accused man who says to a judge, ‘My life is in your hands.’ He means that what will become of his life rests with the judge. The accused has no choice in the matter. It is out of his hands.

Similarly, in the case of a dead man, he does not have control over his spirit or life-force. It has returned to God in the sense that he controls the future life prospects of the individual. It is up to God to decide as to whether he will restore the spirit or life-force to the deceased.

But does this necessarily shut out all possibility of life after death? Is there not something else to consider?

WHAT ABOUT REBIRTH OR REINCARNATION?

Millions of persons of various religious persuasions, whether called Christian or non-Christian, believe that humans had an existence prior to their present life and will continue to live after they die. Though their concepts vary greatly, they share in common the conviction that some part of man is reborn or reincarnated in another body.

Presenting one line of argument in favor of the belief in rebirth, A Manual of Buddhism states: “Sometimes we get strange experiences which cannot be explained but by rebirth. How often do we meet persons whom we have never before met and yet inwardly feel that they are quite familiar to us? How often do we visit places and yet feel impressed that we are perfectly acquainted with their surroundings?”

Have you ever experienced such things? After meeting a person, have you ever had the feeling that you have known him for a long time? What accounts for such an experience?

There are many similarities in people. Perhaps, after some thought, you yourself realized that the person had personality traits and physical features resembling those of a relative or a friend.

Likewise you may have lived in a particular city or seen pictures of it. Then, when visiting another city, you may note certain similarities so that you feel that you are not really amid strange and unfamiliar surroundings.

So, then, is it not reasonable to conclude that feelings of familiarity about previously unknown people and places are, not the product of some past life, but a result of experiences in the present life? Really, if all people had actually had previous existences, should they not all be aware of this? Why, then, do millions not even have the slightest sense or thought of having lived an earlier life? Furthermore, how can a person avoid the mistakes of his earlier lives if he cannot even recall them? Of what benefit would such previous lives be?

Some may offer the explanation that ‘life would be a burden if people knew the details of their previous existences.’ That is the way Mohandas K. Gandhi expressed it, saying: “It is nature’s kindness that we do not remember past births. Where is the good either of knowing in detail the numberless births we have gone through? Life would be a burden if we carried such a tremendous load of memories. A wise man deliberately forgets many things, even as a lawyer forgets the cases and their details as soon as they are disposed of.” That is an interesting explanation, but does it rest on a solid foundation?

While our ability to recall many things that we have experienced may be limited, our minds are certainly not totally blank respecting them. A lawyer may forget the precise details of certain cases, but the experience gained in handling them becomes part of his fund of knowledge. He would indeed be at a great disadvantage if he actually forgot everything. Then, too, which causes people greater disturbance​—a poor memory or a good memory? Is not an old man who has a good recall of his fund of knowledge and experience far better off than an old man who has practically forgotten everything?

Really, what “kindness” would there be in having to learn all over again things that one had already learned during a previous existence? Would you consider it “nature’s kindness” if every ten years of your life you forgot practically everything you knew and had to start learning a language again and then begin building up a fund of knowledge and experience, only to have it eradicated? Would this not be frustrating? Would this not result in terrible setbacks? Why, then, imagine that it happens every seventy or eighty years? Can you feature that a loving God could have made such rebirth part of his purpose for mankind?

Many who accept the doctrine of rebirth believe that those leading a bad life will be reborn in a lower caste or as insects, birds or beasts. Yet why is it, then, that there is a big human population explosion at a time when crime and violence are increasing on an unprecedented scale? Also, why can even those in the lowest caste excel when given educational opportunities? For example, the New York Times of October 26, 1973, reported that a sixteen-year-old girl of low caste was the brightest girl in the school at Kallipashim, India. She was smarter than a girl of the highest caste, a Brahman. How might this be explained? Is it not true that the doctrine of rebirth or reincarnation cannot provide satisfying explanations for such things?

Think, too, of the fruitage that such teaching has produced. Has it not deprived many humans of a dignified standing, forcing them to take menial jobs under poor working conditions, with little possibility of improving their lot in life through education?

DOES THE BIBLE TEACH REBIRTH?

Of course, some persons might point out that logical deductions do not necessarily rule out the possibility of rebirth. Their reply to the aforementioned arguments might be: ‘Even the Bible teaches rebirth. This is just one of many things that humans cannot fully explain.’

Since believers in rebirth do bring the Bible into the discussion, we should want to consider what it does say. Just what Biblical evidence is there for the belief in rebirth? The book What Is Buddhism? answers: “For the Christian reader we would point out that [the doctrine of rebirth] is clearly present in such mutilated fragments of Christ’s teachings as are still extant. Consider, for example, the widely current rumours that he was John the Baptist, Jeremiah or Elijah come again (Matt. xvi, 13-16). Even Herod seemed to think that he was ‘John the Baptist risen from the dead.’”

What about such arguments? Did Jesus Christ himself claim to be John the Baptist, Jeremiah or Elijah? No, these claims were made by persons who did not accept Jesus for what he really was, namely, the promised Messiah or Christ. Jesus simply could not have been John the Baptist, for when about thirty years of age the younger man, Jesus, was baptized by John, who was older. (Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-23) King Herod came up with the unreasoning conclusion that Jesus was John raised from the dead, because of his feelings of extreme guilt for having executed John.

But are there not direct statements of Jesus Christ that are viewed as supporting belief in rebirth or reincarnation? Yes, there is one. On one occasion Jesus Christ linked John the Baptist with the ancient Hebrew prophet Elijah, saying: “Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him but did with him the things they wanted. . . . Then the disciples perceived that he spoke to them about John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:12, 13) In stating, “Elijah has already come,” did Jesus mean that John the Baptist was Elijah reborn?

The answer to this question must be determined on the basis of what the Bible says as a whole. Many Jews back in the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry did think that Elijah would come back literally. And the prophecy of Malachi pointed forward to the time when Jehovah God would send the prophet Elijah. (Malachi 4:5) John the Baptist, however, did not view himself as Elijah in person or as a reincarnation of that Hebrew prophet. On one occasion certain Jews asked him, “Are you Elijah?” John replied, “I am not.” (John 1:21) It had, however, been foretold that John would prepare the way before the Messiah “with Elijah’s spirit and power.” (Luke 1:17) Accordingly, when Jesus linked John the Baptist with Elijah he was merely showing how the prophecy was fulfilled in John who did a work like that of Elijah of old.

Another passage of Scripture appealed to by believers in reincarnation is Romans 9:11-13: “When [Esau and Jacob] had not yet been born nor had practiced anything good or vile, in order that the purpose of God respecting the choosing might continue dependent, not upon works, but upon the One who calls, it was said to [Rebekah]: ‘The older will be the slave of the younger.’ Just as it is written [at Malachi 1:2, 3]: ‘I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated.’” Does this passage not show that God’s choosing was based on what Jacob and Esau had done during lives prior to their being born to Rebekah?

Why not reread it? Note that it specifically says that God’s choosing was made before either one had practiced good or bad. So God’s choice did not depend upon a record of past works in some earlier life.

On what basis, then, could God make a choice before the birth of the boys? The Bible reveals that God is able to see the embryo and, therefore, knows the genetic makeup of humans before birth. (Psalm 139:16) Exercising his foreknowledge, God perceived how the two boys would be basically as to temperament and personality and thus he could make a choice of the one who might be more suitable for the superior blessing. The record made by the two boys in life confirms the wisdom of God’s choice. While Jacob demonstrated spiritual interests and faith in God’s promises, Esau manifested a materialistic bent and lack of appreciation for sacred things.​—Hebrews 11:21; 12:16, 17.

As to the apostle Paul’s quotation from Malachi about God’s ‘loving Jacob’ and ‘hating Esau,’ this, too, relates to Jehovah’s view of them based on their genetic makeup. While recorded by Malachi many centuries after their lifetime, the statement confirmed what God had indicated about the boys before their birth.

A question raised by Jesus’ disciples is yet another example cited by some in support of reincarnation. Regarding a man blind from birth, the disciples asked: “Who sinned, this man or his parents, so that he was born blind?” (John 9:2) Do these words not reveal that the man must have had a previous existence?

No! Jesus Christ did not go along with any suggestion that the child developing in the womb of its mother had sinned of itself before birth. Jesus said: “Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but it was in order that the works of God might be made manifest in his case.” (John 9:3) That is to say, human imperfections and defects such as this man’s blindness provided the opportunity for the works of God to become manifest in the form of a miraculous cure. Had no one ever been born blind, humans would not have come to know that God can give sight to one born blind. Jehovah God, in allowing a sinful human race to come into existence, has used their imperfections and defects to show what he can do for them.

So while there may be Bible texts that some persons think support the concept of rebirth, closer examination indicates otherwise. In fact, nowhere in the Bible do we find any mention of the rebirth or transmigration of a soul, spirit or something else that survives the death of the body. Some have tried to ‘read into’ the Holy Scriptures the idea of rebirth or reincarnation. It is not a Bible doctrine.

The Bible dearly shows that conscious existence does not continue by means of a soul or spirit that leaves the body at death. When sentencing the first man to death for disobedience, God did not set before him any prospect of rebirth or reincarnation. Adam was told: “In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) Yes, the man was to return to the lifeless dust of the ground.

Are we, then, to understand that this life is all there is? Or, is there a provision for future life that is available in some other way? Might this provision make it necessary for the living to help the dead, or are the dead beyond any help from the living?

Chapter 7

Do the Dead Need Your Help?

“TO SERVE those now dead as if they were living,” says an old Chinese proverb, “is the highest achievement of true filial piety.” If the dead truly exist in another realm and can benefit from the services of those remaining on earth, it would be a loving thing to show concern for them.

Of course, many people simply go through the motions of observing ancient traditions, though