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Home » The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints » LDS Deep Doctrine » The Possibility of Reincarnation (Does Church Doctrine allow for the existence of Reincarnation?)
The Possibility of Reincarnation [message #259] Wed, 16 March 2011 16:07 Go to previous message
Dragon is currently offline  Dragon
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In an Ensign article from 1989, Spencer J. Palmer brings up the following 5 reasons why reincarnation conflicts with the Gospel.

Quote:
1. There is only one physical death, not many.

Hebrews 9:27 says: Quote:
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

This scripture is used to show that we will only die once. However, there is room for interpretation. There is certainly two deaths to be concerned with. The first is the physical, and the second is the spiritual. Thus, I cannot see this scripture as precluding the possibility of reincarnation.

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2. In the resurrection, spirits inhabit the bodies they had in mortality, not other bodily forms.

This does not necessarily preclude the possibility of reincarnation. When we achieve the highest level of happiness which we can obtain, we are resurrected in the body in which we achieved that degree of happiness.

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3. Reincarnation implies that the body is of little consequence.

Perhaps in other religions, reincarnation has been used to support this kind of thinking. However, we know we are working toward exaltation, and this effort will require the bodies we inhabit at the time we achieve our greatest happiness. In other words, keeping our bodies pure and clean is part of the process of achieving exaltation.

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4. Now is the time to prepare to meet God--not later, in some indeterminate future.

It should be noted that the life we are currently living is long enough and with enough potential to achieve exaltation. Not everyone will, but everyone has the possibility to do so.

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5. Reincarnation denies the entire purpose of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

This one I do not understand. But perhaps I will refute it by explaining how I believe this reincarnation works.

While sitting in the temple, I was searching for more meaning in the temple video. We are told to liken the scriptures unto us, so I wondered what if each of the creative periods applied to me, personally. Is it possible that I used to be light? Did I then progress to water or land? Did I become a plant in some former life, only to be reborn as a fish, then a beast? If this is all true, what would be the purpose?

We are told that our pets will have a greater level of communication in the next life, but we are not told what that is. We are not told our pets will be dedicated pets to us in the next life.

I have often pondered upon what an intelligence is, where they come from, and what God does with them. All things were created by God, and every living thing has a spirit, meaning to me that they were all once intelligences. So what causes God to take one intelligence and make it into a planet, and take another to make it into a beetle, then take yet another and make it into a human with the potential of exaltation? It doesn't seem fair for one spirit to inhabit a tree which can never be like God and another to be a human with a chance to be like God.

I considered the possibility that the spirit of a tree, if it exercises it's agency well, could progress in some way to being more like its Creator. The same must be true of animals. Thus, when I pondered on this possibility, the logic seems sound that we can progress from less complex forms of existence to more complex forms, with the ultimate pinnacle of agency and potential being human existence.

I lived with this logic, allowing it to work its way into my soul. I believed I understood how all of it worked, but there was still more to learn.

The last part of this theory, which is the most controversial, is that of human reincarnation. Can a person who has not achieved exaltation, return to Earth as a human and try again? There are many who have stories of remembering previous lives. And there is also the great mystery of the final battle, after the millennium of peace. What will we be battling over? If everyone has been resurrected in their perfected forms, from whence we cannot lose our kingdoms or achieve a greater one, what is the battle over?

Here is what I'm postulating. A loving God will give each of His children every chance He can for them to progress. Yet there is a limited amount of time for them to do so. There is a final judgment, with an appointed time. What if the Morning of the First Resurrection is a time during which people are born into this world who God is certain will achieve exaltation. These would be those that God has determined need only one more life, or perhaps it is their first life, in order to become Gods. Then, the afternoon of the first resurrection will be those who are more likely to, but have not yet achieved the Terrestrial Glory. Or perhaps those worthy of the Terrestrial Glory who are given one more chance to achieve the Celestial. Then, at the end of the millennium of peace, those who are worthy of the Telestial Kingdom will be born with one final chance to achieve exaltation. It would take 1000 years to have all of these souls born and live and die. This would be the battle, to save as many of them as we can. Since their hearts are not pure, Satan will be released from his prison, having the ability once more to influence and tempt men.

I am eager for your thoughts, comments, and corrections on this theory.

- Dragon

- Dragon

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