This essay continues a sequence. Read the previous one here.
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
— KJV; Matt 10:26
Truth is not doctrine…
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In the earlier instalment of this essay, we mentioned two factors that impede our ability to see sowing and reaping in action, the second one being the idea that earthly existence begins and ends with this present life.
This idea did not emerge from The Word, and was only concretised hundreds of years after Christ, at meetings of Church dignitaries.
The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 AD denounced the idea of pre-existence (i.e. reincarnation), while the Council of Lyon in 1274 AD declared that after death human beings go straight to heaven or hell.
Both of these meetings were convened to address political and theological differences between competing Church factions. The outcomes of such politically-motivated meetings cannot be viewed as a substitute for The Word.
Therefore, a thinking follower of Christ should not feel duty-bound to cling rigidly to such doctrine. We must focus on our own personal experiencing of The Word, which must not run counter to the Laws of Creation or basic logic.
Problems with Church Doctrine
Stories like that of the rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31) and the penitent thief on the cross (Luke 23:43) are often used to support the existing Church consensus, but these stories were not addressing the general issue.
We require clear answers to all the questions that arise in the minds of thinking people, e.g.:
- What happens if a baby dies, or someone is born heavily disabled and dies after limited experiences. Do they get “automatic” passes to Heaven?
- An otherwise very good man, in a fit of rage, kills the man who raped his daughter. Is he consigned to Hell? Similarly: does an evil man who repents on his deathbed head straight to Heaven?
- What happens to the billions of people who never had a chance to hear The Word of Christ or to read the Bible?
- Etc, etc.
Faced with questions like these, Church factions invented a number of unsatisfactory answers that are not founded on The Word e.g. purgatory, limbo, “asleep in Christ”, et al.
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What Did We Think Before Church Doctrine?
When Christ was asked questions with faulty basic premises, He addressed the basic misunderstanding before answering the question, e.g.:
The same day came to him the Sadducees,
which say that there is no resurrection,
and asked him, Saying,
Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children,
his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
…
Jesus answered and said unto them,
Ye do err,
not knowing the scriptures,
nor the power of God
— Matt 22:23-29
But when He was asked questions containing the assumption that we have existed before this present life, or that we may return to Earth again after this life, He voiced no fundamental objection before answering the question e.g. Matt 16:13, Matt 11:14.
Thus, The Word does not oppose a belief in reincarnation.
This insight leads to a better understanding of how the Perfect Justice of God in the Law of Sowing and Reaping manifests on Earth.
It also sheds light on many issues relating to The Word, the Bible, race, and so much else1.
Perspectives on Reincarnation
- Near Death Experiences (NDEs): There are literally thousands of medically-validated accounts of people who have been resuscitated after being clinically dead (no brain or heart activity). In most cases the individuals “awake” with the awareness that we have all been in existence before our current lives2;
- Scientific investigations. A number of researchers have devoted their careers to the methodical study of claims relating to reincarnation, and have adduced very convincing evidence3.
- Cultural wisdom. There is hardly any culture outside the modern Western Christian tradition that contradicts reincarnation. As discussed in “Christ vs The Elements” indigenous knowledge was wrongly opposed by the Church, and this problematised reincarnation and much else.
The knowledge of reincarnation is critical for the appreciation of the Perfection of the Almighty and the understanding The Word.
Today’s Resolution:
- Irrespective of our views about life in general, we will cling to the Perfect Justice of the Laws of Creation, and recognise that this is also “revealed” materially.
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- Stephen Lampe, The Christian and Reincarnation (Millennium Press, 2009) provides perhaps the most comprehensive coverage of this topic from the Christian perspective ↩︎
- See, for example, Raymond Moody, Life After Life (HarperOne, 2015) ↩︎
- One such researcher is Ian Stevenson, who researched over 3,000 cases and documented his findings in a number of books including Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation (University of Virginia Press, 1980). ↩︎
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