Posted by Amy K on September 04, 2003 at 18:00:14:
In Reply to: Oops, one more thing I forgot to mention about karma posted by Mels on September 04, 2003 at 00:53:09:
Jesus absolutely did not believe in reincarnation. First of all, I believe the event you referred to is in this passage:
John 9:
1 As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.
2 And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"
3 Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Jesus said that He was, in fact, NOT born blind because of sin...just the opposite of what you said.
It's not a matter of interpretation, because anyone who has studied the Bible knows that the vast majority of it is stated in very black and white, unambiguous terms. When Hebrews 9:27 says, for example, "man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment," it is unambiguous. There is no difficult interpretation there. Man dies once and faces the judgment.
It was Jesus, remember, who told this story in Luke 16:
22 "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
23 "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'
25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.
26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'
As elsewhere, Jesus was teaching that we die and after that face either heaven or hell. Please, read through the Gospels again carefully and you will see that this is so.
: Oh, just one other thing and then I'm done, I promise...I hope you don't view karma as a way out of responsibilities. You can't say "I won't bother with the next person b/c he or she is going through his or her own karma." Here's a story: A man once asked Buddha, "Master, if I walk by a pool and see a man drowning, shouldn't I leave him there? After all, it might be his karma to drown." Buddha's answer was, "No, because it might be your karma to save him." So karma does NOT mean a lifting of one's responsibilities. If anything, it means that you do in fact have to go with what you deep down believe is right, no matter what.
: I personally think Jesus believed in reincarnation, because according to the Bible (I've read it), one of his disciples asked him why a man was born blind. Jesus said it was because of the man's sins. If the man was born blind, when did he commit those sins? You see what I mean? But again...that's just my interpretation. That's why it's hard to take the Bible or any other religious teaching literally. Because no matter what, it's all interpretation, even if we see the words there in black-and-white.
: Well anyhoo, just didn't want you to think I was irresponsible or "wanted" to believe in this b/c it was easier or something. It's definitely not easier! But it's more rewarding for me.
: Mel
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