According to the belief of those advocating reincarnation, human soul as a part of divinity has fallen to the material world, from where it should, by the process of reincarnation from body to body, clean itself from bodily desires and thus finally from the body itself, when it should soar to the spiritual world. By liberating himself from karma a man goes out from the circle of dying and bearing. Karma is "a punishment" befalling us as a consequence of the sins we have committed in this or previous lives. If we had killed, robbed etc. somebody we will be killed, robbed etc. ourselves.

In order to preserve ourselves from bodily affinities (sins) and also from their karmic consequences, we apply various spiritual techniques by which we develop our inner, divine spark. Listening to our inner voice we come to an understanding of the truth, and by the very process of spiritual consecration we accelerate the time of the exit from the body (prison of the soul) and depart to a spiritual sphere.

So, sooner or later all souls will realize the higher degree of spiritual development and go out from the circle of reincarnation.

The Biblical idea about man and his fall, plan of salvation and God's character is so much different from the Hindu model that one can rightfully pose a question whether they share any single common notion with the same meaning!

According to the Bible, man's soul is a union of the spirit and body: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)

After death the soul decomposes to the constituents: "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

Let us notice that the Scriptures do not say "For you are spirit and will return to spirit", but "you are dust and will return to dust" (Genesis 3:19).

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust." (Job 34:14-15)

Why is the personality of man being linked with the earthly dust, and not to spirit, as it is commonly understood? On the basis of God's Word (Exodus 20:5-6) and of the life experience we see that the affinities for sin are hereditary and consequently we see that the properties of the soul are linked to the material body (genes).

Besides the properties of the character of a soul the very existence of it is also conditioned by the survival of the physical body.

That a soul ceases to exist by loss of blood (by death of body) is evident on the basis of the relation established by God's Word between the notion of soul and notion of blood: "For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof." (Leviticus 17:14)

Differently from a human soul, whose survival is conditioned by the earthly dust (matter), the spirit represents God's life-giving energy:

"When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground." (Psalm 104:29-30)

Spirit contains no character properties of a person for it is the same for all living beings:

"For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?" (Ecclestiastes 3:19-21)

Without life, spirit, which goes to God Who had given it", a dead man is not conscious of anything:

"When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish." (Psalm 146:4)

Jesus, speaking about the condition of the dead, says:

"After saying this, he told them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.' The disciples said to him, 'Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.' Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead'." (John 11:11-14)

Because the first death has not the function of punishment, it is not significant in God's eyes. The Bible calls it often asleep in order to show a temporary and unconscious condition of a man. He sleeps without dreams:

"For in death there is no remembrance of you: in Sheol who can give you praise?" "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." "For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day." (Psalm 6:5; 115:17; Isaiah 38:18-19)

"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6)

Were the soul somewhere outside the body, in a conscious condition, then it would be really illogical to call it to wake up:

"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." (Isaiah 26:19)

If the souls of the righteous really continued a conscious life after death, then it would not be that they, not before their material resurrection, receive the spirit and recognized Lord God:

"And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord." (Ezekiel 37:13-14)

On the day of Pentecost apostle Peter said about David the king "that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day... for David did not ascend into the heavens". (Acts 2:29.34) We see that David's righteous soul is not in heaven. As Scripture says, eternal reward is waiting for the faithful, not immediately after death, but after their resurrection:

"But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." (Luke 14:13-14)

Death and eternal punishment wait for the unrighteous, not immediately after their death but also after their resurrection:

"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (John 5:28- 29)

Many supporters of reincarnation will say regarding this:

"Had not Roman Pope influenced the contents of the Bible and inserted in it the verses which refute the teachings of reincarnation? It is known that the original Bible is being kept in Vatican!"

Christian Church, or any of its members could not influence the contents of the Old Testament, for it has been in the hands of Jews. And had the Church really influenced the contents of the Bible, then in it there would certainly have not been found the verses predicting the apostasy of the Church from God and the appearance of papacy:

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: ..." (2 Thessalonians 2:3-8)

Likewise, it is really senseless to claim that the Church would have inserted in the Bible the verses which refute its own teaching about the unconditioned immortality of soul and a divine shape of a fallen sinner (that being actually a foundation of the belief in reincarnation). The Church would not have indeed any motive to insert in it the verses so embarrassing for the Church itself.

Had the Church really influenced the contents of the Bible then in it would be right citations speaking in favor of reincarnation (immortality of the soul etc.), but the Church did not need to do it for it had elevated itself above the authority of God's Word. Apostle Paul warned with a great reason:

"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." (Acts 20:29-31)

The Church lost its spiritual continuity very quickly. The decisions of previous ecumenical synod would be abolished by those of the next one. Depending on political circumstances, the will of people and personal affinities of public leaders, it was changing its teaching and its influence.

During the last prophesied apostasy, the authority of the Bible has been neglected and replaced by the authority of human tradition, just as it had been the case also with the Jews in Jesus' time. Church fathers, whose opinions differ mutually as much as Protestant teachings of the West, became a mainstay of the Church. The inspired God's Word - the Bible - ceased to be the supreme authority of the truth.

When some church fathers defend the dogma about the immortality of soul, they do not refer to the authority of the Holy Scriptures, but to that of human philosophy:

"Soul is immortal as it was said by great Plato!" (Tertulian, Origen and others) (Plato, proclaimed by many Christians to be a saint, believed in reincarnation.)

Under the influence of Plato, the church apologist Origen, although anathematized later on, influenced strongly the church teaching, which received from him the belief characteristics for Egyptian, Hindu and Greek philosophy - that human nature (although fallen into sin) has not lost its divine essence, i.e. divine attributes of immortality and striving for God.

Origen himself also believed in reincarnation (he speaks about pre- existence of the soul and explains, according to the sin committed in a previous life, the evils men are subjected to).

"Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Colossians 2:7-8)

The church father Tertulian himself admitted that Christians had acquired many customs that do not have their sources in the Holy Scriptures: offering the sacrifices for the dead, forbidding the kneeling and fasting on the Lord's Day and excessive respecting the bread and wine of the Holy Communion. Tertulian then adds sincerely:

"If you want to find a biblical commandment for these and other customs, you will not find it. Tradition is the source of these rules; custom supports them and faith holds them." (TERTULIAN, ABOUT THE CROWN)

In the church, gradually, under a Christian form, various forms of paganism and polytheism appeared: idolatry (Acts 17:29, Psalm 134:15- 18), communion in a spirit of magic (John 6:63), meditation with repeating a prayer as a mantra (Matthew 6:7-8), salvation by good deeds (Romans 3:20) and spiritism (Isaiah 8:19-20).

The believing in immortality of the soul opened the door to spiritism which has now got Christian form. Polytheists only replaced the names of their idols with the names of Christian saints. Their life, sins and the psychology of the defending of conscience remained the same.

Now, against the birth pains, they pray to martyr Catherine, to Mina Egyptian against the sicknesses of trembling, gardener Konon against smallpox, St Sadok against premature death, St Arthemy against hernia, St John the Soldier for the return of stolen things, St Triphun for the return of lost things, St Nikita against the thunder and St Paysiye the Great for the salvation of unrepented souls from hell, etc.

Professor Dr. Alexandar Birvish, Baptist preacher, claims:

"There is no heresy not brought by church fathers to Christianity."

Only few church fathers preserved the Biblical teaching about the state of a soul after death. Thus holy father Ephraim Sirin (IV c.) says in his work "A Hymn about the Paradise" says:

"If a soul is able to see and hear without body, why then is it captured in the latter? If it can live without body too, why then is it being killed through the latter?

And that without the body a soul can do nothing is shown by the body itself. When the body is deprived of sight, then the soul is also blind and walks by touch. That is how each needs another - as well as the body needs a soul to be able to live, so the soul needs a body to hear and see.

If the body becomes mute, the soul becomes such as well; when it is in pain, in delirium, the soul raves as well. Even if the soul is able to exist separately, without its collaborator, it would simply not exist. The soul resembles so affably to the embryo in mother's womb, which has life inside it, but is deprived of the speech and power of intellect.

If, consequently, a soul present in the body resembles to an embryo and therefore cannot cognate either itself or its collaborator, how much more helpless it is after the departure from it!? Then it has not either on or in itself the senses anymore to serve as tools in its service, for only by the senses of its collaborator it can appear and manifest.

Having finished Adam, after building him completely, God settled him in Paradise. Neither from itself nor for itself a soul alone could enter there. But the body and soul entered together, clean, perfect, into a land of perfection, and went out from it together too, having besmirched themselves. That is a proof that they will enter it again together upon Resurrection. ... "

Holy father Irinej (III c) asserts openly:

"The belief that man's soul is naturally immortal is from devil." ("The Proof of Apostle Theology")

Saint Anastasius the Great speaks about the impossibility of living of a incorporeal soul:

"And a soul without a body can do nothing: either good or evil... just as a lyre is still none plays it, as well soul and body, when separated, can do nothing."

Holy father Justin calls heretics those who believe that the soul of the righteous goes immediately after its death to the Heaven, and in his inferring he says:

"Some, considering the soul to be immortal and immaterial, believe that, although they have sinned, they yet cannot feel any hardship of punishment (for if the soul immaterial, then it is insensible too), and it follows from this also that a soul which already has immortality has not a need for God." (Dialogue with Triphon, 6,1-2)

Although some church fathers preserved the correct Biblical understanding of the state of a soul after death, the majority of church authorities succumbed to the influence of Greek mythology (Plato, Aristotle...) and accepted the flattering-belief that man's soul has not lost its divine nature by the fall into sin, and therefore is unconditionally immortal and by its nature it looks for returning to God.

Such opinion legalized human natural righteousness as Christ's righteousness and denied the need of man for Christ's sacrifice on the cross as a redeeming sacrifice for human sins.

The belief that immortality and divine nature are unconditioned attributes of human soul denies the need of man for Biblical salvation, for why a man should need mercy to give him back what he already has as an unconditioned and inseparable part of human nature?!

Consequently, the fundamental assumptions of the belief in reincarnation are not only contradictory to the clear Biblical verses, but also to the Biblical plan of salvation.