Page 147 - Apologetics Student Textbook (3 Credits)

When I die, is reincarnation a possibility?

Have you ever heard of the Dalai Lama? So far, there have
been 14 of them. The Dalai Lama is more or less a title of the
head monk (or lama) of the Gelug school in Tibetan Buddhism.
The current Dalai Lama is named Tenzin Gyatso and he lives as
a refugee in India. All the Dali Lamas are considered to be the
successor in a line of monks who are believed to be
reincarnations of a past Dalai Lama who renounced Nirvana in order to help mankind. That was quite a
sacrifice, for in Buddhism, nirvana is a total release from desire and suffering. The nirvana-after-death,
also called nirvana-without-substrate, is the complete cessation of everything, including consciousness
and any possibility of rebirth. So, the Dalai Lama is simply the reincarnations of previous Dalai Lamas
whose ministry is to help everyone.

Is reincarnation a possibility? The concept of reincarnation is completely without foundation in the
Bible, which clearly tells us that we die once and then face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The Bible never
mentions people having a second chance at life or coming back as different people or animals. Jesus told
the criminal on the cross, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43), not "You will have
another chance to live a life on this earth." Matthew 25:46 specifically tells us that believers go on to
eternal life while unbelievers go onto eternal punishment. Reincarnation has been a popular belief for
thousands of years, but it has never been accepted by Christians or followers of Judaism because it is
contradictory to Scripture.

The one passage that some point to as evidence for reincarnation is Matthew 17:10-12 which links John
the Baptist with Elijah. However, the passage does not say that John the Baptist was Elijah reincarnated
but that he would have fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah’s coming if the people had believed his words and
thereby believed in Jesus as the Messiah (Matthew 17:12). The people specifically asked John the
Baptist if he was Elijah, and he said, "No, I am not" (John 1:21).

Belief in reincarnation is an ancient phenomenon and is a central tenet within the majority of Indian
religious traditions, such as Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Many modern pagans also believe in
reincarnation as do some New Age movements, along with followers of spiritism. For the Christian,
however, there can be no doubt: reincarnation is unbiblical and must be rejected as false.
(https://www.gotquestions.org/reincarnation.html)

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