Reincarnation, fact or fiction?

One of the most basic Christian beliefs completely eradicates the possibility of reincarnation. After transition, Christians spend eternity in heaven; and Sinners, hell. The End. Short and to the point! But is this idea at all biblical? In my many years of study and research, I have never come across any text that supports this notion. Does the Bible even talk about the afterlife? Of course, Jesus taught a bunch of parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven; but did he ever suggest exclusivity to Christians? Then again, when he taught, Christianity did not yet exist. He often told people to “go and sin no more.” In other words, don’t do what ever it was you did that created the situation that I just rescued you from.

THE COSMIC LOOP
Modern Christianity does not teach reincarnation because this concept would extinguish the stronghold religious authorities have over the minds of the minions. If everyone were not kept in the constant fear and intimidation of spending eternity in hell, they probably would not be so loyal to their religion. Hence, the afterlife is often portrayed via Christ’s parables of the kingdom of heaven as promises that will occur immediately at the end of this life. But there is no indication in any of the Gospels that any of those events will happen the moment you close your eyes for the last time. Ergo, they are quoted completely out of context! During the sermons, verbiage is added to the text that does not appear in the text.

There is also the technique of predefining words before you actually see them in biblical text! For example, heaven and the kingdom of god/heaven are one in the same. It must be true; there is no text that actually says, reincarnation! Another popular concept is the pre-definition of hell. Ergo, it is a place of everlasting torment in fire; specifically made for sinners. Is the afterlife really all that terrible? Does the Bible ever suggest the end of one person’s life will differ from that of another? And if it some how does, are the two h-words specifically used to describe said endings? Let’s suppose it does; what would be the point? So far, this line of thinking has only created a group of people who do exactly what sinners do. But their loophole is to repent before they die. In essence, the idea of going to heaven is nothing more than a loophole for sinning!

A PLACE CALLED: H.E.L.L.
What exactly does the Bible say? Out of the 773,692 words that comprise the Bible, “hell” is mentioned 54 times. Statistically, that percentage is so low; in any other field it would be considered negligible. But when we go from words to the 31,173 verses, it measures a higher 0017%. But this is still way less than 0% and would be considered, negligible! Then again, the word reincarnation isn’t mentioned at all. Regardless, why do Christians believe this word is so relevant to the afterlife opposite the kingdom? Because when ever they see it in print, they mentally apply the pre-programmed definition! When in fact, the Bible has three distinctly different definitions! The 31 Old Testament occurrences are all from the Hebrew word: she'owl (sheh-OWHL). And it refers to nothing more than: grave. The End (of the Old Testament).

Out of the 23 times in the New Testament, 10 of them are from the Greek word: hades (HAY-dees). This is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew she’owl; they both mean: grave. But I refer to them as the Kingdom of Hell … in contrast to that of Heaven. The only afterlife was the grave … or waking up in the grave (i.e. the Resurrection) like in the story of the Rich man and Lazarus! You can tell the grave context by the language used (e.g. the gates of h…; down to h…; in h…; and the keys of h…). [Mt 11:23, 16:18; Lk 10:15, 16:23, Acts 2:27, 31; Rev 1:18, 6:8] This is also the “Death and H…” mentioned in Revelations 20:13-14. Hades is mentioned one additional time in 1Cor 15:55 but this is the only time it is properly translated, grave. This conversation isn’t leaving much for reincarnation. But wait … this is not the end, quite yet!

DOWN IN THE VALLEY
Out of the remaining 13 occurrences of hell in the New Testament, 12 of them are from the Greek: geenna (geh-HEH-nah). Christian references suggest this is a future place of punishment but that speculation has no biblical support; in this life or the afterlife. In the Bible days, it was called the valley of Hinnom; a dumping site for waste that constantly burned. Located south of Jerusalem; the valley consumed the city’s refuse. In addition, the worse of the worst criminals were sentenced to be casted into the burning flames - alive. The Messiah often used this in analogy of a future event called: The Day of Judgment. Here the Lord will decide who will live with him forever and who will be consumed out of existence; casted into the Lake of Fire [Rev 20:11-15]! There is a very good possibility the Kingdom will follow the Judgment! Still, this is not the end of the reincarnation idea.

The last and final occurrence of hell in the New Testament is found in 2Peter 2:4. Here the Greek word, tartaroo (tahr-TAH-rah-oh), describes the condition and state of fallen angels. There, you see!? Nothing to be afraid of! Not once did any of the text suggest; after sinners die, they spend eternity burning in a place of fiery torment! But one might argue, it doesn’t say anything about reincarnation, either! Or does it?

BISCUITHANDS, THE ANIMATED MUSICAL
On a planet similar to our own, two classes of people co-exist; the ruling Digit-Fingers and the oppressed, BiscuitHands. There was no hope until the fulfillment of a prophesied birth. One man would arise and challenge injustice with the message of love and peace as his weapons of choice.

REINCARNATION - FACT OR FICTION?