REINCARNATION AND CHRISTIANITY

.     The teaching of reincarnation is being advanced on many sides today as 
the philosophy and religion of the East makes its inroads in the West. Such 
teachings call for a response from the Christian community, which is in every 
way opposed to the idea that men's souls return time and time again to go 
through the cycles of birth, life and death, as it is taught in the Hindu 
systems which underlie all such concepts. 
.     Reincarnation is neither a proven fact of science, nor is it approved by 
the Bible. It should be remembered; However, that evidence of a scientific 
nature put forward to "disprove" reincarnation will do little, if any, good. 
Evidence of that sort can easily be reinterpreted. What must be emphasized is 
that there is absolutely no scientific evidence that proves it. On the other 
hand, there are many psychological and scientific evidences which show that 
the phenomena associated with the theory of reincarnation could as easily be 
produced by other means. 
.     It is very possible, for instance, for one to "learn" a language 
subconsciously by being in the presence of those who speak it, even for a 
short time, and then have something trigger that memory at a particular time. 
Again, it is possible to learn things about other places and times in a 
similar manner. While these do not account for all the claimed phenomena, they 
do account for a great part of them. 
.     Some knowledge is not obtainable by natural means, and since the Bible 
says that reincarnation does not occur, we can only conclude that the 
information comes through supernatural agencies, either good or bad. The 
question of whether the agencies are good or bad depends on what attitude they 
show toward Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Since reincarnation belittles the 
Atonement (Substitutionary) and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, we can 
identify these agencies as evil. 
.     The Bible certainly denies the teaching of reincarnation. While it does 
not mention the term reincarnation, it does mention it in context in speaking 
of John the Baptist and others, but this does not mean that it AGREES with the 
theory. It merely says that some people might have thought John was Elijah 
reincarnated; and perhaps that certain people thought the man born blind had 
sinned in another life, and that was the cause of his blindness. However, it 
tells of many other incorrect thoughts and actions of people. Where then does 
the Bible tell us that reincarnation is false? 
.     FIRST, it says in Hebrews 9:27 that it is appointed to everyone to die 
BUT ONCE, and after that the judgement (where our ETERNAL residence is decided 
- the New Earth or the Lake of Fire). There is no room for one to die over and 
over again. 
.     SECOND, the Bible teaches the OPPOSITE of reincarnation - RESURRECTION! 
The righteous in Christ will be raised to Eternal Life, and the lost to 
Eternal punishment. RESURRECTION involves not a transmigration of the soul, in 
which it takes on a new body, but a raising up and glorification of the old 
body, reuniting soul and body for eternity. 
.     THIRD, reincarnation is destroyed by the very idea of salvation in and 
by the COMPLETED work of Jesus Christ. We cannot save ourselves, no matter 
what the number of lives we go through. We are imperfect, and God is perfect. 
That which is imperfect cannot possibly bring forth perfection (for then the 
effect would be greater than the cause!), and God can ONLY accept perfection. 
It is for this reason that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for each of 
us who receive His payment for our sins. Jesus bore on Himself our iniquities 
and paid the penalty for our sins. By doing so; Jesus IMPUTED His 
righteousness on us. 
.     Reincarnation is FINALLY a "works-Righteousness," and Paul reminds us in 
Titus 3:5 that we are saved NOT by works of righteousness that we have done, 
but by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit through 
Jesus Christ. If we are due to be reincarnated over and over again, then the 
death of Jesus Christ has no meaning for us, and is of no effect, for we must 
still work our way to salvation, making ourselves better, instead of allowing 
Jesus Christ to make us acceptable to God. 
.     Aside from Biblical arguments against reincarnation, there are various 
philosophical and scientific arguments. We suggest that you look up the 
article on reincarnation in THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY, edited by Paul 
Edwards (all college libraries USUALLY have it), and see some of the arguments 
espoused there. In addition, the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA has an excellent 
dissertation on the matter under the subject "Metempsychosis." Additional 
material is listed under the subject "Reincarnation" and "Metempsychosis" in 
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE. It must be 
remembered, though, that people will not always accept evidence which is 
objectively adequate. They may not be willing to look at the evidence 
OBJECTIVELY. The best approach is to proceed on positive direction, showing 
the reliability of the Bible, and that the Bible presents Jesus Christ as 
having proved Himself to be God, the Messiah, by His resurrection (A proven 
and reliable historical event), then showing that Jesus Christ accorded the 
Bible of infallibility, and then showing that the Bible proves reincarnation 
is wrong. 

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