Children's Past Lives DOGMA BITES MAN

This excerpt from Chapter 14 of Children's = Past Lives=20 outlines the history of reincarnation in the early Christian = church. =20 The primary source we used for this information was H.G.Wells' The = Outline=20 of History, plus tracts by Church historians.

The awesome charisma of Jesus Christ and his = good-news=20 ministry profoundly changed the lives of those who knew him and = who=20 followed soon after. The enthusiasm and spirit of the first = Christians=20 spread through the Middle East until what had begun as an inspired = cult of=20 Jews in dusty Judea grew to be a revolutionary religious movement=20 pervading the whole Roman Empire. As the ideas spread, they = percolated=20 through the practices and theologies of existing religions and = took on=20 forms that Jesus would not have recognized=97especially the = institution of a=20 formal priesthood to mediate between man and God. Throughout the = first=20 three centuries of the Christian era, there was no single = Christian=20 doctrine. Christian theology and doctrine=97interpretations of = Christ's=20 teachings blended with ideas from other philosophies and = religions=97were=20 hotly debated for at least three hundred years. Many of the tenets = of the=20 faith that Christians take for granted today were, during this = long period=20 of flux, simply one point of view among many.

It is a fact that some Christian sects and = writers=20 accepted reincarnation as an enhancement to the teachings of = Christ.=20 Origen, one of the heralded Fathers of the Church and described by = Saint=20 Gregory as "the Prince of Christian learning in the third = century," wrote:=20 "Every soul comes into this world strengthened by the victories = and=20 weakened by the defeats of its previous life."

So if reincarnation was an idea in currency = with early=20 Christians, why have all traces of it disappeared from the = Christian=20 religion we know today?

By the early fourth century, strong Christian = factions=20 were vying with each other for influence and power, while at the = same time=20 the Roman Empire was beginning to fall apart. In A.D. 325, in a = move to=20 renew the unity of the empire, the absolute dictator Emperor = Constantine=20 convened the leaders of the feuding Christian factions at the = Council of=20 Nicaea. He offered to throw his imperial power behind the = Christians if=20 they would settle their differences and agree on a single creed. = Decisions=20 made at this first council set the foundation for the Roman = Catholic=20 Church. (Soon after, the books of the Bible were fixed too.) For = the sake=20 of unity, all beliefs that conflicted with the new creed were = banished; in=20 the process the factions and writings that supported reincarnation = were=20 thrown out.

Then, with the applause and support of the = Christian=20 leaders, Constantine moved to eliminate competing religions, and = to make=20 his personal grip on the Empire even more absolute. The result of = the=20 marriage between church and imperial state was a new Church made = in the=20 image of the autocratic Roman Empire. This is why, according to = some=20 historians, the Church exalts unquestioned central authority, = imposes a=20 singular dogmatic creed on its followers, and works so hard to = stamp out=20 divergent ideas. This is important, because reincarnation fell = outside the=20 official creed.

Apparently some Christians continued to believe = in=20 reincarnation even after the Council of Nicaea, because in A.D. = 553 the=20 Church found the need to single out reincarnation and condemn it=20 explicitly. At the Second Council of Constantinople the concept of = reincarnation, bundled together with other ideas under the term=20 "pre-existence of the soul", was decreed to be a crime worthy of=20 excommunication and damnation ("anathema"):

If anyone assert the fabulous pre-existence = of souls,=20 and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from = it: let=20 him be anathema.

Why would the Church go to such lengths to = discredit=20 reincarnation? The implicit psychology of reincarnation may be the = best=20 explanation. A person who believes in reincarnation assumes = responsibility=20 for his own spiritual evolution through rebirth. He does not need = priests,=20 confessionals, and rituals to ward off damnation (all ideas, = incidentally,=20 that were not part of Jesus' teachings). He needs only to heed his = own=20 acts to himself and others. A belief in reincarnation eliminates = the fear=20 of eternal hell that the Church uses to discipline the flock. In = other=20 words, reincarnation directly undermines the authority and power = of the=20 dogmatic Church. No wonder reincarnation made the Defenders of the = Faith=20 so nervous.

Despite the decree of 553, belief in = reincarnation=20 persisted among the rank and file. It took another thousand years = and much=20 bloodshed to completely stamp out the idea. In the early = thirteenth=20 century, the Cathars, a devout and enlightened sect of Christians = who=20 believed in reincarnation, flourished in Italy and southern = France. The=20 pope launched a crusade to stop their heresy, a half million = people were=20 massacred whole villages at a time, and the Cathars were totally = wiped=20 out. This purging set the tone for the brutal Inquisition that = began soon=20 after. Not only was a belief in reincarnation cause for = persecution, but=20 so was belief in any metaphysical idea that fell outside the = bounds of=20 Church dogma.

The murderous efficiency of the Inquisition = proved=20 effective. The persecution by the institutional Church has scarred = our=20 collective psyche and surrounded us with an invisible fence = dividing what=20 is safe from what is dangerous to believe. Since then, people who = harbor=20 forbidden ideas have learned to keep their thoughts to themselves. = Our=20 cultural memory still carries the fear of reprisal for publicly=20 associating with any occult practices, the use of psychic powers, = or a=20 belief in reincarnation.

Here it is, the source of the double standard. = No wonder=20 so many people today believe in reincarnation privately but are = afraid=20 that if they come out publicly, they will be attacked for being = weird=97the=20 modern word for heresy. Maybe by understanding where this fear = comes from=20 we can negate its hold on us and turn off the invisible fence. So = when our=20 children speak of past lives, we can follow our hearts and not our = fears=97and believe them.