The Reincarnations of Jesus
Christ
"Who
do people say I am?" This was the question Jesus asked
his disciples. Their reply was that people were saying
he was one of the Old Testament prophets "raised from
the dead." Considering the fact that the
Resurrection of the Dead
at the
End of Days has not yet occurred, this begs the
question: what did these people mean by Jesus being a
prophet "raised from the dead?" The answer can be found
by examining the belief systems of the people of Israel
in those days. The concept of a End of Days resurrection
of corpses originated with the ancient Persian religion
of Zoroastrianism (of Magi fame) and was adopted by the
Hebrews during the Babylonian exile. Both Jesus and the
Pharisees believed in this doctrine of an End of Days
resurrection as well.
Reincarnation was also a widely held belief throughout
Israel in those days and there is strong evidence in
the New Testament that
Jesus believed and taught reincarnation as well. So
the answer to Jesus' question of, "Who do people say I
am?," can only refer to people believing Jesus to be
the
reincarnation of an Old Testament prophet..
More evidence of reincarnation
being a teaching
by Jesus can be found in the belief systems of the early
Judeo-Christians. One group, known as the
Ebionites, believed the Holy Spirit had incarnated
first as Adam and then later Jesus. Other groups,
such as the
Elkasaites and
Nazarites, also believed this. In the
Clementine Homilies, an early Judeo-Christian
document, also taught of Jesus having many previous
incarnations.
The
Jewish sect of Samaritans
in Jesus' day, believed the spirit of Adam had
reincarnated as Seth, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Even
today,
Orthodox
Judaism teaches reincarnation. Also,
many
Church
Fathers and leaders were believers in reincarnation.
Most bishops of the early Church were pagan by birth and
were well educated in reincarnational ideas. But ideas
concerning
reincarnation were later suppressed by the Church in
the West because the Church of Rome viewed
pre-existence (a teaching held by the great Church
Father Origen and others) as heresy. But despite the
historical changes of New Testament canon, a large
amount of references to reincarnation can still be found
there. Some early Judeo-Christians were
Christian Gnostics
who claimed to possess the secret or "hidden" teachings
and mysteries of resurrection handed down directly from
the apostles of Christ. According to these Christian
Gnostics, the "resurrection" was not a physical event at
all; but rather a spiritual event of spiritual rebirth
and regeneration by the Holy Spirit which liberates
people from the cycle of bodily birth, death and bodily
rebirth (reincarnation). The Christian Gnostics were
eventually persecuted by the established Church in Rome
whose bishops preferred
Paul's teachings to the Gentiles over the teachings
of
the Church in Jerusalem led by James, the brother of
Jesus. The Judeo-Christian proto-Gnostics in Jerusalem
believed that the Church of Rome's doctrine of "bodily
resurrection" - which excluded reincarnation and
included only an End of Days bodily resurrection - was a
misinterpretation of the "hidden" teachings of Christ
which he taught only to the Twelve Apostles and not the
public at large. These "hidden" mysteries, which even
Paul mentions in his epistles, concerns a believer's
liberation from death through a spiritual "resurrection"
- a resurrection from spiritual death to spiritual life
- by the Holy Spirit. With the successful persecution of
"unorthodox heretics," the Church of Rome's concept of
bodily resurrection, which excluded bodily
reincarnation, became the established orthodoxy. As a
result, the concepts of pre-existence and reincarnation
were effectively removed from Church doctrines.
The articles listed below
presents a large amount of evidence that the Christ
soul, not only incarnated as Jesus, but incarnated
previously within other Old Testament personalities.
From this evidence provided, you can decide for
yourself. It should be pointed out, at this time, that
holding to a belief in reincarnation should not very
matter much to orthodox Christians when it comes to
salvation. Christians gain no advantage in believing in
reincarnation in the same way Christians gain no
advantage in knowing how many angels can dance on a pin.
Reincarnation for the Christian makes sense only when it
comes to questions regarding divine justice, the
apparent injustices occurring in life and the principle
of karma which Christ clearly taught as revealed in the
New Testament.
Modern research into both
near-death experiences and reincarnation, such as that
of
Dr.
Ian Stevenson, suggests there is strong evidence of
reincarnation inbeing a scientific fact. Reports of
people having past life memories
[1][2][3][4][5][6]
where specific information is remembered have been
documented and verified.
Jesus Reincarnation
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"When you see
a likeness of yourself, you are happy.
But when you see your images that came
into being before you, and that neither
die nor become visible, how much you
will be able to tolerate!" -
Jesus Christ, Gospel of Thomas
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Near-Death Experiences
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