Reincarnation and Christianity

 Many people claim evidence for reincarnation was taken out of the Bible when its books were compiled in the early days of the official Roman church. Whether or not this is the case, the surprising thing is that there is a considerable amount of evidence for reincarnation in the Bible we have. Not that the word itself is used; you have to dig a little. But once you understand what reincarnation is about, you can see quite a few references supporting the idea that after people die they will come back to this Earth if they are not ready to move on permanently to the heavenly realm.

Mark Mason's new book In Search of the Loving God has a whole chapter devoted to reincarnation, in which he examines numerous passages from the Bible which support the concept that we have serial lives, including this passage from Hebrews:

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They
did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and
welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they
were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things
show that they are looking for a country of their own. IF THEY
HAD BEEN THINKING OF THE COUNTRY THEY HAD LEFT,
THEY WOULD HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN.
Instead they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has
prepared a city for them.   (Heb 11:13-16)

In the context of this passage, which is talking about what happens when people die, the sentence in capitals is a clear statement of the concept of reincarnation.

Conservative Christians are able to muster just one quote from the Bible to attempt to show there is no reincarnation: "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..."(Heb 9:27) Mason rather neatly shows that when this fragment of a sentence is read in its context - both the immediate verses around it, and that of the Paulian theology which runs through Hebrews - then it is not talking about physical death at all, but about "dying to sin." So, maybe there is evidence for reincarnation in the Bible after all!

The author's web site for this book has a summary of and extract from this chapter (as well as others), and has two complete chapters from the book freely available for all to read:
IN SEARCH OF THE LOVING GOD by Mark Mason