Reincarnation and Rebirth of the Soul: A Christian Study of its History and the Bible

By Robert Alan King

Reincarnation and Rebirth of the Soul: A Christian Study of its History and the Bible by Robert Alan King is a book with over 8,900 words. King provides a thorough explanation about the beliefs and history of reincarnation in order that the reader might come to a realistic perception on the fundamentals. This includes analyzing many reincarnation quotes to determine their validity with actual citations provided for further research or review.

King leaves his readers with a basic understanding of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls that enables them to logically examine the facts. The purpose of this book is to identify what the belief of rebirth entails, examine its history in philosophy and religion, and then determine the biblical position. Robert Alan King is an ordained minister through Calvary Chapel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Alan King
• Release date: Aug 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476403380

Robert Alan King

Robert Alan King is an ordained minister through Calvary Chapel who has written numerous theological and inspirational articles for a variety of publications, including Advocate, The Church Herald & Holiness Banner, Companions, The Priest, Proclaim, Pulpit Helps, Vista, War Cry, and Decision Magazine. He also has authored numerous printed books and dozens of eBooks.King has a Master of Arts Degree Sum Cum Laude in Psychology from Touro University Worldwide with an 4.0 institutional GPA, a Bachelor of Science Degree Cum Laude in Bible and Theology from Lee University with an 4.0 institutional GPA, and an Associate of Arts Degree with an emphasis in Science from Coastline Community College. He has a total of at least 256 units of education from universities, seminaries or colleges. This includes at least 130 units of Bible and theology related classes from Lee University, Calvary Chapel Bible College, and Chafer Theological Seminary.

Book preview

Reincarnation and Rebirth of the Soul:

A Christian Study of its History and the Bible

By Robert Alan King

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 by King & Associates. All Rights Reserved.

Published by King & Associates, Casa Grande, Arizona.

For a complete catalog of books and publications by Robert Alan King, visit BibleCommentator.com. This site also provides you with news on his upcoming titles. In addition, you can read many other articles by King on a wide variety of biblical issues.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

What is Reincarnation?

Musings of Greek Philosophy

Reincarnation and Religion

The Silence of the Abrahamic Religions

The Biblical Position on Reincarnation

Conclusion

Footnotes

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Introduction

Reincarnation (also referred to as rebirth, metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls) is a belief that spans many cultures and is held by various religions, groups and individuals today. The source of the doctrine itself dates back many centuries before the birth of Christ. The purpose of this book is to identify what the belief is, examine its history in philosophy and religion, and then determine the biblical position. Though this is not meant to be an exhaustive work, it does provide quite a bit of information for obtaining a sound knowledge of rebirth.

The latest Gallup poll asking whether of not American's believe in reincarnation found that 20% of those they polled believe it is true, 20% were not sure, and 59% did not believe.¹ When the results from four earlier polls on the subject spanning the prior 15 years are examined, they reveal that there has been a very slight change over the years with more Americans rejecting the belief. In addition, a 2009 poll from Harris Interactive agreed that 20% of Americans believe in reincarnation.² What was shocking here is that this included 19% of Catholics, 13% of Protestants, and 14% of Born Again Christians. A different 2009 survey by the Pew Forum found that 24% of the public and 22% of Christians believe in reincarnation.³ From all of this, it can be seen that approximately one out of every five adults in American believes in the doctrine of rebirth.

Another important factor I have noticed is that there seems to be an extensive amount of misinformation being circulated across the Internet and in publications due to quotes from famous people as supposed support for reincarnation. Many of these are simply taken out of context without any real serious study undertaken to understand what the writer or speaker is actually saying; very few of those providing these quotes have ever read the actual document they are quoting.. In addition, there are violent mistranslations of some texts by reincarnation adherents that violently wrest the real meaning of the original