The Myth of Reincarnation

The Myth of Reincarnation

Introduction

This essay is an exploration of an article I found at Spirit of the Scripture dot com, which is described by the site's owner as, "a blog dedicated to discussing the hidden meanings beneath the literal interpretations of the Bible." You will see what they mean by "hidden meanings" in the article we're reading. The title is "Reincarnation and the Bible: A Forgotten Doctrine" and was written by Joshua Tilghman (the owner of the site).

The Claim Considered

We begin reading,

So where does the idea of reincarnation surface in the Bible? Actually, there are too many places for one blog post, so let’s go over the more popular ones used for reincarnation discussions

Before we move on, I'll list the texts and scriptures the author is citing: Matthew 11:14; Luke 1:17; John 1:21-23; Hebrews 9:27; "Gospel of Philip." Tilgham makes the claim that there are "too many" places for one blog post, but I believe the Scriptures make CR an impossibility, which we will now begin to explore.

One of the most well-known prophecies in the Old Testament is the return of Elijah. Prominent scriptures teach that Elijah must return to earth to prepare the way for the Lord. In fact, according to common Jewish belief, Elijah was to come and “restore all things” before any messiah could appear. So in order for Jesus to have been the messiah, this prophecy had to have come to fruition. And it seems that Jesus confirmed that it did.

In Matthew 11:14 Jesus tells the multitude of John the Baptist: “If you are willing to accept it, he [John] is Elijah who is to come.” Jesus also states in the Gospel of Mark: “But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

The phrase “…as it was written of him…” which is speaking of Elijah, makes this whole point pretty clear: Jesus was trying to convey that John the Baptist was of the same spirit as that of Elijah.

The claim is that Jews believed that Elijah would literally return (reincarnate) as another person and that this "fact" is required for Jesus to actually be the Messiah, as if his office required belief in such a superstition. Based on the claim, one might assume that all ancient Hebrews and Hebrews of Jesus' day had conceptualizations of Reincarnation. The writer offers no support to this claim, which means it's up to us to test it.

The curious might do a search online ("Jews and reincarnation?") and find this article from My Jewish Learning dot com, titled "What Judaism Says About Reincarnation" by "Rabbi" Benjamin Resnick. We read, at length,

In the Western imagination, reincarnation has long been associated with the religious traditions of the East. Transmigration — the journey of an individual soul through many incarnations — is something that religious seekers in the West often think of as samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth which is a core aspect of the great Dharmic religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Sometimes overlooked, both by Jews and by students of Jewish tradition, is gilgul, a concept that is described in great detail throughout the Kabbalah. Very much in line with samsara, which is often depicted as a wheel in Buddhist art, the word gilgul comes from the Hebrew root meaning “to spin.” The soul, in the kabbalistic view, spins onward through a great many bodies, striving after a higher form of perfection.

Though it is likely that Jewish ideas about transmigration are rooted far back in antiquity, the first explications of gilgul appear in medieval Kabbalah, in the Zohar and elsewhere. One of the earliest of these can be found in Sefer HaBahir (“The Book of Brightness”), an abstruse mystical tract of mysterious origin that began to circulate among kabbalists in 13th-century Europe. In a well known passage, the cycle of reincarnation is likened to a vinter who plants grapes that become sour. Disappointed, he clears his vineyard and plants a new crop, which also becomes sour. The Bahir asks: “How many times must he go through the process? He said, ‘Up to a thousand generations.’” Thus it is with the soul, which accrues merit (or not) over the course of countless lifetimes.

This source tells us that the concept of Reincarnation among Jews is Medieval and is based on "Kabbalah," not Torah. In the Jewish Virtual Library dot org, we find "Jewish Concepts: Reincarnation and Judaism", quoting the first two paragraph entries, we read,

Reincarnation, gilgul in Hebrew, is not explicitly mentioned in the Torah, though some interpret traditional Jewish practices to refer to reincarnation. Maimonides has written about the allusion of biblical verses to its occurrence. For example, Daniel 12:13 states, now go your way to the end and rest, and you shall arise to your destiny at the end of days. A second example can be found in the concept of yibum; when a married man dies childless, tradition holds that his spouse should marry the man’s brother, and their firstborn should receive the dead father’s name.

The purpose of reincarnation is seen as a chance for a soul to achieve a goal not achieved in a previous life and as a chance to reward man for fulfilling the desires of his Creator. Reincarnation has also been viewed as punishment for a sinner’s previous deeds. For example, a rich man who abused his power may come back as poor.

This doctrine is not explicitly mentioned in Torah. Therefore, I would conclude that the notion of "reincarnation" wasn't at all in the minds of John or Jesus, or any of the true apostles. Tilgham's ideas are anachronistic. I recall that Tilgham told us in his About Section that his blog discusses the "hidden meanings." This is Occultism. It would seem his particular Occult-interpretation method, or lens, is Kabbalah and Eastern traditions. What specifically is Kabbalah? On Reform Judaism dot org, "Rabbi" Geoffrey W. Dennis tells us in his article "What is Kabbalah?",

"Kabbalah (also spelled Kabalah, Cabala, Qabala) — sometimes translated as “mysticism” or “occult knowledge" — is a part of Jewish tradition that deals with the essence of God. Whether a sacred text, an experience, or the way things work, Kabbalists believe that God moves in mysterious ways. However, Kabbalists also believe that true knowledge and understanding of that inner, mysterious process is obtainable, and through that knowledge, the greatest intimacy with God can be attained.

The Zohar, a collection of written, mystical commentaries on the Torah, is considered to be the underpinning of Kabbalah. Written in medieval Aramaic and medieval Hebrew, the Zohar is intended to guide Kabbalists in their spiritual journey, helping them attain the connectedness with God that they desire."

Here is the truth: Kabbalah is mysticism or "occult knowledge" or GNOSTICISM. At the end of his article, Tilgham exposes a bias: he is juxtaposing one false belief against another, taking a narrow analysis, which means he is fighting a straw-man. He writes,

Consider another scenario: how can a merciful God create a place of eternal punishment for a sinner, especially when that God KNEW before hand that the creation would end up there? If God really did this, is “merciful” the right word to describe Him?

I've already exposed you to another interpretation of death and judgment in my compare/ contrast of Eternal Conscious Torment and Annihilation, proving that there is no "Immortal Soul" to suffer Eternal Conscious Torment. Therefore, Tilgham's notion of Reincarnation is also disproven. Tilgham either is unaware of alternative Christian views of the afterlife and judgment, or he has purposefully chosen to present one extreme case to scaffold his gnostic bias.

If you read Tilgham's paper, you'll notice that he raises the "issue" of infants, unborn, and young children who die "before they can do anything to please or displease" God. He wonders if that's just, for them to be "rewarded" before having had to endure a a more full life, or cycle of lives. This judgment is foolish. I remind you that Jesus says we who have been granted years on earth are to enter into the Kingdom as one of the little children do, meaning humbly, innocently. If it happens that a child is destroyed in the womb, or sometime in early childhood--whether in the womb or out of the womb; whether intentionally or accidentally--wouldn't we all say that all these things are somehow for The Creator's hidden purposes? I would. Who am I to judge God? I would ask Tiligham, "IF God wanted, couldn't He accept such an innocent? Why wouldn't he? Why is reincarnation necessary? Wouldn't such an innocent victim or person merit the purity required to be with The Creator in paradise at that point? Wouldn't it be unjust for The Father to insist on suffering before anything is rewarded or denied?" What I'm saying is that Tilgham is like the labor in the filed who grumbles "That's not fair! They should have to suffer just as much as me!" But I would remind the Tilgham's of the world of Jesus' parable of the laborers:

And the first having come, did suppose that they shall receive more, and they did receive, they also, each a denary, and having received it, they were murmuring against the householder, saying, These last have wrought one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, who did bear the burden of the day—and the heat. And he answering said to one of them, Friend, I do not treat thee unrighteously; didst thou not agree with me for a denary? Take that which is thine, and go; and I will to this last wish to give as also to thee; is it not lawful to me to do what I will in mine own? is thine eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many are called, and few chosen.

This shows that whatever God chooses to do with His creation at the judgment, as far as reward and judgment is concerned, is his business. In this parable, we could interpret the ones who "have wrought one hour" includes people like infants, both in and out of the womb, and young children who suffer some calamity, as the ones Tilgham says.

Conclusion 

The fact is that Tilgham is only imagining that Reincarnation solves the issue, when in reality it doesn't. In fact, his ideas contradict the reality of the Nature of Man and State of the Dead.