Oddcast episode
June 9, 2025
Coming Back for More, Part VI: The Roots of Christian Reincarnationism
In this episode the stage is set for considering our evidence for early Christian reincarnationism; we discuss the basic kinds of evidence we have, look at the texts that make up the New Testament itself, and generally contextualise the coming discussions in terms of centuries of Christians who definitely looked forward to some kind of extraordinarily-excellent afterlife, but who could absolutely not agree on how that would work, exactly.
Works Cited in this Episode:
Primary:
Enoch is taken by god: Genesis 5:24: `And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him’.
Justin Martyr: Eusebius on Justin’s lost Against all the Schools of Thought: HE IV.11.10. Justin himself refers to it at Apol. I.26.
Paul of Tarsos: Warns against angel-worship: Coloss. 2:18. Attacks rival teachers: see Galatians, where Paul is concerned that the Galatian church is being misled into too much Jewish behaviour by false teachers.
Secondary:
Bremmer, Jan N. (2002). The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife. London/New York, NY: Routledge; we quote pp. 56–7.
Pryse, J. M. (1900). Reincarnation in the New Testament. London.
Recommended Reading
SHWEP CB4M Part VI Recommended Reading
Themes
Apocalyptic, Basilides, Clement of Alexandria, Esoteric Christianity, Heresiology, Manichæism, Marcion, Metempsychosis, Nag Hammadi, Origen, Orthodoxy, Paul of Tarsus, Paulicianism, Pistis Sophia, Qumran Scrolls, Returning Prophet, Theosophical Society
Daniel White
December 1, 2025
Did I miss this episode when it was released or is the June 9th release date incorrect?
Earl Fontainelle
December 1, 2025
The date is wrong. The easiest way to get episodes in a series to cluster together on the page is to falsify the dates so they think they were released one day at a time instead of over months (or years). They should still shew up on the home landing-page in proper chronological order, though.