Why reincarnation was edited out of Christianity?

Yes.... I read one book by Erik Von Daniken as well.

I was impressed...… and frankly I think that the writings of Von Daniken played a large role in setting up Richard Dawkins Ph. D. so that he refuses to rule out the possibility of technologically advanced alien civilizations.

I consider that a major step in the right direction for him.

 

Richard Dawkins received his PhD in 1966 which was a few years prior to Däniken publishing his first books. Also in the late 60s his books weren't translated into English yet. Maybe I misunderstood your point.

Richard Dawkins is a scientist first, so he works with a "best guess" or "probability"-scenario. Since you cannot collect all facts of any topic really, you always know that there is a chance that your conclusions are wrong. That's why most academics refuse to talk in certainties. Science collects as much evidence as it possibly can and then draw the most likely conclusions from it - hence, best guess. It is possible that NDEs are real and it is possible that there is a God, but the evidence provided makes us lean very strongly into the opposite direction.

I think there are still proper words missing to describe and distinct people without faith. On a scale of 1 (being certain that there is a God) and 10 (being certain that there is no God) I'm a 9.9. If tomorrow the evidence would change and Jesus flies in on a cloud, I'd admit I was wrong. I think people who claim that they know that there is no God, miss the point. Even weirder it gets with those individuals who claim that there is no God, yet believe in ghosts or something else.

I think Dawkins considers himself a 10 on that scale, which makes it weird. You should always keep an open mind, independent of how improbable something is. Especially scientists shouldn't limit themselves intellectual. But then again, he's a biologist, which means "looking and explaining", compared to the humanities fields which "try to understand"...

 

Personally...… I think that the wording in this film is by somebody who has done some more research and dropped down from a ten to a 9.9 or lower!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL7CCyuXAS4
Richard Dawkins: Aliens Seeded Earth?

 

Indeed. I can imagine him setting of with the 10 and realizing how foolish and ironic it was, especially listening to him debate theists.

He is really just odd at times. But at least he's better than Hitchens. Hitchens was so dismissive and aggressive in debates that I always felt he was an a** when talking. He just annoyed me. I have the exact same issue with Bill Maher. He is funny but he always comes across as someone who's condescending. It feels like he's trying to hide that he thinks that the person he is debating is an idiot.

What kind of an attitude is that anyhow? Is it so hard to have respect for someone else's opinions?

I feel I loose respect only if someone is offensive towards others - even worse if that person has a lacking understanding and knowledge and then condescending based on the few lines they heard or read. I especially feel the need to always protect those who're getting attacked. Extremist views, whether they come from theists or atheists, are in the same category to me...

The reincarnation topic you started here is quite nice, because neither (extremist) side can say much. I cannot say I encountered reincarnation topics within Christian beliefs. Maybe in special cases it is acceptable. Angles and the Devil keep coming to earth; but on the other hand they are also immortal. Maybe some stigmata cases could get close as some christians believe that Jesus's reincarnation comes forth. Also since the early middle ages, people believed in the second coming of Jesus Christ and Armageddon happening in their lifetime. A trend which hasn't changed that much among Christians to this day.

Could any of the things mentioned here be seen as reincarnations within the Christian faith? What do you think?

 

Yes.... they are steps in the right direction.

The obvious teachings about the preexistence of the human soul before birth are a major step in logic that we Christians must take first.

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Jhn&c=9&t=KJV

John 9:2


"And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? "

It is interesting that the disciples of Yeshua clearly believe in the preexistence of the human spirit or soul!


The clear identification of John the Baptist as Elijah is another crucial step we must make.


Matthew 11:13


"For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come."


http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mat&c=17&t=KJV


Mat 17:10


"And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."

 

It is also important that we Christians recognize that some form of reincarnation was a common belief among Jews of that time period.


Matthew 16:13

¶
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."

 

I just got back an exceptionally interesting comment by Bruce F. MacDonald Ph. D. on this subject.

Bruce F. MacDonald Ph. D.:

 

At the one hour and 33 minute mark in this film, three time near death experiencer states that reincarnation was edited out of Christianity in the year 558 C. E.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvD4pn2OTc8
Dannion Brinkley -The Near Death Experience & The Hereafter

 

?

Did they miss some of the verses, then...?

1Co 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

 

Margot2....... what do you personally think of the idea that ..... G-d is within.....YOU?

...........................…

https://www.facebook.com/BruceFraserMacDonaldPhD/?fref=nf

www.thomastwin.com/

 

Actually this proves that Christians don't understand what Jesus said. Here is Jesus talking about reincarnation.

Matthew 17:10-13

 

I totally agree!!!!!!

Here are disciples of his asking a question that clearly implies the pre-existence of the human soul or spirit.


John 9:2


"And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? "

 

Here are some more interesting comments on this topic from a Facebook group:


https://www.facebook.com/groups/1664055123819980/

Barbro Karlen and Anne Frank.

 

Hebrews 4:9 in the original Greek is interesting.

It seems that the Messianic Jew who wrote that book was still observing the Jewish Sabbath.

Rabbi Yeshua - Jesus's statement about praying......… that your flight not be on the Sabbath... also indicates that he knew many of his followers would not abandon all aspects of Judaism.

 

In a way.......... the Virgin Birth Theory....... could just as easily have been put forward by Essenes as by Messianic Gentiles?????

If it turns out that the Virgin Birth heresy dates back to the Essenes....... rather than to pagans as we might tend to suspect then......... this would be evidence that the Essenes considered John the Baptist as well as Rabbi Yeshua - Jesus to have been one of theirs...... which indicates that he may have considerable contact with them!

 

The Lollers seemed to have believed in reincarnation.. They were considered gnostics.

- - - Updated - - -

The Essenes wrote NOTHING about Jesus.. He is missing from the Dead Sea Scrolls... and there is NO mention of the Essenes in the Bible.

 

"The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews"... Its a letter to the Hebrews.

 

Thank you for this! I had heard of the Lollers but I didn't know that they believed in reincarnation!

They were willing to be terribly persecuted to maintain their beliefs.

Edgar Cayce taught that the Essenes were quite close to both the family of John the Baptist as well as to Joseph/ Yosef and Mary/ Myriam.

 

True.... that could well explain the different emphasis on the Sabbath.

But it is interesting that Gentiles did assemble on the Jewish Sabbath to hear the Apostles during the time of the Book of Acts.


Acts13:44

 

The Essenes were around from 100 BC until 200 AD and never mention Jesus.

- - - Updated - - -

I doubt they were gentiles.. more like Jewish followers of the Jesus cult.

 

These were mostly Gentiles.............


Act 13:42
¶
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath."

Acts13:44
"And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God."

 

Parthian, not Pathian.. I misspelled it.

Parthia is a historical region located in north-eastern Iran..

 

http://www.gotquestions.org/Essenes.html

Back in the 1800's Levi Dowling claimed that he became adept at controlling the out of the body experience, visited the Akashic Records....... and recorded events from the life of Rabbi Yeshua - Jesus that are not in the original gospels.

"The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ' by Levi Dowling is in my opinion...... a rather brilliant book...... that leaves me with a wide open mind to the possibility that Mr. Dowling... could perhaps indeed control the out of the body state...... and may well perhaps have viewed the recordings of the life of Rabbi Yeshua - Jesus?!

A far far far far better book now exists that to a significant degree corresponds with what Levi Dowling reported.

From page 107 to the end of this book.... near death experiencer Bruce MacDonald elaborates on details of the life of Rabbi Yeshua.... that correspond well with Levi Dowling's book..... as well as with the Edgar Cayce writings!

http://www.thomastwin.com/6 A Thomas background.html

 

Orthodox Jewish scholar Yair Davidiy would not casually approve a writing for his website if he did not think it was accurate.

http://www.britam.org/CamReaArsaces.html

Who was Arsaces, First King of the Parthians?

 

There were no synagogues until after the destruction of the Temple.. There was no Rabbinic Judaism.

Or maybe I got that wrong.

A synagogue is a place dedicated to Jewish worship and instruction. These buildings became the primary place of Jewish worship after the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E. But were there ancient synagogues in Israel—and in the diaspora—while the Temple still stood in Jerusalem?

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/...ncient-synagogues-in-israel-and-the-diaspora/

While there were differences between the pre-destruction and post-destruction synagogues, they still shared many similarities—both architectural and functional. Regardless of whether these earlier structures deserve the term “synagogue” by the current definition, the meaning of “synagogue” in the Bible almost certainly refers to these Second Temple-period buildings.

For further details about ancient synagogues in Israel and in the diaspora, read the article “Synagogues—Before and After the Roman Destruction of the Temple” by Rachel Hachlili in the May/June 2015 issue of BAR