I think the Barnum effect applies here. People are amazed and impressed by the most skeletal evidence when it comes to something they want to credit… either because they like the idea or because it is newsworthy.
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The last reference that directly implies reincarnation is the most troubling.
In the Epistle of James chapter 3, verse 6 where James speaks of the problems our tongue can bring most translations print the phrase the tongue can set on fire “the course of nature” ( whatever that means ). But certain translations (English Standard and Revised Standard are two of them) have a footnote attached to the verse which explains that ancient translations contain the phrase “the wheel of birth” rather than “course of nature”! In the Catholic Jerusalem Bible this phrase is translated as the " wheel of creation."
This raises some troubling questions. Who decided the phrase should be retranslated and why? Obviously from a phrase that directly implies reincarnation we get one that contains no such meaning so I do have to wonder what sort of politics was involved in this decision?
Of course you can’t go very far in dealing with biblical translation disputes and not stumble into politics but according to certain translations of James’ Epistle we see as with John 9 that disciples/apostles will speak about reincarnation without any hesitation. Clearly they accepted reincarnation as a true teaching.
I have shown that the scriptures do indeed deal with reincarnation as a true teaching but despite this Christianity overwhelmingly brands this teaching as a heresy. I have consulted several histories of Christianity and several pastors and priests but cannot find when this decision was made and why. What authority was appealed to? Certainly not the scriptures.
It is troubling to contemplate how for centuries Christian teaching has departed from the scriptures even though the points in the scriptures where reincarnation is directly implied have always been there. Even though I’m going to end here there is a spiritual problem here that deserves serious attention.
There was no such decision for the simple reason that no such teaching is in the Bible or Judaism of the first century in any way shape or form. Your claim that it is in the Bible is one of the most ridiculous claim I have heard made for the Bible. I have heard similarly absurd claims that this is a regular part of Judaism, but all you have to do is talk to any rabbi and they will deny this utterly. These claims are simply fallacious and that is all there is to it.
The evidence for the exclusion of the possibility and morality of reincarnation is far stronger. What we do find in the Bible is the phenomenon of demonic possession and that is what reincarnation translates into in the context of the Bible. Many here do not believe in demonic possession and I am greatly skeptical of it also… but this doesn’t change the fact that reincarnation is the same thing in the Biblical Christian perspective.
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This gets really old, really fast. An unfounded claim that something has been suppressed, and an equally unfounded claim that one has exclusive knowledge of the Bible. Dan Brown, Joseph Smith, etc. Been there, done that. I suggest for for your book deal blurb you put, “Shakes the very foundations of Christianity.”
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