REINCARNATION IN CHRISTIANITY (PART 1)

Think Christians YOLO? Nope, there are texts of reincarnation in the Old and New Testaments.

The whole Christian world believed in Reincarnation until the 6th Century, so not surprisingly, there are many references to it in the Bible. There is overwhelming evidence in the Bible of Jesus himself teaching it. More Biblical evidence can be found in Herbert Puryear's outstanding book entitled 'Why Jesus Taught Reincarnation' and Dr. Quincy Howe, Jr.'s excellent book entitled 'Reincarnation for the Christian.'

The doctrines of pre-existence (see below for details on this) and reincarnation existed as teachings of Jesus and in the Bible until they were declared a heresy by the Roman Church in 553 A.D at the Second Council of Constantinople (also known as the Fifth Council of Nicaea, or the  Fifth Ecumenical council ). This was evoked by Emperor Justinian I to carry through with the edicts pronounced to revise and canonize the "gospels" and declare the other accounts to be "heretical". Emperor Justinian I went even further by declaring the death penalty for anyone who questioned Roman Catholic doctrine. Three years later, he convened the Second Synod to remove the many references to reincarnation throughout the Bible. It was at this time that the Roman Church aggressively destroyed competing teachings and so-called heresies within the Church. Along with the destruction of unorthodox teachings came the destruction of Jews, Gnostics, and ultimately anyone who stood in the way of the Inquisition and Crusades, this also includes the many Christians and Catholics who disagreed with the outcome of the meetings and edicts.

First let me briefly over Origenism, or the simply termed pre-existance of soul. Origen Adamantius (184/185 – 253/254), was a scholar, early Christian theologian and Church Father, who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a prolific writer in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, philosophical theology, preaching, and spirituality. Plato was a great influence on him - some of his reputed teachings, such as the pre-existence of souls, the final reconciliation of all creatures, including perhaps even the devil (the apocatastasis), and the subordination of the Son of God to God the Father, later became controversial among Christian theologians.

A later group of Egyptian monks who came to be known as Origenists, and who believed in the preexistence of souls and the apocatastasis, were declared anathema in 553 AD. This condemnation is attributed to the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, though it does not appear in the council's official minutes. For this reason Origen was and is not called a "saint" in either the Catholic or Orthodox churches.

The doctrines of pre-existence, what some refer to as the condemnation of Origenism, included the belief in the pre-existence of the soul. Some scholars who argue against reincarnation's inclusion in the Testaments will also state that Origenism should not, however, be confused with the notions of the karmic cycle of reincarnation. 

Origen's cosmology is complicated and controverted and is used in this argument only as a means to try to dislodge one from seeking passages in the Bible regarding notations of reincarnation. In short its a Straw Mans Argument created by those opposed to reincarnation and doesn't really apply, that or just sheer ignorance on the subject, which is understandable to a point as has been stated prior to that Origen's cosmology is complicated and controverted. Origen's own words on this matter when he writes of "the dogma of transmigration, which is foreign to the Church of God not handed down by the Apostles, nor anywhere set forth in the Scriptures." puts forth a fog of ambiguity on where he stood on the matter. And yet again, he overlooks the many references and of course to believe him would mean for others to overlook that he was an early Christian theologian and Church Father. 

A strict adherent of the Church, Origen clearly distinguished the distinction between the ideal and the empirical Church, representing "a double church of men and angels", or, in Platonic phraseology, the lower church and its celestial ideal. My point being that his writings on this subject are not the be all or end all, and he often did not edit his own books leaving others to do so for him, which is subjective at best, as he did not often read the published versions of his books.

The First Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical (meaning worldwide) council of the Church. The First Council of Nicaea was convened by Emperor Constantine I the Great upon the recommendations of a synod led by Hosius of Córdoba in the Eastertide of 325. This synod had been charged with investigation of the trouble brought about by the Arian controversy in the Greek-speaking east. To most bishops, the teachings of Arius were heretical and dangerous to the salvation of souls. In the summer of 325, the bishops of all provinces were summoned to Nicaea (now known as İznik, in modern-day Turkey), a place easily accessible to the majority of delegates, particularly those of Asia Minor, Georgia, Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Thrace.This was the first general council in the history of the Church since the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem, the Apostolic council having established the conditions upon which Gentiles could join the Church. In the Council of Nicaea, "The Church had taken her first great step to define doctrine more precisely in response to a challenge from a heretical theology." Most significantly, it resulted in the first, uniform Christian doctrine, called the Creed of Nicaea. With the creation of the creed, a precedent was established for subsequent local and regional councils of Bishops (Synods) to create statements of belief and canons of doctrinal orthodoxy—the intent being to define unity of beliefs for the whole of Christendom. 

The Council of Nicaea revised (reformed) the Bible in accordance to the Political authorities and the expectations therein of the day. Namely, Rome. As mentioned in several paragraphs above, when the Emperor Justinian I mandated a finalized revision the Bible during the 553 A.D Second Council of Constantinople (also known as the Fifth Council of Nicaea, or the Fifth Ecumenical council) Council of Nicaea, he offered that religious people could attend and were free to dispute those reforms he was planning on making. Once the heretical meetings convened however, very few religious persons did attend who planned on speaking out, for a warning had been sent by murdering several religious scholars shortly after the invitation.

Read Part 2 here: Reincarnation in Christianity (Part 2)

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