Is reincarnation in the Bible or the Gospels?

Can one speak of the Bible without religion? Tom believes so — and shows Roger the passages where successive existences appear in the very words of Jesus.

— Tom, I know that our conversation has no religious character, but can you tell me whether in the Bible or in the Gospels there is any passage referring to successive existences or reincarnation?

— We can speak about the Bible or the Gospels without a religious character. For example, the Gospels are, as it were, biographies of Jesus of Nazareth. We can also speak of Jesus of Nazareth without a religious character. Jesus was an extraordinary soul who incarnated on Earth to help humanity progress. Jesus is far more a philosopher, a healer, than a religious figure. It was the religions that tried, each in its own way, to take God and Jesus for themselves. But Jesus is a soul far above any religion existing on Earth. But, to answer your question, yes, they exist. I will tell you some of them, the clearest ones.

Roger thanks his friend for his willingness and signals to him to proceed.

— Now, among the Pharisees there was a man named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, who came to Jesus by night and said to Him: Master, we know that You have come from God to instruct us, for no one could perform the miracles that You perform if God were not with Him. Jesus answered him: Verily, verily, I say unto you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Nicodemus said to Him: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? (2)

— Do you see there the idea, conveyed by Jesus, of successive existences?

Roger, thoughtful, says:

— But Tom, many Catholics and many Protestants interpret being born again as a spiritual conversion, not as a physical reincarnation. How do you respond to that?

— That is a possible interpretation, Roger. But notice Nicodemus's reply — he asks literally whether a man can enter again into his mother's womb to be born a second time. If Jesus had been speaking only of spiritual conversion, Nicodemus would not have asked that question. Nicodemus's reply shows that he understood Jesus to be speaking of a physical birth. And Jesus did not correct him. If Nicodemus's interpretation had been wrong, Jesus would have corrected him immediately — as He did on so many other occasions.

Roger signals to his friend to continue.

— If you, then, being evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask Him? (Matthew) — In these words of Matthew the impossibility of eternal punishment is clearly demonstrated. If we, the parents of the Earth, who are imperfect, give good things to our children, imagine what God will do for all His children, without exception. Would it make sense for God to give eternal suffering to any of His creatures? If parents, who are imperfect, are always ready to forgive their children, imagine what infinite goodness will do for its children so that they may follow the path of good. (2)

Roger signals for Tom to continue.

— As I live, I do not desire the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. (Ezekiel, ch. XXXIII, v. 11) — Is this passage of the Bible not clear enough to show us the impossibility of any eternal hell?

— Without doubt, Tom, the idea of an eternal punishment is entirely contrary to the supreme justice and goodness of God. If souls reincarnate, they always have the possibility of improving themselves. Are there more passages?

— Yes, there are. There is a passage in the Gospels which clearly shows that John the Baptist is the reincarnation of Elijah, one of the prophets of the past.

Roger, the idea of eternal punishments was useful in the time of Moses, when it was necessary to believe in a punishing and terrible God so that those people would come to respect Him out of fear and not out of love. The men of that time would not have been impressed by moral penalties, and would even have come to regard God as a weak being who did not command respect. Jesus, however, came later to proclaim a merciful, compassionate God.

Roger, curious, says:

— What is that passage about John the Baptist and Elijah?

— In Matthew, chapter 11, verse 14, Jesus says clearly to His disciples, concerning John the Baptist: And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. And in Matthew 17, verse 12, Jesus says further: Elijah has already come, and they did not recognise him. The disciples themselves understood that Jesus was speaking of John the Baptist. It is one of the most direct references to reincarnation in the Gospels — and it comes from the very words of Jesus. (2)

Roger signals for his friend to continue.

— Jesus, again and again, taught us to forgive our enemies. Could God be merciless, condemning even one of His creatures to eternal torment? Of course not.

— Indeed, because forgiveness would be good for souls. Would souls be better than God? No. God, taking vengeance through an infinite punishment, would then be infinitely vengeful, and so could no longer be infinitely good. If God did not forgive the repentant, He would be merciless, and being merciless He could no longer be good. If God is wholly merciful to the repentant soul before death, why would He cease to be so for one who repents after it? Why should the efficacy of repentance last only during life, a brief instant, and not in eternity, which has no end? Confined to a given time, the divine goodness and mercy would have limits, and God would not be infinitely good. If the penalty were irrevocable, repentance would be useless, and the guilty one, having nothing to hope for from his correction, would persist in evil, so that God would not only condemn him to suffer perpetually, but also to remain in evil for all eternity. In that there is neither goodness nor justice nor intelligence. (3)

— Excellent observations, Roger.

Excerpt from the work The Great Discovery, by César Manuel Malainho de Oliveira.
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