But that happens on the Day of Judgment when Jesus returns.Christianity teaches that the dead are judged, and continue on to Heaven or Hell.
But that happens on the Day of Judgment when Jesus returns.
A Christian might be reincarnated as an atheist and every other religion on the planet before the Day of Judgment.
Interesting... I had never thought about the possibility that those people lived normal lives and died of natural causes a second time after being raised to life. I had always imagined them with spiritual bodies similar to the resurrected Jesus where they might appear normal and then disappear into thin air or walk through a wall like a ghost. I assumed they appeared to people and promptly went on to heaven.However, just like Lazurus, these holy people were raised to life after Jesus' resurrection:
Mat 27 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
Of course, these people died for the second time and will be resurrected again - twice died and twice resurrected.
"Today" doesn't necessarily mean in normal earth-time. In earth-time "today" for Jesus was spent in the tomb rather than paradise. Some traditions have Jesus preaching to people in the underworld, but I don't think any traditions imagine Jesus to be in paradise until the Ascension which happened 40 days after the Resurrection (depending on the source).Reincarnation is ruled out by e.g. Luke 23:43: Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
So why couldn't Jesus have meant "today by asking for mercy you have found forgiveness so you can be with me in paradise".
O.k., but then how do you explain how the statement about "today you will be with me in paradise" was fulfilled when the body of Jesus was laying in the tomb awaiting the Resurrection?Because that doesn't work in the original Greek.
But the Bible indicates that his spirit was not extinguished while his body was in the tomb and, in fact, we read in 1 Peter 3:19 that "he went and preached unto the spirits in prison" by which is meant Paradise or Abraham's Bosom.O.k., but then how do you explain how the statement about "today you will be with me in paradise" was fulfilled when the body of Jesus was laying in the tomb awaiting the Resurrection?
Paradise and Abraham's Bosom are not the same thing as I understand them. Paradise is the Kingdom of Heaven or maybe even the Garden of Eden which has been inaccessible until the Kingdom of Heaven begins. Abraham's Bosom is a more pleasant area of Sheol for the righteous shades to wait.But the Bible indicates that his spirit was not extinguished while his body was in the tomb and, in fact, we read in 1 Peter 3:19 that "he went and preached unto the spirits in prison" by which is meant Paradise or Abraham's Bosom.
Baptism as Spiritual Warfare - Dr. Michael HeiserJust as Jesus was the second Adam for Paul, Jesus is the second Enoch for Peter. Enoch descended to the imprisoned fallen angels to announce their doom. 1 Pet 3:14-22 has Jesus descending to these same “the spirits in prison,” the fallen angels, to tell them they were still defeated, despite his crucifixion. God’s plan of salvation and kingdom rule was still intact. In fact, it was right on schedule. The crucifixion actually meant victory over every demonic force opposed to God. This victory declaration is why 1 Pet 3:14-22 ends with Jesus risen from the dead and set at the right hand of God — above all angels, authorities and powers.
It seems to me that knowing the answer for Judaism would suggest the answer for early Christianity. I don't think reincarnation was a normal belief in Judaism until maybe 1000 years after Jesus or more, so it would be very unlikely that early Christians would believe in reincarnation. And later Christians were the proto-orthodox who didn't believe in reincarnation and didn't tolerate dissenting beliefs.It would be hard to show that it ever was.
Here is a Wikipedia page with some info:
Reincarnation - Wikipedia
That Origen believed in the transmigration of souls is probably on solid ground, even in spite of Rufinus. Origen held that the degree to which pre-existing souls fell from grace determined their status in this life. This is one way of dealing with the obvious disadvantages some souls have upon entrance into the world. Not unlike karma? Side note-all souls eventually migrate back to God, per Origen. This much we can glean from what we have of Origen. Nonetheless, Rufinus definitely corrupted the text of De Principiis because we have both his Latin translation and enough of the Greek to catch some changes. Other than Origen, I really can't think of other possible sources for an early Xn belief in reincarnation or something similar.
Gnostics were a minority in early Christianity and secretive and apparently attended church with non-Gnostics. So the belief in reincarnation might have existed in secret.
O.k., but then how do you explain how the statement about "today you will be with me in paradise" was fulfilled when the body of Jesus was laying in the tomb awaiting the Resurrection?
This statement suggests a Hellenistic afterlife belief where the immortal soul is freed from the corrupt physical body to go to a purely spiritual heaven and live happily ever after. The typical indigenous Jewish ideas about the afterlife were closer to the Christian belief in "soul sleep". The souls went to rest in Sheol until the general resurrection.
Belief in reincarnation is common in modern Judaism, and some people claim that belief in reincarnation was once common in Christianity.
(1) When is the earliest record of Jews professing belief in reincarnation? Some claim that Josephus mentioned the belief, but others claim that Josephus was actually describing belief in the resurrection of the dead at the day of judgment.
(2) Where/when is early Christian belief in reincarnation mentioned as common and acceptable? Apparently Origin speculated about reincarnation, but the speculation of an intellectual does not imply a common belief - in fact it probably argues AGAINST a common belief because there would be no reason to speculate about it.
(3) Is reincarnation compatible with Christian theology?
Here is a Wikipedia page with some info:
Reincarnation - Wikipedia
Where do you see the incompatibilities between Christianity and reincarnation?
I also realized that there are similarities between ancient Jewish Gnostics and modern Jewish Kabbalists that might indicate a continuous tradition of reincarnation in Judaism going back to ancient times. Both the Gnostics and the Kabbalists are an elite within the normal religious community rather than a competing religious community. And they are both secretive, so maybe a few Jewish Gnostics persisted from ancient times until the middle ages when they became more popular and public as Kabbalists.Soul sleep is based on Daniel 12:2.
Reincarnation of the soul is alluded to in Job 33:29.
There are at least two resurrection appearances where Jesus is not recognized for unstated reasons. Also Jesus could vanish and enter locked rooms and so forth - more like angels are described.Christianity believes in the resurrection of the body. A human person is not a "soul", but a person, your body is you just as much as your soul is you. It is the human person who lives forever in the Age to Come, that means the body. This body with these fingers typing on this keyboard will one day be restored, glorified, and live forever.
That is fundamentally incompatible with the idea of reincarnation.
-CryptoLutheran
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?