Some may ask, why not reincarnation? What’s wrong with the idea? Well, several things, actually. Now, pre-cursor to this article: if you are a Hindu, or a person who believes in New Age philosophy, etc (by the way, Jesus brought in the real New Age, and will bring in a new age in the future, not you), Jesus died as much for me as He died for you, He loves you as much as He loves me, and He will forgive you, as much as He’s forgiven me, if you’ll accept and receive Him as your Lord and Saviour. God became a man, to die for you and me, to forgive us of our sins, to set us free from sin, to save us from Hell, and to bring us into Heaven into an everlasting relationship with Him and the Father, and He will give us new life here on the Earth through His Holy Spirit. If you want to learn more about the validity of the Bible, the deity of Christ, etc, please do visit the Jesus and Christianity page, and related pages (down arrow to the right of the page in the menu).
Now with that in mind… what’s wrong with reincarnation?
A. It’s not Biblical. First and foremost, reincarnation cannot be true because it is in stark contrast to God’s clear revelations to us in His Word. The Bible says that it’s appointed once for a man to die, and after this the judgement (Hebrews 9:27). There are only two options, Heaven or Hell. Those going to Hell are awaiting destruction in the Second Death in the Lake of Fire. We have been given God’s general revelation of His existence, His embedded and revealed moral code that some willfully reject, and His special revelation of Salvation through His Son’s shed blood on the cross. And we are held accountable for how we live and what we believe. No one has a reason to be an atheist, and a large portion of humanity has knowledge of Jesus and what He’s done, and if they don’t, God can reveal it to those who truly seek Him with their whole heart, as we know from testimonies on the mission field, and from the Biblical text. In the end, God will do what is right, according to how He has planned things out and revealed them to us, and no one will be able to have any excuse on Judgement Day. Either you’ve trusted in Jesus our Lord, God in the flesh, who took your punishment for your sins upon Himself, and have repented of (turned from) your sins, and you will receive Eternal Life, or you will pay for your own sins in the Second Death.
B. It’s not logical. The idea of reincarnation is that each re-birth is punishment for sins committed in the last life. It’s logical that you would have had a finite number of reincarnations, and that thus you must have had a first life. But… for what sin were you paying for in your first life?
C. It’s a cruel idea. Reincarnation is the idea that you must live through millions of uncountable lives, pain and suffering, as punishment for wrong doing in the previous life, and yet, you can never know what you did wrong in the previous life to avoid making the same or a similar mistake.
With this in mind, how can you even trust the monks, priests, or gurus… who apparently are also suffering for sins (they know not what) in their previous life… maybe it was for being a Hindu priest or practicing Hinduism?
D. It creates a horrible social structure. The idea of reincarnation has created the caste system, a system in which you are born into a caste of society, and you die in that same caste of society. There is no way to climb up or down in the caste system. It creates a great deal of injustice (and wrong doing for perhaps which a person will be reincarnated again, if it were true). I imagine it likely allows for much overlooked corruption by the upper castes, and I know that it has created a caste called the untouchables, whom I’ve been with and listened to, seen and touched. According to their surrounding Hindu society, untouchables are unredeemable, unteachable, and are to be shunned, if not violently purged from the midst of upper caste society. There are groups of children, mostly orphans/orphaned, living in the sewers, because they are not welcome on the streets. Untouchables live in slums, and must depend on themselves or the charity of others outside of the caste system, particularly Christian organizations.
E. It creates a morality escape hatch. The idea of reincarnation, and the twisted idea of Karma (as apposed to the true Biblical principle of “you reap what you sow”), allows for the passing on of the baton for wrong doing. If someone suffers some ill fate because of you, it can be argued that they are simply suffering the fate they created for themselves in their past life (which, why wasn’t dying, itself, punishment in that last life?). A perfect example of this is a story I heard from Dr. Ravi Zacharias, of RZIM – look him up – who relates the story of an Indian woman who moved away for work, and ended up cheating on her husband and getting a divorce. After the broken, hurt, and bewildered husband begged his former wife to see him just one last time, to lay his head on her lap and stare up at her face one last time, and then he would leave her alone forever, she agreed. The former wife of the man joined him in the back seat of a car, and as promised, he laid his head on her lap and just stared up at her beautiful face, remembering. A few moments later, the man’s mouth began to foam and he started to convulse… just before she had entered the car, he had eaten rat poison. Her former husband was now dead. The unnecessary pain she had caused him was too much for him to bare (please, if anyone’s considering suicide, DON’T, God has a plan for your life! Ravi, born in the upper Hindu priest caste, actually was thinking of committing suicide and God spoke to him through the Bible. Cry out to God, the Son of God, to Jesus, and He will answer you. And there are plenty of people who will talk with you – I’m one [Facebook: Elijah John Sanders] – I’m a bit slow on FB, so please forgive me, and hang in there). Back to the story. Distraught and horrified, the woman went to see a past life guru to see what she had done wrong. Instead of telling her the truth, and hopefully in a loving and gentle way, the guru instead comforted her with the false notion that this was her former husband’s destiny, punishment for some wrong doing he had committed in his past life, and had nothing to do with her decision. That’s just wrong. Past life “specialists” make a lot of money from peddling bullcrap, and they encourage people down a path of deception at the same time. Now I know you may be thinking that some people actually claim to have memories from their past life, etc. Might I suggest that if they aren’t totally trying to fool you or haven’t totally managed to fool themselves, that there may be a demonic influence at work that’s fooling them? It’s called a familiar spirit. Demons have been around far longer than any of us, and they can pass on information to those that want it. Same thing fortune tellers use. It’s witchcraft, deceit, and very… VERY dangerous, which is why the Bible warns us NOT to participate in witchcraft, magic, attempting to communicate with the dead, fortune telling, incantations, summoning spirits, etc. It deceives us, and leads us away from the life giving, saving, Gospel of Jesus Christ, and of God’s moral expectations and truths. And it can even lead to your physical death or ailment, as it almost did for my wife back when she was a Catholic and thought it was ok to go visit a fortune teller with her friends for fun. That’s another story. These spirits are creatures of deception, who hate God, hate humans (because we’re made in the image of God, and He has a plan of redemption for us)… their doom draws near, and they want to drag as many people with them as possible. God doesn’t want that for you, He loves you, and has a plan for your life. In Jesus alone is your ultimate, eternal destiny, your peace, your life, your joy, because all of it is really His, and He gives it to those that trust in Him and repent of their sins, and love one another.
F. Finally, it is a demonic invention, a belief which causes poverty, cruelty, and injustice, and which keeps people away from the truth of the Gospel, the person of Jesus Christ, only through whom they can be saved, and it’s a counterfeit for the Biblical truth of what you sow you shall reap (Galatians 6:7).
Final thoughts:
You know, one of the practices of the Hindus in India used to be to burn widows alive after their husbands had died. This seems like it may have been not so much related to reincarnation, I’m not sure, but from the same culture. When Christianity came in (and I don’t know much else at the moment of everything that happened), they put an end to that practice (same as Christianity helped to stop the blood sports in Rome, and why we stand up for unborn babies), life is sacred, and murder is wrong – it’s one of God’s commandments (if you’ve had an abortion [most of which are for convenience’ sake] God can still forgive you in Jesus if you ask Him to and trust in Him). Note: Christianity had come into India centuries before by the Apostle Thomas, and through supernatural means. From what I’ve heard while I was in India, he mocked some priests who were standing in a pool, splashing water into the air as an offering to their gods. Thomas asked why their God’s weren’t receiving the offering. They, obviously irritated, told him to come down into the pool and do the same to his God and see if He would receive it. As Thomas did, the water stood in the air as a pillar. The monks/priests got saved, and Thomas, with the Gospel, was permitted into India. This man of God is said to have been speared through (from the back?) on the top of Mount Thomas, as he was praying (though I believe this is a Catholic site, which in my opinion, have a habit of dubiously claiming certain areas for this or that, by declaration, without really doing much research into the matter – examples would include Mt. Sinai, which is in Arabia, not where they claim it to be, and quite possibly the tomb of the Apostle Peter, who is never said to have visited Rome (from what I’ve heard), and is believed to have died and been buried in Jerusalem – I’m not Catholic bashing, God loves Catholics individually [and wants them Biblically saved if they aren’t already], but the RCC – the SYSTEM – is not Christian, and does not teach true Christianity as it is found in the Bible – I know this can be a painful truth when finally discovered, but please do look into it. I will update the Other Religions section sometime with a page on Roman Catholicism. In the meantime, please watch this video by a former Catholic Priest who started learning the Bible).
So, what about Jesus and Christianity? Find out more here, and in the related tabs in the upper left (click on the little down arrow next to the Jesus and Christianity page for a drop down menu on related subjects (including Jesus vs. Krishna – hint, Jesus wins).
Have a good day,
If you don’t know Jesus, now’s a good time, you’re never sure how much time you have left. If you do know Jesus, go and live for Him.
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Added:
The following was added, as it contains more important information. My brother in Christ challenged me with some questions and arguments that others may have on each point, here are those, and my (rushed) responses to them (may not be perfect answers, probably won’t be, but I hope they are good and helpful) – his feedback in blue:
I’m not arguing for or against, just giving some feedback on the article and the arguments you put forth, listed below:
***Brandon bro 🙂 Thank you for commenting, and challenging me on some of these things. Iron sharpens iron. And it’s nice to know people are reading. So thank you.
A. It’s not Biblical. – You quote Hebrews, is there any other supporting verses? Have you honestly looked at verses that seem to allude to Reincarnation? Malachi 4:5 and Jesus’s words from Matt 17:12-13 that clearly states John the Baptist was Elijah, but they didn’t recognize him.
***Well, first of all I think Hebrews is pretty definitive on the matter. Not much arguing with it. Let God be true, and every man a liar 😉 Secondly, in regards to Malachi 4:5 and Matthew 17:12-13 – in Luke 1:17, Gabriel tells Zachariah that his son would go fourth in the spirit and power of Elijah. I take this to mean that he would be of the same type of spirit, power, and mission as Elijah was – to call Israel back to God, as Gabriel also says the child would do (it’s also said he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth). I’m not going to be dogmatic about it, with my limited understanding, perhaps it was literally Elijah’s spirit, which would seem to go against my understanding of Scripture… even then, it would not contradict Hebrews, because technically Elijah never died. But in Matthew 17:11, Jesus says that Elijah will come again (later saying that He has come), which can be taken to mean that before Jesus comes again, Elijah will literally come back (again, he never died… unless he was reincarnated in John the Baptist). Quite appropriate I think, a figure of Elijah comes with the same ministry at Jesus’ first coming, and literally comes at Jesus’ second coming. Just my thoughts on that. However, it should also be noted that even if John the Baptist was somehow Elijah reincarnated, it is not the same as the Hindu idea of reincarnation as I am addressing. For one, it is a rare Biblical prophesy (and not clearly reincarnation), and for another, it is not Elijah dying and being re-born right away as John the Baptist as punishment for his past sins… which is the idea of Hindu reincarnation. So we’re not exactly talking about the same thing. And at best, it is an isolated case, for the sake of prophesy, and not a recurrent event for all mankind… and that’s IF it’s talking about reincarnation, which I don’t think that it is. And again, remember, Elijah never died. Also see Mark 9:11-13 – again seems to indicate a twice coming of Elijah (in mission and in physical?). Matthew 11:14 – Jesus said IF you could receive it, then John the Baptist was Elijah, again I take this to mean that it was not in a literal sense. Mark 1:2 and Matthew 11:10 in reference to John the Baptist, refers to specific prophesies about God’s messenger preparing the way for the Lord, Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1, speaking, it would seem, of Jesus’ first coming. They simply say “my messenger”. Malachi 4:5 on the other hand, specifically mentions Elijah, and it is in context to before the Great and Dreadful day of the Lord (the Day of the Lord is another study altogether [Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20, etc], which I would need to do more study on, it could be very well referring to the first coming, but again, would need to do a fuller study on it). But, with the possibility of a metaphorical Elijah figure, let’s take a look at what John himself said in John 1:21-23. He was asked if he is Elijah, and he said “I am not”. And when asked who then he was, he refers them to the the prophesy in Isaiah (mentioned above), the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.
*Here’s an excellent link I found AFTER everything above, and which I don’t believe I have seen before (confirmation, lol), as I was looking for more information. I’ve come across these guys before, and they have a very solid understanding of Scripture concerning various topics and Church history. They not only confirm much of what I say above, but they give some more information which did not come across my mind: https://www.gotquestions.org/John-Baptist-Elijah.html
B. It’s Not Logical – “what sin were you paying for in your first life? “
One could argue, that in Life 1, you “put on flesh” or incarnated to experience the physical realm and partner with God to co-create heaven on earth, but missed the mark or sinned from your original aim.
***I don’t think that’s within the realm of Hindu thought, but I could be mistaken. I don’t get how you would “partner with God to co-create heaven on earth”? And seems like a very odd thought for someone to have. Plus Hinduism has many gods, they don’t believe in the mono-theistic God of the Bible.
C. It’s a Cruel Idea – re-incarnation is cruel if God didn’t provide ways out and support along the Way. Also, the fact that our debts have been paid by the sacrifice of Christ should come as even greater news to those with great sin and burdens from lifetimes of struggle. One could argue that a God who sends people to an Eternity of Hell for mistakes made in this brief life is also cruel.
***Again, we are talking about Hinduism, there is no single God. The way out is to become perfect… Which no one ever becomes perfect, and you can never know for sure what you did in your past life to deserve this round of re-birth (and if you think about it, that kind of cheapens the idea of life… it’s a penalty). Bro, you are mixing Hinduism and Christianity, that’s not the point at all. And you can’t have Scripture contradicting itself and then say it’s true. And then I think you’d find God says not to take in the ideas of pagan cultures (not the point of this discussion, but just saying). And it wouldn’t really be greater news any ways, because they don’t know what they did in their past lives. And also, reincarnation is about punishment for your previous life (I don’t think it’s accumulative punishment for multiple lives, though I don’t know). But again, we’re not mixing Hinduism and Christianity, we’re looking at the idea of reincarnation in Hinduism as it stands by itself. If it is true, then there’s no need for Christ, because you’ll EVENTUALLY… an uncountable amount of lifetimes, reach perfection… apparently (but no one was ever truly perfect accept Jesus). On top of that thought, the poorest people are believed to be the worst punished for their past lives, while upper caste people have apparently sinned less, but just from a observational evidence, upper classes of society not only sin just as much, but also are often responsible for worst pain and suffering, and from Jesus’ perspective, if you want to mix match, the wealthy are often times worse off… and yet in Hinduism, the caste system, based on reincarnation, says the lowest are the worst, and thus they are treated worst… opposite of Christianity. God and Hell is another subject. However, since you bring it up, the Bible says that God is just, completely just, when He judges the world, no one will be able to wave a finger. Hell is a choice. God warns us about it, He’s given us a conscience, He’s given us His laws and His Word, and He even died on the cross so that we could have life. He’s done everything He can to keep us from going there. And those who don’t even know of Him, there are general revelations that God has given us to know of His existence, and special revelation of the Son to those that diligently seek Him. And, the subject of eternity is somewhat up for debate. Some would say that it is a final destruction (a complete end) of the spirit and soul, others would say it is eternal (in the context of being outside of time, it is simply a state of being). God would be perfectly just in sending us all to Hell or completely destroying our very existence, He made us, and He can do what He wills with us. We are simply jars of clay. Our life substance belongs to Him. We ourselves put ourselves into the fallen state that we are in, and heading for Hell. Because God is Holy, we could not be in His presence because we’d die, we cannot be in Heaven because we’d corrupt it. And the only place away totally away from God’s presence is Hell, and He would be perfectly just in letting us, the seeds of Adam and Eve, go there. But He loves us, He wants to restore us, and He wants to restore creation. So He has done everything to make sure that that is possible, and will happen. Being on Earth in a fallen state, simply produces generations of generations of generations of people born into a fallen state, who will eventually sin when they know right from wrong, and will be on their way to Hell. God has provided us a way out, and He plans to restore all things, and completely get rid of all unrighteousness and things that cause pain and suffering. It’s a little messy, but that’s based on our choices, not everything that He has done to help us get saved. And God will not violate our free will to make us a bunch of puppets. We have the right to choose Heaven or Hell, death or life, God or Satan, He’s given us that choice, and He will not force Himself upon those that don’t want Him.
D. It creates a horrible social structure – I agree with this point the most of all your arguments – the concept of reincarnation has led to great injustices against humanity within the caste system – but I believe the fault lies in the caste system, and priestly hierarchies abusing their power ( also present in Christianity and Judaism ) not in the concept of reincarnation.
***Thank you. Nope. The concept of reincarnation is the center piece of the caste system and it’s function, and has been for centuries. To compare the abuses of power of Hindu priests with that of abuses of power in places of authority in Christianity and Judaism, you would first need to define what abuses of power you’re talking about – the whole gamma of Hindu society treats each other in accordance to the caste system, and will abuse those in lower caste systems, not just the priests. Secondly, you’d have to prove that these abuses are based on NOT following their religious beliefs and texts (as is the case in Christianity and Judaism), which you have not done.
E. It creates a morality escape hatch – Again, I feel this point is stronger than the first ones, but you need to develop this point further: ” the twisted idea of Karma (as opposed to the true Biblical principle of “you reap what you sow”). You don’t highlight or contrast the difference between karma and the biblical principle of Reaping and Sowing. How is it different? And How does Christ’s New Standard of Justice ( no longer eye for an eye, but now Turning the Other Cheek) factor in?
***Just reading what I could quickly find online:
1. Karma is unseparable from reincarnation.
2. All suffering is a result of bad Karma (particularly as punishment from your previous life).
Contrasted with the Bible, where Jesus said no one sinned to cause the man to be born blind, but rather so that the glory of God could be revealed in him, as Jesus healed him (John 9:1-7, continue reading the rest of the story of the previously blind man’s experience). Jesus said that those people who were killed by the Pilot and had their blood mixed with the sacrifices, or those killed by the tower of Siloam falling on them, were not worst sinners than anyone else because these things happened to them (but rather repent, or the listeners also would perish) – see Luke 13:1-5. Jesus said that we are blessed when men persecute us for His sake, and that the prophets of God were also persecuted – Matthew 5:11-12 (not because of past life sins, but because of the unpopular message they brought).
1 Corinthians 15 speaks of our bodies being sown (in death) perishable and mortal, but are raised to life imperishable and immortal. We see the rich man in Hell and the poor beggar who died with dogs licking his sores being comforted in Abraham’s Bosom (story in Luke 16). We see Jesus blessing and helping and healing and praising the poor (as well as the wealthy), who trust in Him. He even credited a poor widow for giving more into the temple treasury than anyone else (she gave only a very small amount compared to the others, but it was all she had – Luke 21:3 & Mark 12:43-44). We see Jesus healing everyone who comes to Him in faith.
Again, we see no solid Biblical evidence of reincarnation, at least not in the Hindu sense. The idea of Karma is also often thought of in negativity towards others (they got what they deserve, good!, or patient revenge, etc). All of the above facts, and more, would seem to be at odds with the two ideas mentioned at the top of this section.
The Christian concept of sowing and reaping is not only given in a beautiful and practical word picture, but it simply means whatever you plant is gonna be what grows and is gonna be what you harvest. Its consequences are plainly seen in this lifetime (and if bad, they are correctable [and even reversible] and forgivable through Jesus, not to be punished in any next life) and seen plainly in the eternal afterlife. Christianity does not teach that everything bad in your life is a result of your own doing in your past, unknown life, it is clear that there can be a number of factors involved (and if it is because of you, you can certainly know why). Jesus suffered the cross, but it was willingly, and for our sakes. There’s a devil out there that hates people, and people can do things to harm others simply based on their own will. We live in a fallen world because of man’s sin, and Jesus came to forgive us and restore mankind and creation, and to offer us the hope of eternal life. We are to be kind and loving to the unfortunate, not shun them as part of their due punishment.
Reaping and sowing is a broad and yet simple (as well as true & observable) concept, and does not mean the same as Karma.
Also, saying “Karma” points to reincarnation and Hinduism/Buddhism as being the authoritative beliefs of the speaker (or at least the foundation for the statement), whereas “you sow what you reap” points to Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity as being the authoritative beliefs of the speaker (or at least the foundation for the statement). Each belief is promoted by the corresponding words that the speaker uses.
I will add, though some may see this as a mute point, I don’t, that the idea of sowing and reaping is seen long before Hinduism, the simple laws of cause and effect, which God put into effect and shows us in the Scriptures, as early as Genesis. Cain killed his brother and immediately lived as a fugitive (and yet even here, God’s mercy is still around for Cain – marking him so no one would touch him (Genesis 4). The Flood befalls wicked men, while Noah, a righteous man, and his family are saved, and repopulate the world (Genesis 6-9). Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the plain are wiped out for their wickedness, and even then God saved Lot and his daughters and wife – though she didn’t make it on account of disobedience (Genesis 18-19). And God basically tells Abraham that He’s going to wait for the sins of those that were previously dwelling in the promised land to reach its full measure before they would be kicked out of the land by his descendants (paraphrased, inferred by God’s promise to Abraham to give his descendants the land, and what happens later on in Joshua) – see Genesis 15:16 (later warning the Israelites not to follow in the same evil ways [sacrificing children, various forms of sexual immorality, bestiality, idolatry, etc]). Also, notice that God makes no hint to Abraham of reincarnation, though He very well could have.
Again, not arguing one way or the other, as I myself haven’t come to a solid conclusion on my stance, but just wanted to provide some feedback on the argument and the strength of your case.
***Again, thank you for that bro 🙂 Made me think, and produce more answers that’s good.
God Bless you and your writing Bro, it is a real talent of yours.
***Thank you man! God bless you and your writing as well, it is also a talent 🙂 Hopefully see you soon.
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Second round!
… in response to 1/3:
You have John, a man, stating he is not Elijah ( most likely due to his incomplete knowledge) and you have Jesus, Son of God, claiming three times recorded in the gospels in quite clear terms John is Elijah, I think I’ll take Jesus’s word for it, and interpret it as plainly as it is written.:
“But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”
(Mark 9:13)
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.” (Matt 11:13-14)
“But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him…” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
(Matt 17:12-13)
First of all, I’m glad you want to take the text as plainly as it is written (side note, please check Jesus’ words in Mark 10:6 for future discussion). Secondly, I do believe Jesus’ words here. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but I can say I do not believe it was reincarnation. Again, Elijah never died. And if he had died, he would be waiting for judgement, as Hebrews says. And if Elijah did die, which we don’t have evidence for, and if a sort of reincarnation could occur, I stand by my main point, that even if this is the case, it would not be the Hindu idea of reincarnation which the article addresses 
🙂 . I will state again that I believe Jesus’ words, even though I don’t understand exactly how it happened or what it looked like.
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Christian Answers & Resources 