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Question

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

Is it possible the other interpretation goes like this?

That man undergoes several cycles of life and death experiences. That once a man died so would be his soul. Into the spiritual world he would be judged by his work. If his performance falls below satisfactory level, he would be thrown back to hell(earth) to begin another cycle being a new soul. So this interpretation did not violate Hebrews 9:27.

Answer 1

Matthew 11:14

Jesus is recorded as saying: "And if you are willing to receive and accept it, John (the Baptist) himself is Elijah who was to come[1]". Most traditional Christians prefer to interpret this verse only in a loose fashion to mean that John was only like Elijah. For those Christians who advocate a belief in reincarnation, this verse is interpreted more strictly as meaning exactly what it says, namely that John the Baptist is/was Elijah the prophet himself, which in this strictly interpreted context could only mean that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah. One related consideration that Christian advocates of reincarnation address concerning the fact that John 1:19–21 appears to contravene Matthew 11:14, denying that John the Baptist is/was Elijah reincarnated, this view ignoring the idea that John the Baptist did not know that he was Elijah. Christian advocates of reincarnation propose that this apparent Biblical contravention in John of what is stated in Matthew may have been a later editorial insertion by doctrinal purists. These types of corrective insertions in John, contravening the first three Gospels, appear to them to have also been added in many other instances within John as well, the gospel of John generally being agreed by Liberals adherent to Higher Criticism to have been written several years after Matthew.

[edit] Matthew 17:11–13

Another reference by Jesus that equates John the Baptist with Elijah.

[edit] John 9:1-3

The disciples observe a man who was born blind, and inquire of Jesus whether the man himself or his parents sinned, that he was born blind. Some interpret this question to imply that the man would have had some opportunity to sin prior to birth, which at least presupposes the pre-existence of the soul in a situation where there was free will and the ability to commit sin. Jesus replies that in this case neither the man nor his parents sinned, but he does not rebuke the disciples in any way for their belief that it would have been possible for the man to sin prior to birth. This can be and has been interpreted in many ways.

[edit] Galatians 6:7

"Whatever one sows, that he will also reap". Some feel that this agrees with the idea of enforced karma, a basic tenet of some other religions that hold the belief in reincarnation; however it also agrees with the concept of divine justice, and of each person being judged fairly, a central tenet of Christianity. The subsequent verses seem to imply that a certain amount of time may pass before a just person reaps their true reward: "at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up". However there is no indication that this time might span more than one lifetime. In any case, those who attempt to use this verse to prove that the Bible endorses the concept of karma suffer the same burden as those who attempt to use Hebrews 9:27 to disprove reincarnation. It is problematic because, by itself, it does not prove reincarnation and is only a single verse. The fact that it was written by the Apostle Paul, and not a saying of Jesus, may also influence Christians who give more weight to Jesus' teachings than to Paul's.

[edit] Bible passages seen to be in opposition

There are also some Biblical passages commonly seen to refute a Christian belief in reincarnation:

[edit] Hebrews 9:27

The verse most commonly used to dispute reincarnation is Hebrews 9:27, which states that it is appointed to man to die once, and after that face judgment. This verse does not, by itself, rule out reincarnation. Traditional Christian teaching (including beliefs held by modern Fundamentalists and Evangelicals) interprets this verse in the context of the "Day of Judgment", when Christ will return and judge the earth — including all those who have died. In this sense, a person has only one life, and then, when he dies, will face judgment. Liberal Christians, however, may feel comfortable in dismissing or reinterpreting the verse — especially considering the Higher Criticism debate over the authorship of the book of Hebrews. Many consider it dangerous to base doctrine on a single verse.

People who have had near-death experiences often report that they do in fact experience a "life review", but that the judgment comes from themselves. During this experience, they are allowed to experience their actions from the viewpoint of others who were affected by those actions, and in some cases to feel the emotions that were felt by those persons. So it could be said that after a person dies, they experience a form of judgment. Whether this is the same judgment referred to in Hebrews 9:27 is open to debate. However, this "life review" is surprisingly similar as described in the Tibetan Book of Dead. People who have had near-death experiences also report that after their life reviews they have been given the choice to either return back to finish their earthly lives, or to stay for a while in Heaven and reincarnate later back to finish what they have left undone. This would imply the "judgment" is indeed final for one lifetime, but an intermediary in a series of multiple earthly sojourns.

Also note that Hebrews 9:27 is only a problem when one believes in Biblical inerrancy. It is possible to Liberals that the writer of Hebrews was expressing a personal belief, much as a bishop over a group of churches might today write a letter expressing certain personal theological beliefs to the churches in his sphere of influence. The author of Hebrews, whoever it may have been, may never have intended for his thoughts to be preached as ultimate truth for centuries to come. Hebrews is different from most other New Testament books (in part because it was directed towards Jewish Christians throughout the Roman Empire rather than those living in Palestine), so Hebrews 9:27 may have been intended only to refute a common Sadducean Jewish belief of the time, that the soul ceases to exist after death.

[edit] Luke 13

Something that seems to deny not reincarnation itself but any notion of karma and retribution can be found in Luke chapter 13: After hearing about an accident that killed 18, Jesus warns his listeners not to think that this happened to the afflicted because they were especially evil people.

[edit] Ecclesiastes 9:5,6 &10

These scriptures indicate what happens to the person after death "but the living know this at least, that they must die. But the dead know nothing, they have nothing for their labour, their very memory is forgotten. their love has vanished with their hate and jealousy, and they have no share in anything that goes on in the world." "Throw yourself into any pursuit that may appeal to you, for there is no pursuit, no plan, no knowledge or intelligence within the grave where you are going." These scriptures seem to suggest that nothing remains of a person after death, that is their love, hate and jealousy (major parts of a person's personality) "vanish". Furthermore, verse 10 implys that after death a person ceases to exist or nothing of the consciousness of the person remains.

(Bible quotations: The old testament, A new translation, By James Moffatt D.D., D.Litt., M.A. (Oxon), Volume II)

[edit] The thief on the cross

Jesus, when on the cross, tells the thief being executed beside him "This day you will be with me in paradise". This would seem to imply that the thief would go straight to heaven, and not be reincarnated. On the assumption that a thief convicted of a capital crime would be likely to need a reincarnation before achieving perfection, this passage could point more to the one-stroke redemption believed in by traditional Christians.

Hindus and others would refute this interpretation's claim to contradict reincarnation. To Hindus, Devaloka, akin to heaven, is a plane of blissful existence that can be reached as soon as one is sufficiently atuned to light and good. However, to become even better and to learn more, one must return to a life on Earth, until all the learning possibilities here have been exausted. Then, any other lives become unnecessary and liberation or moksha is achieved. Also, Hindus believe that God's grace can overcome the karma of someone who has already become close enough to liberation through one's own merits, and through grace a one-stroke redemption can occur without the need for reincarnation.

[edit] Paul's teaching

Paul, in his epistles, teaches extensively about the nature of heaven. It would seem likely that had reincarnation been involved, he might have mentioned it. Indeed a strong argument against reincarnation is that in the whole of the Bible, only a tiny number of passages exist that could even remotely be interpreted as supporting it. Significant doctrines in Christianity are usually based on dozens or sometimes hundreds of passages.

[edit] Apologetics

Most Christian apologists maintain that the concept of reincarnation is not described in Biblical texts. They maintain that the verses that appear to support the idea of reincarnation are interpreted from the context of a reincarnation worldview and not from context of the Biblical Jewish/Christian worldview.

This might be best understood when one considers the popularity that Hinduism and Buddhism have gained in some circles of the West. In many cases, they do so by claiming that the verses that appear to support the idea of reincarnation are taken out of context, while apparently applying a different standard to verses that appear to deny the possibility. Unfortunately, the practice of taking verses out of context (and sometimes, stringing unrelated verses together in a way that makes them appear related) to prove a favored belief or disprove someone else's belief is nothing new to Christianity, or to the opponents of Christianity; according to some, this technique has already been applied in composition of the New Testament writings itself.

Contemporary Christian thought objects to reincarnation because it is not seen compatible with the traditional biblical view of man and the idea of salvation through Jesus.

Some Christians, though, interpret Jesus' death on the cross as providing believers the opportunity to grow towards salvation despite personal imperfections, rather than ensuring instant salvation for all believers after death. Reincarnation may simply delay a person's ultimate destiny - most religions that believe in reincarnation do not believe that a person continues to reincarnate indefinitely.

Answer 2

Actually that would indeed violate Hebrews 9:27 since each man has only one soul! meaning if they experienced several cycles of life and death then indeed he would be dying more than once! So for believers (people who believe and try to live according to the scripture) that is not correct. If you don't believe in the sanctity of scripture, then it does not matter what anyone that does says to you because you will find a way to disprove it in your own mind.

And furthermore, the scripture teaches that there will be 2 different judgements, one for believers, and one for non believers! So in short, all souls (and everyone has but one) live forever, the destination of that eternal life is what is in question.

Answer 3

Don't be one of the ppl that end up being left behind because of bad interpretations of the Bible. Don't add or subtract anything from the things you read in the Bible. If there was supposed to be more information, then it would have been included since it was first written.
And don't be one of the ones that read more into the Bible's words just so you'll think it sounds more realistic or more convincing, just to accommodate you.
I believe that this verse says that it is a man's lot to die 1 time in payment for his sins (the wages of sin is death), and then the man will be judged.

Answer 4

Well, as 9.27 says nothing whatever about women I assume we are doing something else altogether.

We in fact have many lives that we live throughout the ages. We rebirth each time with new knowledge into a new world, and go on to prove our understanding of people time and place. This is why women are more civilized than men who without them would live in a world of slovenliness.

Also we as women don't really care about the fact that our many lives violate 9.27 because the Hebrew judgement is obviously a guy thing...

Answer 5

no there will be two judgements.

saved : Romans 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Corinthians II 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

lost:
Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Answer 6

All the people in the Bible who dies and lived again, did so in the same body they had before.

Answer 7

there are as many answers as there are questions, to some no question or answers is needed