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Thoughts on reincarnation?

WonderingWanderer

Love for all religions
I was raised Christian, but for a long time have studied and practiced Indian religions/philosophy. I'm still very fond of the teachings of Jesus and reading the gospels especially around this time of year as I am a westerner and my wife is Christian and we celebrate Christmas. The biggest thing I like about Indic religions is the belief in reincarnation and laws of Karma. For me it's beyond faith in these it's a reality for me. Is there room in Christianity for belief in reincarnation?
 

stvdv

Veteran Member: I Share (not Debate) my POV
The biggest thing I like about Indic religions is the belief in reincarnation and laws of Karma. Is there room in Christianity for belief in reincarnation?
Miss puss. Sometime reincarnation goes horribly wrong

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Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
I was raised Christian, but for a long time have studied and practiced Indian religions/philosophy. I'm still very fond of the teachings of Jesus and reading the gospels especially around this time of year as I am a westerner and my wife is Christian and we celebrate Christmas. The biggest thing I like about Indic religions is the belief in reincarnation and laws of Karma. For me it's beyond faith in these it's a reality for me. Is there room in Christianity for belief in reincarnation?
I'm currently reading a really cool book about Christianity and reincarnation

I consider myself a Christian and I certainly believe in reincarnation, which I believe is governed by karma

So my thoughts are that it is possible to believe in it and have Jesus as your Lord

But the whole Moksha and Karma thing does admittedly undermine the notion of Jesus as Saviour!

That's one thing I'm currently wrestling with, how exactly Jesus Christ can be related to Moksha!

(maybe he can't?)
 

WonderingWanderer

Love for all religions
What's the book? I think Jesus and moksha still works maybe even better than Christianity and reincarnation. For me Jesus as a saviour is more like Krishna as a saviour too being that through devotion and thereby following their teachings one achieves liberation. Lately I have been seeing Krishna and Jesus as one and how I resolve Jesus as savior. Also, I don't interpret Jesus saying I Jesus am the only road to salvation but that I God through manifestation as Jesus or Krishna (or other avatars) am the road to salvation.


I'm currently reading a really cool book about Christianity and reincarnation

I consider myself a Christian and I certainly believe in reincarnation, which I believe is governed by karma

So my thoughts are that it is possible to believe in it and have Jesus as your Lord

But the whole Moksha and Karma thing does admittedly undermine the notion of Jesus as Saviour!

That's one thing I'm currently wrestling with, how exactly Jesus Christ can be related to Moksha!

(maybe he can't?)
 

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
I was raised Christian, but for a long time have studied and practiced Indian religions/philosophy. I'm still very fond of the teachings of Jesus and reading the gospels especially around this time of year as I am a westerner and my wife is Christian and we celebrate Christmas. The biggest thing I like about Indic religions is the belief in reincarnation and laws of Karma. For me it's beyond faith in these it's a reality for me. Is there room in Christianity for belief in reincarnation?
Same as you.

I think the purpose of life and universe(s) is the evolution of souls to unity with God. There can be no "kingdom of God" for us if there is no opportunity to become more pure, loving and united and this requires synergy of grace and targeted exercising of free will. In Catholic and Orthodox Christianity this process is called deification or theosis. I think this process takes many lifetimes... Some Christians believe in Purgatory instead of reincarnation.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I was raised Christian, but for a long time have studied and practiced Indian religions/philosophy. I'm still very fond of the teachings of Jesus and reading the gospels especially around this time of year as I am a westerner and my wife is Christian and we celebrate Christmas. The biggest thing I like about Indic religions is the belief in reincarnation and laws of Karma. For me it's beyond faith in these it's a reality for me. Is there room in Christianity for belief in reincarnation?
I tend to look at how we are atomic by nature and molecularly comprised that enables the 'lights to come on'. Its my view based by which we continually, on a micro scale, bond and fall apart molecularly where nothing is actually being destroyed on that level, leading me to think a cyclic phenomenon of coming alive and returning to death is a constant whenever conditions allow it.

A type of interconnected rebirth rather than a permanent persistent "I" that transfers from one body to another. Better illustrated by the practice of passing a flame from candle to candle or extinguishing one and then relighting it with a match.
 

ajay0

Well-Known Member
I was raised Christian, but for a long time have studied and practiced Indian religions/philosophy. I'm still very fond of the teachings of Jesus and reading the gospels especially around this time of year as I am a westerner and my wife is Christian and we celebrate Christmas. The biggest thing I like about Indic religions is the belief in reincarnation and laws of Karma. For me it's beyond faith in these it's a reality for me. Is there room in Christianity for belief in reincarnation?

Reincarnation was quite possibly part of the original Christian religion.

Early christian theologians like Origen believed in reincarnation.

The romans, after centuries of brutal persecution of the Christians, finally accepted Christianity grudgingly due to political issues, and modified it in the councils of Nicea and Constantinople , suiting their own conditioned beliefs and sensibilities, to create the Nicene Doctrine. It is possible that early christian teachings of reincarnation was editted out due to its unorthodox nature.

https://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/articles/ReincarnationChristianity.pdf
 

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
Early christian theologians like Origen believed in reincarnation.
This is more opinion of others about him. Origen himself just theoretically considered pre-existence of soul and incarnation of soul. For him Greek transmigration wasn't compatible with Christian teaching.
 

ajay0

Well-Known Member
Textual evidence proves nothing was edited out.

https://ocoy.org/original-christianity/may-a-christian-believe-in-reincarnation/


Being a persecuted religion for three centuries, the Church barely salvaged the Holy Scriptures from the ravages of her persecutors. Many books referred to by early writers as being widely used by the Church have vanished. Even the book of Enoch, quoted by Saint Jude in his epistle (v. 14), is no more; nor is the book of Jasher, mentioned in Joshua (10:13) and Second Samuel (1:18).


Many documents and records were removed and destroyed then that disputed the radical changes in Christian doctrines.

Apocryphal writings were rejected simply because they disputed the official Church version of Jesus' life. These contrasting details give a very different picture of Jesus than the one that we find in the official version of the Bible.
 
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ajay0

Well-Known Member
This is more opinion of others about him. Origen himself just theoretically considered pre-existence of soul and incarnation of soul. For him Greek transmigration wasn't compatible with Christian teaching.

Should Origen be banished from official church recognition at the Second Council of Constantinople (the Fifth Ecumenical Council) just for the merely theoretical consideration of reincarnation !
 
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