Reincarnation, or transmigration as it is often called, has its origins in eastern religions, mainly Hinduism and Buddhism. In the 1960s and 1970s, a wave of eastern philosophy and religion swept through the west. Transcendental Meditation and the New Age Movement became prominent. Along with these came a renewed interest in reincarnation.
Reincarnation has even crept into the Christian church. False teachers like Elizabeth Clare Prophet (also known as “Guru Ma Mother of the Flame”) and Edgar Cayce (the “Sleeping Prophet”) have influenced many Christians by claiming to be Christian themselves.
When someone tells us they have new truth or have solved the ancient mysteries of Christianity, I find it hard to keep my composure. Christianity and the Bible have been around for 2,000 years. Some of the greatest minds who ever lived have studied the faith and its documents. We’re not just going to stumble on some major new truth. In fact, the famed apologist, Dr. Walter Martin, used to say “New truth is almost always old heresy,” and the studying I’ve done and the church figures I’ve read, both today and ancient, support that as an axiom.
Reincarnation in its original form is an attempt to answer the problem of man’s evil. There is no hell in eastern religions. If you act wickedly, after you die you may come back as a lesser being, even a plant or rock in some faiths. You may also carry karmic debt – a belief you will receive in your next life the punishment for the evil you performed in this one.
The western mind has difficulty accepting a concept like Christianity’s eternal punishment and, so the charlatans pretty much drops the karmic debt idea. Instead, they say transmigration simply purifies you as you progress through a series of lives.
What concerns me is the idea when some Christians accept this teaching as biblical. Let’s see if it is:
Paul tells us we will go directly to heaven upon our deaths not continue on in other lives:
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (See also Phil. 1:23-24)
Heb. 9:27 says we will only die once and be judged afterward – note this is talking about all men, not just Christians:
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
Jesus Himself said we will not go on to eternal lives but after this life, we will receive our punishment or reward:
“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt. 25:46)
Jesus told the thief on the cross he would not continue on in future lives but enter paradise with Christ:
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
Why is this important?
Since Scripture doesn’t mention reincarnation but in fact speaks of one life and one death, we know reincarnation/transmigration is not true.
If it’s a lie, then we have to ask who would initiate such a lie: The Father of Lies?
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
“But how can he know so much about people’s lives,” you might say. Satan knows all there is about our lives. His demons keep an eye on us and can recite our secrets if need be.
“But some practitioners claim to be Christian and say what they are doing is the Lord’s work:”
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (2 Cor. 11:13-14)
The Bible is our only standard for spiritual truth. As Christians, we are to stay away from things the Bible speaks against. If we don’t know if a teaching is true or a false, the Bible tells us to test all things. Do a little research:
Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thess. 5:20-22)
Testing new ideas against what the Bible teaches keeps the keeps us from error.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 