lpetrich

There are some people who apparently believe in both Jesus Christ and reincarnation -- how do they do that?

I ask that because the Bible has no hint of belief in reincarnation, and no mention of that notion, despite some Greeks having believed in it, like the Orphics and Pythagoreans. Plato's Timaeus even describes a sort of karma:

Cowardly and wicked men would get reincarnated as women.

Innocent light-minded men would get reincarnated as birds.

Men who do not do much thinking would get reincarnated as four- or more-legged land animals; the more stupid ones would get reincarnated as crawling ones.

And the really stupid ones would get reincarnated as fish and shellfish and the like.

Grumpy

It is obvious that Christianity has no relationship with reincarnation, though the concepts are conceivably not incompatible. (I'd maintain that they are incompatible, but....) But I'd like a little more demonstration of Christians who believe in reincarnation. Where are they? In chat rooms? Is there a sect? I can imagine that such creatures exist, but it's purely hypothetical at this point.

Ojuice5001

You know, in my Christian childhood, I found reincarnation attractive. On several occasions, I would basically say something about how it made sense, and my mom would admonish me that reincarnation is not a Christian belief. And I would go along with it; I never was a Christian reincarnationist. You might expect from this that I would believe in reincarnation after leaving Christianity, but it is not so. I consider the afterlife a mystery; more serious speculations include that it's like Earth, only the gods are visible and humans are the size of a rabbit; or most people sink into subsentience while a few are rewarded or punished (as any Religio Romana website will say). Both are rather less pleasant than reincarnation, but I think they're more likely to be true (though reincarnation is possible).

[ September 28, 2002: Message edited by: Ojuice5001 ]</p>

hinduwoman

A Christian said in another massageboard that among the various groups of original christians there was a sect that believed in reincarnation (essenes maybe?). But when the Catholic church managed to establish itself it wiped out that group by force and doctored the Bible to suits its creed. Since he does not consider such force to be a sign of God's revelation he believes in reincarnation and Christ.