Karma and Reincarnation, Page 11

Scriptual basis for Karma and Reincarnation

Now we will look at some of these Biblical passages that, although Karma and Reincarnation is not directly mentioned, nevertheless convincingly (and I believe conclusively) demonstrate that the concept is scriptural in the fullest sense. (Many such concepts not directly mentioned by name in scripture have, over the centuries, been widely accepted in Christian circles and in official pronouncements, some perhaps accurately and others perhaps not. The Trinity, Immaculate Conception and other examples come readily to mind.)

1. The Composite Anthroposophical Picture of the Bible: By far the most important evidence is not a single passage but rather the probative force and integrity of the composite picture of the full Biblical scope, from Genesis to Revelation—the Creation, Fall, Salvation and Redemption of humanity—using the term "humanity" to include all the "by-products" of humanity's creation, namely, the animal, plant and mineral kingdoms, which "groaned in travail" (Rom 8,22) awaiting redemption. See the "Overview" at the front of this volume for a concise reference to this full Biblical scope. The entirety of the vast evolutionary scheme so splendidly given by Steiner would be meaningless unless each soul was a participant essentially from the inception of humanity and had a chance to contribute to its ultimate perfection. Other pertinent terms herein include "Forgiven Sins, "Lord of Karma, "I AM" and "Akashic."

While individual passages will be discussed below, I deem this point more cogent on the Karma and Reincarnation issue than all the other Biblical references combined. For approximately the last two of the twenty-five plus years that I taught the Bible in church school, I was a convert, serious student, and advocate of Karma and Reincarnation. Having read on it extensively, I had begun a manuscript to show how Karma and Reincarnation was supported by scripture. Only in connection with that research did I come eventually upon the name of Rudolf Steiner and, in 1988, plunge into the depths of his works. So startlingly new and wonderful were the insights that I stopped the manuscript (after three hundred single-spaced typewritten pages) and eventually threw it away.

The personal library I collected during those two years included many of the prevalent and representative contemporary works on the subject.¹⁰ With the utmost respect for the authors of those provocative works, both pro and con, I now look upon such publications much as Paul looked upon the Mosaic Law. The most notable observation about all these works is that in not one place in any of them is there any recognition of Steiner or the substance of anthroposophical insight. This fact is eerily similar to the absence of Jesus in the pages of secular history for the comparable period after Christ. "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country," Christ said, and one might add "and save in his (or her) own time."

2. Heb 9,27:

And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, . . .

Most of the arguments advanced against Karma and Reincarnation are predicated upon the dogma of salvation, forgiveness, grace, resurrection, or the like. None of the scriptures cited in such arguments, however, seem to be, on their face, so literally devastating as this passage. Aside from the fact that it stands almost isolated as "authority" for the point in question, it does clearly and unequivocally say that the human being only lives "once." (We consider below the meaning of "once.") The problem, of course, is that any given sentence, standing alone, can be interpreted so as to destroy the meaning of the larger context out of which it is taken. One who goes the length hereof will find Hebrews to be a book extensively quoted in, and supportive of, this anthroposophical writing (and hardly understandable without it). The same may be said of the Pauline letters, and Paul's authorship of Hebrews will be fairly well established, over considerable scholarly reservation, in "Paul/Hebrews." There is, of course, the clear implication of the preexistence of souls in Heb 7,3 (see fn 16 below), if we wanted to counterthrust primarily with the literal sword. The error of that course, however, is clearly recognized in scripture that not only condemns such "disputes" and "godless chatter" (Rom 14,1; 1 Tim 6,4,20; 2 Tim 2,14,16; Acts 24,12; 2 Cor 3,6) but recognizes that the written scripture will itself, in time, be displaced by a higher perception the evolving human being will gain of the spiritual world.

But having said this, let us look at the deeper meaning of Heb 9,27. It is precisely and literally correct in the anthroposophical view of Karma and Reincarnation. The "men" of whom it speaks are physical human beings, just like you and me. The "physical" body, however, though eldest and most perfected of the three bodies, comprises the least permanent aspect of a person. In anthroposophical terms, one speaks of the "personality" and also the "individuality" of a person, a distinction of immense significance for Biblical comprehension. Neither term has here our vernacular's normal connotation. The Individuality of a person is the entelechy that runs through all incarnations, the "burning bush that is not consumed," the "I Am" (Ex 3; see "I AM"). Between lives, it alone makes the full journey through the heavens and returns, shedding the three bodies on the way up and reforming three karmically appropriate new ones on the way back toward incarnation. The "personality" is the manifestation of the "individuality" in a single incarnation only. The Individuality lives again and again; the personality lives only "once." Only those who have the developed clairvoyance to look into the soul of another person can recognize the Individuality—a task far beyond the present capacity of all but the highest Initiates of our time. So befuddling has this idea been that the Sadducees tried to trip Jesus up with the question of levirate law about the woman who had seven brothers as husbands, and neither the Sadducees nor human beings since the time of the Evangelists have understood his answer until enabled by Steiner's insights. This scripture is Point 5 below, but it illustrates the distinction.