Reincarnation in Early Christianity

Not a New Belief

A belief in reincarnation was widely held in pre-Christian times. It was taught in the scriptures of Ancient Egypt, and was, and still is, taught in the Hindu and Buddhist religions. The great Greek philosopher, Pythagoras (582-500B.C.) remembered his past lives and Plato who car­ried on his teachings accepted the idea of reincarnation.

Reincarnation Accepted by the Neo Platonists

Some scholars say that reincarnation was part of the early Christian teachings until the middle of the sixth century. It certainly was accepted by the Christian Neo-Platonists in Alexandra.

St. Jerome (A.D. 340-420) using the term 'transmigration' for reincarnation wrote: The doctrine of 'transmigration1 has been taught from ancient times to small numbers of people as a traditional truth which was not to be divulged." Hyeronym Epistpla and Demetriadem.

One of the greatest of the Christian Fathers, Origen (A.D. 185-254) was described by St Gregory of Nysse as The prince of Christian learn­ing in the third century'. An Egyptian born in Alexandria of Christian par­ents, he firmly stated his belief in reincarnation in his work De Principiis: "Every soul . . . comes into this world strengthened by the victories and weakened by the defeats of its previous life ... its work in the world determines its place in the world which is to follow."

The Second Council of Constantinople A.D. 553

As the Roman church became more established it saw the doctrine of reincarnation as a threat to its position as intermediary between God and man.

In The Story Of The Faith the Rev. William A. Gifford describes how in A.D. 543 the Roman Emperor Justinian who had assumed the head­ship of the Church issued an edict against Origen and his doctrine of rein­carnation.

The conflict between Emperor Justinian and the Church reached a climax in A.D. 553 when the Second Council of Constantinople (the pope refused to attend) declared heretical Origen's doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul. A belief in reincarnation henceforth carried the penalty of excommunication from the Church.

Today historians agree that in Medieval Europe the successors of the Christian Gnostics who retained a belief in reincarnation - the Albigensians or Cathars are an example - were numbered in thousands until eventually crushed by holy wars and the Inquisition.