Customer Reviews

Why Jesus Taught Reincarnation: A Better News Gospel

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As a religious Jew who is perfectly happy with his own faith, I rarely read Christian theology. And frankly, I'm turned off by cover art that combines the Cross with the Star of David. An eclectic I am not! But, since the book was sent to me by the publisher in my capacity as a writer/reviewer on reincarnation topics, I decided to give it a try. I'm very glad I did.

Admittedly, it took a while for me to get used to the "fundamentalist" style of this author, who is clearly aiming at the more traditional end of the Christian spectrum. But if you want a clear, chapter-and-verse explanation of why reincarnation is compatible with Chrisitianity, this book is the best I have see so far.

I was especially impressed with chapter four, "Ye shall be born again," which argues that this line was originally a reference to reincarnation, not to changing one's religion! Puryear's argument goes something like this: In the original Gospel reference (John 3:-13), a Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to Jesus and says, in effect, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher from God, because nobody can do these miracles unless God is with him." The unspoken question is, how did Jesus get to be such a holy man in the first place? Puryear assumes this conversation is not an attack by a "hypocritical" Pharisee, but a sincere question from one religious Jew to another. Jesus then replies to Nicodemus, "Truly, truly I say to you: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus seems skeptical and wants further clarification. He asks if it is necesary to go back into his mother's womb to be born again, and if so, how is this possible?

Now, here is the crux of the argument: Most Gospel readers assume that Nicodemus' question about going back into the womb is said in a mocking tone, simply because he is a Pharisee. But there is nothing in his words to support this. Personal skepticism is there, yes -- but he is not mocking. He addresses Jesus respectfully as "Rabbi," and he says he knows he is from God. Why would he say that, if he were mocking? What if it was a sincere question, and Nicodemus was seeking to clarify if "rebirth" was literally rebirth in the womb, and, if so, how does it happen? Then the next statements by Jesus -- about how one must be born of "water and the spirit," that "flesh begets flesh and spirit begets spirit," and that the wind (in Hebrew or Greek, the same word means "spirit") goes "where it wills," make sense as references to reincarnation. Jesus is not telling Nicodemus to get baptized, he is saying that a soul must be born over and over again to become a Zaddik (saint). Not into his mother's womb again in this life, but into another womb when the spirit goes "where it wills" in the next life.

Puryear's explanation of this encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus opened up a whole new way of seeing this story for me. What a fantastic insight! Unfortunately, in spite of seeing the sincerity in this particular Pharisee's questions, Puryear sometimes falls into the old stereotype of Pharisees as nothing but legalistic hypocrites who are too "blind" to see the truth. His case would have been greatly strengthened if he had realized that the "Pharisees" are the rabbis of the Talmud, who practiced forms of meditation and mysticism as well as legal debates about the Torah. In this area of Jewish-Christian relations, Puryear fell short. Still, we must keep in mind who his intended audience is: traditional Christians who take the Bible literally. His goal is not to do textual criticism of the Gospels, but to present a Bible-as-truth argument for reincarnation from within a believing POV. Given those parameters, he does an excellent job with his thesis. If you are a Christian interested in reincarnation, this book may well prove that it is compatible with your own faith.

This book is excellent! I had rejected the teachings in the Bible until I read this book. The tradional teaching I had been exposed to turned me off completely to the idea of Christianity..I did want to learn more about Jesus however and this book bridged the gap between my own personal spiritual understanding of "The Oneness" That is spoken of and illuminated in Jesus' own words! I was so delighted to find this scholarly and historical book that unveiled the mistruths passsed down for century by the tradional Church. I thank this author for sharing with me his wisdom.

In one sentence, this book is a masterpiece. It provides a thorough examination of the words of Jesus and uses biblical insight to essentially prove the existence of reincarnation. If you are a student of metaphysics, the New Age, Edgar Cayce, or New Thought, and have conservative religious friends or relatives who are convinced you have somehow gone off the deep end, this book is the one for you and for them. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Our understanding of God and Nature is expanding and ideas such as reincarnation should be discussed today seriously. But, it is not the time to think only about retiring from the job, sitting on your duff at home, and waiting for your death and a new life in Heaven or Hell. If reincarnation is true, there is no after life in Heaven or Hell and no end of the world in which God created for us. So, more people ought to open discussion on reincarnation. And this book is a great one to guide such a discussion.

Reincarnation is real to me already because reincarnation is consistent with many new and more powerful ideas that are coming online in the field of religion soon. For instance, the good/evil religious dualism will soon be replaced by the identity/difference religious dualism. The new dualism identifies the eternal partnership between God and man. This means that the idea of Original Sin in Christianity is false. Also, the idea that the creation will end is also false. The idea of ending this immense universe and creating new opposing worlds for good and evil people will sell only to ignorantnt people. Further, a new creation theory based on atoms will soon be proposed. With atoms, God's Wisdom and power enters only through the atoms. Thus, say good-bye to the idea of a celestial world above us and its chimera such as Satan, demons, etc. They were merely creations of under-developed human minds. The new ideas are showing that our unlimited God did create human co-creators who have serious responsibilities, who will be fruitful, multiply and subdue Nature, and who will live forever. No person will ever be lost in the new theologies and new sciences that are coming. Laws of reinarnation are natural. Thus, reincarnation is not an intervention process of God. These laws should be identified with the new atomic theory because our immortal spirits, which are our invisible minds, are among the atoms.

Since God is infinite and his creation is finite, the relationship between God and man or God and Nature cannot be known with discursive reasoning. To bridge this gap, the author believes that finite things are in God. He thus accepts monism, which must reject the religious dualism Christianity. I believe in the dualism of Christianity, but not the good/evil dualism.

With the new ideas I discuss above and with reincarnation, I expect Christianity to become highly rational, in the image of our God, who is pure reasoning. I thus expect Christianity to grow unbelievably in the near future.

This is a good book. But it went to far beyond the subject of reincarnation.

...and yet practically no one has heard of it. Why so important? Because this book, aimed primarily at Christians who think that a belief in reincarnation is somehow 'wrong', goes to great lengths to explain how belief in reincarnation was not only a 'given' in Jesus' time, but Jesus actually taught it. Or at least tried to .. so many of his teachngs on this & other vital topics were expunged from the Bible at a later date.

Since other reviewers have given excellent synopsis of important areas of the book, I'm not going to try to re-cap what the book says. I just want to add my opinion that a great Lie was presented to early Christians as doctrine; this was done primarily or perhaps solely to keep 'the people' under control of the Church. One life .. one shot ... do as we say, or you are forever dammed. Very, very scary to your average peasant. No wonder those alms boxes were kept full.

Mr.Puryear does the western world a great service by explaining in an academic & well-researched manner just how wrong this idea of 'one life' really is .. and how references to reincarnation were distorted into the 'exclusionary' belief system embraced by so many Christians today: God loves you, Jesus loves you but if you don't believe in Jesus EXACTLY as we (aka Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Jehovah Witness, --insert your religion of choice here-- ) do, then YOU WILL go to HELL forever and ever and ever. Which means about 80% of the people who have ever lived are there right now.
Yeah, God REALLY must love us!
Think for a second .. that is ridiculous.

So if you're a Bible-thumpin' Christian, stop thumpin' for a minute, open your mind and read this book. Once you get what Jesus was REALLY trying to teach us, it is mind-blowing, and far greater than imagined. He was NEVER 'exclusive', He was trying to show us how to navigate this physical world and eventually ascend as He did. That takes way more than one physical lifetime.

Non-Christians will gain from this book as well, just be warned Mr. Puryear is writing mainly for Christians holding conventional beliefs. He is trying (and I think succeeds) to give them the REALLY Good News.

I hope Mr. Puryear writes an update to this book soon. In the meantime, please get a copy for yourself, one for your Pastor and one for your Church library. The sooner this 'Good News' gets out, the better for us all.

The book is written in a clear style and from a Edgar Cayce view point which is fine. I found it thought provoking and gave me the foundation to further research the subject matter. Like all theories you can accept or reject based on your perception. I understand some religious elements in society view the subject of reincarnation as a heresy and for them it is so. Others see the concept part of some of the major religions of the world outside of the great monotheistic religions. Well bottom line a good book to read and ponder.

For as long as I can remember I have always known in my heart that reincarnation was truth; however, I did not expect to learn so much about the history of Christianity while reading this book. I'm not finished yet, but I am VERY glad I ordered this book - no regrets. I've even given copies to my sister and some friends because what I've read so far is so interesting and educational I've given the book to others to read even before I've finished mine.

Dr. Puryear reveals what he calls "God's Greatest Revelation" in this book. This is an incredibly important work. I have re-read it several times. My favorite is Chapter 4. Each time I like to start there and then go back and read Chapters 1, 2, 3, etc. Dr. Puryear is a co-founder of The Logos Center in Scottsdale, Arizona where he lectures and holds workshops on subjects of spiritual insight and significance.

Fantastic!!! A must-read! I wish I were a Bible college or seminary professor, so that I could give Dr. Puryear an "A"! A must-have for anybody seeking truth! It's phenomenal and stupendous! I can't wait to read the whole book, then read it again and again and again! If you're hungry for truth, get this book! It's very enlightening. One of my favorite books on the planet!!

Hebrews 9
25) Nor yet that he (Christ) should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26) For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27) And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28) So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.