Reincarnation, Karma, and Life after Death

People have always wondered what -- if anything -- lies beyond the grave. Is death the end of existence, an entry into eternity, or an intermission between earthly lives? Some teach that the soul reincarnates in many different bodies, and approximately 25 percent of Americans believe it. Why are so many people drawn to reincarnation?

Reincarnation and Karma

Reincarnation offers hope to many. If we don't get it right in this life, we have another chance the next time around. Yet, even those who believe in reincarnation admit that the vast majority of humans do not remember their previous lives. How can we learn from our past mistakes if we cannot remember them? We seem to make the same mistakes over and over again. Given the moral failure rate of human history, do we have any reason to hope that we will get it right in a future lifetime?

Reincarnation also claims to insure justice. According to the law of karma (an unbending and impersonal rule of the universe), we get what we deserve in every life. Our good and bad deeds produce good and bad results from lifetime to lifetime. With karma, there is supposedly no unjust suffering, because no one is innocent. All suffering is deserved on the basis of bad karma. The baby born without legs deserved it, as did the woman who was raped. We all carry our karma into each life. There is no grace, no forgiveness, no mercy. Not only is this is not good news for those burdened down with the weight of a troubled conscience, but karma also conflicts with our moral sense that some suffering is undeserved and deserves our pity and our actions to alleviate it.

The Limitations of Reincarnation

Can reincarnation realistically offer hope and a sense of justice to a troubled world? And what comfort does it offer regarding the nagging problem of death? The law of karma is unmerciful. Yet the message of Jesus Christ is different. Jesus did not deny there is unjust suffering. He offered forgiveness for those who inflict it and comfort for those that experience it.

Jesus taught that no one can keep the moral law. The human heart is impure, given to wrong attitudes and actions which are offenses against a loving and absolutely good God. Jesus said he offers us forgiveness as our savior, himself paying for our offenses against God. Jesus spoke of people receiving either eternal reward or eternal punishment according to whether they accept his forgiveness during their ONE lifetime on earth (Matthew 25:31-46; see also Hebrews 9:27). Jesus explained that he came into the world "to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). He said that he "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Jesus showed his forgiving love even while being executed on a cross. A thief on a cross next to Jesus confessed his sin and asked Jesus to remember him. Jesus responded, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). Only faith in Jesus was required for paradise, not lifetime after lifetime of working off bad karma and building up good karma. As Jesus announced: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). That, indeed, is good news -- for this life and beyond.

by Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D.

Boys to Responsible Men

Since I was a very young child I always loved to watch the nature shows on television.  Some of my favorites were the Wild Kingdom episodes about the lion prides in Africa.  A pride of lions generally consisted of one dominant male and several females.  The dominant male lion would mate with the females and when the cubs were born he along with all the females would protect all the baby lions.  However, as the cubs mature and the young male cubs begin to grow their mane, which is a sign of becoming mature, they are run off from the pride by the dominant male.  

The young males are then forced to hunt and live on their own until they can get big, strong, and experienced enough to have their own pride and the circle of life starts all over again.  The moment the young male lions are sent away from the pride they were born into, they are forced to grow up and first become a provider for themselves as they have to hunt for their own food.  However, simultaneously, as they are learning to survive on their own they are also picking of critical skills they would need if they are fortunate to have their own pride.

Oddly enough, what occurs in nature by God given instinct with the male lions is actually more or less what should be occurring with the male offspring in our families.  Some years ago this was the case; once a male child reached what is considered the legal age of eighteen it was a widely accepted rule that he would make plans to leave home and go out on his own.  If the young man didn’t have plans to leave on their own, generally the fathers would set a timeframe for when the son had to get a job and go out on his own.  Even if they were going to college and still were partly depended on their parents while in school; remaining home was not an acceptable long term option.  

Unfortunately, today this is no longer the case as there are many young men who remain home well into their late twenties and sometimes their thirties and sadly forties.  Once many young men do eventually leave home today they go from being under their mother’s roof directly to being under the roof with their wife or significant other.

We are completely destroying the God defined family.  We push our daughters out the instant they become of legal age forcing them to take on characteristics God intended for Adam in order for them to survive.  We then allow our sons to remain home indefinitely hindering them from learning and taking on the characteristics God intended for all male offspring to posses.  We have to stop babying in our sons!  

Moms, you are not helping your sons by allowing them to remain under your roof for an indefinite amount of time with no long or short term plans for becoming independent.  Dads our sons needs us to be dads whether we live under the same roof with them or not.  Men, if our sons live in the same home with us it is our OBLIGATION to prepare them for being independent and responsible for themselves sooner rather than later. Again, this does not mean not supporting them while they are pursuing higher education, but even that needs to have a time limit.  Single moms you know better than most, especially women of color, how difficult it is to find a mate who is responsible.  The reasons why so many men today do not want to live up to their responsibility is because dads were off the scene and mommas didn’t know how to cut the preverbal umbilical cord. 

Psalms 127:3-4 (NKJV)  

 3: Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the wombis a reward.

 4: Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.

The scripture above says our children are live arrows in the hand of a warrior.  An arrow in the hand of someone who doesn’t know how to use is it is nothing more than a stick with a pointed on the end.  However, in the hands of a warrior it becomes a tool with a purpose.  Instead of shooting our children, especially our sons, into destiny and purpose we are allowing them to sit in our quiver only going were we bring them on our backs!  

We have to get our sons off our backs and into the world so they can begin to learn to be responsible and gain the experiences needed to take care of themselves and hopefully and a wife and children.  Moms, you are not being a bad parent if you push your adult male child out of the house and force them to get their act together. There nothing wrong with even giving our sons a little help after they are out of the house but it has to be on a decreasing scale or the occasional exception. 

 I’m putting more emphasis on the moms because unfortunately on an increasing manner moms are the ones left with raising the kids. Furthermore, dads were made by God to not have the emotional and coddling character traits moms have and thus it is generally easier for dads to do the tough love thing without back-paddling.  

The bottom line is we have to stop literally harming our male offspring by not helping them be the men God made them to be.  Some of us are afraid of dying not because we fear death but because we fearful of what will happen to our adult children.  We have been taking care of them well into their adult lives and many are so co-dependent on us they are no earth good to any woman or any child they are responsible for producing.

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