Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: sandrock@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Mark Sandrock) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Reincarnation Message-ID: Date: 12 Jun 91 02:34:05 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Lines: 94 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu oracle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Brian T. Coughlin) writes: > Well... the topic of reincarnation is a complex one, and > disproof of it would require more than simply looking for Biblical > texts which seem to disprove it. Strictly speaking, there are no > Scriptural passages which directly preclude reincarnation; one could > always find "loopholes" in Scripture to allow for such belief > (though, admittedly, there is an overall "sense" of having only one > finite life followed by judgement day... Jesus's teachings were > set in such a context [Mark 12:18-27, John 11], as was the teaching of > the ancient Israelites; otherwise, the idea of reincarnation would > not seem so strange to Christians); rather, it is an article of > faith concerning whether or not one is reincarnated or not. Reincarnation is not really so complex, but rather, accepting the reality of this happening allows one to understand and to explain many otherwise inexplicable events, both past and present. The existence of "stigmata" and "child prodigies", for example, as well as in general the apparent "injustice" in the various circumstances into which people are born. In reality, there can be no injustice here, as every incarnation takes place according to the simple, inexerable laws of Creation, which fulfill justice. (The laws of "sowing and reaping" and also "like attracts like".) Looking at the Bible, one can see that the idea of reincarnation was not unknnown to the disciples by their question to Jesus: "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:1-2) The response of Jesus to their question was not a refutation of the sense of the question, but rather an explanation that this was a special case, and therefore one not anticipated by the disciples in their question. Thus, Jesus did not speak against reincarnation, nor did He speak in favor of it, as far as we know. There are also the questions to Jesus (Matt 16:14) and to John the Baptist (John 1:21) as to whether each was the reincarnation of the Prophet Elias.. The following words also point to the reality of prenatal existence: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." (Jer 1:5) Although we do not have any words of Jesus refering explicitly to the fact of reincarnation, certain of His words refer indirectly to it... "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulflled." (Matt 24:34) The meaning here is that all those human souls incarnated in the Jewish people during Christ's lifetime who had not accepted his teaching, or had even reviled, mocked, and persecuted Him, would be incarnated again on earth today at the time of the Last Judgment in order to have to make their final decision for or against the Message of God... Too, the words of Paul, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Gal 6:7) express the knowledge of the Law of Sowing and Reaping, which is often carried out over the course of several earth lives. Today, reincarnation is considered to be "Eastern thought". It is the Christian teachings above all which reject reincarnation, or the exist- ence of the soul before incarnation. If we inquire as to how this rejection has come about, we find that at the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 553 it was decided to annul the doctrine of reincarnation. But already in 543 the "divine emperor" Justinian had issued an edict (Canones adversus Originem) against the Christian theologian Origen, who believed in reincarnation; which edict stated among other things that anyone who said or thought that the souls of men had an earlier life (pre-existence) ... and were now incarnated in bodies ... would be anathematized! The knowledge of reincarnation was thus withheld from many people, who with this knowledge could have given a deeper meaning and greater sig- nificance to their lives on earth and in the beyond. In summary, it cannot be proven that Christ did not speak about rein- carnation and that His words were simply not recorded. We do know that there were "many things He had yet to say to us" (John 16:12) and to me this demands that as followers of His Message we do our utmost to be open to that new knowledge, which shall no doubt come to us at the right time. It then becomes our own responsibility to recognize and to make use of it for our own personal spiritual awakening and ascent. Think about it! Best regards, Mark Sandrock -- BITNET: sandrock@uiucscs Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Internet: sandrock@aries.scs.uiuc.edu Chemical Sciences Computing Services Voice: 217-244-0561 505 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801