Fish on Friday. Glory be and peace, blessings, love and mercy to you and all beings.
The Christian and reincarnation.
Its interesting that when my youngest son Harry was a toddler, he reminded me of a Buddha, or little saint!
If I (Peter Kimble) say as it has been said before from The Holy Bible, " I no longer live, yet not I but Christ lives in me". This is also like a reincarnation. But my wonderful brothers and sisters, let us see what far greater men and Christians than yours truly have said about this subject.
Saint Clement of Alexandria (150-220)
“We were in being long before the foundation of the world; we existed in the eye of God, for it is our destiny to live in Him….Not for the first time does He pity us in our wanderings, He pitied us from the very beginning….Philolaus, the Pythagorean, taught that the soul was flung into the body as a punishment for the misdeeds it had committed, and his opinion was confirmed by the most ancient of the prophets.”
Nemesius, Bishop of Emesa (Fourth Century)
“Moses does not say that the soul was created at that moment at which it was put into the body, nor would it be reasonable to suppose it….That the soul is not thus mortal and that man’s destiny is not bounded by his present life is shown by the fact that the wisest of the Greeks believe in the transmigration of souls and that souls attain different grades according to the life they have lived” (De Natura Hominis).
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (257-332)
“It is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth it must be accomplished in future lives” (Great Catechism).
In Saint Gregory’s Life of his sister, Saint Macrina, whom he always referred to as “the teacher,” he recorded that before her birth their mother, Saint Emmelia, “fell asleep and seemed to be carrying in her hands that which was still in her womb. And some one in form and raiment more splendid than a human being appeared and addressed the child she was carrying by the name of Thecla, that Thecla, I mean, who is so famous among the virgins. After doing this and testifying to it three times, he departed from her sight.” Thus it was understood by her family that Saint Macrina was the reincarnation of the martyr, Saint Thecla, the greatest of Saint Paul’s disciples. Because of this, all the family privately called her Thecla, though her public name was Macrina.
Arnobius
“We die many times, and often do we rise from the dead”
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (257-332)
“It is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth it must be accomplished in future lives” (Great Catechism).
In Saint Gregory’s Life of his sister, Saint Macrina, whom he always referred to as “the teacher,” he recorded that before her birth their mother, Saint Emmelia, “fell asleep and seemed to be carrying in her hands that which was still in her womb. And some one in form and raiment more splendid than a human being appeared and addressed the child she was carrying by the name of Thecla, that Thecla, I mean, who is so famous among the virgins. After doing this and testifying to it three times, he departed from her sight.” Thus it was understood by her family that Saint Macrina was the reincarnation of the martyr, Saint Thecla, the greatest of Saint Paul’s disciples. Because of this, all the family privately called her Thecla, though her public name was Macrina.
Saint 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” (Epistola ad Demetriadem).
Chalcidius (Third Century)
“Souls who have failed to unite themselves with God, are compelled by the law of destiny to begin a new kind of life, entirely different from their former, until they repent of their sins.”
Why The Bible Says “Resurrection” Instead of “Reincarnation”
However, the Bible texts say “resurrection,” not “reincarnation”–why is that?
If we carefully look at the verses which speak of “resurrection,” especially in the Gospels, we will find that most of the time the Greek term anastasis (which literally means: “to stand up again”) is used in reference to belief in the immortality of the soul–not of a future state of body. When the Gospels say that the Sadducee's did not believe in the “resurrection” (Matthew 22:23), it means they did not believe that at the death of the body there was a separation, a “standing up” of an immortal spirit which would depart to another world or another birth. As has been said, the literal meaning is: “stand up again,” that is, to once more in the chain of lives emerge from the last body and continue the quest of the soul for God through successive rebirths. So the very word translated “resurrection” implies reincarnation.
“Resurrection” [anastasis] as it is usually employed in the Bible outside the Gospels, however, refers to the breaking of the bonds of sowing and reaping and arising from the spiritual death state of sin and ignorance so there will be no more rebirths upon this earth. This is a condition of the soul, not the body. We must resurrect here and now, while in the body: our “dead” soul having come to life in Christ. This is what Jesus was referring to when he said, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:26).
“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). To “live” is to resurrect into the Life of Christ, to know him, and thus to never die. How much more glorious this is than mere physical immortality.
Have a good day my wonderful, beloved brothers and sisters. As always, know that you are loved. Please be kind and pass this blog on, as it would be a blessing for my art to be recognized and sought more widely.
Your brother of Jesus Christ, St Jude and all the saints, Peter G Kimble.
The Christian and reincarnation.
Its interesting that when my youngest son Harry was a toddler, he reminded me of a Buddha, or little saint!
If I (Peter Kimble) say as it has been said before from The Holy Bible, " I no longer live, yet not I but Christ lives in me". This is also like a reincarnation. But my wonderful brothers and sisters, let us see what far greater men and Christians than yours truly have said about this subject.
Saint Clement of Alexandria (150-220)
“We were in being long before the foundation of the world; we existed in the eye of God, for it is our destiny to live in Him….Not for the first time does He pity us in our wanderings, He pitied us from the very beginning….Philolaus, the Pythagorean, taught that the soul was flung into the body as a punishment for the misdeeds it had committed, and his opinion was confirmed by the most ancient of the prophets.”
Nemesius, Bishop of Emesa (Fourth Century)
“Moses does not say that the soul was created at that moment at which it was put into the body, nor would it be reasonable to suppose it….That the soul is not thus mortal and that man’s destiny is not bounded by his present life is shown by the fact that the wisest of the Greeks believe in the transmigration of souls and that souls attain different grades according to the life they have lived” (De Natura Hominis).
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (257-332)
“It is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth it must be accomplished in future lives” (Great Catechism).
In Saint Gregory’s Life of his sister, Saint Macrina, whom he always referred to as “the teacher,” he recorded that before her birth their mother, Saint Emmelia, “fell asleep and seemed to be carrying in her hands that which was still in her womb. And some one in form and raiment more splendid than a human being appeared and addressed the child she was carrying by the name of Thecla, that Thecla, I mean, who is so famous among the virgins. After doing this and testifying to it three times, he departed from her sight.” Thus it was understood by her family that Saint Macrina was the reincarnation of the martyr, Saint Thecla, the greatest of Saint Paul’s disciples. Because of this, all the family privately called her Thecla, though her public name was Macrina.
Arnobius
“We die many times, and often do we rise from the dead”
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (257-332)
“It is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth it must be accomplished in future lives” (Great Catechism).
In Saint Gregory’s Life of his sister, Saint Macrina, whom he always referred to as “the teacher,” he recorded that before her birth their mother, Saint Emmelia, “fell asleep and seemed to be carrying in her hands that which was still in her womb. And some one in form and raiment more splendid than a human being appeared and addressed the child she was carrying by the name of Thecla, that Thecla, I mean, who is so famous among the virgins. After doing this and testifying to it three times, he departed from her sight.” Thus it was understood by her family that Saint Macrina was the reincarnation of the martyr, Saint Thecla, the greatest of Saint Paul’s disciples. Because of this, all the family privately called her Thecla, though her public name was Macrina.
Saint 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” (Epistola ad Demetriadem).
Chalcidius (Third Century)
“Souls who have failed to unite themselves with God, are compelled by the law of destiny to begin a new kind of life, entirely different from their former, until they repent of their sins.”
Why The Bible Says “Resurrection” Instead of “Reincarnation”
However, the Bible texts say “resurrection,” not “reincarnation”–why is that?
If we carefully look at the verses which speak of “resurrection,” especially in the Gospels, we will find that most of the time the Greek term anastasis (which literally means: “to stand up again”) is used in reference to belief in the immortality of the soul–not of a future state of body. When the Gospels say that the Sadducee's did not believe in the “resurrection” (Matthew 22:23), it means they did not believe that at the death of the body there was a separation, a “standing up” of an immortal spirit which would depart to another world or another birth. As has been said, the literal meaning is: “stand up again,” that is, to once more in the chain of lives emerge from the last body and continue the quest of the soul for God through successive rebirths. So the very word translated “resurrection” implies reincarnation.
“Resurrection” [anastasis] as it is usually employed in the Bible outside the Gospels, however, refers to the breaking of the bonds of sowing and reaping and arising from the spiritual death state of sin and ignorance so there will be no more rebirths upon this earth. This is a condition of the soul, not the body. We must resurrect here and now, while in the body: our “dead” soul having come to life in Christ. This is what Jesus was referring to when he said, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:26).
“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). To “live” is to resurrect into the Life of Christ, to know him, and thus to never die. How much more glorious this is than mere physical immortality.
Have a good day my wonderful, beloved brothers and sisters. As always, know that you are loved. Please be kind and pass this blog on, as it would be a blessing for my art to be recognized and sought more widely.
Your brother of Jesus Christ, St Jude and all the saints, Peter G Kimble.
