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The church has thus far been unable to provide therapeutic alternatives to these disastrous life experiences and deductions. Openness to the science of astrology and the natural laws of reincarnation will allow the church to truly spread the gospel of God�s love. The church can then offer the healing balm of questions satisfactorily answered.
Church historians and I can only surmise why Paul and the Church Fathers are so insistent upon one and the same faith. Actually the word faith is misleading. The controversies and heresies concern doctrines. The above quote sheds more light on the Ecumenical Councils if translated, "the real Church has one and the same doctrine everywhere in the world." Whatever the reason, the negative results have been numerous.
One of the most negative repercussions of attempting to have one and the same doctrine everywhere in the world is the church�s declaration of heresy whenever a scholar, minister, or teacher disagrees with the standard doctrine. To be judged a heretic is a sentence of excommunication from the church, loss of teaching position in a church affiliated institution, or loss of job as a minister or priest. For hundreds of years, the sentence for heresy can also be death by burning at the stake. Thousands of writings are burned, or otherwise destroyed, when the author is declared a heretic. Remember the word heresy simply means a point of view that differs from "the one and same doctrine."
The early Church Fathers are particularly vigilant in their search for heresies. As they strive to create a worldwide church with one and the same doctrine, persons with differing beliefs are ruthlessly condemned. Among those groups declared heretics are the Christian Gnostics, all of whom are reincarnationists. Some scholars are convinced that the Christian Gnostics are the descendants from the original followers of Jesus and the inheritors of Jesus� secret teachings. In Mark 4:11, Jesus confirms a secret message given only to his closest disciples. When the disciples ask Jesus why he speaks to the crowds of people in parables, he answers, "To you has been given the secret [or mystery] of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables." All open display of Christian Gnosticism is suppressed by both popes and emperors, often by inflicting the death penalty. Gnosticism is forced underground. Of the thousands of actual writings by the early Gnostic Christians, few survive the destructive zeal of those who condemn them as heresy.
Individuals are also included in the relentless search for heretics. Origen (185-254 C.E.) is a most influential Christian thinker. Saint Jerome declares Origen to be "the greatest teacher of the Church after the apostles." Saint Gregory of Nyssa calls him, "the prince of Christian learning in the third century." Origen teaches pre-existence of souls and reincarnation. In 553 C.E., the Fifth Ecumenical Council condemns Origen and his teachings as heretical:
"If anyone does not anathematize Arius, Eunomius, Macedonius, Apollinarius, Nestorius, Eutyches, and Origen, as well as their heretical books, and also all other heretics who have already been condemned and anathematized by the holy, catholic, and apostolic church and by the four holy synods which have already been mentioned, and also all those who have thought or now think in the same way as the aforesaid heretics and who persist in their error even to death: let him be anathema."
Anathemam, as defined by Webster, is a "curse solemnly pronounced by ecclesiastical authority and accompanied by excommunication."
In this way (and I give only two examples) the church stifles belief in reincarnation, just as it condemns the use of astrology during the late 15th century. Though believers in both reincarnation and astrology continue throughout history, only as the New Aquarian Age dawns does this ageless wisdom gain open recognition.
Will the traditional church re-consider? Will the traditional layperson permit and encourage its ministers to recognize these valuable explanations of a God of love?
These are questions only time can answer. Meanwhile I encourage those of you who are restless and seeking deeper meaning in life to read for yourselves. Do not take my word or anyone else�s word. Search out the original text for yourselves. Listen to your heart. Allow your intuitive mind to lead you into Truth. Prove for yourself that God truly is love.
Have I lived before? For me the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of "yes."
