Reincarnation

Church of Almighty God

All Humans must go through the cycle of reincarnation based on a person’s deeds.

Prescribed by “The Word Appears in the Flesh” – “The Cycle of Life and Death“

See What CAG’s Holy books says about Reincarnation below.

According to both the English and the Chinese electronic editions of “The Word Appears in The Flesh,” this portion of CAG doctrines was published and dated February 15, 2014.[1] “The Cycle of Life and Death” gives an account of all people, unbelievers or otherwise, cycles of reincarnation. It has been updated and published online since November 2017.[2] For the life cycle of unbelievers/atheists, it says: “The specifics of how they are punished depend on the sins they have committed, as well as on how many wicked things they did before they died—this is the first situation that occurs in this second stage. Because of the bad things they did and the evil they committed before they died, when they are reincarnated after their punishment—when they are once more born into the material world—some people will continue to be human, while others will become animals. That is to say, after a person returns to the spiritual world, they are punished because of the evil they have committed; moreover, because of the wicked things they have done, in their next reincarnation they probably will not return as a human, but as an animal.”[3]

[1] The Church of Almighty God, The Word Appears in the Flesh, “God Himself, The Unique X, God is the Source of Life for All Things (IV)”, Google e-book, accessed August 7, 2021, 3811; pdf version, 2358.

[2] An earlier version, dated August 18, 2014.

[3] The Church of Almighty God, The Word Appears in the Flesh, “The Cycle of Life and Death of the Unbelievers”, accessed August 7, 2021; Google e-book, page 3744.

Christianity

No Reincarnation Found in the Bible

Such Ideas and Beliefs Originated from Hinduism and/or Buddhism

Here are the Bible verses about life after death:

When people die, the human souls do not die with the body.

- Believers will be in the presence of the Lord. The Bible calls it heaven, paradise, or Abraham’s bosom (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:6-8; Phil. 1:23; Luke 16:23). ^“And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43, ESV) “I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” (Phil. 1:23, ESV)

- Unbelievers will be in sheol/hades (Luke 16:23; Matt. 16:18; Rev. 20:13-14). ^“13And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. ¹⁴Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:13-14, ESV)

2. At Christ’s second coming, “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:16-17).

3. All human souls are immortal. “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).

4. Annihilation of a wicked soul, unbelievers or otherwise, is not a doctrine found in the Bible or Christian traditions.

Reincarnation is unbiblical. Human beings only die once: “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Heb. 9:27, ESV)
Jesus taught resurrection, not reincarnation. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26, ESV)
Did Jesus say John the Baptist was Elijah reincarnated in Matt. 11:14? NO, here are four reasons:

1. Reincarnation assumes the death of a body but Elijah never died and was caught up to heaven (2 Kings 2:11).

2. When Elijah appeared in the Transfiguration with Jesus (Matt. 17:1–6), John the Baptist had been beheaded earlier (Matt. 14:1-12).

3. In Luke 1:17, it says that John the Baptist will go before Christ “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” This clarifies that in Matthew 11:14 Jesus meant John the Baptist would have the power of Elijah. It does not mean that John would be a reincarnation of Elijah.

4. When John the Baptist was asked if he was Elijah, he replied, “I am not” (John 1:21).

For further discussion, please read: Matthew 11:14—Didn’t Jesus say John the Baptist was Elijah reincarnated?

CAG's Additional Arguments and Explanations

From CAG’s Holy book: “How God Rules and Administer the Spiritual World?” spells out the plan of reincarnation as follows: “Among mankind, I categorize all people into three types. The first are the unbelievers, who are those without religious beliefs. They are called unbelievers….. The second type includes the various people of faith apart from the unbelievers. Among mankind, I divide these people of faith into several major groups: The first are Jewish, the second are Catholic, the third are Christian, the fourth are Muslim, and the fifth are Buddhist; there are five kinds. These are the various kind of people of faith. The third type includes those who believe in God, and this includes you. Such believers are those who follow God today.”[1]
The first type is unbelievers: People with no belief, i.e., atheists. They are judged by good or bad deeds which determine how many times they would reincarnate as humans. People committed evil or extremely bad things could be reincarnated as animals. A soul stays in a temporary location and wait three days, three months, three years, 30 years, 300 years, or 3000 years as a particular type of human is needed. Then, that type of person is reincarnated.
The second type is various people of faith. CAG’s Holy books identifies five major religions: Jewish, Catholic, Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist.

- Jewish people are judged by works prescribed by Jewish law. They are reincarnated three to seven times and then stay in the spirit realm.
- Catholic believers are judged by works prescribed by Catholic rules and traditions, they are reincarnated three to seven times and then stay in the spirit realm.
- Christians, i.e., Protestants, are people who do not believe in Almighty God. They are judged by works prescribed by the Bible, and are reincarnated three to seven times and then stay in the spirit realm until the “rapture” or “entering heaven”.
- Muslims are judged by works prescribed by Islamic rules and traditions, they are reincarnated three to seven times and then stay in the spirit realm.
- Buddhist monks and nuns are judged by works, they are reincarnated three to seven times and then stay in the spirit realm. For those who have reached fruition, they stay and take up a position. Those who failed the exam they could go through the cycle of reincarnation again.

5. The third type is Almighty God’s followers. They are divided into two types of people, the chosen ones, and the service-doers.

- The chosen ones go through a thorough examination to decide whether they are allowed to stay and made complete by God during the end times. Those who have passed the exam will be reincarnated one more time to serve as apostles or do the work of reviving the churches. Those who did not pass the test will be punished and reincarnated as unbelievers or Christians; and they will start the cycle of life and death all over again.
- The service doers must serve faithfully. Those who give up or do evil things will be disqualified and reincarnated as animals. However, a service-doer found to be faithful may become a chosen one.

[1] The Church of Almighty God, The Word Appears in the Flesh, “God Himself, The Unique X, God is the Source of Life for All Things (IV),” Google e-book, accessed September 24, 2021, 3758 (online), 3759 (downloaded pdf from Google e-book); other pdf versions downloaded from CAG’s websites, 3244, 3743, & 2325.

6. Retribution is one of the ways that Almighty God would punish certain people who did evil things. Almighty God says: “Most unbelievers commit much evil, and their wrongdoings are met with retribution, correct? However, is such retribution arbitrary? For every act, there is a background and a reason behind its retribution. Do you think nothing will happen to you after you have cheated someone out of money? Do you think that after having swindled that money away, you will not face any consequences? Such would be impossible; there will indeed be consequences! Regardless of who they are or whether or not they believe that there is a God, all individuals must take responsibility for their own behavior and bear the consequences of their actions.”[2]

[2] Ibid., 3751; pdf version, 2331.

7. For those who committed various evil deeds, their consequences are often directly linked to their evil acts in their prior lives. By means of reincarnation, Almighty God would inflict punishments on people who did bad things when they reincarnate into their next lives. For example: Some people who spoke malicious language, they may be reborn as mutes; those who plotted evil schemes taking advantages of others, they may be reborn mentally ill; persons cheated with their eyes, they may be reborn blind or with a lazy eye; and individuals who provoked and physically harmed others, they may become physically disabled when they reincarnated in their next lives. As Almighty God says, “This is retribution! Some people get on well with others before they die; they do many good things for their relatives, friends, colleagues, or the people connected to them. They give charity and care to others, or assist them financially, and people think very highly of them. When such people return to the spiritual world, they are not punished. For an unbeliever to not be punished in any way means they were a very good person.”[3]

[3] Ibid., 3753; pdf version, 2333.

8. CAG’s Holy book says, “if such a soul were without administration, genuinely harmed people, and actually did wicked things—then this soul would also be properly handled in the spiritual world: If things were serious, the soul would soon cease to exist, and would be destroyed.”[4]

[4] Ibid., 3755; pdf version, 2334.

9. Is Almighty God a loving God? For those service-doers who give up serving or commit sins which cause harm to God’s work will face termination of their services. Almighty God will strip disloyal service-doers’ eligibility to serve and there will be no return back. The situation is irreversible; and God will not wait for them to turn-around. Almighty God from a third person’s perspective says, “God is not so loving when it comes to service-doers, truly. If a person has this kind of attitude in their service to God, God will, as a result of this attitude, strip them of their eligibility to serve, and will once more toss them back among the unbelievers…. They will be reincarnated as an animal and receive the same punishment in the spiritual world as an unbeliever…. This is not only the end of their life of faith in God, but also the end of their own fate, as well as the proclamation of their fate. Thus, if service-doers serve poorly, they will have to bear the consequences themselves…. they will be thrown among the unbelievers—and if this happens, such a person will be dealt with in the same way as livestock, in the same way as people without intellect or rationality.”[5]

[5] Ibid., 3775; pdf version, 2347.

10. CAG doctrines include unbelievers’ annihilation. In this portion of the service-doer’s cycle of life and death, Almighty God reiterates this treatment and says, “when it comes to the spiritual world, if the various beings in it do something wrong or do not do their jobs correctly, God also has corresponding heavenly edicts and decrees with which to deal with them; this is absolute. Therefore, during God’s several-thousand-year management work, some duty-doers who committed wrongdoings have been exterminated, while some—to this very day—are still being detained and punished. This is what must be faced by every being in the spiritual world. If they do something wrong or commit evil, then they are punished—and this is the same as God’s approach to His chosen ones and the service-doers.“[6]

[6] Ibid., 3794; pdf version, 2348.

Clear Thinking Exercises

CAG’s categorizes various people of faith in the second category of the cycle of life and death. This group includes the five major religions: Judaism, Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, and Buddhism. The believers of these five religions when they die, they go to a different place but still under the same process; the spiritual world will judge them based on what they did before they died.
Amongst the five major religions listed, Catholicism is separately identified. Christianity most certainly represents only Protestantism. However, prominently missing in the group is Hinduism. In terms of the total number of followers, Hinduism is the third largest major religion in the world. Is this an honest mistake made by the author, the Almighty God of the last days?
There are doctrinal similarities between the Church of Almighty God’s beliefs and ministry practices and that of Hinduism. Here are five items:

1. CAG has the cycle of life and death; Hinduism has reincarnation.
2. CAG has a female Christ; Hinduism has female goddesses.
3. CAG’s Almighty God is the One Truth, who is the creator of all things except non-created beings, e.g., messengers and angels; Hinduism has the One Truth and the existence of other gods.
4. CAG requires good works and condemn evil behaviors which leads to God’s punishments; Hinduism has the karma effect, i.e., you reap what you sowed.
5. CAG’s “The Word Appears in the Flesh” does not identify Hinduism as one of the major religions; CAG itself is identified as God’s people, which is the only option left for the missing Hinduism.

There are many commonalities between CAG’s doctrines and practices and that of Hinduism. Except numbers 3 and 5, Buddhism is also in common with three of the five points listed in comparing with CAG doctrines. The above five highlighted similarities do not by themselves prove any directly relationship or connection between the two religions. It does, however, indicates that Hinduism thoughts or similar ideas, even by sheer coincidence, somehow through some unknown means might have creeped into CAG’s system of theology. How does a common person discern if CAG is a Christian church without an in-depth study of CAG beliefs?
If the cycle of life (reincarnation) were true as CAG claims, does CAG believe in Hell? Hell is not mentioned in this section of “The Word Appears in the Flesh” where reincarnation is published/printed.
In other parts of “The Word Appears in the Flesh,” Hell is mentioned as a real place. Does the belief of Hell contradict the Doctrine of Reincarnation? (See “Transgressions will lead man to Hell,” Google e-book, 2833)