It is amusing that I have seen a few threads on reincarnation as of late. As it is something that has been on my mind a lot recently. Perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something.
Anyway, one criticism of Christianity to which I am sympathetic is the dislike of the rather all or nothing binary of Heaven and Hell. Life is a test of our loyalty to God. We have one life to pass this test (a life that can end at any moment) and failure to pass this test (even if it be by a single mortal sin) warrants endless misery from which there will never be any reprieve.
But it seemingly offends reason that finite crimes can warrant eternal punishment. It is hard to reconcile the notion of a loving god who truly desires the salvation of all and yet has allowed humanity to find itself in a position of spiritual ultimatum. The axe of reprobation hangs above all our necks and yet we are to believe that it is a display of infinite divine mercy that a minority of people (the elect) have been predestined from eternity to escape with their heads. If God sincerely loves us, then why are most of us denied the efficient grace necessary to save our souls? (According to the Thomists). The answer is the inscrutable decree of divine providence. Stiff comfort if you are not among the elect.
It is a question that has kept me awake at night. Do I put my trust in the unfathomable providence of God or do I balk at the seeming injustice apparent to my limited human mind?
There is another possibility though. Reincarnation. True enough, our supreme good, the direct and eternal experience of God is attained by exceedingly few in any given lifetime. But it is not true that failure to attain this supreme good warrants an eternal punishment. You can work on it even if it takes you thousands of attempts. This view does make for a more merciful universe. And it reconciles well with the notion of a loving deity who sincerely desires our happiness. If it turns out that reincarnation is a reality, I will be relived. At least somewhat.
And yet…
The prospect of coming back to this plane of existence does not sit that well with me.
Because the human body - while a remarkable piece of biological machinery - stinks. This contraption called the body requires constant maintenance and it in turn produces little more than blood and excrement. I get nauseous when I dwell too long on the grosser aspects of this physical nature. Further, the body is not only disgusting but it is also subject to suffering in the forms of ageing and disease. Oh sure, with the body comes the capacity for physical pleasure, but the body is never satisfied. Neither the gluttons nor the unchaste experience lasting peace. Only the constant need to gratify their petty and gross obsessions. Sooner or later karma extracts its fee from both.
So why, if a higher spiritual reality exists, would I want to come back to the dog vomit of a physical body? To its smells, fluids, excrement, pains, discomforts and unceasing urges? I would rather move on to something better than to endlessly spin around a wheel of one pointless incarnation after another.
The advantage of the Christian view of the afterlife is that it gives life a deep gravity and meaning. The downside I have already explored. The advantage of reincarnation again I have already explored. The disadvantage is that it seems we spend a long time going from life to life accomplishing very little. There is no real sense of meaning or urgency apart from this vague idea that we are here to learn something… Whatever that something is meant to be.
Anyway, one criticism of Christianity to which I am sympathetic is the dislike of the rather all or nothing binary of Heaven and Hell. Life is a test of our loyalty to God. We have one life to pass this test (a life that can end at any moment) and failure to pass this test (even if it be by a single mortal sin) warrants endless misery from which there will never be any reprieve.
But it seemingly offends reason that finite crimes can warrant eternal punishment. It is hard to reconcile the notion of a loving god who truly desires the salvation of all and yet has allowed humanity to find itself in a position of spiritual ultimatum. The axe of reprobation hangs above all our necks and yet we are to believe that it is a display of infinite divine mercy that a minority of people (the elect) have been predestined from eternity to escape with their heads. If God sincerely loves us, then why are most of us denied the efficient grace necessary to save our souls? (According to the Thomists). The answer is the inscrutable decree of divine providence. Stiff comfort if you are not among the elect.
It is a question that has kept me awake at night. Do I put my trust in the unfathomable providence of God or do I balk at the seeming injustice apparent to my limited human mind?
There is another possibility though. Reincarnation. True enough, our supreme good, the direct and eternal experience of God is attained by exceedingly few in any given lifetime. But it is not true that failure to attain this supreme good warrants an eternal punishment. You can work on it even if it takes you thousands of attempts. This view does make for a more merciful universe. And it reconciles well with the notion of a loving deity who sincerely desires our happiness. If it turns out that reincarnation is a reality, I will be relived. At least somewhat.
And yet…
The prospect of coming back to this plane of existence does not sit that well with me.
Because the human body - while a remarkable piece of biological machinery - stinks. This contraption called the body requires constant maintenance and it in turn produces little more than blood and excrement. I get nauseous when I dwell too long on the grosser aspects of this physical nature. Further, the body is not only disgusting but it is also subject to suffering in the forms of ageing and disease. Oh sure, with the body comes the capacity for physical pleasure, but the body is never satisfied. Neither the gluttons nor the unchaste experience lasting peace. Only the constant need to gratify their petty and gross obsessions. Sooner or later karma extracts its fee from both.
So why, if a higher spiritual reality exists, would I want to come back to the dog vomit of a physical body? To its smells, fluids, excrement, pains, discomforts and unceasing urges? I would rather move on to something better than to endlessly spin around a wheel of one pointless incarnation after another.
The advantage of the Christian view of the afterlife is that it gives life a deep gravity and meaning. The downside I have already explored. The advantage of reincarnation again I have already explored. The disadvantage is that it seems we spend a long time going from life to life accomplishing very little. There is no real sense of meaning or urgency apart from this vague idea that we are here to learn something… Whatever that something is meant to be.
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