BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO THE EASTERN RELIGIOUS IDEAS OF REINCARNATION, PANTHEISM AND THE LAW OF KARMA

The Eastern belief in the pantheism, karma concept and reincarnation is a delusion. The three ideas are faulty and inconsistent with the biblical doctrines, to name but a few: theology proper (doctrine of God), biblical anthropology (doctrine of man), harmatiology (doctrine of sin), soteriology (doctrine of salvation), etc. while on the surface, they appear to get biblical support, a proper investigation reveals otherwise.The purpose of this article is to show from Scriptures, the delusion in the eastern worldview. I will review these ideas in the light of the major biblical doctrines mentioned above.  Pantheism

This teaching that all is God and that God is all does not go well with evangelical Christian theology. Genesis 1:1 – 2:25 gives an elaborate detail of creation. God is clearly depicted as the creator. This passage supports the fact that God existed before anything else and that out of nothing God created everything (ex-nihilo). Therefore to argue that God is part of the created order is tantamount to denying the truth of God as the creator. For, logically speaking, there is no way God can be an infinite creating being and at the same time be a finite created being. That is total nonsense.

 

The Bible teaches about the Supreme Being who is both transcendental as well as immanent. The pantheists, on the other hand, assume the immanence of the same, thereby overlooking his transcendence.

                  Consequently, the pantheists overlook the cultural mandate (Gen. 1:26-30) given to man by God and his superiority over all the created order. Whereas all that God created was good, man was found to be very good (Gen. 1:31). There is thus a hierarchy overlooked by the pantheists when they claim that God is all and all is God. For God reigns high as the creator, and he has secondly, appointed man to rule over the created order. These three groups are distinct and one only needs to look at nature to see the truth.

In addition, pantheism does injustice to the character and attributes of God. For God is holy and man is sinful, the two cannot be one. Man is inherently evil whereas no evil is found in God whatsoever, for if it were so, then, God would cease to be God. Since God is God he is not evil and neither does he have the potential to be evil. Furthermore God is omnipresent, personal, infinite, eternal (Ps. 90:2) and unchanging. The pantheists who consider god to be finite and changing overlook these stark realities. How on earth can a changing God be trusted to fulfill the promises he made (Heb. 13:5b) sometimes back if he cannot remember what he was yesterday? Yet god says he is unchanging (Heb. 13:8).

The bottom line in pantheism is idolatry, an outright denial of the true God, and the worship of other gods (images). Making everything else, including oneself to be God is as old as the sin of Satan. Pantheists make themselves gods and include everything else in the process. This is contempt for God and amounts to gross insubordination. It refutes the claims of Jesus. Since everything is god, Jesus has no right to impose upon the created order, his lordship for all are equal. But john 14:6 declares only one Saviour. In the Bible, all who impersonated God were punished forthwith. Nebuchadnnezzar (Dan. 14:1) and Herod (Acts: 12:20-23) are classic examples.

Reincarnation

              Reincarnation is the endless cycle of birth and rebirth to which each soul is subject to until it obtains liberation (mukti or moksha) in Brahman. John Hinnells adds that in reincarnation, the part of thee individual which is immortal passes at death to diverse heavens and hells where it works out its “karmic” debts and is then born reborn in the form it deserves.

The first problem with this worldview is that it outrightly opposes the doctrine of mortality of all men (Heb. 9:27). It further devalues the human body, which God made with honour and not as a prison or punishment resulting supposedly from our past mistake in earlier reincarnations. Human body, on the contrary, has eternal value as is evident in physical resurrection. This notion is clearly debunked in the scripture. Heb. 9:27 affirm the fact that humanity has no chance/potential for future reincarnation. Apostle Paul labours in 1 Cor. 15 to explain the reality of future resurrection – a central claim of the Christian faith.

Jesus taught about resurrection. He told off the disputing Sadducees the inevitability of human resurrection and judgment (Matt. 22:30-33). He also predicted his own resurrection (Jn. 2:19), physically resurrected from the dead (Lk 24:39) and promised to physically come back for his Church (Jn.14: 1-6).

Reincarnation does not acknowledge the biblical doctrine of harmatiology and providence. In the case of the man who had been blind from birth (Jn. 9:1-3), Jesus told his disciples that the blindness was not caused by anyone’s sin or fault but that the man was blind so that the work of God might be displayed in his life (vs.3), and indeed it was done. In verse 7 we are told that he went home seeing and those who saw marveled at the work of God while he went on testifying. This teaches clearly that our current status has no relation to any previous existence, thereby refuting the idea of the reincarnation.

Attempts to work out reincarnation were condemned by God as evil (1 Sam. 28:9). It further kills the reality of the imago Dei (image of God) in man. God created man in his own image and likeness (Gen. 1:27), man thus is not the same substance with other things, which were created by word/speech “Let there be… and it was.” Reincarnation is a result of one working out his karma, this depicts man’s personal effort to gain his salvation and is opposed to salvation by grace through faith sola fida. Karma Concept

This law is often used to explain peoples’ current status or situations. Every good turn deserves another and vice versa is the principle guide in the karmic worldview. If one accumulates good karma by performing good actions, he or she will be reincarnated in a desirable state. If one accumulates bad karma, he/she will be reincarnated in a less desirable state. It is all about trial and error.

              This belief is as a result of poor theology of the state of man (anthropology), harmatiology (the doctrine of sin) and soteriology (the doctrine of salvation). Rom. 3:23 positively declares that “all have sinned.” This addresses the sinful state of mankind. Rom 6:23 highlights the consequence of our fallen state: death. Since we are helpless we need the saving Christ (Jn. 3:16; 10:10).

             Jesus declared that he is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one goes to the father except by him (Jn. 14:6). Belief in karma, thus shows that man can work out his own salvation thereby abrogating the vicarious death of Christ on the cross. It undermines the essence of the incarnate Christ, his death and resurrection, consequently atoning for humanity’s sins. It is basically being apostate and rebellious. It is prideful, taking the place of God in securing our redemption. Moreover, it is foolishness, since by trying to work out our own salvation we are pursuing an exercise in futility, while on the other hand; somebody has offered to do it for us perfectly well and at no cost.

            Belief in karma also shows that sin is done against oneself, since he is god, and not to the Holy God of the Bible. Conversely, we know that sin is disobedience to God (Ps.51: 4; Rom. 3:23). Belief in karma further undermines the judgment to come. To them, the thought of future life does not determine immediate behaviour/conduct since acquisition of merit through following dharma is an end in itself. Yet the Bible speaks of future judgement. The judgement will be whether one acknowledged Christ as lord or not, and not as to whether one got himself into the right caste. Salvation is by grace through faith and not by works. No amount of work done by man can free/save him. It doesn’t matter how much you sweat or bleed, you cannot save yourself or even others. Man needs Christ, and Christ alone.

In conclusion, I wish to state categorically that the Orientals’ belief in pantheism, reincarnation and karma are inconsistent with biblical truth and should rejected en toto. As observed, the Bible finds these ideas void and wanting, and as such are irreconcilable with the ‘true truth’ of God, paralleling the major doctrines of biblical Christianity.

Of Paul and James on Faith and Works

Evangelical biblical Christianity teaches that salvation is by grace through faith. Other Christian sub-groups argue that works has a place in salvation. Two apostles, Paul and James taught was has been argued by many as contradicting bible truths. Are they apostles contradicting each other? Do works have a place in salvation? Is there anything we can do to earn our salvation?

James must have meant that faith alone justifies, but not faith, which is alone. There is no contradiction between Paul and Peter. The two writers are discussing totally different subjects. Paul is justifying the reception of the Gentiles into the church without circumcision whereas James is discussing the problem of the failure of works of charity within the church. Paul’s implication is that the performing works of the laws of Moses without embracing the gospel truth cannot earn man righteousness. Justification is by faith only and genuine faith in God alone makes one acceptable. On the contrary, James writes of justification by works before other human beings, who need outward evidence because they cannot see into the heart. He is not contradicting Paul, who writes of justification by faith before God, Who does not need outward evidence because he can see into the heart.James was not arguing for two salvation requirements: faith plus works, neither was he contradicting Paul as though Paul taught salvation by faith, and James taught salvation by works. What James was contrasting was true faith, which inevitably produces action because it is alive, versus a mere claim to faith, which is profession only and has no life-changing power as such claim is spiritually dead, it is powerless to produce any works. It is not a faith that entrusts the soul to God’s provision of grace in Christ. Such a faith is not only outwardly unproductive but is also inwardly dead. It is not a matter of adding works to such a faith. It is rather the wrong kind of faith. A faith that has no accompanying works is dead as measured by its own barrenness. Thus, it is shown to be lifeless. True faith will be energetic in displaying itself by its fruits, but a merely claimed faith without any observable effect is dead. It is instructive here to consider Lk.23: 43.The penitent thief had no time left for works; and faith had no time in which to die. James would not have dissented from this. He sees faith as having had time for expression in works but the opportunity was not taken. Faith worked along with works (and not vice versa). The works were not secular morality but deeds of faith; as a result of works, faith is shown really to exist (vs.18), to be living or dead (vs.17) and fruitful (vs.20), i.e. completed, perfected, mature. True faith thus combines beliefs (of doctrine), trust (in Christ), and moral action (works of love). Surprisingly as it may seem, Pauline justification is abstract. The doctrine has been sharpened, emphasized and isolated in thought as a result of the conflict of faith and works. But justification itself is abstract in the sense that though we may consider it by itself as a doctrine, the experience does not occur by itself. There is no case of pure justification. No man ever existed who was justified without something else happening at the same time. At the moment of justification he is born again, receives a new nature and is incorporated in Christ. So far James would not be unsympathetic. But now a new factor enters: the time element. At least some period must elapse, however small, between first faith and good works. Paul’s point is that god accepts a man as soon as he believes. James is considering a man who believes but who has neglected every opportunity for good works from the time of his “first faith”. James looks for fruits and finds only leaves. Paul understands this (cf. Gal. 5: 6) but at the moment of conversion, faith for him is everything; and James says that the word must be received (Jas. 1: 21). During the subsequent Christian life the believer must avoid sin, which is not merely the negative sins of commission; he should obey God (cf. Rom. 6: -4, 13, Eph. 2: 8-10). This Pauline emphasis on good works is reflected in the view of James that faith without works is worthless (2: 14); it is not faith at all, certainly not Christian faith. These two positions are not inconsistent. Paul thinks especially of the beginning of Christian life; James thinks of its continuance. At the beginning all that is needed is faith; if faith is genuine works will follow. Rather than proclaiming a doctrine of faith plus works, James was arguing for a different kind of faith, a faith that is fully alive and shows its vitality by the things it does. It is faith that saves, whether it is the initial trust in God by the sinner or the more fully developed faith of the mature believer. The important feature is that it be genuine trust, not just mental assent. Abraham’s faith brought God’s promise of justification long before he offered Isaac, but it came into full flower when he demonstrated his vitality during trial. He thus sees in all this the fulfillment of Gn.15: 6. Abraham really believed. It was a work of faith. Thus, a man is justified by faith, and justified by works. The faith must be living and the works inspired by faith. They are distinguished in thoughts and must be united in fact. James, therefore, was not discounting faith but was proclaiming the fact that true faith is active, while mere profession has no life whatever.