Reincarnation

[richardsgirl]

Hi Everyone!

Recently, my boyfriend and I were watching a TV program about reincarnation and were a little freaked out by it. There was this one little boy in particular who was able to “remember” all kinds of details about another man’s life.

I know reincarnation is a Hindu belief, not a Catholic one but I found this very hard to explain. It didn’t seem to be anything as simple as a hoax (although I know there have been examples of that). Do you have any explanations for what it could have been? My boyfriend is a recent convert to Christianity and I would hate for this to weaken his faith.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Sarah

 

[Techno2000]

Hi Everyone!

Recently, my boyfriend and I were watching a TV program about reincarnation and were a little freaked out by it. There was this one little boy in particular who was able to “remember” all kinds of details about another man’s life.

I know reincarnation is a Hindu belief, not a Catholic one but I found this very hard to explain. It didn’t seem to be anything as simple as a hoax (although I know there have been examples of that). Do you have any explanations for what it could have been? My boyfriend is a recent convert to Christianity and I would hate for this to weaken his faith.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Sarah

Demons can supply this information.

 

[Ahimsa]

I believe in reincarnation/rebirth, but there are other explanations for the child’s memories:

(1) As someone suggested before, the activity of demons – though I doubt this explanation in this particular case.

(2) The child might have very powerful psychic abilities, allowing him/her to access other peoples’ memories, and confusing those memories with the child’s own memories.

(3) The person who died might be in contact with the child, from beyond the grave, thus supplying the child with information.

(4) We’re all connected at a very basic level, thus allowing the possibility of any one person accessing the memories of any other person. Children, being very open and very ‘childlike’, would be less likely to ‘repress’ the awareness of the connections.

(5) God gave those memories to the child, for inscrutable purposes. Perhaps by having those memories, the child would be less likely to commit the same mistakes that the dead person committed. If the dead person was selfish, then having memories of such selfishness and the results such selfishness produced, would cause the child to think twice about repeating such selfishness in his own life. Thus, such ‘memories’ could be seen as a gift from God.

(6) What the child actually said did not support the reincarnation hypothesis. The TV show did not fully reveal the details of the child’s statement. One would want to see the actual transcript, or hear the child him/herself speaking, before concluding that the child actually knew something it should not have known.

(7) The child was exposed (perhaps without conscious awareness) to events of the dead person’s life. Eventually, the child remembered those events, confusingly thinking that those events happened to the child, and not to the dead person.

 

[Techno2000]

I believe in reincarnation/rebirth, but there are other explanations for the child’s memories:

(1) As someone suggested before, the activity of demons – though I doubt this explanation in this particular case.

(2) The child might have very powerful psychic abilities, allowing him/her to access other peoples’ memories, and confusing those memories with the child’s own memories.

(3) The person who died might be in contact with the child, from beyond the grave, thus supplying the child with information.

(4) We’re all connected at a very basic level, thus allowing the possibility of any one person accessing the memories of any other person. Children, being very open and very ‘childlike’, would be less likely to ‘repress’ the awareness of the connections.

(5) God gave those memories to the child, for inscrutable purposes. Perhaps by having those memories, the child would be less likely to commit the same mistakes that the dead person committed. If the dead person was selfish, then having memories of such selfishness and the results such selfishness produced, would cause the child to think twice about repeating such selfishness in his own life. Thus, such ‘memories’ could be seen as a gift from God.

(6) What the child actually said did not support the reincarnation hypothesis. The TV show did not fully reveal the details of the child’s statement. One would want to see the actual transcript, or hear the child him/herself speaking, before concluding that the child actually knew something it should not have known.

(7) The child was exposed (perhaps without conscious awareness) to events of the dead person’s life. Eventually, the child remembered those events, confusingly thinking that those events happened to the child, and not to the dead person.

“I believe in reincarnation/rebirth”

27 And as it is appointed unto men ONCE to die, and after this the judgment. Hebrews 9: 27

 

[richardsgirl]

Thanks for your reply Ahimsa. I’m still struggling though because as a Christian, I don’t believe in things like being psychic or accessing another person’s memories. It’s also hard to see it as the work of God, since it could lead to such confusion about the possibility of reincarnation (a non-Christian idea).

I have done a little bit of research on reincarnation and it seems like there are two categories - the ones that turn out to be hoaxes/ somebody remembering something from very early in their childhood (like in the case of Bridie Murphy) and the ones that really seem to defy natural explanation.

I suppose it could be something to do with demons. As a Christian I do believe they are real but…I’m reluctant to just dismiss anything that doesn’t fit my beliefs as the work of demons. It seems like that isn’t judging the evidence fairly. What does anybody else think? Are there any good books or Christian articles on the internet about this?

 

[Techno2000]

Thanks for your reply Ahimsa. I’m still struggling though because as a Christian, I don’t believe in things like being psychic or accessing another person’s memories. It’s also hard to see it as the work of God, since it could lead to such confusion about the possibility of reincarnation (a non-Christian idea).

I have done a little bit of research on reincarnation and it seems like there are two categories - the ones that turn out to be hoaxes/ somebody remembering something from very early in their childhood (like in the case of Bridie Murphy) and the ones that really seem to defy natural explanation.

I suppose it could be something to do with demons. As a Christian I do believe they are real but…I’m reluctant to just dismiss anything that doesn’t fit my beliefs as the work of demons. It seems like that isn’t judging the evidence fairly. What does anybody else think? Are there any good books or Christian articles on the internet about this?

14 And no wonder: for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light.2 Corinthians 11

 

[Kitty_Chan]

and funny enough if you challanged that bunch to testing to prove themselves they will decline.

TV is full of this stuff, and I find it odd along with showing all religions as true, it also shows all science as true.

When certainly thats not the case for either.

 

[Ahimsa]

Thanks for your reply Ahimsa. I’m still struggling though because as a Christian, I don’t believe in things like being psychic or accessing another person’s memories.

I don’t know of any Christian teaching that denies that at least some people who claim to be psychics, are actually really psychic. But I may be mistaken.

there any good books or Christian articles on the internet about this?

Catholic Answers has a good page.

 

[Ahimsa]

“I believe in reincarnation/rebirth”

27 And as it is appointed unto men ONCE to die, and after this the judgment. Hebrews 9: 27

And, yet, St. Paul says, in 1st Corinthians 15:31 :

“I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

[diligamus]

So what does everyone make of the apparent mentions of reincarnation in the Bible?

E.g. Matthew 16:13-14 did some people think Jesus was the reincarnation of Elijah or Jeremiah?

**Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” **

 

[Techno2000]

I don’t know of any Christian teaching that denies that at least some people who claim to be psychics, are actually really psychic. But I may be mistaken.

Catholic Answers has a good page.

Basil the Great

“[A]void the nonsense of those arrogant philosophers who do not blush to liken their soul to that of a dog, who say that they have themselves formerly been women, shrubs, or fish. Have they ever been fish? I do not know, but I do not fear to affirm that in their writings they show less sense than fish” (The Six Days’ Work 8:2 [A.D. 393]).

This is very funny,Basil is saying that those that believe in Reincarnation,are stupider than Fish.

 

[Techno2000]

And, yet, St. Paul says, in 1st Corinthians 15:31 :

One is actual Death, and one is just symbolic Death.

 

[Ahimsa]

One is actual Death, and one is just symbolic Death.

That’s one way to interpret it. It’s a valid interpretation, but not the only one.

 

[Ahimsa]

Basil the Great

“[A]void the nonsense of those arrogant philosophers who do not blush to liken their soul to that of a dog, who say that they have themselves formerly been women, shrubs, or fish. Have they ever been fish? I do not know, but I do not fear to affirm that in their writings they show less sense than fish” (The Six Days’ Work 8:2 [A.D. 393]).

This is very funny,Basil is saying that those that believe in Reincarnation,are stupider than Fish.

There are theories of reincarnation that do not involve reincarnating into fish, or dogs, or shrubs.

Unfortunately, it seems that St. Basil lumps ‘women’ with things he considers ‘less than men’.

 

[mgupta]

Hi Everyone!

Recently, my boyfriend and I were watching a TV program about reincarnation and were a little freaked out by it. There was this one little boy in particular who was able to “remember” all kinds of details about another man’s life.

I know reincarnation is a Hindu belief, not a Catholic one but I found this very hard to explain. It didn’t seem to be anything as simple as a hoax (although I know there have been examples of that). Do you have any explanations for what it could have been? My boyfriend is a recent convert to Christianity and I would hate for this to weaken his faith.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Sarah

I suggest that you read a little bit about religions that believe in reincarnation such as Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Maybe it would better help you understand their beliefs. I’m a cradle Catholic and learning about eastern religions has actually made my belief in God stronger. I’m not saying that you should believe in reincarnation, but it doesnt hurt to be knowledgeable.

 

[Techno2000]

There are theories of reincarnation that do not involve reincarnating into fish, or dogs, or shrubs.

Unfortunately, it seems that St. Basil lumps ‘women’ with things he considers ‘less than men’.

If you want to twist it ,to mean that, I guess you can.

 

[Techno2000]

There are theories of reincarnation that do not involve reincarnating into fish, or dogs, or shrubs.

.

Yeah the Shirley MacLaine version of reincarnation .

 

[Ahimsa]

If you want to twist it ,to mean that, I guess you can.

St. Basil, as I’m sure he would be the first to admit, was not perfect. From the quote given, one might ask why did he lump ‘women’ in the list he gave? It might have been an unconscious slip of the tongue. Another possibility is that St. Basil, rather than personally thinking women were inferior, was simply using the assumptions of women’s inferiority held by his opponents, in order to further his own arguments. In any event, one could imagine other Church Fathers who might have critiqued the idea of reincarnation, but without implying that reincarnation as a woman would have been a disagreeable event. Do you have any info on St. Basil’s other writings, regarding how he thought of women?

 

[Techno2000]

St. Basil, as I’m sure he would be the first to admit, was not perfect. From the quote given, one might ask why did he lump ‘women’ in the list he gave? It might have been an unconscious slip of the tongue. Another possibility is that St. Basil, rather than personally thinking women were inferior, was simply using the assumptions of women’s inferiority held by his opponents, in order to further his own arguments. In any event, one could imagine other Church Fathers who might have critiqued the idea of reincarnation, but without implying that reincarnation as a woman would have been a disagreeable event. Do you have any info on St. Basil’s other writings, regarding how he thought of women?

Maybe St.Basil had a bitter experience as a woman in one of his past lives, and subconsciously this caused him to write such degrading things
about them.