Reincarnation in Judaism and Christianity

[shaman]

Gilgul nefashot - the "rolling over" of the souls, or reincarnation. Thanks Beth for your insight. I am a bit late to reply, I know.

It is believe that some people who suffer a lot on this planet are in their last "gilgul" (incarnation) and that it is for them a platform to spring to a higher plane. It is said in the Zohar "le kol am israel makom be olam ha bah", which means that all the poeple of Israel (there might be different ways to interpret who these are of course) have a place in the "world to come", which hints that "am Israel" has a place already waiting them in the other world. Does that mean that they are in their last incarnation? Or that there is something special waiting for them there? Not sure. Some other sources, such as in the book of T. Rampa, have speculated that the jews are here on earth like some people at school who stay in the same grade for 2 years, in that sens that on one side they seems to know more when compared to the people in the same class, but on the other side they have actually failed in the first place. One way or another, some want to believe that not all the souls are the same, or are not at the same level of learning. For sure everyone has been given a different task on this planet.

[lifebreath]

While I personally give room for the doctrine of reincarnation in my beliefs, Beth, PLEASE don't be mislead and confuse others into believing that it was a commonly held belief in the early Christian church! It was not even close to being universally accepted and their was much debate among the very early "Fathers" of the Church - contemporaries, or predecessors even, to Origin - the majority of which DENIED the doctrine, far earlier than 600 AD.

For example, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons in the latter half of the 2nd century (circa, AD 180), denies it in his work "Against Heresies" in Chapter XXXIII. - "Absurdity of the Doctrine of the Transmigration of Souls," in which he analyzes Plato and Pythagoras. Again, Tertullian, writing around 160 AD, at Carthage, argues againts the doctrine in his "A Treatise on the Soul," also referring to the "philosophers" and the Pythagoreans - specifically in chapters XXVIII and following.

Justin Martyr, one of the earliest "Fathers" (c. 100-165), is often claimed to have supported the notion of reincarnation. This is a prime example of how people who wish to bolster their argument for the doctrine misinterpret, or deliberately take out of context, the writings of early Christian apologists. In chapter IV of Justin's Dialogue with Trypho, reincarnationists claim that "he taught that human souls inhabit more than one body in the course of their earthly pilgrimage."  

What does Justin actually say? He does present a dialogue in which he discusses with Trypho the question of reincarnation; at the end of this discussion, the dialogue concludes as follows (note that "I" is Justin and "he" is Trypho, the Jew with whom he is debating; Trypho speaks first):

quote:
"Therefore souls neither see God nor transmigrate into other bodies; for they would know that so they are punished, and they would be afraid to commit even the most trivial sin afterwards. But that they can perceive that God exists, and that righteousness and piety are honorable, I also quite agree with you," said he.

"You are right," I replied.

You also mention Jerome - please give me the original source for the statement you quote. Well, don't bother, because you will never find it! What you WILL find is Jerome, in a letter to Avitus, in about 409 or 410, accusing Origen of holding to the "transmigration of souls." Again, in Letter CXXX, paragraph 16, to Demetrius, he condemns the doctrine as a "godless and wicked teaching" which "lurks secretly like a viper in its hole."  

There are others, but I hope this illustrates the point.

If you wish to believe in and espouse the doctrine of reincarnation, fine. That is your prerogative. As I said, I personally am not opposed to it. Just don't make things up (or believe what others have made up) about what the "early church" did or did not believe, and that there was widespread agreement early on.

With regards to esoteric Judaism, in the tradition of Zohar and Kabalah (derived from the earlier Merkabah school), you are correct.

[Beth]

Reincarnation in Western Antiquity:

To begin with, a belief in reincarnation (most often termed "transmigration" but also as "metemphychosis" as well) was a very popular belief in the ancient world.  Held by the Greeks, the Romans and the Egyptians, Judaism and Christianity naturally had this notion embedded within.  It could certainly be conjectured that the whole idea of the "resurrection" and "return" of Jesus was implying this very thing (see below.)  Ancient Greeks strongly believed in this doctrine, Plato especially, who held that as souls we have access to all knowledge, but when we are born we promptly forget everything.  We then spend the rest of our lives "trying to remember" and as we remember, we also "remember" the immortality of our souls.  Pythagoreans taught reincarnation, some even to the extreme of reincarnation into plants and animals, but this extreme notion was dispelled due to the lack of evidence that plants and animals possessed "reason" and "intelligence" which was a necessary element to the doctrine.  Besides this, there were many other ways in which this doctrine was interpreted, including a western version of karma (good for good, bad for bad.)See also, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, chapters 26 to 30

In Early Judaism and Christianity:

Philo of Alexandra lived and wrote in the decades before and after the turn of the first millennium.  He was a Jewish scholar and a contemporary of those living during the time of Jesus. He left us volumes of his scholarship, but on this he wrote: "The air is full of souls; those who are nearest to earth descending to be tied to mortal bodies return to other bodies, desiring to live in them." (De somniis)

Also, one of the most recognized ancient historians, Flavius Josephus (b. 37-d.100 c.e.)  wrote: "The bodies of all men are, indeed mortal, and are created out of corruptible matter; but the soul is ever immortal, and is a portion of the divinity that inhabits our bodies...Do ye not remember that all pure spirits when they depart out of this life obtain a most holy place in heaven, from whence, in the revolutions of ages, they are again sent into pure bodies; while the souls of those who have committed self-destruction are doomed to a region in the darkness of Hades?"   (Note: This is an interesting twist—only those who reach a state of purity are allowed to reincarnate.  All others do not get that opportunity—they will, rather go to Hades.  This would, of course, make reincarnation not a punishment at all, but rather a gift for being good. )

In the standard Bible, there was a prophecy made that Elijah would be sent right before the "day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5.) In the Gospel of John 1:19 forward, John the Baptist is questioned by some people if he was Elijah.  He denied that he was.  This question was in reference to this older prophecy that Elijah would return at a specified time.  

In Matthew 16:13-14 Jesus is asking his disciples who they think he is: "some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and some Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  In chapter 11:13 Jesus says, "For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15He who has ears, let him hear. " Finally, in Revelation 3:12, "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more." These are the most common NT allusions to reincarnation.  

Origen—was one of the earliest church fathers.  His line of thinking was heavily influenced by Greek thought, even though he was also criticized by some Greeks, but he had a lot to say on this subject.  He and most all early Christians did believe in reincarnation. It was taken for granted to be a natural course of the soul. It was not until circa 600 c.e. that the Church condemned this to heresy.  Before the church had the kind of power to condemn people to hell or heaven, reincarnation was the method through which one could eventually realize heaven.  Until the soul was pure enough to reunite with the godhead, transmigration was necessary for this purpose.  According to Origen, even then, the united condition of the soul would only last so long, for after a period of purity, a soul would eventually "fall again" and return to the cycle of reincarnation.  In addition to other things that Origen taught, reincarnation was one of the reasons his teachings were eventually forbidden, and labeled as heresy.  One of Origen's treatises--the Commentary on Matthew, specifically addresses this topic, as well as his commentary on the Book of Numbers.  In this, he lays out the 42 stages that a soul must undergo from heaven to the physical world and after death back to god.  He does this through the 42 "camps" of the Israelites in their flight from Egypt into the promised land. Some places were just "brief stopping places" and others took "years" to move on from because the trials were often failed.  These 42 stages applied to Jesus as well, except that Jesus did not have to "tarry" in these places because of the purity of this soul. These stages had to be repeated every time a reincarnation took place.  

It was believed by many early Christians that Jesus--as Christ--was the reincarnation of David and before him Adam.  Some believed that only the pious would/could reincarnate, i.e., only those souls who reached a certain level of piety could evolve to the state that allowed for return.  Then there were others who held that only the pious were exempt from automatic reincarnation, returning only when they chose to or were needed for special assignment.

Other Early Christian Writers:

St Gregory (b. 257-d.332 c.e.) "It is absolutely necessary that the soul be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth it must be accomplished in future lives."

St. Jerome (340-420): "The doctrine of transmigration has been secretly taught from ancient times to small numbers of people, as a traditional truth which was not to be divulged." (Hyeronym, Epistola ad Demetriadem)

St. Augustine (354-430): "The message of Plato, the purest and most luminous in all philosophy, has at last scattered the darkness or error, and now shines forth mainly in Plotinus, a Platonist so like his master that one would think they lived together, or rather—since so long a period of time separates them—that Plato is born again in Plotinus. (Contra Academicos)  He also writes in Confessions: "Say, Lord to me...say, did my infancy succeed another age of mine that died before it? Was it that which I spent within my mother's womb?...and what before that life again, Oh God my joy, was I anywhere or in any body? For this I have none to tell me, neither father nor mother, nor experience of others, nor mine own memory." (Confessions-- Augustine)

Gnosticism:

Gnostic thought also believed in this doctrine.  The whole gnostic idea of the evil of the body was attributed in part to the "LAW of transmigration."  That the body was evil, was held by more extreme gnostics, but nevertheless, this was the reason that they all tended to live such ascetic lives.  They did not want to ever have to come back!!!  Many gnostics on the other hand held that this was not a bad thing, but that there were definite consequences to living sinful lives.  In other words, you might come back with a physical handicap or a life of great turmoil.  This is how a western version of karma is tied in.  An eye for an eye kinda thing.

During the medieval period, the doctrine of reincarnation was preserved in Christian heretical sects, most especially the Carthars.  

Jewish Mysticism:

An interesting take on this is found in, the next to the last chapter of a book by Gershom Scholem (20th century pioneer on Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism)—The Mystical Shape of the Godhead***  The proper biblical place name Gilgul means, in Hebrew, "turning" or "rolling over."  Scholem wrote that this was the Kabbalistic term for transmigration of souls.  Some Kabbalists held that not everyone reincarnates--many people who inhabit the world come in with new souls--for only a relative few earn the right to progress back to the godhead through reincarnation.  Scholem also reports a very curious aspect of reincarnation that I find absolutely fascinating! In this, as an aspect of Kabbalistic Psychology comes into play.  Namely, that a human being can actually be "made up of" various "sparks" or parts of various different souls.  This is not just in the cases of schizoid personalities (hush with the jabbering....I am trying to type here...gez[:I]) but also with those that are of the normal, run of the mill type person.[]  This theory has some serious implications for the general understanding of the soul, but still makes a lot sense in a way—and most especially in some cases.  The way this works is that a portion of a more highly evolved soul could "combine/mix" with another less evolved soul, in order to accomplish what they need to do to complete their cycle.  In other words, they do not have to experience the entirety of a physical cycle, so the majority of their soul would remain behind.  It would only be the part of the soul that still needed a bit of work that would reincarnate.  Now this is also good for the less evolved soul, for the highly evolved soul's presence would strengthen the lesser soul to the point that it too could make a leap of sorts toward its own progression.    

Some Kabbalists also held that being born a "WOMAN" was punishment for being selfish in another life (can you imagine such a narrow way of thinking???[:O]) Also, in some Jewish circles it was considered a punishment for a Jew to be reincarnated into a Gentile, but in other Jewish circles, the opposite idea emerges--that is, that it was possible for "pious Jews" to be reincarnated into a Gentile in order for them to be able to plead on behalf of Israel for kinder treatment.   So as you can see, there were many different ways of interpreting this doctrine.

Finally:  

From the wisdom of the Zohar, (Vol. II, 99 forward) it is written:  

All souls are subject to the trials of transmigration; and men do not know the designs of the Most High with regard to them; they know not how they are being at all times judged, both before coming into this world and when they leave it.  They do not know how many transformations and mysterious trials they must undergo; how many souls and spirits come to this world without returning to the palace of the divine king.  The souls must reenter the absolute substance whence they have emerged.  But to accomplish this end they must develop all the perfections, the germ of which is planted in them; and if they have not fulfilled this condition during one life, they must commence another, a third, and so forth, until they have acquired the condition which suits them for reunion with God.

There is probably a lot more that has been written on this subject, especially if you were to go straight to the individual Greek philosophers (for example, Aristotle did not think reincarnation was the case, he had his own theory of the soul) and other branches of Christianity such as the Manicheans, etc.  But, this is a good survey of the belief for these two traditions.


Peace,
Beth


***The Mystical Shape of the Godhead, by Gershom Scholem, also has an amazing chapter on Astral Bodies, the Higher Self, Astral Travel, and also a chapter on "The Feminine Element in Divinity."  It is well worth the money to purchase this one, and I don't think it was very expensive! You should be able to get it from Amazon.com.

[aryanknight666]

You see, I'd consider christianity, islam and judaism to be eastern religions since christianity originated in palestine, judaism also in the mid-east and islam originating in arabia, and being ultimatley restricted to eastern countries. I see though celtic and germanic mythology like odinism, asatru, to be western religion (not slavic or mediteranian, that's eastern).
Reincarnation is in celtic and germanic mythology and religion, on account of celts and germans/nordics being indo-european. Egyptians to had aryan hindus in their royal families which is where I suspect reincarnation in egypt to come from. Greek and Rome where at the centre of trade, they were not able to create culture but able to preserve it. They would have obtained concepts of pranic energy and reincarnation from trading with indians and egyptians.
Reincarnation in judaism and early christianity however, is non-existant.
The jews beleived that sheol (death, the grave) was the ultimate destination for all peoples after death, christians beleive through salvation eternal life is acheived, other wise death, and then the lake of fire when judgement day comes.