There is a lot of evidence that supports the idea that many references of reincarnation that were originally part of the Bible and the Christian theology, were purged or modified at the Fifth Ecumenical Congress of Constantinople in A.D. 553.
Even philosopher Plato’s writings were disregarded and denounced. At this time, it is believed, members of the Council chose to adopt a new streamlined version in order to help solidify Christian control.
Until recently, almost all Church historians have believed that the doctrine of rebirth was officially dropped at the Council of Constantinople in the year 553 and thus declared heretical. But the damming of the rebirth doctrine is traceable to a personal attack by the Emperor Justinian, which never entered the protocols of the Council.
It seems Justinians’ wife had a somewhat shameful past as a courtesan and in her rise to power ordered the torture and death of 500 of her earlier clients. Believing that the karmic doctrine meant she would have to suffer the full consequences for these cruel acts in a subsequent lifetime, she set about having the entire teaching of rebirth simply abolished. Historian Holger Kersten states, “The prohibition of the rebirth doctrine is therefore simply an error of history and lacking all ecclesiastical validity.”
So, the Bible as we know it, has only retained a few references that could be indicative of a knowledge, and even acceptance, of reincarnation.
John 9:1-2: And as Jesus passed by he saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Master, who did sin, this man or his parents that he is born blind?”
Revelations 3:12: He that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the Temple of the Lord, and he shall go no more out.
Still, these verses can be misconstrued and are subject to interpretation, just as the subject of vegetarianism is both defended and denied.
But prior to the changes in the Christian Bible, we had quotations from St. Gregory (A.D. 257-332) stating: It is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth, it must be accomplished in future lives.
And from The Republic by Plato (582-507 B.C.): Know that if you become worse, you will go to the worse souls, and if better, to the better souls, and in every succession of life and death, you will do and suffer what like must fittingly suffer at the hands of like.
Reincarnation was certainly regarded as a basic philosophy by Hindus, Buddhists and Christians at one time. Death was seen as simply the birth into a new state of existence, a new cosmic address, if you will.
The idea of past-lives is nothing new. In most of the world’s religions, the soul is believed to return to the body, time and time until it reaches a state of enlightenment.
Many believe that it is our intuition therefore that leads us to comprehend and realize that we are on a journey of the soul back to our original source, and that what occurs in each lifetime is necessary for the stage of that journey.
Reincarnation is seen as very spiritual, in fact a spiritual vehicle to help clarify the spiritual nature of our existence, and is accepted by more people all the time. Frank Tippler, author of one of my favourite books, The Physics of Immortality: The idea of reincarnation, which is based on a strict dualism between body and soul, is central to modern Hinduism and Buddhism. But reincarnation, and the dualism upon which it is based, is actually a rather recent development in Indian thought. It apparently arose around 600 B.C. and spread rapidly, becoming universally accepted within a century.
More and more the concepts of God, reincarnation, and past-life regression are being interwoven and understood. Our search for spirituality is taking a front seat as we come to recognize that our sense of spirituality is deep within us. So often we look outside ourselves for answers, even for our own inner sense of spiritual. Yet it is an inner self that connects us with the universe. It is in looking within that we finally come to terms with our whole self.
Whatever else the Bible may be to those who follow its precepts, it can truthfully be said to be the work of a continuously recorded (although modified) history of mankind. But the Bible’s historical record is merely a secondary consideration in light of its predominant teaching of a basic belief system – even if that system is, at present, severely dismembered.
Even philosopher Plato’s writings were disregarded and denounced. At this time, it is believed, members of the Council chose to adopt a new streamlined version in order to help solidify Christian control.
Until recently, almost all Church historians have believed that the doctrine of rebirth was officially dropped at the Council of Constantinople in the year 553 and thus declared heretical. But the damming of the rebirth doctrine is traceable to a personal attack by the Emperor Justinian, which never entered the protocols of the Council.
It seems Justinians’ wife had a somewhat shameful past as a courtesan and in her rise to power ordered the torture and death of 500 of her earlier clients. Believing that the karmic doctrine meant she would have to suffer the full consequences for these cruel acts in a subsequent lifetime, she set about having the entire teaching of rebirth simply abolished. Historian Holger Kersten states, “The prohibition of the rebirth doctrine is therefore simply an error of history and lacking all ecclesiastical validity.”
So, the Bible as we know it, has only retained a few references that could be indicative of a knowledge, and even acceptance, of reincarnation.
John 9:1-2: And as Jesus passed by he saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Master, who did sin, this man or his parents that he is born blind?”
Revelations 3:12: He that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the Temple of the Lord, and he shall go no more out.
Still, these verses can be misconstrued and are subject to interpretation, just as the subject of vegetarianism is both defended and denied.
But prior to the changes in the Christian Bible, we had quotations from St. Gregory (A.D. 257-332) stating: It is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth, it must be accomplished in future lives.
And from The Republic by Plato (582-507 B.C.): Know that if you become worse, you will go to the worse souls, and if better, to the better souls, and in every succession of life and death, you will do and suffer what like must fittingly suffer at the hands of like.
Reincarnation was certainly regarded as a basic philosophy by Hindus, Buddhists and Christians at one time. Death was seen as simply the birth into a new state of existence, a new cosmic address, if you will.
The idea of past-lives is nothing new. In most of the world’s religions, the soul is believed to return to the body, time and time until it reaches a state of enlightenment.
Many believe that it is our intuition therefore that leads us to comprehend and realize that we are on a journey of the soul back to our original source, and that what occurs in each lifetime is necessary for the stage of that journey.
Reincarnation is seen as very spiritual, in fact a spiritual vehicle to help clarify the spiritual nature of our existence, and is accepted by more people all the time. Frank Tippler, author of one of my favourite books, The Physics of Immortality: The idea of reincarnation, which is based on a strict dualism between body and soul, is central to modern Hinduism and Buddhism. But reincarnation, and the dualism upon which it is based, is actually a rather recent development in Indian thought. It apparently arose around 600 B.C. and spread rapidly, becoming universally accepted within a century.
More and more the concepts of God, reincarnation, and past-life regression are being interwoven and understood. Our search for spirituality is taking a front seat as we come to recognize that our sense of spirituality is deep within us. So often we look outside ourselves for answers, even for our own inner sense of spiritual. Yet it is an inner self that connects us with the universe. It is in looking within that we finally come to terms with our whole self.
Whatever else the Bible may be to those who follow its precepts, it can truthfully be said to be the work of a continuously recorded (although modified) history of mankind. But the Bible’s historical record is merely a secondary consideration in light of its predominant teaching of a basic belief system – even if that system is, at present, severely dismembered.
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