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Reincarnation for the Christian
By Quincy Howe, Jr.
Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1974. 112 pp. $4.95.

The author, who is Associate Professor of Classics at Scripps College, states in his Introduction, "It should be apparent in the ensuing pages that I personally believe in the doctrine of reincarnation and feel that it can enhance the framework of Christian life." Though he does not intrude his views, the author strongly suggests that reincarnation deserves serious attention by Christians. "The doctrine of reincarnation," he writes, "provides the script for a drama of cosmic proportions: it accounts for the source of the individual soul, the demands and conditions for its self-improvement, and the final goal of its journey."

In the early church, Origen's name can be invoked in favor of the doctrine, but later western theology was dominated by Augustine who rejected reincarnation and whom Howe quotes extensively. The sequence of the chapters moves from considerations of "personality" and "the soul" to discussions of church doctrine and selected New Testament texts.

Reincarnation is based on the Hindu doctrine of karma, or the deeds of former, usually forgotten, lives. Howe mentions child prodigies as showing a carryover from previous lives, such as Mozart

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at the age of four composing a piano concerto. Karma also explains the inequalities often found in life, as when one child in a family is born well and healthy while another is born weak and sickly. He cites Jacob, born with good, and Esau, born with bad karma. Karma also explains "many instances of confirmed recollection from previous lives." These three things are said in favor of the doctrine, and they are important. But one must wonder about heredity itself as sufficient to account for some of these phenomena. And how does karma deal with the sins of omission about which we are reminded in Romans 3:23, wherein we all fall short?

To continue with Origen, man is not a creation but an emanation or extension of God, a spark of the divine, and during a series of rebirths all without exception will be disciplined by the working of karma to return to God. Even the devil and demons are included in this universal salvation.

As Howe is careful to present both sides of the controversy that raged among the Church Fathers on this subject, five major points are dealt with that were raised against Origen and reincarnation: (1) it minimizes Christina salvation (the atonement); (2) it is in conflict with the resurrection of the body; (3) it creates an unnatural separation between body and soul (matter as evil, spirit as good); (4) it is built on a much too speculative use of Christian Scriptures (excessive allegorizing); (5) there is no recollection of previous lives.

As Howe claims to find reincarnation in the Bible, we must look at the two main examples he gives from the New Testament. One has to do with Christ's claim to be the Messiah in Matthew 16-17. The disciples asked about the prophecy that Elijah must first come. Jesus said that he had come and suffered. "Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist." Luke explains that it was prophesied that John the Baptist would "go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1: 17).

The other main passage has to do with the man born blind, in John 9. "Who sinned, this man or his parents?" Jesus' reply was simple and direct, "Neither this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him." This seems to be a clear rejection by Jesus of the karma of a previous existence, but Howe claims that "there is probably no more persuasive passage in the New Testament than this one to support the case that Jesus and his followers accepted, or at least were aware of reincarnation." If aware of it, Jesus clearly seems to have rejected it. (The Interpreter's Bible, on John 9, has an interesting discussion of this passage with regard to karma.)

With regard to the work of Christ, "vicarious atonement is done away with…. The cross is not so much an act of atonement for man's sin as the price Christ was willing to pay in order to assure men of god's love" (p. 107).

An incident cited from the favorite Scripture of most Hindus, the

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Bhagavad Gita, or "Song of God," throws light on karma with regard to vicarious sacrifice. Two armies are drawn up for battle. The mighty warrior Arjan sees his relatives and friends in the opposing army. Overcome with grief and hoping to end the war, he says to his charioteer, the god Krishna:

What is this crime I am planning, OKrishna?
Murder most hateful, murder of brothers!
Am I indeed so greedy for greatness?
Rather than this, let the evil children of Dhritarashtra
Come with their weapons against me in battle:
I shall not struggle, I shall not strike them.
Now let them kill me, that will be better.

Krishna thereupon gives four reasons for the futility of such a sacrifice: (1) the soul, being immortal, cannot be killed when the body is killed; (2) do not mourn, but do your caste duty and kill; (3) failure to fight will cause your disgrace throughout the ages; (4) "die, and you win heaven. Conquer and you enjoy the earth. Stand up now and resolve to fight." So sacrifice is futile, war is justified, caste is upheld, and karma reigns supreme. There are many fine passages in the Gita, but this is not one of them.

The struggles of the Hindus to escape the bonds of karma and reincarnation can be seen in the various reform movements in Hinduism. India has been the proving ground for the working of karma for thousands of years. The great aim has been mokhsha, or deliverance from the bonds of karma. The Jains, the Buddhists, the Sikhs, and Kshtriyas have all revolted against it and the caste system founded upon it. Millions of Hindus joined the great Bhakti, or Devotional Movements, to find escape from the possible 8,400,000 incarnations necessary to overcome their karma. These hoped in the mercy of God to do this and tried to get ready to receive the grace of God by their devotion. To the millions of Outcastes who were forced by their "bad karma" to live sub-human lives as the dregs of society, the message of immediate delivery from the bonds of karma resulted in the great Mass Movements of the early twentieth century out of Hinduism into other religions of hope, especially into Christianity. Now caste discrimination is outlawed in the modern Constitution of India.

Howe does seem to have glimpsed the agony of India when he remarks, "We look to India, where Hinduism, far from transforming this world for the better, seems to have helped to create a level of suffering and privation without equal" (p. 104). Although its origin is a mystery, an ingrained belief in reincarnation has been a disaster for India, from which she is struggling to get free. Why, then, look to this belief for help in Christian living, according to our author's thesis? After many years serving in the Punjab Mission of the Presbyterian Church, it is my conviction that the belief in reincarnation denies or dilutes the basics of Christianity, such as the atonement, the resurrection, and especially the efficacy of the grace of God to free us from our sins of commission and omission.

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Nevertheless, Howe has written a brilliant book, one packed with ideas. It compels thought, perhaps rethinking some Christian doctrines and practices and appreciating others. In fact, this may be a valuable negative result of the book. He has made as plausible a case for reincarnation as seems possible. As an occasional phenomenon, the possibility of reincarnation cannot be summarily denied, but as a guide to enhanced Christian living, surely it is more hopeful to remember and proclaim the Christian hope stated in Romans 8, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death."

Clinton H. Loehlin
Marysville, California