By David R. Graham
12 February 2001

Rebirth
   

Not "Reincarnation"
   

The case for reincarnation in Christianity is very strong but oblique and not in the terms we think of as "reincarnation." "Rebirth" would better describe the sense of it, but it is still sub-rosa in the tradition and in any case not considered a critical element of the soteriological stochastic structure that is uniquely Christian. Big words I don't have substitutes for. Soteriology means matrix of salvation, or better, liberation in the sense of freedom. Stochastic structure you probably know: usually subconscious, assumed moral-emotional-cognitive famework which supports, more or less, all analysis and decision-making. Related to Jung's Ur-Form.

The point I'm making with the conjunction of these big words is that the framework of salvation or liberation monastic/literary tradition that claims to be uniquely Christian and that continues as a recognizably integrated vector through the centuries ... this framework does not depend for its puissance (power) or its attractiveness on the recognition of the phenomenon of reincarnation or rebirth. The phenomenon is recognized and accepted -- by experienced Christians, not the babblers -- but it's not considered a make or break issue with respect to the only thing which is make or break, namely, the fidelity and therefore effectiveness of the soteriological stochastic structure in which one operates.

Reincarnation or rebirth in Hindu and Buddhist soteriological stochastic structure is equally non-critical. It's a known phenomenon but not considered a make or break one with respect to what matters, namely, freedom or liberation, or in a more proximate condition, salvation -- which means just what a soldier does when he breaks through an enemy investment of his friends and saves them from annihilation.

Salvation is what a doctor does when he gives a man with bronchitis an effective antibiotic. Salvation in the religious sense is exactly the same except in respect to the subtler realms, the less apparent bodies, of which there are seven or five, depending on how one wants to count.

Salvation is breaking through the encircling enemy line to get to one's friends. Liberation is more important -- giving them opportunity to live freely, in health. Salvation has to occur before liberation can, but liberation, not salvation, is the real goal of every religion.

Anyone who says they are a Christian and denies the phenomenon of reincarnation or rebirth is an ignoramus and should not be listened to as representing Christianity. Christianity hasn't stayed around this long by being myopic. But it is true that "belief in reincarnation" is not essential to salvation, or more importantly, liberation.