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Reincarnation.. It’s Meaning and Consequences..
Past-life recall as modern proof for reincarnation?
An intriguing aspect of the testimonies recorded under hypnosis is the fact that they heavily depend on the already existing data in current historic knowledge. In many cases, although the information corresponds to generally acknowledged historical data, further archaeological discoveries contradict them, casting serious doubts on the veracity of "past lives".
Reincarnation and Cosmic Justice
The concept of reincarnation stands in contradiction with logic, social justice, morality and even 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. Why then accept it as a major spiritual belief?
Reincarnation and Christianity
Today’s religious syncretism not only accepts reincarnation as one of its basic doctrines but also tries to prove that it can be found in the Bible and in the history of the Church. We will therefore analyze the basic texts in the Bible which are claimed to imply reincarnation, examine the position of some important Church fathers who were suspected of having accepted it, emphasize the basic antagonism of this doctrine with Christian teaching, and then find a proper explanation for the past life recall experiences mentioned earlier, an explanation that should be compatible with Christian thought.
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Reincarnation and the Council of Nicea
In her book Out on a Limb, Shirley MacLaine wrote the following
"The theory of reincarnation is recorded in the Bible. But the proper interpretations were struck from it during an Ecumenical Council meeting of the Catholic Church in Constantinople sometime around 553 A.D, called the Council of Nicea. The Council members voted to strike those teachings from the Bible in order to solidify Church control." [01]
In response to this highly inaccurate claim. Paul R. Eddy, Associate Professor of Theology at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota said
"In response to this claim, we must begin by pointing out a few basic historical inaccuracies. First, The Council of Nicea, the first of the seven Ecumenical councils, took place in 325 A.D. It was concerned with the teachings of Arius and their implications for a correct understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. The documents from this Council offer no evidence that the topic of reincarnation ever came up for discussion, let alone that it was condemned and removed from the Bible. No doubt this claim means to refer, rather, to the fifth Ecumenical Council, held in 553 - the Council of Constantinople. The primary purpose of this Council was to ease the tensions in the Church caused by the Council of Chalcedon, 100 years previous. Again, there is no evidence whatsoever that the idea of reincarnation was ever discussed, let alone condemned and purged from the Bible. What the reincarnationists are probably referring to here is the condemnation of Origenism, which included belief in the pre-existence of the soul. This should not, however, be confused with the notions of the karmic cycle of reincarnation. This is clear from Origen's own words on this matter when he writes of "the dogma of transmigration, which is foreign to the Church of God not handed down by the Apostles, nor anywhere set forth in the Scriptures." ....
“Another problem with this theory is the fact that manuscripts of the Bible exist dating back to the third century. For example, the Bodmer Papyri (dated around 200-225), the Chester Beatty Papyri (dated around 200-250), Codex Vaticanus (dated around 325-350), and Codex Sinaiticus (dated around 340) are all documents written centuries prior to the 533 Council, and none of them reveal any supposed reincarnationist teachings that were removed from later editions of the Bible! Beyond this, it is known that the core canon of the Bible was essentially recognized and acknowledged throughout the orthodox Church as early as the late second and early third centuries, as evidenced by the list contained in the Muratorian Fragment (dated around 170). All of this points towards the impossibility of a conspiratorial purgation of the doctrine of reincarnation--or any other doctrine for that matter - from the Bible during any of the Ecumenical Councils." [02]
[See More About Origen and his influence on the doctrine of the Trinity HERE] and more about The Ecumenical Councils HERE
What The Bible Teaches
By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:19) (Note that this verse says you will return to dust, not that you will return to another body when you die.).
His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish. (Psalms 146:4)
For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20)
then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:46)
The Christian's hope rests not on the reincarnation of the soul, but in the resurrection of the body (1 Corinthians 15:42-55).
we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)
And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, (Hebrews 9:27) (No second chances).
End Notes
[01] Shirley MacLaine. ‘Out on a Limb’. New York: Bantam Books, 1983, pp. 234-5.
[02] Dr. Paul R. Eddy, Associate Professor of Theology at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota. As quoted in Sue Bohlin’s response to the question..."Was Reincarnation Ever in the Bible?" Probe Ministries. Retrieved from
http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4222727/k.4FCD/Was_Reincarnation_Ever_in_the_Bible.htm
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