REINCARNATION AND THE BIBLE INTRODUCTION Reincarnation? Surely, no one believes that! Such is a common retort among Christians when this subject is raised. But, the magnitude of this misconception is revealed in this arresting quotation: "According to a 1982 Gallup poll, 23 percent of Americans, that is, almost one in every four, believes in reincarnation. This is so even though nine out of every ten Americans claim Christianity as their religious preference . This proportion increases to 30 percent among college-age persons---eighteen to twenty-four years old. Furthermore, about 17 percent of those who claim to attend church regularly also claim to believe in reincarnation. The figures are even more astonishing when one is confronted with the statistics that claim that 21 percent of the Protestant population and 25 percent of professing Catholics believe in reincarnation" (Norman L. Geisler and J. Yutaka Amano, `The Reincarnation Sensation', Tyndale, Wheaton, Illinois, 1987, pp 7,8). Any doctrine that affects this many people is a challenge which the church must face. This poll preceded by a full year the publication of actress Shirley MacLaine's widely-read book, `Out on a Limb'. Since then the book has passed through at least thirty-one printings; this fact alone is a strong witness to its popularity. The result has been that an increasing number of people accept MacLaine's point of view and have come to believe in reincarnation. Are we ready to give a reason ed response to reincarnation? This tract is designed as an aid for Christians in their efforts to answer the challenge posed by reincarnation. DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS There are perhaps as many different versions of reincarnation as there are people who believe in it. Although it seems everyone has a different posture, there are some common threads among these differing viewpoints. Two terms that are common need definitions. First, what is meant by reincarnation? Generally, reincarnation refers to the process whereby a soul is incarnated (from Latin, "in + flesh") successively into different bodies. A prolific writer in favor of reincarnation has given the following definition: "We may define reincarnation then by saying that it is a plan whereby imperishable beings are supplied with physical bodies appropriate to their stage of growth, and through which they can come in contact with the lessons of physical life" (Irving S. Cooper, `Reincarnation: The Hope of the World', Theosophical Press, Wheaton, Illinois, 1955, p 17). Second, before we can comprehend the reincarnation process we must understand the meaning of the word `karma'. `Karma' (from Sanskrit for "action" or "doing") is the term assigned to the "law" or "universal principle" that supposedly governs all souls. Huston Smith provides this description: "Every physical event has its cause, and every cause will have its determinate effects.... The present condition of each individual's interior life---how happy he is, how confused or serene, how much he can see---is an exact product of what he has wanted and got in the past; and equally, his present thoughts and decisions are determining his future states. Each act he directs upon the world has its equal and opposite reaction on himself. Each thought and deed delivers an unseen chisel blow toward the sculpting of his destiny" (as quoted by J. Head & S.L. Cranston in `Reincarnation: The Phoenix Fire Mystery', Julian Press/Crown Publishers, New York, 1977, p 13). Put simply then, what you do in this life bears a causal relationship to the quality of life you enjoy in your next incarnation. This is the idea, taken to the extreme, that everyone "gets what he deserves." How does reincarnation allegedly work? Essentially, the popular western version says that at some point in the past your soul broke off from God and is striving to return. You have an eternal soul that has always existed and will never cease to exist. Your soul entered the material realm (your first incarnation) and has, in the main, been progressing upwardly toward the ultimate goal of reabsorption into God. The quality of your current incarnation is based upon how well you lived in your previous life; how you live in this current life determines how you will fare in the next. Perfection is the goal, and you move at your own pace. Just as everyone was once a part of God, so everyone will eventually attain perfection and be reabsorbed. Even this "God" state or "reabsorption" means different things from theory to theory. However, all these theories have a common goal---that we should get off the "wheel of rebirth." ALLEGED PROOFS OF REINCARNATION Problems "Answered" by Reincarnation Reincarnationists suggest that there are at least four major problems of life that only reincarnation can solve. First, there is the problem of justice. Irving Cooper explains the problem as follows: "One of the hardest problems for a human person to solve is the reconciliation of the heart-breaking injustice of many of the conditions of this world with a belief in the perfect Justice and Love of God. Some souls are born in slums and taught nothing but crime; others are reared in refined families and tenderly guarded by loving fathers and mothers.... Some are born into crippled and diseased bodies; others into bodies that are perfect. Why? Some are born as idiots, while others are gifted with brilliant intellectual powers. Again, why?... "We may reduce this reasoning to a very simple statement: Life is unjust if we experience any undeserved suffering or unearned happiness. Much comes to us which we have neither earned nor deserved in this life. Therefore, if a just God exists, we must have lived on earth before and during that time started the causes which now are controlling circumstances" (`Theosophy Simplified', Theosophical Press, Wheaton, Illinois, 1964, pp 66-67). Second, there is the problem of destiny. This is the problem of understanding questions like: "How did I get here?", "Why am I here?", "Where am I going?", and "What is the meaning and purpose of life?" According to reincarnationists, when `karma' and rebirth are calculated into the formula these problems are easily solved. Cooper writes: "Furthermore, what is the value of physical existence to a soul who inhabits the body of an infant that lives but a few hours, or the body of a child criminal born and reared in the slums? If we live but one life, there is no satisfactory explanation; but if this life is one of many arranged in an ascending series, then we see in the two conditions just mentioned, the payment of a debt in one case, and the first efforts of an ignorant untaught soul in the other" (`Theosophy Simplified', p 63). Third, reincarnationists claim that they alone have the answer to the problem of child prodigies. Most of us have heard of instances in which children were extremely gifted in, for example, music at a very early age. The reincarnationist reasons that such children owe their talent to previous lives in which they were musically inclined: "May it not be that the innate qualities of a child indicate quite clearly the general lines along which the soul of that child has been trained in previous incarnations, and that every such quality is in reality a memory-summary? "It is not wholly illogical, for example, to suppose that if a soul had been interested in music in the past and a musician for several lives, any sort of musical instruction would easily be grasped at the beginning of a new incarnation..." (`Reincarnation: The Hope of the World', p 95). Fourth, there is the problem of retrocognition. Retrocognition is the term used to describe the phenomenon of remembering past lives. One example has been recounted in these words: "In April 1927 an article appeared in the `Los Angeles Examiner' signed by C.H.W., telling of a New England child who had a frightful waking vision of two big yellow cats eating up a person named `Marcella.' In daily life the little girl knew of no one by that name, nor had she ever seen a lion in her present short life.... The circumstances had about passed from active memory when it occurred again...and kept recurring, although with diminishing frequency and violence, all through her childhood. It was a subject about which she was very sensitive and would not talk nor permit anyone else to do so. "She grew up and married, and her husband was sent by our government upon some diplomatic mission to Rome. One day she was a member of a dinner party at which sat a lady, a stranger to her, whose face was so familiar that it attracted her eyes again and again. Upon leaving the dinner table this stranger came up to her and asked her to walk out into the garden...and when beyond the hearing of the rest of the party she turned to our little New England girl, saying, `Don't you remember me? I was Marcella and you saw me torn to pieces by the lions in the arena. I felt positive I should meet you in this incarnation'" (`IN: Reincarnation: The Phoenix Fire Mystery', p 411). Supposedly, if one knows of his past lives, he will be better able to live his present life. As a result of this belief, it is currently in vogue for people to engage in "past life therapy" so that they might discover a previous life experience that will explain their current abilities and limitations. In these therapy sessions the believers (we are told) are taken back in time and are thus allegedly able to describe in precise detail material things as well as people with which and whom they were associated in prior incarnations. For the reincarnationist, such experiences serve almost as empirical evidence for the truthfulness of his beliefs. Each of these problems is said to be adequately answered only by an appeal to reincarnation. `Karma' will straighten out the justice problem; ultimate and universal perfection will eventually solve the problem of destiny; rebirth seems a suitable solution to the problem of child prodigies. And reincarnationists believe that retrocognition is truly the recall of past lives. Reincarnation's "Biblical" Support Not only do reincarnationists employ this type of evidence to argue their point, but they also call in the Bible to testify on behalf of their world view. And really, if such a doctrine is to be accepted in "Christian" nations, its proponents must deal with the Bible. Instead of discrediting or disregarding it, western reincarnationists tend to use the Bible in support of their doctrine. The following are the more commonly abused biblical references that they claim teach reincarnation: * Matthew 11:8-14. They aver that John was the reincarnation of Elijah. * John 9:1-3. They say the disciples believed in reincarnation and that Jesus did not correct them. * Exodus 20:5. They hold this to mean punishment in future lives for present sins. * Matthew 5:48. They claim that Jesus was here promising perfection to all men. * John 3:3. Here (they say) Jesus teaches reincarnation. * Galatians 6:7; Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6, etc. To them, these verses teach the law of `karma'. Other passages are also used but these are an adequate representation. So this is their case: only they can answer the truly important puzzles of life, and the Christian Scriptures plainly teach reincarnation. A BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO REINCARNATION The "Problems" Answered by the Bible Is this doctrine correct? Have Christians simply been blind to it? Let us consider the biblical response to reincarnation. First, we need to address the "problems" that (we are told) only reincarnation can solve. What of the problem of justice? We would stress first that there is a God in heaven Who cares about the suffering in this world. The problem of evil is indeed a complex issue; however, reincarnation's answer is hardly acceptable. The balance of biblical teaching relative to this matter is that: (1) God created a perfect world (Genesis 1:32); (2) man is a free moral agent (cf. Joshua 24:15; John 5:39,40); (3) free moral agents have the ability to make bad choices, and often do; (4) the bad choice made by man in the garden brought sin into the world (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12); (5) the bad choices of men continue to be a source of evil, pain, and suffering in the world; (6) Jesus gave His life on Calvary's cross to remedy the problem (John 3:16); (7) there is a heaven to which all can and must strive to enter (Colossians 1:5; Revelation 22:14); (8) the existence of evil does not impugn the love, knowledge, or power of God; His love for us and His knowledge of our plight are clearly demonstrated in that He employed His unlimited power to provide the perfect solution to our problem---that is what Calvary was all about! A comparison of this rationally sound biblical solution with that offered by reincarnationists reveals immediately the horror of their system. It is barbaric to conceive that every deformed child, raped woman, and cancer victim is "just getting what he/she deserves"! The Bible has a clear and unmistakable answer to the problem of destiny. We came from God (Genesis 1:26). We are here to serve God (Ecclesiastes 12:13; Micah 6:8). We are heading toward a universal judgment (II Corinthians 5:10). Where we will spend eternity is determined by our response to Christ in the only human sojourn that we will have (II Thessalonians 1:7-10). Contrariwise, reincarnation's imaginary "wheel of rebirth" is both fatalistic and incapable of answering the problem of destiny. Child prodigies are no real problem. We all come to this life with different abilities, talents, and tendencies. The Father above is the source of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). What matters in life is not what you have, but how you are using it in the service of the King (Matthew 25:14-30). The solution proposed by reincarnation is strange indeed. Why is it that there are so few child prodigies? If the "wheel of rebirth" has been turning very long, it would be reason able to conclude that all of us would eventually be born with certain innate abilities that we have been perfecting for untold centuries. So why is it that in a world of 5 billion souls, child prodigies are so rare? The problem of retrocognition is indeed a peculiar one. How can we explain it? It is obvious that a great deal of it can be dismissed as a hoax. But what of the genuine cases in which it appears that someone is remembering something from a time in which they have never lived, and a place they have never been? The most obvious answer is that these "memories" are simply the products of an overactive imagination that is recombining data of which the conscious mind is unaware. We know so little about how the mind works, and the brain is by far the most complicated computer known to man. Its workings are so intricate that all man can do is just stand in awe of it. The retrocognition phenomenon is just one of those things like `d‚ j‚ vu' that the Lord did not see fit to explain. Maybe He has left them as riddles for us to discover in the years to come, or maybe we will never know. The fact that the Scriptures are silent about these and similar matters is an indication that they are insignificant relative to life and godliness (II Peter 1:3). Reincarnation fares no better on this point, owing to the fact that very few people who were allegedly reborn have even a scintilla of memory from previous experiences. Reincarnation's "Biblical" Support---Answered Second, let us examine the alleged biblical proofs for reincarnation. These people go to absurd lengths in order to find biblical justification for their system. Jesus did not teach that John the baptizer was the reincarnation of Elijah; instead, He merely made a comparison between these two great men. Jesus' point was that John fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy that seemed to indicate that Elijah would return. When II Kings 2:15 and Luke 1:17 are taken toget her and understood correctly, the proper relationship between John and Elijah is made clear. John was no more the reincarnation of Elijah than was Elisha. It is obvious that Elisha was not the reincarnation of Elijah (if he were, where did the spirit of Elisha go when he received Elijah's?). The truth is that in both Elisha and John one could see a similarity to Elijah. Elisha had the miraculous powers of Elijah, and John possessed the same powerful courage and doctrinal soundness of Elijah. Given the reincarnationists' blatant misunderstanding of the passage, it is little wonder that Jesus felt compelled to preface His remarks concerning John and Elijah: "if ye will receive it." When considering the passage in John 9, we are again astonished at the total lack of understanding reincarnationists show toward the Bible. They are obviously reading into the text what they want it to say. John represents the disciples as being more concerned with the reason for the man's blindness than for the fact that he sat in the presence of the only One who could heal him! Regardless of what they may have thought about reincarnation, Jesus flatly denied the possibility with His response: "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be manifest in him" (John 9:3). Reincarnation says that handicaps in this life are the result of bad `karma'. This man (to be consistent with reincarnationists' doctrine) must have been wicked in his previous incarnation to be born like this (e.g., maybe he put out another person's eyes in that prior life). But Jesus said---not so! This man's blindness had nothing to do with specific sin. If the man had no bad `karma' to "work off", and yet was born blind, where is the "wonderful justice" reincarnationists' claim only their system can provide? Clearly, this passage deals a death blow to the reincarnationists' position. Further more, it is incorrect to suggest that the disciples believed in reincarnation. The most that we can say, from the information given, is that they believed (like Job's "friends") that pain and suffering were traceable to specific sins. Hence, they puzzled over the fact that this man's blindness was from birth---so how could his sins be the cause? The passage in Exodus 20:5 teaches---not reincarnation---but exactly what it says. Often the consequences of a person's sins are borne by children and grandchildren. For example, if a woman took `LSD' in the 1960's and then as a result gave birth to a deformed child, we could not say that this child bore the mother's guilt. But we could say that the child was burdened with the consequences of the mother's sin, which is quite another thing. Does Jesus promise that all men will one day be perfect? While we admit that the translation: "You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48) is correct, the statement must be understood in its context. Jesus was not promising universal salvation, but rather was pointing to the maturity that is exhibited when one lives according to the great moral teachings which He had just presented. He was saying (in effect), "You should do these things, and when you do you will be like God in this respect." The true import of the verse is a far cry from the warped interpretation offered by reincarnationists. Nicodemus came closer to expressing belief in reincarnation than did Jesus in John 3:3-5. The Lord did not say that without reincarnation one would never reach nirvana; He did say that unless a man is born of water (baptism) and the spirit (i.e., accepting the teaching provided by the Spirit) he would never attain to the heavenly citizenship in the church (kingdom). Does the New Testament teach the law of `karma'? Absolutely not! The New Testament teaches the general principle that actions have consequences. This is not the same as `karma', for according to `karma' every good deed is rewarded and every wicked deed is punished. In Christ we are granted the blessing of attaining forgiveness for sins--- "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). This passage is one among scores that teaches that salvation is not earned, but accepted as a free gift. Whereas reincarnation would require the working off of a "karmic debt", the Lord provides free forgiveness to all baptized, penitent believers (Acts 2:38) who continue to walk "in the light" (I John 1:7-10). CONCLUSION These considerations all point to the same inescapable conclusion-- -one cannot be a faithful Christian and believe and teach the doctrine of reincarnation. It is diametrically opposed to the teachings of the inspired Word of God. In conclusion, the following is a brief list of insurmountable conflicts between the Bible and reincarnation. * Reincarnation denies the existence of the one, true, transcendent God. * Reincarnation makes no real distinction between God and man. * Reincarnation contradicts the Bible doctrines of Creation, the Fall, and the Scheme of Redemption. * Reincarnationists patronize Jesus for His moral teachings, but deny the truth about Him. * Reincarnation eliminates the need for Christ's blood by teaching that everyone will be saved by works. * Reincarnation cannot account for the cruel treatment and brutal death of Jesus by its law of `karma'. * Reincarnation denies the reality of Hell. Although there are many other problems with this false doctrine, these items are so important as to force one to conclude that reincarnation is decidedly untrue, unbiblical, and anti-Christ. 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