Reincarnationism in Christianity

HAYASHI Masako

doi:10.20788/jmbs.28.1_22

<p>In the early Christian history, reincarnationism had been comparatively well-known. In the era of Jesus and in the Gospels, following the early Christian Fathers’ thoughts, as well as in gnostic Christianity, we see that they had adopted the idea of reincarnationism. What ideas were authentic Christian doctrines and which were heretical had been distinguished clearly by the Ecumenical Councils. It means the branded heresy would have spread and survived at the reaches of the far west and east, not around the center of the Roman Church. It has not been uncommon for Christianity in remote areas to adopt reincarnationism. Even more so in modern times where diversity and pragmatism are valued, there is much room for Christianity to incorporate reincarnationism within its tenets. In this paper, I examine how reincarnation is accepted in the 21st century existential theology. This has been suggested by a Japanese Protestant theologian. There is no reason that existential theology could not adopt doctrines of the universal salvation theory and the reincarnation theory, assuming that the double predestination theory could not be found in the Bible but was formed as a doctrine in later times. Then why do we refuse the idea of reincarnationism because it is only referred to a few times in the New Testament? On the contrary, adopting the idea would help instill Christianity in Japan.</p>

Reincarnationism in Christianity

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