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i've just been thinking more about how to fit together the hindu and other religions concept of reincarnation, with the "eternal life" stuff in the bible

it's quite simple actually, and not any kind of necromantic craziness

if you know about the theory of how reincarnation works, then you would know that one of the elements of the process is that the rebirth process involves erasing the memory of past lives.

then you can say, that maybe what the biblical texts were talking about is a knowledge and technique whereby newly born individuals, who had a past history of previous lives, have that cloud of forgetting removed, and are born with the full memory of all of their past lives.

this would totally qualify as an "eternal life" because if all who are born, have this done, then even though they live the mortal life, they know all of their "eternal life" history, and it works out much the same. except for that process of the development of the body, the first 35 or so years of life the memory would be there but the capacities would not be fully developed yet.

the other thing is that according to those old texts, and other stories from ancient history, the capacity for lifespan of humans is actually around 800 years.

so, combined with full past life recall, and extended lifespan, you would have something as near enough to the actual realisation of this concept of "eternal life" while reconciling the apparent differences between reincarnationist model versus the eternal life model.

i know it would be quite shocking to have a baby and within a year it's telling you stories in fully adult language of their history, maybe even able to speak multiple languages, but i think this is what it actually means.

it happens occasionally, by accident, there is many accounts of this in recent historical lore about reincarnation. the buddhists select their Dalai Lama based on physical markings that transit between lives, it's a mark on the foot, if i remember correctly. some cases exist also of small children telling stories of their past lives that were verifiable, as well.

this synthesis resolves the apparent differences between the two, and hints at what is to come, when our branch of the human tree wakes up and starts to bloom as well.

Daniel Wigton 5mo ago

I am curious how reincarnation handles changes in population.

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ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 5mo ago

latency

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 5mo ago

in Enoch there is a section where he is being shown some kind of silo structure in which the souls of the dead await judgement, and describes one victim of evil expressing a suit for justice.

i know that in general biblical texts emphasise the YOLO principle, but i am interpreting this to be a transition between the reincarnation without memory, to a transition to reincarnating with memory. if you accept the idea of the existence of an eternal soul, and some limitations on it like being bound to a species, then you can say that you do only live once - in your memory.

this is also conformant with the idea that we are created with the free will to choose God or to reject Him. Choosing God means continuing on the path towards being placed in that silo where afterwards, you are born into a new life that includes the memory of all that went before.

it's a conscious decision, and the bible is full of statements to the effect, at least starting in the new testament, that being saved (ie, being prepared for that transition to conscious rebirth) is simply a matter of a decision and following certain instructions about how to talk with God.

there is infinite souls available for birth. so anyway if the human population expands beyond its size of ever before, there are new joiners coming to the party.

i don't think there is fundamentally a contradiction between reincarnation and the concept of being born again into a new, eternal life. the hindus and buddhists refer to it as escaping the wheel of dharma. of course most of the sects of these religions are essentially works doctrine, and deny the Mercy that we can claim at any time and become His eternal servant.

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 5mo ago

it occurs to me that this also kinda encapsulates what hell is:

to be born again without memory of your past and without a connection to God.

not this shit again, except not even actually conscious that it's again.

in the qur'an it talks about the suffering of the damned, and describes them having their skin burned out and then regrowing and repeated ad infinitum.

this is a sideways reference to being born into bondage and amnesia, again and again, and suffering a painful life and a painful death, unaware of the existence of your soul, which is a gift from God.