Reincarnation in the Bible
“...no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3)
As we have previously discussed, belief in reincarnation is as old as humanity, being present in the culture of several primitive peoples, including the Jews themselves. We can also mention the Essene people, among whom, according to strong evidence, Jesus would have lived during a period of his life.
In this way, great masters and initiates knew about Reincarnation. Therefore, it is not surprising that we find many references to it in the Bible itself, which have always been kept hidden, for obvious religious reasons.
Let us analyze: If in the Middle Ages Catholic Church condemned to death at the stake anyone who simply said that the earth revolved around the sun, it would evidently never tolerate the propagation of the belief in reincarnation, much less would it ever allow any biblical translation that would make a clear reference to it. In fact, which translator would have the courage to risk his life at the time, translating Biblical passages that were contrary to the Church’s Doctrine?
To those who wish to analyze this subject in detail, we recommend reading the book "Analyzing the Biblical Translations" of the Brazilian theologian and university professor Severino Celestino da Silva, which presents the analysis of several originals of biblical passages in Greek and Hebrew, and the way in which they have been misrepresented to hide the word "Reincarnation."
Procederemos em seguida à análise de alguns trechos bíblicos nos quais a idéia do Renascimento está claramente expressa.
No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again
"Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? (John 3, 1-12)
Some interpret this passage as if Jesus were speaking of a rebirth "through baptism". However, if we analyze rigorously the logic of the reasoning presented in the text, it is possible to demonstrate that it was not the baptism he was talking about.
An important detail in the analysis of the text is the difficulty presented by Nicodemus to understand what Jesus was talking about and his reaction of surprise. Now, if Jesus was telling him about baptism, he would certainly have no such difficulty in understanding. The proof of this is that he, amazed, asked Jesus: “How can someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus replied “You should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again.”
Yet it was not enough for Nicodemus to understand, and he asks again, “How can this be?”, to which Jesus again, this time with clear emphasis, says to him, “You are Israel’s teacher, and do you not understand these things? I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?".
These last Jesus' words make it clear that he was talking about something that was still beyond the reach of understanding to the people of that time. If it were about Baptism, there would not have been so many doubts, and so many explanations would not have been necessary. There are other biblical passages in which Jesus talks about baptism without the need for further explanation about it. Therefore, it is concluded that Jesus was talking about something else, what explains Nicodemus’ difficulty of understanding.
By the question Nicodemus asked, "If a man could enter his mother's womb again", one realizes that he had no idea about how this rebirth could occur and he thought it would happen with his own body. Then Jesus explains to him that there are two things: the flesh (physical body) and the spirit, and "it is not the old body that will be born again", but the spirit.
This is clearly stated in the two comparisons made by Jesus. The first one: “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” (Comparison between water and spirit) and the second one: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (Comparison between flesh and spirit). The correspondence between the two comparisons is evident.
Now, if Jesus were referring to baptism, as some misinterpret, instead of using the reference "flesh and spirit", we should find "baptism and spirit". In this way it would be clear that the term "baptism" would refer to the term previously used "water", emphasizing it. However, the term we find to refer to "water" is "flesh". Logical conclusion: "flesh" = "water" (physical body).
The second comparison is clearly a reinforcement of the first, which is easy to understand, because Nicodemus understood absolutely nothing of what Jesus meant. That is, it would be the same as saying: "Understand Nicodemus: water and spirit, that is, flesh and spirit!" The reference, in fact, makes all sense because the human body is made up of about 75% of liquid, and we stay nine months in the water inside the womb before we are born, so we are literally "born of water" and made of water.
The text “Flesh gives birth to flesh” makes it clear that it is impossible for a body of flesh to be reborn by entering again into the maternal womb, as Nicodemus thought at first, and “Spirit gives birth to spirit”, that is, the spirit can be born again in another body.
And to point it out, he added that “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” , that is, the spirit is invisible to our eyes, just like the wind, and we do not see when it binds to a body to be reborn! So we do not recognize a person who has been reborn in another body. Now, if Jesus were talking about baptism, this final part would not make sense!
Recently, some Bible translators, most likely bothered by the repercussions of the analyzes that have been made regarding this biblical passage, and the way in which it makes a clear reference to Reincarnation, have adopted a new translation of the term "born again" , which for two thousand years was thus translated, to "be born from above". In fact, the original Greek word "anothen" can mean both "again" and "above."
However, let us analyze: If Jesus had told him to "be born from above" referring to baptism, Nicodemus would not have had any difficulty in understanding him. But Nicodemus asks, "how could a man enter into his mother's womb again and be born?". This question by Nicodemus indicates unequivocally that the meaning of what Jesus had told him was really "born again", and not “born from above”.
Therefore, if we analyze the above passage in an logical and absolutely impartial way, free from any dogma, we will find that the concept of Reincarnation is what really gives it a logical sense. Only one life is an extremely short period of time in order for us to attain spiritual perfection enough to deserve the "Kingdom of God". Therefore, many rebirths are necessary so that, through the slow and gradual evolution of our spirits, we may one day attain higher spiritual levels and, thus, no longer need to reincarnate in matter.
“Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ( Matthew 16, 13-14 )
This passage again demonstrates the fact that the idea of rebirth was widespread among the Jews. Now let us analyze: If the disciples pondered that Jesus could be the reincarnation of someone who had died before, this unequivocally demonstrates that the idea of reincarnation was not something strange or absurd to them, otherwise they would have never had considered about it , especially with their own master!
On the other hand, if the belief in reincarnation were something "reprehensible", as many fundamentalists try to make believe, Jesus would promptly have rebuked or censured them at that moment, which did not occur.
“Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him”
“The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him… Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.( Matthew 17, 10-13)
Jesus himself said that Elijah had come before and was not recognized. What is the reason for him not being recognized? Evidently because he was in another body! (“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” John 3, 1-8 ). Then we see that not only did the disciples talked about the possibility of a person being reborn in another body, but also Jesus himself!
The excerpt “Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist” demonstrates, unequivocally, that the disciples understood that John the Baptist was Elijah himself reincarnated.
The fact that John the Baptist himself denied being the Reincarnation of Elijah, when asked by priests and Levites (John 1:21) is irrelevant since, when we are reincarnated, we do not remember our previous lives “for we were born only yesterday and know nothing (Job 8: 8,9)"
Jesus' words are very clear and leave no doubts: “And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear”(Matthew 11, 14-15).
"Return to dust, you mortals”
" You turn people back to dust, saying, Return to dust, you mortals. A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by” (Psalms 90, 3-4)
Another passage that clearly refers to the return to physical life. The verb "Return" cannot be interpreted differently. It means “to go or come back to a former place, position, or state”, so “return to dust" can be interpreted as “return to matter”, to be born again.
Next we find the mention to the period of "a thousand years", saying that, for God, such a period of time is like “a day that has just gone by”, that is, it is an extremely short period of time. In this way, by adding the meaning of the words into a logical reasoning, we could summarize it in this way: "Return to matter, because a thousand years for God is as short a period as yesterday!"
The text makes it clear that it is necessary to return, because a thousand years are as if it were only one day, in the spirit's evolutionary journey! That is why we born again, because the short period of one life is not sufficient to attain spiritual perfection.
" for we were born only yesterday and know nothing”
“Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned, for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.” (Job 8: 8,9)
Another passage that practically dispenses comments. Actually, we are from yesterday, we had countless past lives, but at the moment we do not know, for in this present body we cannot remember our previous reincarnations, once our physical brain contains only the memories recorded since our birth. However, if we are subjected to memory regression through hypnosis, we can access memories from previous lives, as science has demonstrated in thousands of documented cases, as presented in Part III of this book, in the chapter "Past Life Therapy".