Reincarnation: A Dilemma for Christians

by

Perspectives

Special to United Methodist Insight | Sept. 18, 2025

I am still trying to decide what to think about reincarnation. If it is true, as millions around the world maintain, including some who follow Jesus, it poses a dilemma for Christians.

Some readers have told me they sometimes use these columns as a basis for discussion in their adult Sunday school classes. If you are in an adult study class, or if you are part of an informal coffee clutch that discusses spiritual issues, I invite you to chew on this one:

Have you, or has anyone you know, experienced past-life memories?

The story of Jesus healing the man born blind in John’s Gospel is sometimes cited as proof of scriptural support for reincarnation.

“As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:1&2

There is so much that we overlook in life because it is not what we expect it to be; we have no reference point, no experience that enables us to bring it into focus. Some things can only be seen with the guidance of someone who helps us to look in a different way than we have ever looked before.

This is what Jesus tries to do with his disciples, over and over again, and often unsuccessfully. In this case they could not look beyond the commonly accepted world view that this man was blind because someone had sinned, “this man or his parents.” Jesus tries to broaden their view by getting them to look from a different perspective. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

End of story? Hardly; it goes on for 41 verses. If you have ever studied this story in Sunday School, you know it is long and complicated. And it is hardly proof of reincarnation, though it does show us Jesus’ singular commitment to open our eyes to all that is true. He embodies the truth in all he says and does.  

 What do Christians believe about reincarnation?

The dictionary definition of reincarnation is “…the belief that a soul or consciousness is reborn into a new body after death, continuing a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. This concept is a central tenet in many world religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, and appears in different forms within Judaism and certain pagan and Indigenous traditions. The cycle is often linked to karma, where actions in one life determine the circumstances of the next, with the ultimate goal of liberation from this cycle and attainment of a higher spiritual state.”

 Most Christian scholars reject this belief outright, citing scriptural passages like these:

Ecclesiastes 12:7, which asserts that the physical body, “…the dust, returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God, who gave it.”

Hebrews 9:27, that “man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgement.”

1 Corinthians 15 describes a spiritual resurrection into a new body, not a rebirth into another earthly life: “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”  (verse 3-6)

Matthew 25:46 speaks of an eternal destiny after one life, either eternal life or eternal death: “And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”

I checked in with St. Google and found this classic and seemingly irrefutable response to the question of reincarnation: “There is no Christian argument for reincarnation because the concept is fundamentally incompatible with Christian theology:”

“Early Christian writers viewed reincarnation as a pagan idea and directly opposed it. Origen (c. 229 AD), commenting on what Jesus said about John the Baptist being Elijah (Matthew 11:14), argued against a literal transmigration of souls. He stated that John came in the "spirit and power" of Elijah, but not as the reincarnation of Elijah's soul, which he called a doctrine ‘foreign to the Church of God.’

“Modern Christian thinkers continue to uphold the traditional Christian rejection of reincarnation. John Wesley held a strong belief in the Christian concept of resurrection after death, not reincarnation. His understanding of salvation, particularly the "new birth" and "holiness," emphasizes a radical transformation in this life and a final, eternal life with God, not a cycle of rebirth.

“Martin Luther did not believe in reincarnation and viewed the concept as a ‘monstrosity,’ as he held to the Christian belief of a single life, death, and a subsequent resurrection or judgment.

“Catholic teachings emphasize a single life and the concept of a unique, resurrected soul. The Catechism of the Catholic Church declares that "When 'the single course of our earthly life' is completed, we shall not return to other earthly lives" and that "There is no 'reincarnation' after death," citing Hebrews 9:27.

“Billy Graham rejected reincarnation based on the Christian belief in heaven and the finality of death. He stated that humans cannot erase the ‘stain of sin’ through repeated earthly lives and must accept the forgiveness offered through Jesus Christ.”

Enough said? Maybe not.

There are thousands of anecdotal accounts, including many from people of faith who have memories of a past life. Traci, from Houston, Texas, has allowed me to share this personal account about her son, who she believes is a reincarnated soul:

“When my son was born, he came spiraling out of me like a ‘football’ being thrown across the field. When the doctor lifted him up to show us, he was wiggling around, lifted his head and turning it as if he was looking around the room trying to figure out where he was. The two nurses and my doctor all exclaimed at the same time, ‘He’s an old soul; he’s been here before, look at him picking up his head.’

“He started crawling at 4 months old. By the time he was 6 months old, he had crawled over to his Dad’s acoustic guitar that was kept on a stand. He started plucking out ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’. Whenever his Dad would play, our son would hum along to different songs that he had never heard before: stuff from our childhood, like Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead. My husband would stop playing, but our son would continue humming the next couple of bars of the song.

“He was nonverbal until he was 4 years old. He had been diagnosed with autism at two years old. We were told he’d never be able to do things like riding a bike, being fully potty trained, holding a “real job” and even speaking.  I took this as a ‘hold my beer’ challenge and taught him these things. He did EVERYTHING we were told he’d never do. He just did them in his own time.

“What sealed the deal for his Dad and I that he had, in fact, been here before? We were going to a friend’s new house about 30 minutes away from where we lived. When we were getting close to our friend’s house, all of a sudden from the backseat our son (who had just recently started talking) started telling us that the house he used to live in was coming up at the next stop sign. He said the house was yellow with a white wraparound porch. He said that he had a ‘69 Camaro, blue with black racing stripes.

“He said his name was Andrew, but his friends and family called him Andy. His father called him ‘Drew’. He said he worked for Texas Instruments Computers in the '70s, and died in his car on his way home from work one day. Mind you, this was around 2005. He was born at the end of 2001.

“I also want to add that his current middle name is Andrew, which his Dad picked out. He had several ‘nicknames’ as a child, but his Daddy has always called him ‘Drew.’ Our son would get so upset if anyone else called him that name. Prior to that, the most he had ever said was ‘Mama, Daddy and Sissy’ His sister is 6 years older than him. I had two miscarriages before him, one at 16 weeks and the other at 23 weeks.

“He also told us that he had tried to be here sooner, but every time God told him he’d have to ‘wait,’ it wasn’t his time yet. But, he said, he always knew he’d have me as his mommy.

“He’s now 23, and I recently asked him if he remembered what he had told us all those years ago (never telling him anything about what he had said when he was little). He said, ‘Yes, I remember, but I don’t want to talk about it.’ I said that was fine, then asked if I could ask him one question, which he kindly obliged.

“My question was, ‘Out of all the nicknames you’ve had over the years, why is it that Dad is the only one who can call you ‘Drew’, but you get mad when anyone else does?’ He said, ‘When my name was Andrew, my Dad was the only one who called me ‘Drew’. Everyone else called me ‘Andy’. I loved my other Dad so much that, after he passed away, I swore that I would never let anyone else call me that name. Then I came to you, and I had my Dad back, and I was just so happy that he was alive that when he started calling me ‘Drew’, I knew it was him.’”

Discuss this column with your friends and get back to me. Write or phone if you would like a list of discussion questions. You may also send any questions you would like me to ask Traci about her son’s experience.

You may also want to read the famous case of an American who claims to have been reincarnated. The story of James Leininger is told in “Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot.”  Two weeks after his second birthday, Leininger began having blood-curdling nightmares that just would not stop. He told his mother, “Mama, before I was born, I was a pilot, and my airplane got shot in the engine, and it crashed in the water, and that's how I died.”

“Soul Survivor” (at right) is the story of how the Leiningers pieced together what their son was communicating and eventually discovered that he was reliving the past life of World War II fighter pilot James Huston. The book can be found in many libraries and can be ordered from Amazon.

I also suggest viewing a brief video on YouTube in which James Leininger’s parents tell their son’s story: “A Soul Survivor: Proof of Reincarnation.” Google “James Leininger story on YouTube.”

The Rev. John Sumwalt is a retired United Methodist pastor, storyteller, and author of “How to Preach the Miracles.”