Goodman John
Active Member
(Disclaimer: this is from a neo-Cathar/Gnostic perspective, so obviously your mileage may vary)
I don't hold with reincarnation per se, but I do believe in the transmigration of the soul. In this view, we are each endowed with a soul at conception (I won't go into how, as that's a different direction), and our bodies are nothing more than earthly garments for our soul. As such it is upon us to strengthen and purify our soul (our 'essence', or 'being') so that upon our death it has a better chance to escape the physical realm of Satan and return to God in the spiritual realm. If our soul is not redeemed (or 'saved' in common parlance- but not merely in the John 3:16 manner) it is returned to a holding place (known to the Jews as the Guf or, for you Indiana Jones fans, the Well of Souls) to await a new body. And thus the cycle of purification and attempted redemption begins anew. (In my view, any 'visions of a past life' may be vestigial memories of our soul in a previous body, but I do not believe we are reincarnated AS that person.)
As a glimpse of 'things to come', when the number of redeemed souls equals that of the remaining unredeemed (and how we got all these souls in the Well is a story in itself) the physical realm will cease to exist, the unredeemed souls will be destroyed (or otherwise be utterly separated from God), and Satan will be returned to the spiritual realm to await God's pleasure. This earth- this physical world- IS Hell for our souls, as they have been separated from God and it is- or should be- our utmost desire to 'get right' and get off this rock and back to God- and the sooner the better (you probably don't want to miss the last bus to Heaven).
I don't hold with reincarnation per se, but I do believe in the transmigration of the soul. In this view, we are each endowed with a soul at conception (I won't go into how, as that's a different direction), and our bodies are nothing more than earthly garments for our soul. As such it is upon us to strengthen and purify our soul (our 'essence', or 'being') so that upon our death it has a better chance to escape the physical realm of Satan and return to God in the spiritual realm. If our soul is not redeemed (or 'saved' in common parlance- but not merely in the John 3:16 manner) it is returned to a holding place (known to the Jews as the Guf or, for you Indiana Jones fans, the Well of Souls) to await a new body. And thus the cycle of purification and attempted redemption begins anew. (In my view, any 'visions of a past life' may be vestigial memories of our soul in a previous body, but I do not believe we are reincarnated AS that person.)
As a glimpse of 'things to come', when the number of redeemed souls equals that of the remaining unredeemed (and how we got all these souls in the Well is a story in itself) the physical realm will cease to exist, the unredeemed souls will be destroyed (or otherwise be utterly separated from God), and Satan will be returned to the spiritual realm to await God's pleasure. This earth- this physical world- IS Hell for our souls, as they have been separated from God and it is- or should be- our utmost desire to 'get right' and get off this rock and back to God- and the sooner the better (you probably don't want to miss the last bus to Heaven).
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