Reincarnation

This essentially teaches that after death the soul enters another body. Ones karma (deeds) will determine their quality of existence in the next life.

The verse in the Bible that best deals with this error is in Hebrews. It says that, 'It is appointed unto man ONCE to die and after this the judgment.' (Hebrews 9:27)
The Old Testament speaks of people that have familiar spirits. These are not reincarnated spirits. Subjects under hypnosis actually open themselves up to these demons. These demon spirits are FAMILIAR with those that have lived before and convince the gullible subjects that they have lived before. This could explain how people under hypnosis can recall things from long ago associated with a particular person that they did not even know.
This site covers lots of topics so the best way to get an accurate picture of the diversity of views out there is by going out there and talking to the ones that believe such things. Going to message boards and egroups to discuss and debate these subjects makes my conclusions more accurate and helpful. Finally, I can find what the Bible says and post it on my site. The following is from some of those discussions.

Many times I have heard New Agers and Reincarnationists declare that John the Baptist was a reincarnation of Elijah. They often will quote the verses in the Bible which say, "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias (Elijah) truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist." (Matthew 17:11 ff)
Without looking at other scriptures it would seem that it is pretty clear that John the Baptist was Elijah reincarnated. However, there are a few things we need to look at.

First, Elijah never died in the first place. He was taken up alive in a whirlwind.(2 Kings 2:11) This fact goes against the reincarnation theory that one dies first then their soul moves on to another body.

Second, the book of Revelation says that when the two witnesses come in the future one of them will have the powers that Elijah had in the Old Testament. The AntiChrist will finally kill the two witnesses and their bodies will lay in the street for three days. Then they will be resurrected. This will be the ONE death that every man (including Elijah) must experience before the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)

Thirdly, the other scriptures clarify the situation regarding John the Baptist. In the book of John when speaking of John the Baptist it says, "And they asked him (John the Baptist), Art thou Elias? And he saith, I AM NOT. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No...." (John 1:21 ff)

So why did Jesus say what he did? In the book of Luke it says this concerning John the Baptist. It says that, "..he shall go before him (Jesus) in the spirit and power of Elias...." (Luke 1:17 ff) The answer is that John came in the power and spirit (zeal) of Elijah but was not Elijah the person.

Can Reincarnation be reconciled with the Bible?

"Trying to reach for an answer in this karmic cycle is like putting your hand in a bucket of glue and then trying to wipe it clean." ( The Lotus and the Cross-Jesus Talks With Buddha, Ravi Zacharias, pg 20 ).

From http://www.saintsalive.com/general/unrainbow.htm :

"In the face of all these absurdities, the only thing the reincarnationist can do is fall back on the pseudo-science of parapsychology and claim that there is evidence for people who remember experiences from past lives that can be checked out. Such people do seem to have irrefutable memories of being in villages half a world away and knowing the names of neighbors and streets and houses where they allegedly lived in their prior life. The Dalai Lama is an example of this. This guru is believed to be a god by Tibetans. He travels the world and has been called the "Prince of Peace" (a title reserved for Jesus-Is.9:6) and has spoken from the pulpit of St. John the Divine Cathedral He was picked as a baby for this because he could identify items owned by a previous incarnation of the Lama. That sounds impressive, until you realize that part of the scientific method is eliminating all other "variables" from an experiment so that only one possible variable remains. That means that there can only be one reason left for these people having memories of distant places. This is not the case!"

The foremost authority on the scientific investigation of reincarnation is Dr. Ian Stevenson. He admitted that there is no aspect of these memories which could not be explained by an alternate and very disturbing hypothesis: demonic influence.17 Although most New Age people will not acknowledge demons, the Bible affirms that such beings are ancient, and that they can influence thought. Thus, it would be no problem for a demon to place memories of distant places in the mind of a person to deceive them into believing in reincarnation. This destroys the "scientific" argument. Reincarnation does not seem to be a viable option, either logically or Biblically; for the Word of God says that "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Heb.9:27)

Reincarnationists and those that believe some form of Eastern Mysticism rely heavily on subjectivism Subjectivism makes truth something personal not universal. In other words what one experiences to be truth might be different from anothers experience of truth. One thing can be true for one and its opposite for another. It all depends on ones personal experiences.

Check back often for updates on this subject.

The Resurrection

Norman Geisler says that, "reincarnation is the belief that after death the soul passes on to another body. By contrast, resurrection is the belief that after death the same physical body is made incorruptible. Rather than a series of bodies that die, resurrection makes alive forever the same body that died. Rather than seeing man as a soul in a body, resurrection sees man as a soul-body unity. While reincarnation is a process toward perfection, resurrection is a perfected state. Reincarnation is an intermediate state, while the soul longs to be disembodied and absorbed in God; but resurrection is an ultimate state in which the whole person, body and soul, enjoys the goodness of God."

Jesus said that he was the resurrection and the life. He rose from the dead after being physically in the grave for three days. However, the Jehovah's Witnesses teach that he rose spiritually but not physically. They use verses in Peter which say, "He was put ot death in the body but made alive by the Spirit..." (1 Peter 3:18 NIV) The JW's translation says this, "..he being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit." (New World Translation) Here the JW's translation is saying that Jesus resurrected in spirit. Even if we were to accept their translation of this verse, the following verses clarify the whole subject. It goes on to say in their own translation, "In this [state] also he went his way and preached to the spirits in prison. who had once been disobedient when the patience of God was waiting in Noah's days, while the ark was being constructed...." Where were these spirits and when did Jesus have the chance to preach to them? In the book of Ephesians we have the answer. It says, "What does 'he ascended' mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) (Ephesians 4:9ff) The time that would make sense for Christ to descend to the lower parts of the earth would be while his body was in the grave. Could it be that the time that Christ resurrected spiritually was during the three days that he was in the grave. After the three days he resurrected physically as well. (Read John 20: 27-31) The JW's also use another verse to try to teach a spiritual resurrection of Christ. In Corinthians it says, "So it is written: 'The first man Adam became a living being' the last Adam, a life-giving spirit." (1 Corinthians 15:45 NIV) What they fail to see is that this is not speaking of resurrection but of the creation of the first Adam and the coming of the second Adam, which is Christ. (Genesis 2:7; John 1)

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