Past Lives..?

[annabelle87]

I've heard a lot about these, sylvia browne talks about them a lot on montel, and I've seen shows that claim to "prove" reincarnation. Also, do Jews believe in it? (I heard that they do and thought that was weird). Now I know that generally this is an absurd belief, but but could you tell me exactly where the Church stands on this issue? Thanks a lot

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='annabelle87' date='Sep 12 2004, 12:13 PM']I've heard a lot about these, sylvia browne talks about them a lot on montel, and I've seen shows that claim to "prove" reincarnation. Also, do Jews believe in it? (I heard that they do and thought that was weird). Now I know that generally this is an absurd belief, but but could you tell me exactly where the Church stands on this issue? Thanks a lot[/quote]
The Church's teaching on reincarnation is quite clear: "Death is the end of man's earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When 'the single course of our earthly life' is completed, [Lumen Gentium 48, no. 3] we shall not return to other earthly lives: 'It is appointed for men to die once.' [Hebrews 9:27] There is no [i]reincarnation[/i] after death." [[u]Catechism of the Catholic Church[/u], no. 1013]

Some Jewish rabbis in the Midrashic literature and other ancient texts accepted the idea of reincarnation and the transmigration of souls, but Judaism as a whole has no detailed doctrine of the afterlife, and so there is no consensus on this topic in Judaism.