http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen04.html This is a pretty interesting link, I would suggest reading it. Pretty cool. That was really one of my own theorys, that all these people throughout history were incarnations of one another and there is no true way to heaven. It's all the same thing, with different names if you think about it.
just wanted to comment on the first article...one of the problems is that the author or authors repeatedly quote scripture, but take it out of context to pour their own meaning into it. I hope as you are evaluating this theory that you yourself will personally look into scripture and see what it teaches and see what these verses mean in the context of the writing. For one, reincarnation can never be reconciled with scripture. A system of righteousness by works such as reincarnation is never taught in scripture and is actually condemned. As paul writes, "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy."(titus 3:5) Christ would actually have been contradicting himself had he taught reincarnation. There would be no need for a Messiah if reincarnation were a reality. The Bible teaches "it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgement"(Heb 9:27-28) and that upon death "the spirit returns to God who gave it"(Ecc 12:7) The Bible as a whole, as well as Christ's words specifically are so clear on this position that for someone to somehow get the idea of reincarnation from it seems impossible if they are at all familiar with scripture. It should also be pointed out that the examples that they gave (Krishna, Buddha) teach teachings that are completely opposed to Christ's teachings and the message of the Bible. To say that their teachings and world views are all the same thing is a misunderstanding. Theoretically they could all be wrong, but not all right and certainly they are not the same. Truth afterall is truth, it doesn't contradict itself. The bottom line is that this article takes scripture out of context over and over again and assigns the text whatever meaning the it wants. Interesting topic though.
In regard to the preceding post, a recycled post from another thread: Another comment...you repeatedly refer to scripture. You should name the particular scripture that you are referring to...in this case, the Bible. There are scriptures other than the Bible, and some of these, notably the Vedic (Hindu) and Buddhist, predate the New Testament by hundreds of years and discuss reincarnation in detail. Hebrews 9:27-28 is the verse that that I've most often heard Christians use to summarily dismiss the idea of reincarnation. A reading of the Bhagavad-Gita would provide far more insight into this subject. Ecclesiastes 12:7 is cryptic at best...this verse could just as easily apply to the Vedic concept of moksha or liberation of the soul as to the Christian concept of heaven.
