www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Reincarnation

Dear Friends,

As I said elsewhere, I had an employer who was big on this.

He felt a sense of justice for those who died young etc. compelled him to believe in reincarnation.

How would you counter with Christian arguments?

Alex

Alex,

It seems to me that reincarnation presupposes a lack of mercy on the part of God, and the notion that this life is what is most important.

If reincarnation is real, then there's only a tiny "fixed aperture" into heaven, and we just keep getting recycled until we manage to bounce into it. There's no room for divine mercy or forgiveness.

And who is to say that in the mind of God, the length of a life matters? That the death of a young person (or the babies I miscarried before they were fully formed) is more tragic than the death of a great-great grandfather? We believe, or claim to believe that after death comes the possibility of union with God. There is no place in any orthodox Christian theology anywhere I know of that suggests that souls get recycled. It's an entirely different world-view.

If a Christian professes a belief in reincarnation, I'd have to think that he doesn't really understand his faith.

Sharon

B'shem haAv, v'haBen, v'Ruach haKodesh, Elohim Echod, Amen!

Dear Mother Sharon,

Yes, absolutely!

There is a sense of a separation of the body and soul in reincarnation, a statement that matter is evil and unimportant.

The Christian view is that we are a composite being intended by God to live as a union of matter and spirit for all eternity.

Shalom Aleichem,

Alex