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Reincarnation


inquiry

my friend is a strong believer in reincarnation.  i dont know much about it
being a baptist, so could you point me in the right direction as to where i
can find places in the bible to tell him the truth about it.  i led him to 2
cor. 5:8 and hebrews 9:27 but still nothing!  your help is appriciated!
thanks!

response

Hi ,

I'm one of the members of the Paraclete team. You may hear from others
on the team with advice about your question, which is a good one, but
here's my suggestions, which I hope are helpful.

Reincarnation, to be sure, in not a belief that is supported in the Bible,
so I can understand your concern for your friend.  However, you have not
mentioned the nature of the relationship with your friend (best friend,
acquaintance, friend of a friend, neighbor, etc), or their beliefs
(Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Christian with worldly modifications, "believes
in God", Agnostic, etc.).  It seems to me that this is key for moving
forward in this area.  If your friend has opened themselves up to you enough
to discuss this topic, at whatever level, I'd say that's a pretty good
indication there can be more discussion in the future.  You mention that you
don't know much about reincarnation (and neither do I), but that is exactly
where I suggest you start.  I think that although the scriptures you listed
below are a good, I get the sense that perhaps your friend does not see the
Bible as a reliable source, and as such quoting scripture will not be
affective, as you have mentiioned.

May I suggest you do some homework on reincarnation?  There are plenty of
web site on the net can will explain the concept in general terms.  Here's
one place to try:

http://www.comparativereligion.com/reincarnation.html

Let me encourage you to look for information about reincarnation on
non-christian based web sites too, to get an "insiders" view of this belief
system.  If you are concerned about your friend, I think the best place to
start is as a listener and a friend (James 1:18-20).  If you take a genuine
interest in understanding this person and WHY they believe in reincarnation,
at the very least that will give you a place to start praying for them, with
some specifics in mind too.  This can never hurt.  I'm not suggesting
condoning your friends beliefs, but rather trying to understand it, from
their point of view, really listening to them, showing them that you are
generally concerned about them, and where they are at spiritually.  Doing so
will help give them reason to listen to you when you the spirit prompts you
with answers or alternatives.  Find some common ground to start with, which
may be as simple as a common understanding of the issue at hand.  Who knows,
maybe you will find out more about reincarnation beliefs than they currently
do, and can point out things that they may not really understand ­ maybe
even point out things that make belief in reincarnation less attractive.  I
can think of several friends of mine who talk about reincarnation like it is
another "possibility" out there in the religious buffet of "choices"
available, but probably don't understand the whole issue or ever bothered
to.

Taking a personal interest will lend credibility to your relationship with
your friend, because you've responded first in love and a sincere attempt to
understand.  Isn't this how Christ approaches us too (John 15:14-16)?

-

P.s. It seems funny to me that those who I've heard casually talk about
reincarnation may admit to having come FROM a bad previous life ("In a
previous life I was a sewer rat."), but never seem to think therešs a
possibility of the NEXT life being bad either.  They will be reincarnated as
an eagle, or a dolphin, or a lion, or a woman instead of a man, but no one
seems to think their next life will be as a slug, or a snail, or a dung
beetle, or a cockroach. ;-)