Arguments from scripture

No texts in the Bible or Church history teach reincarnation.

There is an opinion that some texts or their parts were taken out of the canon by the Church or
even destroyed. (Prof. Nestle - Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the Greek Testament,
Rev. G.J.R. Ousley - The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, etc.).

If we take as a basis transcripts of New Testament texts extant on papyri from the 2nd century
as we find them in every critical edition of the Greek original, there is no trace of censorship.
This would have to happen latest at the beginning of the 2nd century when the Church
controlled only minority of texts and always only locally.

This can be taken as a valid objection. Bible, however, does not mention many other facts about
material or spiritual world. Still there are interesting passages in this regard:

*Existe la opinion de que algunos textos o parte de ellos han sido suprimidos por la iglesia, o
inclusive destruidos. (Prof

Si tomamos como bases las transcripciones de los textos del nuevo testamento existente en
papiros desde el siglo 2 tal como la encontramos en la edición original griega, no hay trazo de
censura. Esto pudo haber sucedido posteriormente, al final del siglo 2 cuando la iglesia
controlaba solo la minoria de los textos y siempre solo localmente.

Esto puede tomarse como una objeción valida. La biblia de cualquier modo, no hace mencion
de otros hechos sobre el mundo material o el espiritual. Aun asi existen pasajes interesantes al
respecto:

Psalm 104:29-30: "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they
die, and return to their dust. "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest
the face of the earth."

Reincarnation seems to be an accepted fact in Jesus' time (Matthew 16:13-14): "When Jesus
came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say
that I the Son of man am? "And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias;
and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."

John 9:1-3: "And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man which was blind from [his] birth. "And his
disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born
blind? "Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of
God should be made manifest in him." [i.e. Jesus could cure him.] Jesus therefore did not refute
karma and reincarnation chastising his disciples for such beliefs although he had a very good
chance.

Salmo 104:29-30: “tu ocultas el rostro, ellos estan en problemas: tu tomaste de ellos su aliento,
ellos murieron, y regresaron a su polvo. “llevaisteis adelante el espiritu, ellos son creados, y
renovaste el rostro de la tierra”.

La reencarnación parece ser un hecho aceptado en el tiempo de Jesús (Mateo 16:13-14):

“cuando Jesús vino a las costas de del Cesar Philippi, el le pregunto a sus discípulos, diciendo,
quien ha dicho que yo soy el hijo de un hombre? “ y ellos dijeron, algunos dicen que tu eres
Juan el Bautista: algunos que eres Elias, otros que eres Jeremias, o alguno de los profetas”.

Juan 9:1-3: “Y a medida que pasaba por alli (Jesús), el vio un hombre que era ciego de
nacimiento. “y sus discípulos le preguntaron, maestro, quien fue el que peco, este hombre, o
sus padres, para que el hubiera nacido ciego?, “Jesús respondio, ni este hombre peco, ni sus
padres, pero los trabajos de Dios deben ser manifestados en el”(Jesús lo curo). Jesús por lo
tanto no refuto karma y reencarnación castigando a sus discípulos pos semejantes creencias, a
pesar que tenia un muy buena oportunidad para hacerlo.

There are Bible quotes used to support reincarnation in the Bible which are not relevant. They
usually appear in texts from New Age scene known for its lack of intellectual rigor. In Matthew
11:14 Jesus said, "And if you are willing to accept it, [John the Baptist] is the Elijah who was to
come." This does not mean that John the Baptist was a reincarnation of Elijah. Luke 1:17 tells
that the ministry of John the Baptist was carried out "in the spirit and power of Elijah." Moreover,
John the Baptist, when asked if he was Elijah, flatly answered, "No." (John 1:21).

Likewise, in John 3:3 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless
he is born again." The context clearly shows that Jesus was referring to a spiritual rebirth (3:5-
6).

There are also quotes used to debunk the notion of reincarnation. Hebrews 9:27 tells that "man
is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." General Christian view is that man is a
compact being (who really dies only once), not a transcendent immortal entity inhabiting various
bodies in succession although Paul in several passages speaks about presence or absence
from a body. 2 Corinthians 5:8 is one such case. It is used to prove that at death the Christian
immediately goes into the presence of the Lord, not into another body. This is, however, not at
all obvious from the quote.

Existen citas biblicas usadas para soportar la reencarnación en la Biblia las cuales no son
relevantes

4.2. The stay in hell is eternal (Matthew 18:8, 25:41,46, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Jude 1:6 etc.).

Luke 16:19-31 indicates that unbelievers at death go to a place of suffering, not into another
body. This is not contradicting the Vedic version.

BhP 8.19.35 also mentions this possibility (nistham narake) as a threat. From the point of view
of the sufferer (who experiences a different time scale than on this earth) it may look like that.
BhP 5.26.37, however, says that after the punishment in hell the jiva is reborn on earth.

One cannot escape from hell, but must be released by Yama or the Lord (as by chanting His
holy name, BhP 9.4.62)

There is an interesting incident in early Church history. St. Odran (AD 563) of Iona (Hebrides),
after being buried for some time as a human sacrifice, said he had a look into afterlife and
claimed: "The saved are not forever happy, the damned are not forever lost." He was buried
again as a heretic...

4.3. Council of Constantinople rejected pre-existence of souls, and thus, by implication, the
reincarnation.

It was not the Fifth Ecumenical Council in AD 553, as often mentioned, but local Home Synod of
Constantinople (AD 544-6) held to condemn Origen's teachings, pre-existence being one of
them. Emperor Justinian required the bishops to condemn the doctrine of universal restoration.
He especially urged Mennas to anathematize the doctrine "that wicked men and devils will at
length be discharged from their torments, and re-established in their original state."

The half-heathen emperor held to the idea of endless misery, for he not only defends, but
defines the doctrine. He does not merely say, "We believe in aionion kolasin," for that was just
what Origen himself taught. Nor does he say "the word aionion has been misunderstood; it
denotes endless duration," as he would have said, had there been such a disagreement. But,
writing in Greek he says: "The holy church of Christ teaches an endless aeonian (ateleutetos
aionios) life to the righteous, and endless (ateleutetos) punishment to the wicked." If he
supposed aionios denoted endless duration, he would not have added the stronger word to it.
The fact that he qualified it by ateleutetos, demonstrated that as late as the sixth century the
former word did not signify endless duration.

Justinian need only to have consulted his contemporary, Olympiodorus, who wrote on this very
subject, to vindicate his language. In his commentary on the Meteorologica of Aristotle, 8 he
says: "Do not suppose that the soul is punished for endless ages () in Tartarus. Very properly
the soul is not punished to gratify the revenge of the divinity, but for the sake of healing. But we
say that the soul is punished for an aeonian period, calling its life, and its allotted period of
punishment, its aeon."

The synod voted fifteen canons, not one of which condemns universal restoration despite
emperor's effort. The first canon reads thus:

"If anyone asserts the fabulous pre-existence of souls, and the monstrous restitution which
follows from it, let him be anathema."

It is confirmed in the fourteenth anathema (where the Church condemns also advaita, monism):

"If anyone says that there will be a single unity of all rational beings, their substances and
individualities being taken away together with their bodies, and also that there will be an identity
of cognition as also of persons, and that in the fabulous restitution they will only be naked even
as they had existed in that pre-existence which they insanely introduced, let him be anathema."

The whole issue was obviously a political, not a theological one. Pre-existence is, however,
accepted in Jeremiah 1:5 and Ephesians 1:4. Revelation 3:12 says: "Him that overcometh will I
make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out." [Who returns to the
kingdom of God shall never leave it. This is also taught by the BG 8.15,16,21, 15.4,6.]