Thanks for setting up this thread Eric.
The Ban of Reincarnation
Reincarnation is the belief in rebirth; that human beings are reborn again in a new body and have a history of past lives. It holds that the essence of the living being can survive death and becomes reborn in a new set of circumstances. This essence is often referred to as the Spirit or Soul.
The early Christian church accepted the teaching of reincarnation, which was expounded by the Gnostics and by numerous church fathers, including Clement of Alexandria, the celebrated Origen (both 3rd century), and St. Jerome (5th century). Of the three, Origen was the greatest proponent of reincarnation among the early Christian teachers and theologians, and he had the greatest impact.
The first major controversy regarding Origen’s views erupted toward the end of the fourth century when he was condemned as a heretic, but the Church took no ecumenical action. Then, nearly 300 years after his death, in the sixth century, Justinian I (483-565 A.D.), a Byzantine emperor and theologian, attempted to wipe out paganism in 529 A.D. He passed damaging legislation against Jews and heretics and attempted to introduce some Christian concepts into the Justinian Code of the Roman law. At the suggestion of a deacon, who later become Pope Pelagius, Justinian condemned Origen and his teachings of reincarnation as a possible solution to doctrinal troubles among the Palestinian monks.
The Council’s decision was accepted without difficulty everywhere except by the Isochristes, a group of monks in the Grand Laura of Egypt. They refused to accept the Council’s condemnation of Origen because they maintained that in the resurrection all men would be the same as Christ.
At the Second Council of Constantinople (553 A.D.), known as the Fifth Ecumenical Council, the Byzantine emperor Justinian forced the Church to declare the teachings of reincarnation a heresy, and to remove reincarnation from Christian theology. As a result, all references to rebirth and reincarnation were removed in the Bible. For nearly 1,500 years, the teaching of reincarnation has been outlawed in the West. This ban continues to the present day. However, in the East, reincarnation has wide influence and acceptance among tens of millions and millions of people. Could they be all mistaken?
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