FAQ: Is Reincarnation Biblical?


Those who believe in reincarnation teach that after death a person's "soul" is reborn in a new body, which may be that of an animal, an insect, or another human being. It is sometimes referred to as the "transmigration of the soul" or metempsychosis.

The immortality of the soul doctrine is basic to the belief in reincarnation, but that doctrine is false! The Bible plainly shows that one's soul is not immortal. Notice Genesis 3:19: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground; for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust [not another body] you shall return."

Also notice Ecclesiastes 3:19-20: "For what happens to the sons of men also happens to beasts; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over beasts. . . . All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust."

Psalm 146:4 states that when a man dies, "His spirit [breath, KJV] departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans [thoughts, KJV] perish."

This state would seem hopeless except for the only "rebirth" the Bible supports: the resurrection from the dead, which is the hope of the Christian for immortality and eternal life. Paul explains, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (I Corinthians 15:51-53). Something far better—true salvation and everlasting life—awaits believers in Christ after death!



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