dying a horrible death. A cancer patient dies in this manner.
This attempt to escape one” karma is not accepted by most adherents of reincarnation. Even if they fasted to death, it does not guarantee the decrease of mankind’s karmic debt.
Using Adolf Hitler as an example, the results are astounding. Adherents of reincarnation agree many lives are needed for retiring Hitler’s karmic debt. The two objections can be stated as following:
1) Hitler ceased to exist at death. Only the impersonal self reincarnated, accompanied by its karmic deposit. The newborn person doesn’t know he has to bear Hitler’s karma. After the cruel life and death of this person, thousands of reincarnations follow with the same tragic destiny. The debt of karma grows forever with suffering and injustice through thousands of innocent births. Hitler should endure the physical and psychical results of his foolish deeds, not someone else.
2) Due to hardships endured by new incarnations of Hitler, they will react with indignation instead of resignation to their situation, thus accumulating a growing karmic debt. Each reincarnation of Hitler initiates a new chain of individuals to pay the consequences.
Whoever Hitler was in his previous life, he made his karma worse during the years of The Third Reich. Instead of reaching justice, the problem worsened. Starting with an individual like Hitler, we establish a huge number of persons to pay his karma and accumulate new ones. This is only one case of human history. Any attempt to imagine what happens on a larger human scale reveals a catastrophic problem.
Reincarnation cannot provide justice. Reincarnation does not solve evil but amplifies it, leaving the original evil unpunished. Hitler will never be punished. There are two points to be made.
First, a moral issue is involved. If suffering is the result of bad deeds in previous lives, it is improper to have compassion for the suffering. The person deserves it and helping him interferes with the retribution process. Those, attempting to help the sufferer, gather bad karma for themselves.
Second, the person executing punishment on the guilty party accrues bad karma. He is punished in the next life for executing the punishment. Then the next person who exacts the punishment of karma will be punished in his turn. It becomes an impossible train of bad karma.
There should be no sympathy for the millions of Jews killed in gas chambers during World War II. They had evidently killed others in their past life and deserved to be killed by the Nazis. Using this reasoning, any crime could be justified without considering moral values. This is a horrifying perspective of the past and future of mankind. This is the type of scenario Satan loves.
Killing millions of Jews requires their executioners to be killed in their turn, in their next lives, and on into future reincarnations. The cycle never ends. The same would be true back in time, which requires finding in each generation those millions of people executed and their executioners.
A solution offered is for these killers to be killed by other means, such as earthquakes. This doesn’t work. Karma is generated by the actions and desires leading to the actions. The desire to kill has to be rewarded as well as the killing. This is not a solution for justice, but an eternal circus.
The principle of Hindu morality, non-killing (ahimsa), is absurd. The butcher who slaughters a pig reincarnates as a pig in order to be slaughtered in his turn. The principle of reincarnation contradicts the meaning of ahimsa and proves it futile. The pig had to be slaughtered, because he was the reincarnation of another butcher.
The cycle cannot be stopped by natural means (pig dying of a disease) because the butcher’s desire to kill the pig (for food or earn his salary) generates karma. Violating the principle of non-violence becomes a necessity in order to fulfill karmic justice. The butcher was the instrument of working out one’s karmic debt and the generator of a new one for himself. Karma acts through condemning the executioners of their acts of “justice”.
The concept of reincarnation stands in contradiction with logic, social justice, morality and common sense. Looking beyond the apparent comfort it provides to this life by promising further lives in which perfection may be attained; belief in reincarnation cannot bring any beneficial result, but only resignation and despair in facing fate.
D) REINCARNATION AND CHRISTIANITY
Many, opposed to Christianity, claim reincarnation is found in the Bible and history of the church. This topic analyzes text used in the Bible for reincarnationists and emphasizes its fallacies.
Reincarnation and the Bible: The most “quoted” texts follows:
1) Matthew 11:14, 17, 12-13 “concerning the identity of John the Baptist”;
2) John 9:2 “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”;
3) John 3:3 “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again”;
4) James 3:6, “the wheel of nature”;
5) Galatians 6:7 “A man reaps what he sows”.
6) Matthew 26:52 “all who draw the sword will die by the sword”.
7) Revelation 13:10,”If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.”
1. In Matthew 11:14 Jesus says: “And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who was to come.” In the same Gospel, Jesus said, “But I tell you, Elijah has already come”.
In the book of Malachi (3:1; 4:5-6): “I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.” “And he will go before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1, 17).
What is the meaning of the words “In the spirit and power of Elijah”? Other Bible passages, referring to Elijah and John the Baptist, do not teach reincarnation. Priests and Levites asked John if he was Elijah. John answered, “I am not”. He had the same power and spiritual insight as Elijah given to him by God while he was still in the womb of Elizabeth. John was a kind of Elijah in his ministry, but he knew he was not Elijah.
Elijah didn’t die, but “went up to heaven in a whirlwind”. A person has to die physically to be reincarnated in another body. The three apostles witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus with Moses and Elijah. None of the apostles mistook Elijah as John the Baptist; they recognized him as Elijah, even though they had never seen him.
2. The next text is the healing of the man born blind in John 9:2 “Rabbi! Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” Some claim he was blind because of past karma. If reincarnation was true, Jesus would have used this opportunity to explain this to the apostles. Jesus constantly taught His apostles and disciples sound doctrine.
Jesus said: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3).
3. Jesus said to Nicodemus: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). Nicodemus understood this to mean a physical rebirth in this life, and not reincarnation: “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb!” (v.4). Jesus rejected the idea of physical rebirth and explained man’s need for spiritual rebirth, during this life, in order to be admitted into God’s kingdom in the afterlife.
Jesus explained, “As the person who looked at the serpent on a pole in the wilderness would be miraculously healed from physical death, so would those who look on Jesus at the cross and accept him as their Lord and Savior by faith, receive eternal spiritual life in this life. Jesus clearly explained the spiritual birth took place in this life by faith.
4. A fourth text interpreted as indicative for reincarnation is James 3:6. Some claim “the wheel of nature” is the cycle of endless reincarnation stated by the Eastern religions. Actually, the reference is made to the control of one’s speech. “And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell”. It is obvious the passage is describing evils of a wicked tongue.
5. “Be not deceived: God is not mocked, whatsoever man sows that shall he also reap” (Galatians5:6-7). This process represents karma according to reincarnationists. The next verse (7) shows the point is to judge the effects of our deeds from the perspective of eternal life, without any further earthly existence being involved.
“The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life”. “Reaping destruction” means eternal separation from God in hell, while “eternal life” represents eternal existence with God in heaven (read all of chapter 5). The context of these verses cannot suggest the reincarnation of the soul after death. According to Christianity, the supreme judge of our deeds is God, and not impersonal karma.
6. Peter cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant in his attempt to prevent Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane. Jesus rebuked him by saying: “All who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). Is this the justice of karma in action? All four gospels give account of Jesus’ rebuke to Peter. Throughout the Old Testament, the laws of the land have always attempted to punish men with like punishment for his evil deed. The Bible states, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed”. It has nothing to do with reincarnation.
7. “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed” (Revelation 13:10). This verse comes from an OT prophecy speaking about the end times, when Satan and his subjects will have temporary power on earth. Adherents of reincarnation should be aware this is a quotation from the Old Testament. This passage is fulfillment of Jeremiah 15:2 and expresses God’s punishment of the sinful Jewish nation at that time.
Reincarnationists ignore context of scripture they use to prove the Bible supports reincarnation. Other passages used as indications of reincarnation mean, the existence of Christ prior to His human birth (John 8:58), the continuity of the soul’s existence after death (John 5:28-29; Luke 16:22-23; 2 Corinthians 5:1), or the spiritual rebirth of believers in their present life (Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23), without giving any plausible indication for reincarnation.
HAS CLERGY REWRITTEN THE BIBLE, SO THAT THE PASSAGES TEACHING REINCARNATON WERE REMOVED?
Some accuse the Bible of containing reincarnation in its initial form and claim the passages were erased by the clergy at the fifth ecumenical council, held in Constantinople in the year 533 AD. They claim spiritual immaturity of the Christians, and the desire of the clergy to manipulate the masses.
There is no proof this ever happened. Existing manuscripts, older than AD 533, show no differences from the text we use today. There are many proofs verifying the NT was written prior to the first century AD.
Dating the Oldest New Testament Manuscripts, by Peter van Minnen [scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/...ripts.html]
Textual Criticism and Manuscript Interpretation [members.aol.com/dvdmoore/html/txtcrt.htm]
The Gospels As Historical Sources For Jesus, The Founder Of Christianity, by Prof. R. T. France [www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth21.html]
There are many texts in the Bible clearly contradicting reincarnation, explicitly or implicitly. (See for instance 2 Samuel 12:23; 14:14; Job 7:9-10; Psalm 78:39; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 23:39-43; Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:1, 4, 8; Revelation 20:11-15.)
Another clear passage is Hebrews 9:27-28 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those waiting for him.
The Christian teaching, living only once, is a fact beyond doubt, being as true as the fact that Jesus died only once for our sins. The unique historical act of Jesus’ crucifixion and that we live only once are equally true and cannot be separated. The judgment following death is not of impersonal karma, but judgment of the almighty God. Man either enters an eternal relation with God in heaven, or eternal separation from God in hell.
DID THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS BELIEVE IN REINCARNATION?
Early Christianity was spread in a world dominated by Greek philosophy. Many important figures of the early church had this spiritual background when converted. When addressing their world with the Christian message, they had to do it without any compromise to Greek philosophy.
REINCARNATION ACCORDING TO PLATONISM
Dominant reincarnation known by ancient Greek philosophy for the first three Christian centuries was Platonism. Plato taught that human souls existed since eternity in a perfect celestial world as intelligent and personal beings.
They were not manifested out of a primordial impersonal essence (such as Brahman) or created by a personal god. Although the souls lived there in a pure state, the divine love grew cold in them and they fell in physical bodies to this earthly, imperfect world.
Plato believed in a form of reincarnation, but it was a temporary punishment. Evil man was reincarnated in an animal and then back in a human form in the next life. The temporary animal life was to correct his evil thinking and give him a new chance in his next life. Plato believed a person had to wait 10,000 years before it could reincarnate in another body. Only a philosopher or lover could reincarnate sooner and that was a minimum of a 3,000 years.
Plato’s reincarnation did not include the impersonal self (atman), just a temporary life of punishment to purify a man for his next existence. Some men who were supposedly influenced by Platonism are:
ORIGEN
The most controversial early church father concerning beliefs in reincarnation is Origen (185-254). Reincarnationists use him as an example of early Christian belief in reincarnation. They claim reincarnation was condemned and forbidden by the fifth ecumenical council (Constantinople, 533 AD). Origen was influenced by Platonism prior to his conversion to Christianity, but he did not believe in reincarnation.
Before using any quotes from his writings, we strongly advise you to read the file Origen and Origenism [www.newadvent.org/cathen/11306b.htm] in order to get a brief description of Origen’s life, writings and teachings. This article will give you a sound perspective on what he actually taught and what was later condemned as Origenism. Then see the act of refuting Origenism by the fifth ecumenical council, The 15 Anathemas against Origen [www.comparativereligion.c...hemas.html].
There is no concept of reincarnation mentioned at this council of the early church, only the Platonist ideas concerning the pre-existence of souls. They also rejected universalism and a wrong form of Christology. Origenism had incorporated these Platonist ideas and they were condemned at the council of Constantinople, certainly not some classic form of reincarnation, as is claimed today. For instance, the fourth anathema states:
“If anyone shall say that the reasonable creatures in whom the divine love had grown cold have been hidden in gross bodies such as ours, and have been called men, while those who have attained the lowest degree of wickedness have shared cold and obscure bodies and are become and called demons and evil spirits: let him be anathema”.
The condemned ideas are closely related to Plato’s statement in Phaedrus. Origenism did not teach a classic form of reincarnation. Origen rejected this doctrine in his Commentary on Matthew (Book XIII, 1), written in the last years of his life. He refutes the speculation of considering John the Baptist the reincarnation of Elijah (Matthew 11:14; 17:12-13).
“In this place it does not appear to me that by Elijah the soul is spoken of, lest I should fall into the dogma of transmigration, which is foreign to the church of God, and not handed down by the Apostles, nor anywhere set forth in the Scriptures. John did not say, “In the soul of Elijah”, but he said, “In the spirit and power of Elijah”. It is obvious; Origen was not considered an early adherent of reincarnation.
OTHER EARLY CHURCH FATHERS VS REINCARNATION
Justin Martyr’s (100-165) opinion on reincarnation is plainly stated in the following fragment of his Dialogue with Trypho 1: 4 (155 AD), part one, chapter 4, where he discusses Platonism with Trypho the Jew:
The old man: “What, then, is the advantage to those who have seen [God]? Or what has he who has seen more than he who has not seen, unless he remembers this fact that he has seen?”
Justin: “I cannot tell,” I answered.
The old man: “And what do those suffer who are judged to be unworthy of this spectacle?” said he.
Justin: “[According to Plato] they are imprisoned in the bodies of certain wild beasts, and this is their punishment.”
The old man: “Do they know, then, that it is for this reason they are in such forms, and that they have committed some sin?”
Justin: “I do not think so.”
The old man: “Then these reap no advantage from their punishment, as it seems: moreover, I would say that they are not punished unless they are conscious of the punishment.”
Justin: “No indeed.”
The old man: “Therefore souls neither see God nor transmigrate into other bodies; for they would know that so they are punished, and they would be afraid to commit even the most trivial sin afterwards. But that they can perceive that God exists, and that righteousness and piety are honorable, I also quite agree with you,” said he.
Justin: “You are right,” I replied.
Irenaeus (130-200) in his well-known treatise Against Heresies (Book II), Irenaeus titled the 33rd chapter “Absurdity of the Doctrine of the Transmigration of Souls”. The whole chapter emphasizes the futility of reincarnation devoid of any memory of past lives:
“They (the souls) must of necessity retain a remembrance of those things which have been previously accomplished, that they might fill up those in which they were still deficient, and not by always hovering, without intermission, round the same pursuits, spend their labor wretchedly in vain”.
Tertullian (145-220) in his Treatise on the Soul (see chap. 28-33), Tertullian traces the origin of reincarnationists ideas down to Pythagoras. He writes:
“If, indeed, the sophist of Samos is Plato’s authority for the eternally revolving migration of souls out of a constant alternation of the dead and the living states, then no doubt did the famous Pythagoras, rely on a falsehood, which was not only shameful, but also hazardous”.
His conclusion is that “we must likewise contend against that monstrous presumption, that in the course of the transmigration beasts pass from human beings, and human beings transmigrate from beasts”.
Gregory of Nyssa (335-395), the master theologian of that time, rejected any idea of predestination. See also: Reincarnation – “A Catholic Viewpoint”. This article refutes the early church believed in reincarnation.
These church fathers lived before the fifth ecumenical council, so it is untrue the doctrine of reincarnation was condemned to manipulate Christianity. Reincarnation was taught by some non-Christian movements, such as the Gnostics and the Neo-Platonists. Reincarnation has nothing in common with the teachings of the early church as it was rejected as heresy by the early church fathers.
WHY DOES CHRISTIANITY NOT ACCEPT REINCARNATION?
Reincarnation is opposite of the basic tenets of Christianity. God is sovereign and is not a helpless spectator of human tragedy. God will put an end to evil at the end of history (see Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:10-15). Karma and reincarnation never put an end to evil.
Belief in reincarnation affects morality and motivation for moral living. Reincarnation tenets lead to a detached stand to crime, theft, lying and other such social plagues. These are normal debts to be paid by their victims, due to past Karma. Social injustice cannot be punished. It would complicate payment of karmic debt.
Reincarnation is a threat to those seeking Christ: the need for Christ’s redemptive sacrifice for their sins. If the consequence for sin is rectified in future lives, the sacrifice of Christ becomes useless and absurd.
The Word of God rebuffs all attempts by reincarnationists to use the scriptures to support its false theory. No scripture has been found to support reincarnation.
The use of hypnosis and study of the “multiple personality phenomenon” to prove past life recall has proven to be completely unreliable in validating the information received from these cases. How are personalities distributed in their roles? Who decides which past life is to act next in the show? How can we tell when the person is possessed with a demon? It cannot be a random process. Using the words of Ian Wilson, “the show must have a ‘director’”.
Parapsychologists attribute the “director’s” role to a personal external entity, acting through channeling. Hypnosis generates conditions for contacting these entities as a result of abolishing normal consciousness. Instead of presenting their true identity, they can introduce themselves as personalities evoked from previous lives. External spirit interference can produce false stories to make it appear reincarnation is real to the person.
External personal entities exist will lies to us about spiritual reality. Demons have developed ingenious techniques to fool mankind about spiritual reality. The Apostle Paul states: “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light”. His servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.
Demon’s involvement in reincarnation fits their agenda perfectly in deceiving man about past life recalls and reincarnation. Under hypnosis, conditions are perfect to express themselves through while self-consciousness is abolished. Why should they not respond to the invitation to fulfill their purpose in such a fascinating way for a credulous and ignorant public? Each demon has inhabited many people and knows the details of each. It is easy to fool the possessed person as having a past life recall.
GENETIC MEMORY 1
It is not possible to reconcile Christianity and reincarnation. From a Christian perspective, most past life recalls are either from demon possession or inherited memory from ancestors.
Genetic Memory 1
Scientists trained flat worms to curl up when exposed to light by shocking them each time the light was turned on. Flat worms have the ability to regenerate themselves when cut in half. Cut them in half, the head end grows a new tail, and the tail grows a new head. Scientists exposed light to both versions of the worm and each responded according to previous conditionings of the original worm.
Common sense and neuroscience agreed that memory is contained in the brain, so how did the newly grown brain from the tail half come complete with memories?
A calf born of stock that is accustomed to cattle grids, but has never seen one is introduced to lines painted on a road to resemble a cattle grid. It will not cross. How was this knowledge communicated?
A new-born chick is placed in a room with a hawk. It frantically tries to find cover. It meets a chicken for the first time and is completely comfortable. Many call this instinct. How is instinct passed from one generation to the next? Instinct is a form of memory and would have to be stored in DNA. If instinct is stored in the DNA, then this would also explain all 3 of these examples.
The idea that memories are stored in genes is a recent and controversial one. It has been accepted since the experiments of Wilder Penfield in the fifties. Hidden away in each of us is a permanent record of our past. Have you smelled an aroma or heard a song, and were instantly transported back to a childhood memory.
Most neuroscientists continue to believe that long-term memories are built into the brain by complex connections. These connections, known as synapses join neurons up into complex networks that recreate specific patterns of brain activity (memories), days, weeks, or even years, later.
This model has problems. These connections need to be permanent and stable, and the brain is not. Nearly all brain molecules are replaced every few weeks. How long-lasting memories are stored by such an impermanent medium has confounded neuroscience for years. It is like writing a message on a piece of paper.
If we replaced the paper one molecule at a time, we would have a completely new piece of paper, with exactly the same appearance – except it would not have the message written on it. Neurobiologist, Sandra Pena de Ortiz, suggests the brain retains an archived blueprint of each neural network in order to create the replacement neuron as a structural and functional clone of its predecessor.
Nature’s blueprint of choice is DNA. It has an advantage of not undergoing turnover that other molecules do. It stable over time and has a repair facility if anything goes wrong. Pena believes permanent memories are stored in altered genes.
She and colleagues believe our DNA creates memory molecules, new novel proteins, from a unique blueprint that could be formed by neurons rearranging their DNA in response to each new experience. The unique structure of these memory molecules would enable them to snap into a specific position at the synapses, helping make memories stable without disturbing other synaptic structures. “Changes in synaptic connections wouldn’t remain intact for long, but gene rearrangements could be kept throughout the neuron’s life. Some scientists go even further and suggest that these memory molecules might store information themselves, that each individual neuron contains memory.
GENETIC MEMORY 2
The concept of genetic coding is something fixed at the beginning of our lives, not re-written daily and certainly not every brain cell allowed to tamper with that code.
There appears to be three memory systems in nature, memory of how to build an organism; a cognitive memory of events we experience; and an immune memory of past infections. Two out of three are based on DNA. Probably creation used the same tools for the third as well.
If true, that our identity, our self, leaves a permanent mark on our genome, we may pass to descendents much more than eye color. It is estimated 40% of known personality traits are inherited. Genetic research is proving an inter-relationship of all racial branches of humanity.
We are all related in the past with Caesar, Sitting Bull, Nelson Mandela, Confucius and Uncle Tom Cobble. Genetic transmission of memory is a sensible transport mechanism for the past and we all originated from Adam and Eve.
If memories are stored in our DNA (and 97% of it has no obvious function there is plenty of room). We pass our DNA to our children and on to their children. This accounts for the instincts of the chick and calf.
With memory stored in the genes, the flat worm’s tail can grow a new brain with an old memory? Since we also have instinctive memory and pass DNA characteristics to our children, it is possible to access ancestral memories located in our DNA. This easily explains past-life regression? When clients regress to memories from a previous life, they could be accessing DNA memory present in their genome blueprint from a distant ancestor.
The mind uses past experiences to decide the meaning of occurrences in the present. We are accustomed to thinking of past experiences being limited to this lifetime. The unconscious may have access to experiences stretching back generations. Many people experience memories under hypnosis finding answers to present problems.
All have avoided the same mistakes made earlier in our lives by remembering past life experiences stored in our brain or DNA.
This is consistent with the theory predicting that our experiences can be expressed in our genome. If inherited by our successors then they would be subject to the consequences of those experiences. It is extremely possible past life regression is based in science.
Elizabeth Young of Princeton University has overturned the accepted view of being born with a massive over-supply of brain cells. As we adapt to our environment, brain cells are stimulated by our experiences and strengthened. Those which are not required atrophy.
It was thought we cannot create new brain cells. Elizabeth Young has now proven this untrue. Brains do indeed grow new cells in response to new learning experiences. The experiences drawn from hypnosis and other means appears to be little more than genetic memory handed down by ancestry.
There are those who teach reincarnation. This false teaching makes a promise which it cannot keep—that men and women can have another chance after they die. The Bible teaches that death seals one’s fate. Our Lord taught this in Luke 16. The apostle John teaches this in Revelation 20. This is Peter’s teaching here. It is also what the writer to the Hebrews taught:
Father Time
