36. Reincarnation (II)

In the previous chapter dedicated to the reincarnation, we saw how God was revealing to the people of Israel – as the Old Testament relates – that life is one and that the soul and the body are two realities of the same person. We continue now offering the development of faith in the resurrection in the Old and New Testaments, which completely rejects the idea of reincarnation after death.

This teaching appears for the first time in the Bible in the book of Daniel. There, an angel reveals this great secret: “The multitude of those that sleep in the tomb will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting horror” (12:2). Therefore, it is clear that the step that immediately follows the death is the Eternal Life, which will be happy for the good and painful for sinners. But it will be eternal.

The second time that we see it mentioned, it is in a story in which the king Antiochus IV of Syria tortures seven Jewish brothers to force them to abandon their faith. As he died, the second said to the king: “Thou deprive us of the present life, but the King of the world will raise us up to eternal life” (2 Mac 7:9). And when he died, the seventh exclaimed: “My brothers, after having endured a short punishment, now enjoy the eternal life” (2 Mac 7:36).

For the Old Testament, then, it is impossible to return to the earthly life after death. For as brief and painful that has been human existence, after death begins the resurrection.

Jesus Christ, with his authority as the Son of God, officially confirmed this doctrine. With the parable of the rich man (Lk 16:19.31), told how, upon dying, a poor beggar named Lazarus was taken immediately to heaven by angels. In those days there also died a rich and insensitive man, who was taken to hell to be tormented by the flames of the fire.

Jesus did not say that this rich man would be reincarnated to purge his many sins on earth. On the contrary, the parable explains that for having used the many goods he had received on earth unfairly, he owed “now” (that is to say, in the beyond, in eternal life, and not on the ground) payment for his sins (v:25). The rich man, desperate, pleading to allow Lazarus back to Earth (or, to be reincarnated) because he had five brothers, as bad sinners as he was, in order to warn them what awaits them if they do not change their lives (v:27.28). But the angel answered that it is not possible, because between this world and the other there is an abyss that no one can cross (v:26).
The anguish of the convicted rich man, is, precisely, to prove that his brothers also have one life to live, a unique possibility, a unique opportunity to give meaning to existence.

When Jesus died on the cross, the Gospel tells that one of the thieves crucified next to him asked: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” If Jesus had admitted the possibility of reincarnation, he would have said: “Be patient, your crimes are many; you must go through several reincarnations until you purify yourself completely.” But his answer was: “I can assure you that today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43). If “today” he was going to be in paradise, it is because he could never return to be born into this world again. Saint Paul also rejects reincarnation. In fact, in writing to the Philippians he says: “I am hard pressed by the two sides. On the one hand, I would like to die to be with Christ. But on the other, it is more necessary for you that I stay with you in this world” (1,23.24). If he would have believed reincarnation possible, useless would have been his wish to die, as it would meet with the frustration of a new earthly life. A total inconsistency.
And explaining to the Corinthians what happens on the day of our death, says: “In the resurrection of the dead, a corruptible body is buried and an incorruptible one resurrects, a body humiliated is buried and a glorious one resurrects, a weak body is buried and a strong one resurrects, a material body is buried and a spiritual one resurrects. (1 Cor 15:42.44).

Can, then, a Christian believe in reincarnation? It is clear that he cannot. The idea of taking another body and returning to earth after death is absolutely incompatible with the teachings of the Bible. The biblical statement more convincing and solid that reincarnation is unsustainable, is brought to us in the letter to the Hebrews: “it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment” (9:27).
But not only the Holy Scriptures prevent belief in reincarnation, but also common sense. In fact, that it explains the sympathies and antipathies between people, the misunderstandings of married couples, inequalities in the intelligence of people, or early deaths; already it is no longer accepted seriously by anyone. Modern psychology has helped to clarify, in a scientific and conclusive way, the reason for these and other strange manifestations of the human personality, without imposing the belief of reincarnation on anyone.

Reincarnation, therefore, it is a doctrine incompatible with the Christian faith, of a primitive mentality, destroyer of hope in the next life, useless to give answers to the enigmas of life, and, what is worse, dangerous as an invitation to irresponsibility. In fact, if you think that you’re going to have multiple lives, in addition to this, you run the risk of not carrying out, with all seriousness, the present life, nor put great effort into what you do, nor will your work matter to you much. In sum, you always think that other reincarnations await to improve the idleness of this life; believe that these reincarnations may be a worse life. In addition, the belief in reincarnation has led many to not help those who are suffering, as seen in the punishment and suffering imposed by God for the sins committed in the other life; something equivalent to what those who are in jail suffer; if they suffer is because they have earned it in the previous life, and that is good for them because they are purified. The conclusion is the absence, more or less, of charity.

But if one knows that the miracle of existence will not be repeated, that you only have this life to fulfill your dreams, only these years, only these days and these nights to be happy with the people you love, then take good care of not abusing the time, losing it in trivialities, wasting opportunities. Live every minute with intensity, be your best in each encounter, and don’t allow any situation to escape that life offers. Know you will not return and give thanks to God for the time allotted to you.