Is Reincarnation more likely than Judgement?

Question

I know the answers I'm going to get - its all a bunch of Xtians on here

Answer 1

Yes, therefore during our lifetime we have to practice approaching that point of perfection, and at the time of death, when we give up this material body, that perfection has to be realized. At the time of death, one must be prepared. Students, for instance, prepare for two to five years in college, and the final test of their education is the examination. If they pass the examination, they get a degree. Similarly, in the subject of life, if we prepare for the examination at the time of death and pass it, then we are transferred to the spiritual world. Everything is examined at the time of death.
There is a very common Bengali proverb that says that whatever one does for perfection will be tested at the time of his death. Bhagavad-gitä describes what we should do at the point of our death, when we are giving up this present body.
There are many passages in the Bible itself indicating that Christ and his followers were aware of the principle of reincarnation. Once, the disciples of Jesus asked him about the Old Testament prophecy that Elias would reappear on earth. In the Gospel of St. Matthew we read, "And lesus answered them, Elias shall truly first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not.... Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."7 In other words, Jesus declared that John the Baptist, who was beheaded by Herod, was a reincarnation of the prophet Elias. In another instance, Jesus and his disciples came across a man blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus, "Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"8 Regardless who had sinned, Jesus replied, here was a chance to show a work of God. He then cured the man. Now, had the man been born blind for a sin of his own, it must have been a sin done before his birth-that is, in a previous life. And this was a suggestion that Jesus did not dispute.
The Koran says, "And you were dead, and He brought you back to life. And He shall cause you to die, and shall bring you back to life, and in the end shall gather you unto Himself."9 Among the followers of Islam, the Sufis especially believe that death is no loss, for the immortal soul continually passes through different bodies.
The timeless Vedic scriptures of India confirm that the soul, according to its identification with material nature, takes one of 8,400,000 forms and, once embodied in a certain species of life, evolves automatically from lower to higher forms, ultimately attaining a human body.
Thus, all of the major Western religions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-have definite threads of reincarnation throughout the fabric of their teachings, even though the official custodians of dogma ignore or deny them.

Answer 2

No they're equally likely: the Judgment in Christianity is accompanied by reincarnation... People will be given new bodies for eternity.

Of course if you do not have my bias that the Judgment will in fact occur, then you would interpret that answer as reincarnation being more likely...

And by the way, I think I see about as many posts by atheists as I do by Christians... They'll agree with me that the odds are equal... but at the opposite end of the spectrum...

Answer 3

The numbers do not add up right for reincarnation:

Are souls constantly being created, or is there a set number?

Currently there is like 6,600,000,000 (6.6 billion) people in the world. Therefore there would have to be at least 6.6 billion souls available simultaneously.

If all these souls always existed, what were the vast majority doing in say 1 AD when the population of the earth was something like 150 to 300 million people. 95% of the souls would have been hanging around doing nothing? What about when there were only like 1 million people on earth. 99.9% of all souls doing nothing?

What if the earth's population continues to grow? There could be like 8 billion people on the earth in 2020. That means there would have to be another 1.4 billion souls available to exist simultaneously. Has there been like 8 billion souls waiting around to participate in reincarnation since the beginning? If the population increases to 10 billion ...

Answer 4

The thing that makes us who we are, our consciousness, our personality, etc. is most likely the networks of neurons in our brains, the concentrations of hormones and chemicals in our bodies, and how all of these interact. Take for example, that due to metabolic turnover, cell death, etc. not one single atom that was in your body five years ago is likely to be in your body today. This means that technically, you are a completely different entity than you were five years ago!

But the molecules that replace pre-existing molecules within cells, take up the same general positions and thus, cells maintain their form and continuity. So therefore, although no physical part of you ever remains as a part of you for an extended period of time, the positioning of interacting cells remains fairly stable... and so the "wiring" that is specific to you persists, and you stay you.

Ultimately, you can believe that each person has a magical floating "soul" or "spirit" that lives inside of your body and makes you who you are, if you want... if it makes you happy. But in terms of LIKELIHOOD, it's more plausible that "who we are" is purely dependent on physical attributes of our cells and tissues, and is lost once those attributes are lost. And like the atoms of your body from years ago that no longer exist in your body today, the atoms of your body disperse and continue to exist elsewhere, without memory, as they always have. But that can be depressing or incomprehensible to a lot of people, so its easier to believe that our soul is some invisible genie that escapes our bodies and lives on after we die. whatever gets you through the day.

The moral? It's extremely likely that we only get one chance at life... so live it however you want, believe whatever you want, and let others live however they want. If it's possible that we only exist once, don't **** up other peoples' one and only chance at existence you selfish jerks!! ;-)

Answer 5

Judgment is clearly shown in the scriptures as the inevitable outcome of all humanity.

Reincarnation, according to Saturday Night Live, is the evaporated milk from dead cows.

I'll go Judgment Day on this one.

Answer 6

Both. Souls incarnate. Soul manifests the worldly ego which is judged by the Soul.

Answer 7

You will have a better chance coming back than receiving judgement from God.

Answer 8

I believe it is. Once we wear out our welcome in this 'realm,' and wear out our birthday suits, we shed our skin, then like butterflies, we transmutate into something else . . . We face ourselves 'as is' between incarnations and that, to me, is the only judgement. We can't run from ourselves, after all.

Answer 9

Neither are likely - there are a few of us rational thinkers here too!

Answer 10

reincarnation is a form of judgment.