Does the Bible teach reincarnation?
You might be surprised
If you ask Christians what the religion teaches about the afterlife, you’re likely to hear about one’s soul spending eternity in Heaven and Hell.
If you ask about reincarnation—you’d likely hear a firm “no.” Imagine my surprise when I found myself learning about the long history of Christians believing in this concept.
‘Church fathers’ had believed in reincarnation.
Clement of Alexandria — who is often called a ‘church father’ and ‘saint’ — argued for it in a book called the Hypotyposeis, or Outlines.
That book was later, as Christians put it, “lost.” But it was briefly described by a horrified 9th century cleric:
“He talks prodigious nonsense about the transmigration of souls and the existence of a number of worlds before Adam.”
Was this Christianity? Apparently so. Scholars find that even Clement’s remaining works hint at a belief in reincarnation.
Origen seems to have believed in reincarnation.
The great 3rd century Christian scholar got into quite a bit of trouble over the issue—a…
