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tions to nagging problems or
puzzlements. Bu t is there really
such a th ing as reincarnation?
Have you lived before? Will you
Iive again? What are we any–
way?
lt
is t ime to fi nd out the t ruth
once and for all!
How We Can Know
T here is only one sure, unmistak–
able source from which to learn
the t ruth about what we are, why
we are on earth and wbat happens
after death. T hat source is God
himself- the C reator of all that
is.
He claims to have given this
vital knowledge to us in his hand–
book fo r human be ings-the
Holy Bible. In it he speaks in the
first person-"J .. . "to man.
And in his Book he commands us
to pay attent ion to his revelat ion
to man of essent ial knowledge we
could not otherwise discover.
T he Bible is very clear on the
subj ect of reincarnation.
It
is "ap–
pointed unto men
once
to die, bu t
after this t he judgment" ( He–
brews 9:27). We are not given
ten, one hundred or one thousand
opportuni t ies to d ie a nd live
again . J ust one.
The concept of reincarnat ion is
dependent upon the belief that
each human has an "immortal
soul" that continues to exist after
the body dies. The Bible, bowev–
er, shows that man does not
have
a soul- man
is
a soul!
God created Adam out of the
dust of t be g round and "man
became a living soul" (Genesis
2:7). And God told Adam, "dust
thou [a living soul] art , and unto
dust sbalt thou [a living soul]
return" (Genesis 3:19).
According to the Bible, souls
d ie. T he soul that sins shall d ie
says Ezekiel 18:4 and 20 . They do
not live on and take up residence
in another body.
T he idea that souls do not die
originated wi th Satan in tbe gar–
den of Eden. He told Eve sbe had
an immortal soul. " Ye shall not
surely d ie," he lied (Genesis 3:4).
Most people ever si nce have
bel ieved his deception.
lt
is not possible for a human
bei ng to re call though ts a nd
March 1981
impressions f rom a "previous
existence." Psalm 146:4 declares
that when a person d ies "h is
breath goeth forth, he returneth
to his ear th; in that very day his
thoughts perish." Tbey do not
continue on to be picked up or
recalled by future "reincarna–
t ions." T hey perish. So says God.
The dead "know not any thing"
(Ecclesiastes 9:5).
What about the cases where
people claim (often under bypno–
sis) to remember former lives and
where details inexplicably match
h istorical records?
After all possibil it ies of fraud ,
coincidence and honest mistakes
are eliminated, there remain cases
that defy normal physical or psy–
c hological explanat ion. T bis is
where "extrasensory perception"
comes into the picture. By "extra–
sensory perception" in this con–
text is meant information that is
perceived from sources beyond
t he physical world. What are
those sources? Cer tainly not " im–
mortal souls" !
We Are Not Alone
Man inhabi ts the physical planet
Earth. But we humans are not
alone. The Bible reveals there are
spirit beings presen t on ear th
also. Among them a re fall en
angels-powerful spirit beings
who bave rebelled agai nst God.
T hey are "lying spirits"
(1
T imo–
thy 4:1; II Chronicles 18:21) bent
on fooling human bei ngs in any
way possible. These wicked spir–
its want human beings to cont in–
ue to believe Satan's original lie
that we have immortal souls.
T bese lying spi r its or demons
have been arou nd si nce long
before man . They remembe r
what took place in the past. When
a person's mind is receptive to
suggestion, such as while under
hypnosis, or in similar circum–
stances, it is not difficult for a
spirit to inject information- his–
torically· verifiable information–
into the human mind.
The Bible also reveals that
there are even occasions where it
is possible for an entire spirit per–
sonality to be "reincarnated ."
Not a human personali ty, but a
fallen spirit who takes over-pos-
sesses-a phys ical being. The
spirit's personality then domi–
nates.
One day as J esus was walking
he carne upon two men possessed
of demons with violen t , self–
destructive personalities (Mat–
thew 8:28). Jesus cast them ou t
of tbe men and gave the violent
spirits permission to enter into a
herd of swine. lmmediately the
violent, self-destructive personali–
ties were gone from the men.
This tben was a case of what sorne
would call " reincarnation of a
personality" !
The plain fact is that the Bible
shows the " rei ncarnation" of
human beings
is not possible.
God's Plan
Then what about the important
questions we referred to-the
ones the churches of the world
fail to answer? Since the Bible
shows it is impossible for mortal
human beings to be " re incar–
nated" in a different form or
body, is there then no satisfying
explanation for the inequities of
this
li fe ? What bappens to
people- t he
majority of
people!- who die ill-prepared for
eternity- the millions " unsaved"
as sorne would express it? Are
they forever " lost"?
Let us understand! The truth is
mo re g lorious and comfor ti ng
than the idea of " reincarnation"
or of an "immortal soul."
God is indeed worki ng out a
purpose wi th humanity.
It
is a
process of per fecting through
which human beings may attain
the d ivine level. " Be [become] ye
t herefore perfect," said J esus,
"even as your Father whicb is in
heaven is perfect" (Mattbew.
5:48). That is the purpose in
huma n life. To become li ke
God.
"Ye are gods," J esus quoted
from one of the Psalms (John
l 0:34). He said that the scripture
cannot be broken (verse 35).
T hose who heard him were so
shocked by what he said tbat they
t ried to seize him (verse 39) .
T be idea that humans may
become members of tbe God
Family s t ill shocks many people.
But it is the cent ral tbeme of the
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