Reincarnation and the Bible: A Forgotten Doctrine

By Joshua L Tilghman

This week I would like to address the concept of reincarnation and its relevance to the Bible. Next we'll

look at scriptures that some use to support reincarnation, as well as scriptures that opponents use to

refute it. Finally, I'll explain what my personal beliefs are on this fascinating subject.

Growing up and attending traditional church services, I was never told about reincarnation; it certainly

wasn't up for discussion in Wednesday night Bible study. Of course, you can hardly blame religious

leaders for leaving it out of their teachings when everything they have studied and read probably

refuted the idea. But many people today-including some religious leaders-do not know that

reincarnation was a common belief at the time of Christ. In fact, even the disciples of Jesus accepted it.

John chapter nine makes this absolutely clear. In this incident, the disciples and Jesus pass a blind man

on the side of the road. The disciples then asked Jesus if it was this man or his parents who sinned to

make him be born blind. The question reveals what they believed, for how can a man come into this

world blind because of sin if he had not lived a previous life to do the sinning?

For many years following Christ's ministry, reincarnation was believed by many of the most influential

Christians. Origen stated, "The soul has neither beginning nor end. [They] come into this world

strengthened by the victories or weakened by the defeats for their previous lives." Many centuries later,

reincarnation was so widespread among Christians that the Roman emperor Justinian took action that

led to its banishment in the mid sixth century AD. It is interesting that this was accomplished by a

Roman emperor. At this time, the church was more of a state institution than an avenue of spirituality,

and I imagine a belief in reincarnation probably wasn't in the best interest of an emperor who

demanded total obedience from his subjects; if the people were allowed to believe reincarnation was

true, then eternal punishment really wouldn't be the judgment for a soul who disregarded the divine

orders of the Christian emperor.

Because of the efforts of Justinian and many others, it didn't take long for this doctrine to be

systematically removed from Christian theology. And as you probably already know, most Christians

didn't have access to the scriptures. In fact, at certain times in history, it wasn't just reincarnation that

was banned-READING THE BIBLE WAS TOO! So it REALLY shouldn't surprise us that the idea of

reincarnation didn't survive the divine will of the emperor, and has only resurfaced in the last few

centuries when more people are able to think critically about what the scriptures truly mean.

So where does the idea of reincarnation surface in the Bible? Actually, there are too many places for one

blog post, so let's go over the more popular ones used for reincarnation discussions.

One of the most well-known prophecies in the Old Testament is the return of Elijah. Prominent

scriptures teach that Elijah must return to earth to prepare the way for the Lord. In fact, according to

common Jewish belief, Elijah was to come and "restore all things" before any messiah could appear. So

in order for Jesus to have been the messiah, this prophecy had to have come to fruition. And it seems

that Jesus confirmed that it did.

In Matthew 11:14 Jesus tells the multitude of John the Baptist: "If you are willing to accept it, he [John]

is Elijah who is to come." Jesus also states in the Gospel of Mark: "But I tell you that Elijah has come, and

they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him."

The phrase "...as it was written of him..." which is speaking of Elijah, makes this whole point pretty clear:

Jesus was trying to convey that John the Baptist was of the same spirit as that of Elijah.

I think these scriptures are pretty clear about who John was. Nevertheless, and to be fair to the

opponents of the idea of reincarnation being supported in the Bible, there do seem to be scriptures that

refute it, at least on the surface. But upon close inspection, I do not think they are very strong. For

instance, many Westerners-often ones that have not studied what reincarnation truly is or means-will

combat the reincarnation of Elijah as John with Luke 1:17, which states that John will go before the

messiah "...in the spirit and power of Elias [Elijah]." They conclude that "in the spirit and power of Elijah"

means it wasn't Elijah. This is probably one of the worst arguments an opponent could give. Why?

Because returning to the earth in the "spirit and power" of someone who has already lived on the earth

IS REINCARNATION! Actually, there isn't really a much better definition for it. It would seem that the

opponents of Biblical reincarnation haven't thought this one through very well, and only someone who

didn't understand the concept of reincarnation would use this scripture as proof against it. The sad part

is that there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of websites that do in fact use this argument.

Opponents of Biblical reincarnation also use John 1:21-23 as ammunition. Here, the Levites ask John the

Baptist point blank if he is Elijah that was to come. John responds by telling them no. So If John really

was the reincarnated Elijah, why would he deny it?

We could also ask why John didn't know Jesus was the true messiah while in jail before being beheaded.

In the beginning of his ministry, the gospels make it clear that John understood exactly who Jesus was.

But after being put in jail, he went through a period of doubt where he wasn't sure if Jesus really was

THE messiah or not, so he sent his disciples to personally ask him. It seems John lost faith when he failed

to comprehend the full extent of Jesus' ministry. Couldn't John have also made the mistake of not

realizing he was the reincarnation of the spirit to be in Elijah before?

When I began to understand more of what reincarnation was, I realized that just because John didn't

believe he was Elijah reincarnated doesn't mean much. Each reincarnated life is a culmination of

previous lives and conscious experiences before it. Reincarnation is not about the exact same person

coming back to inhabit a different body. It's about many life experiences that one soul goes through in

order to grow and hopefully mature. Each incarnation of the soul can therefore still be understood to b

a unique individual person. And when that soul dies, that same soul doesn't come back. Why? Because

what reincarnates is that same soul in addition to the culminate experiences that soul has had in

perpetuity. Let's say that I, Joshua Tilghman, was to reincarnate on the earth two hundred years from

now. Is it Joshua Tilghman that is reincarnating? Not exactly. However, some of the same personality

traits that made up Joshua Tilghman would reincarnate.

We must also remember that the Old Testament states Elijah must come back to prepare the way of the

messiah. So if you don't believe Elijah returned in the spirit of John, how can you believe Jesus was the

messiah?

Another scripture often used to refute reincarnation is Hebrews 9:27. It states "...it is appointed men

once to die..."

But even this is within the confines of reincarnation. As we already discussed, after death it is not the

exact same soul that returns. It is the culmination of all of that soul's incarnations which results in a

unique individual every incarnation cycle. So even in the doctrine of reincarnation, it is still appointed

unto man once to die! As both nature and Jesus taught, through death always comes more physical life!

The death of one tree or plant produces thousands of more lives. Reincarnation is really not much

different.

So why does mainstream Christianity still vehemently deny reincarnation today? One of the most

prominent reasons is because it contradicts the idea of a resurrection after death. However, this is

where I believe the institutionalized church of antiquity also missed the point. The resurrection does not

take place after death, as the literal interpretation supposes. The resurrection takes place while you

LIVE, as a spiritual experience. As the Gospel of Philip, a Gnostic scripture, states:

"People who say they will first die and then arise are mistaken. If they do not first receive resurrection

while they are alive, once they have died they will receive nothing."

This scripture was written because the Gnostics of antiquity understood that the literalists did not fully

comprehend the spiritual intent of the New Testament writings. Even Jesus told Nicodemus that you

must be "born again", which better translates as "born from above". This being born from above is a

spiritual birth that happens while one is yet alive in the physical. When you combine this with Jesus'

statement that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, it all becomes very clear; becoming born from

above IS a resurrection!

If we are honest with ourselves, even most children would find the idea of God putting back together a

body after it has been decomposed by worms and bacteria a little far-fetched.

I would now like to share a little more about my personal beliefs on reincarnation. Consider the

following scenario, as I have:

Imagine a baby dying and then appearing before God. Since we are judged by the deeds done on this

earth, what crown would this baby be able to place at the feet of Jesus? In other words, what could the

baby offer in return for reward? Not only would the baby be able to offer nothing, but what could the

baby receive? Wouldn't this be the ultimate example of something totally unjust and unfair? The baby

would not have even had the chance of offering something to God.

Consider another scenario: how can a merciful God create a place of eternal punishment for a sinner,

especially when that God KNEW before hand that the creation would end up there? If God really did

this, is "merciful" the right word to describe Him?

After thinking for myself instead of believing what I have been told about the Bible, I can't help but

wonder how much institutionalized Christianity strayed from its spiritually humble beginnings. I am

willing to bet a whole lot.

Finally, and as you probably already know, reincarnation works on the principle of karma. This is exactly

the same thing as reaping what you sow! THAT is just. THAT is merciful. This is also truly in line with a

loving Father who rains both on the just and unjust! So yes, I think the idea of reincarnation is a very

logical belief, and personally, I am glad to see that Jesus supports it.

What do you think?

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