Hi friends,
Last weekend, I talked with someone at a party who told me he adhered to “Spiritism.” I was immediately fascinated and asked him to explain his beliefs to me.
Among other beliefs, he told me that he saw himself as a Christian who believed in reincarnation.
I asked him if he thought that Jesus taught reincarnation?
He said yes, and quoted John 3:3,
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
I asked for permission to share my thoughts on this passage, and he was curious to hear how I saw it.
I told him that we needed to take into account a larger thematic issue in the Gospel of John: the contrast between people who interpreted everything in terms of physical reality and those whose hearts were opened to understand spiritual realities.
Then, in the dialogue with Nicodemus, we see that Nicodemus interprets Jesus’ words in a physical way. He asks Jesus,
“How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”
In a gentle way, I suggested to my new friend that this was the way of understanding Jesus that reincarnation suggests: repeated physical births.
However, Jesus corrected Nicodemus and said, “Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
So, we can see that Jesus is not teaching reincarnation. Rather, he is teaching the necessity of knowing the Holy Spirit.
As I reflect on the conversation, I realize I also could have shared that the idea of a Jewish Messiah teaching reincarnation would be culturally impossible.
After the conversation, another friend reminded me of Hebrews 9:27-28, which reads:
And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment— so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
One reason I think this conversation went well is that I was intentionally gentle, kind, calm, and patient. That helped us to discuss our religious differences together without any animosity.
Another reason is that I was genuinely fascinated by his perspective, and that made it easy to stay curious and ask questions.
Another is that I was well prepared to discuss the Scriptures, and he was eager to discuss the Bible too. Carefully reading and rereading the Bible is foundational for evangelism.
Have you ever had a conversation like this? What verses would you bring up to discuss the claim that the Bible teaches reincarnation?