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Did Jesus Teach Reincarnation?

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “Unless you are reborn, you can’t experience God’s kingdom.” – Jesus Christ (John 3:3 FBV)

In Buddhism, people are reborn into five realms. There is the earthly realm, the animal realm, the ghost realm, the hell realm, or the heavenly realm. Each transition is a rebirth. When you die, you are reborn into another bodily manifestation.

So Jesus makes perfect sense to a Buddhist. In order to go to heaven, you have to be reborn into a heavenly body. Even the Apostle Paul realized that our body “ is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44). That is, in order to go to heaven you have to have the right kind of body. Physical bodies don’t go to heaven, only spiritual bodies do. As Paul Said, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50).

The problem is that even a heavenly existence is temporary. It is still part of an existence that is impermanent, defective, and without an independent entity. After a long time in heaven, people die and are born again into other realms. Nothing lasts in the conditioned world. Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Even heavenly existence. This is why, at the end of time, “When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).

Jesus taught that John the Baptist was “Elijah” reincarnated (Matthew 11:13-14; 17:10-13). This means that Jesus believed in reincarnation. And since Elijah was a prophet of God that live centuries ago, it seems clear that Elijah must have been in heaven before being reborn as John the Baptist.

It appears that reincarnation was a common belief during Jesus’ time. For when Jesus asked his disciples who people said he was, they answered, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matt. 16:14). All of these men were dead, some a very long time ago. So they must have meant that they thought Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

Jesus seemed to believe in reincarnation, but not all the church followed him in this. The Gnostics were the branch of Christianity that kept this belief alive. The proto-orthodox branch ended up rejecting reincarnation. Origen, an early church father, is our most famous Christian proponent of the idea of reincarnation. Origen stated, “The soul has neither beginning nor end. [They] come into this world strengthened by the victories or weakened by the defeats of their previous lives.”

I am a Christian Mystic

I am a student of Gnosticism because I am a specialist in Christian mysticism. The Gnostics were among the first mystics.

This is important to remember, because later mystics had to distance themselves from the Gnostics in order to survive. And even now, telling you their secret, could cast the heresy label on them.

But the Gnostics were not heretics, they were lovers of God and seekers of union with God. It was the institutional church that went astray seeking power and control through their union with the Roman government. They rendered to Caesar what was God’s.

Or you can see it as a repeat of Israel’s reject of God as their King and the election of a human King (1 Sam. 8:7-8). The Roman Church replaced Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church with a human Pope as the Head of the Church (Eph 5:23).

But there are a bunch of different groups calling themselves Gnostic, and many varied beliefs. And modern scholarship is still confused about the whole subject of Gnostics and Gnosticism. It is just easier to call myself a Christian mystic.

I am a Christian mystic who follows the lead of the Apostles Paul, John, Thomas, Valentinus, and the Desert Fathers and Mothers. You can include all the Christian mystics, both East and West, since that time.

However, claiming that I am a Christian mystic sounds kind of like claiming I am a saint. It smacks of a lack of humility. But I have experienced the presence of God and seek union with God, so that makes me a mystic. I will say no more than that.

Ungrounded Speculation

It is interesting, in fact, fascinating, that those who are interested in Gnosticism tend to speculate all over the place. They bring in occult ideas such as alchemy, Kabbalah, and astrology.

But their interests and mine are different. I’m in a quest to discover the historic Christianity. I want to understand the early Christian background, so that I know what Christianity was like in the first and second centuries.

And from that Christianity, draw out the best version of Christianity to confront the modern world. I’m calling that version of Christianity, “Gnostic Christianity.” Because the only type of Christianity that can survive the modern era, is one that embraces myth and science, but doesn’t confuse them

The context of early Christianity is Judaism, the Essenes, Greco-Roman philosophy, and the Mystery Religions. Religions. These are the areas of study that I’m interested in and that have relevance to the formation of early Christianity.

Gnostic Christianity Defined

Gnosticism is not a single thing. It is not a belief system at all. Rather, it is an orientation towards religion. So in Gnostic Christianity, the orientation is Gnostic, but the belief system is Christian. In other words, it is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ as taught by Paul, John, Thomas, and Valentinus.

In order to help the reader understand what I mean by Gnostic Christianity, I offer the following definition, taken from my book Understanding Gnosticism:

Gnostic Christianity

aims for salvation through mystical knowledge (gnosis) of God through Christ.
approaches Scripture as primarily myths, though they contain some historical facts.
interpret Scripture allegorically, though some things might be literally true, the deeper truths never are.
seek new revelations from God, and therefore is open to further Scriptural works.
reserve secret truths for the initiated.
follows the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Prophet, Priest, King, Messiah, Savior, and God in the flesh.

It appears to me that Sethian Gnosticism went astray, by confusing the secret teaching with gnosis (mystical experience). Jesus Christ and mystic union with God got lost in the secret teaching, occult knowledge, and myths making. Valentinus, therefore, is the true representative of the Christianity taught by Paul, John, and Thomas. Too many confuse occultist and mystics. Gnostic Christian were, in my view, mystics.

References

Jay N. Forrest, Understanding Gnosticism: Rethinking Church History, United States: Tserrof Books, 2024.

How Orthodox am I?

As a Progressive Christian and Gnostic sympathizer, how much of orthodox doctrine can I affirm? Here is what I agree with.

I believe that the Holy Scriptures are inspired by God.

I believe that God created all things through the Logos and the Holy Spirit.

I believe in the Holy Trinity, that God is both one and three, known to us as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins.

I believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day.

I believe that Jesus Christ was God incarnate in the flesh.

I believe that Jesus Christ will come again.

I believe that salvation is gained through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior, and Friend.