Editor's Note: This article is by About.com Guest Author Carmen Turner-Schott, MSW, LISW.
Questioning DoctrineI will never forget the first time that I realized that what I was originally taught did not make sense to me. I was raised Baptist and was taught that we only live one life. We had one chance to get it all right so that we could go to heaven. I remember working with autistic and handicapped children and witnessed the suffering that they endured. I felt confused for the first time and asked myself, “Why would God have them be born this way.” I felt sad and knew that something was wrong and it did not make sense.
The Bible teaches that God loves us and I wondered why God would allow a child to be born handicapped. I began to question the meaning of suffering and asked my preacher. I remember that no one’s answer resonated with me. Nothing made sense and I knew that the God I loved was fair and compassionate. My God would not cause suffering to innocent children.
It was also hard for me to believe that all the gentle, kind, spiritual people in other parts of the world would go to hell because they were not Christian. I knew that God created them just as he created me and loved them as his own. I knew that they did not choose which part of the world they were born in, such as the people who are born in the jungle without any knowledge of Christianity? These questions plagued me.
Reincarnation in the Bible"The body that ye lay in the grave, or that is consumed by fire, is not the body that shall be, but they who come again shall receive other bodies, and as they have sown in one life, so shall they reap in another." Dead Sea Scrolls, Essenes
I was on a quest and was determined to find out about reincarnation and what the Bible said about it. The first book I read was a theosophy book called, “Reincarnation for the Christian”. This book opened up my eyes and showed me the truth about reincarnation and karma. For the first time, everything made sense to me. I knew that karma and reincarnation had to be true.
It explained why children were born handicapped and why bad things happened to good people. It made sense that God would have us only suffer what we had to, due to our past deeds. It explained how innocent children were murdered, why car accidents happened and why serious illnesses plagued children. As Jesus said, “You reap what you sow”. I realized that the sowing was not always from this lifetime, but from actions in the past. All the things we do in previous lifetimes need time to come back, it’s not instantaneous. Jesus taught others about the law of karma, but he simply explained it in basic terms so that anyone could understand it. He knew that he had to explain things on a basic level for everyone in the land at that time to understand. He taught in parables because this made it easier for others to grasp his message.
Early Christians such as Saint Jerome taught about the transmigration of souls, but this doctrine was only divulged to a small number of elect church fathers. Saint Gregory of Nyssa said that, “it is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and that if it does not take place during its life on earth, then it must be accomplished in future lives.”
Saint Clement of Alexandria was known to hold the same beliefs about reincarnation along with his student Origen. Origen was a Pope that believed that reincarnation was a big part of Christianity. It was not until his death and centuries later that the elect officials got together to overthrow the doctrine and removed it from the Bible at that time.
Many Christians incorporate new age beliefs into their traditional religious practice. According to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life they found that 22% of Christians say they believe in reincarnation and adhere to the belief that people will be reborn in this world again and again. This same poll also found that 25% of the public overall and 23% of Christians stated that they believed in astrology.
Overall this study found that six in ten adults (65%) expressed belief in or report of having an experience with at least one supernatural phenomenon such as a belief in reincarnation, belief in yoga as a spiritual practice, belief in astrology or having been in touch with the dead.
