For the less enlightened Christian the doctrine of the reincarnation is valid only as an Eastern religious concept which is not to be taken seriously. The reasons are that, supposedly, the Christian faith does not endorse the doctrine of the re-incarnation; that it never has; and that it does not encompass the concept that there is another life on earth after death. This opinion is further strengthened by the assertion promoted in this doctrine that under unfavourable circumstances it is possible to spend another life on earth as an animal, which is considered as unacceptable.

The devout Christian may rightly think that his disapproving attitude towards the doctrine of the reincarnation is correct, as long as he does not search for comparable teachings in the history of his own religious doctrine. Little-known and not mentioned in the traditional religious classes is the fact that the Christian religion contained the doctrine of the reincarnation indeed, until in 543 AD the Emperor Justinian 1, and subsequently, the Pope, who was dependent on Justinian 1, imposed an ecclesiastical ban at the Council of Constantinople in 553, and so it was forbidden.

This raises the question - what could have been so bad, fearsome or threatening about this doctrine that the leadership of the Church had to resort to this drastic action, the ecclesiastical ban? Or did they simply want “obedience”? The ludicrous doctrine like the one from the Indian area was not taken seriously, and that can't possibly have been the reason for the ban. Rather there must have been fundamental and crucial principles of teachings which led to controversies and tensions between the advocates and the opponents of the Christian doctrine of the reincarnation. Ultimately, the opponents were successful and consequently it was forbidden to teach the doctrine. This development is as conspicuous as, for example, had happened at the introduction of the doctrine of the Trinity under the rule of Emperor Constantine. First the secular power, the Emperor, ordered and compelled the change, and only then, finally, under the protection of the Emperor, the ecclesiastical side also "willingly" followed. If this had been the Will of GOD, it would mean, in other words, that for the period of about 500 years, since the death of Jesus Christ, a false doctrine (the reincarnation) had been the foundation of the Christian religion. Is this imaginable? Is this believable? Should the first Christians after the death of Jesus Christ have been unable to transmit and live his teachings faithfully? This is hard to imagine and not understandable!

This alleged contradiction, this alleged false doctrine would not only have been recognized as false or contradictory especially by the Christians in the first centuries –given the knowledge was still unaltered to a great extent – but they would have fought it strongly and sharply. Nothing of the kind has been transmitted to us. The last Christians to adhere to this doctrine of the reincarnation were the Goths, for example, under the then Bishop Ulfilas. Their unyieldingness to the new direction of thought of the Roman Church led to their extermination, among other things.

A well-founded suspicion is raised that the Christian doctrine of the reincarnation was in substance such a significant and such an essential, if not the most essential, key to GOD that it stood in the way of the expanding powers of the emperors and the popes. By the ban of the doctrine of the reincarnation the solid tie to an ecclesiastical organisation only then became possible and enforceable. For the true meaning of the earthly existence, the sequence of events since the Spiritual Fall in Heaven, the Redemption through Jesus Christ, and the way back to GOD were made comprehensible by the doctrine of the reincarnation. But the ban took away that comprehension again. However, the knowledge of the laws of the reincarnation made mankind free, free from all material influence, and so it was a thorn in the side of those who wanted, and still want, to exercise power. If you study the historical facts of that time for a better understanding you can clearly recognize the secular endeavours in the Roman church which were oriented towards power. How radically this doctrine was to be eliminated is shown by the record of the council which, as regards the texts, convincingly excluded all conceivable misinterpretations of the ecclesiastical ban. And it still does so. It even went beyond the decree of the Emperor. The consequences were fundamental. The ban is still effective today, though it is hardly recognized as such; for since that time there has been supposedly consistent theology, also dogmatically binding with it, and anybody who had previously taught the Christian doctrine differently was automatically a heretic and not a shepherd. A "wonderful" ideological structure which, no matter where you try to break it down, inevitably ends in the ecclesiastical ban.

In the book by Robert Sträuli "Origenes der Diamantene" (ABZ publisher, Zurich), the history of the development of the Christian faith up to the ban on the doctrine of the reincarnation is interestingly and convincingly presented. For the critically-minded human being this book provides an extensive source of knowledge about the Christian faith which is neither possible nor allowed to be presented as the official doctrine in the churches. It should be mentioned that the knowledge about the doctrine of the reincarnation, as it was once taught to the Christians, is shown almost exclusively through the text of the ecclesiastical ban. So radically annihilating were the consequences of the ban in all existing and subsequent writings. Just as worth knowing seems the hint that the doctrine of the reincarnation was also known in Pre-Christian times. Significant advocates of this knowledge were, for example, Pythagoras and Plato.

The wording of the textual version of the ban on the doctrine of the reincarnation by the Emperor and the Council of Constantinople will subsequently be quoted from the above-mentioned book. H.H.

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Who was Origines

Origenes, born in the Egyptian coastal town of Alexandria in184/185 A.D., was the best-known and greatest scholar of the Christian ancient times.
From Alexandria to Greece and from the Black Sea to Spain his knowledge had enlightened the world spiritually for more than three centuries.
But after the turning point at Constantinople, the church which spiritually darkened, tolerated Origenes less and less as the herald of the pure and sovereign Christian doctrine. It damned him by the end of the 4th century. The writings of Origenes were banned and destroyed - or even falsified!

Today the consequences of this oppression of the truth are noticeable all over in this godless world.
How different this world would be, if the "hunger for power" had not replaced the truth!

Gloria publisher

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GOD be with you!

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