Tag Archive for: gnosticism

Five times in the Book of Mormon, and once in the New Testament we are introduced to the phrase “to go no more out”, which I suggest may be telling us much more than we might initially guess. In fact, the restorationist texts, The Gospel of the Holy Twelve suggest that the phrase (as well as a few other cryptic references to a type of reincarnation) might be a remnant of one of the many “plain and precious truths” that the Book of Mormon tells us were eradicated from the Jewish canon & theology by pre-exilic Jewish reformers. This misunderstanding and bias against the concept of reincarnation was then carried on by early western Christianity. In this article I’d like to through these phrases and use a few restorationism texts to speculate as to how they might help to reconcile the doctrines of reincarnation and resurrection.

Alma 7:25 reads:

25 And may the Lord bless you, and keep your garments spotless, that ye may at last be brought to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the holy prophets who have been ever since the world began, having your garments spotless even as their garments are spotless, in the kingdom of heaven to go no more out.

This principle seems simple enough. The righteous gain rest in the kingdom of heaven, where they “go no more out”. But lets look a little closer and then think of the implications. Alma exhorts his people here to not only be righteous enough to be permitted to attain the kingdom of heaven, but it is his prayer that they might have garments spotless enough that they can enter the kingdom of heaven, and like Abraham, Issac and Jacob, go no more out. This implies that all but the most righteous, who enter the kingdom of heaven, stand the chance of entering and in some way going back out.

Lets look at the phrase again as it is given in the book of Revelation:

12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Rev. 3:12)

It’s not hard to see there is some deep symbolism portrayed in these verses. We see that ‘going no more out’ has to do with ‘overcoming’ the world. It has to do with getting a new name or identity which is the name of God. It has to do with obtaining a heavenly city; the new Jerusalem. There are three other references to “going no more out” of the kingdom of heaven in the Book of Mormon, but before looking at more LDS scripture, lets first take a look at the insights the restorationist book The Gospel of the Holy Twelve (which supports my points but isn’t necessarily required to get there). Like a few other modern channeled revisions of the New Testament, the book claims to be a “restored” version of the New Testament Gospels which were channeled to a Reverend Ouseley from angelic beings who claimed to have found and translated the text from a early Christian manuscript found in Tibet. It’s a spurious text, but insightful none the less.

1. As Jesus sat by the west of the Temple with his disciples, behold there passed some carrying one that was dead to burial, and a certain one said unto him, Master, if a man die, shall he live again?
2. And he answered and said, I am the resurrection and the life, I am the Good, the Beautiful, the True, if a man believe in me he shall not die, but live eternally. As in Adam all die, so in the Christ shall all be made alive. Blessed are the dead who die in me, and are made perfect in my image and likeness, for they rest from their labours and their works do follow them. They have overcome evil, and are made Pillars in the Temple of my God, and they go out no more, for they rest in the Eternal.
3. For them that have done evil there is no rest, but they go out and in, and suffer correction for ages, till they are made perfect. But for them that have done good and attained unto perfection, there is endless rest and they go into life everlasting. They rest in the Eternal.
4. Over them the repeated death and birth have no power, for them the wheel of the Eternal revolves no more, for they have attained unto the Centre, where is eternal rest, and the centre of all things is God.” (HT 69:1-4)

Regardless of whether this text is true, it weaves together some pretty interesting symbolic wording.  Here the term “to go no more out” is used to uniquely merge the hindu/buddhist idea of Saṃsāra, and the wheel of Dharma with the Christian concept of resurrection and eternal salvation. As I’ll attempt to show in the rest of this article, there are several interesting phrases and concepts in Christian scripture and Mormon theology that could be used to reconcile the idea of reincarnation with the concepts of resurrection. Its a concept that’s not only ubiquitous in near-death experiences and modern channeled texts, but also prevalent in Jewish Kabbalah texts such the Zohar.

As long as a person is unsuccessful in his purpose in this world, the Holy One, blessed be He, uproots him and replants him over and over again. (Zohar I 186b)

All souls are subject to reincarnation; and people do not know the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He! They do not know that they are brought before the tribunal both before they enter into this world and after they leave it; they are ignorant of the many reincarnations and secret works which they have to undergo, and of the number of naked souls, and how many naked spirits roam about in the other world without being able to enter within the veil of the King’s Palace. Men do not know how the souls revolve like a stone that is thrown from a sling. But the time is at hand when these mysteries will be disclosed. (Zohar II 99b. See this article for many other references)

The LDS Premortal life and Reincarnation

The idea that there might be some truth to the doctrine of reincarnation, should be easier for Mormons to consider than most Christians. In fact, the mainstream Mormon doctrine of premortal life actually teaches a loose form of reincarnation that most LDS members don’t see. Although Mormon doctrine concerning the matter generally tries to shy away from specifics, it distinctly teaches that each human being “lived before they were born as spirit offspring of a heavenly father [and heavenly mother]” (see gospel topics). So from a certain perspective, that makes earth-life a re-embodied or second cycle of progression–in fact in Abraham 3:20–26 mortal life is referred to as a “second estate”. This scripture also suggest that mankind’s previous cycle of life included a type of agency that allowed certain souls to progress faster than others.  From one perspective, it might almost seem that the Mormon doctrine of pre-existence might be a way of slowly bridging the theological gap between eastern religious views of reincarnation and western Christian views which strongly oppose the idea of any previous life before birth.  Some LDS leaders such as Brigham Young have even specifically taught that this former spiritual birth in the “premortal existence” was accomplished by sexual reproduction.

“[God] created man, as we create our children; for there is no other process of creation in heaven, on the earth, in the earth, or under the earth, or in all the eternities, that is, that were, or that ever will be.”  (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 11:122. see here for more references)

Although many traditional Christians deride Mormonism for these teachings, it seems possible that LDS doctrine is simply seeking to bridge a theological gap to reincarnation by using veiled terms to suggest that people, (1) lived a conscious life previous to their current earth life and (2) were physically/spiritually born to a different set of parents in that life. Both of these principles are entirely shared by the doctrine of Reincarnation. Years after Joseph Smith, Brigham Young expanded the LDS premortality doctrine to suggest that couples who are exalted to God status are responsible for creating the ‘spirtis of men’.  But from one perspective one could speculate that LDS church leaders were inspired to introduce aspects of this teaching in veiled and ambiguous language simply because of the strong bias western Christianity has developed (possibly reaching all the way back to disagreements between Jewish sects such as the Sadducees and Pharisees) against even considering reincarnation as a possibility in the scheme of eternal progression. It also might be important because the doctrine tends to promote wild speculation and certain types of excuses for bad behavior.

Within the LDS concept of premortal existence, we might further speculate that the “gods/parents” of whom we are spiritually begotten, might actually have been exalted mortals such as Abraham, who D&C 132 says gained the right of the “continuation of the lives” (D&C 132:22) and “continuation of the seeds for ever and ever” (D&C 132:19).

In fact, by translating the scriptural word αἰῶνος or aiōnos as “age” instead of “world” (as many modern translations do), scriptures used to support random predestination or foreordination, such as Ephesians 1:4 which speak of premortal election “before the world was”, might actually be metaphorically referring to events occurring “before the current age”. (This will be more important as we look at scriptures concerning future resurrections. see Matt 13:39,49; 24:3; 28:20, Heb 9:26, 1 Ne 14:22, Moses 6:7). Even scriptural events which seem to clearly allude to a separate premortal realm or planet, such as Abraham 3:22, might actually be interpreted to support some type of reincarnation of life in a previous cycle of ‘this world’ when one considers scriptures supporting the ancient belief that our current earth has gone through repeated cycles of destruction and re-creation such as the following.

The end [shall] come when the earth shall pass away. And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new. (Ether 13:8–9)
And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.” (Moses 1:38)
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:6–7)

26 Wherefore, [earth] shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding [the earth] shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power [energy level] by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it. [after the telestial earth ‘dies’ and terrestrial dimension emerges on the higher plane for terrestrial spirits to be born into]  27 For notwithstanding they die, they also shall rise again, a spiritual[ized or higher dimensional] body. 28 They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your [physical] bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your [physical] bodies are quickened.
32 And they who remain shall also be quickened [or resurrected]; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place [on earth], to enjoy that which they are willing to receive… (D&C 88:2–32)

It seems possible, that all this cryptic symbolic language might simply be using an ambiguous “premortal life” to teach the concept that the eternal progression of souls is a lot more lengthy and complex than many suppose. There are a few verses in the New Testament which could be used to suggest that at least a portion of the Jewish people held to some form of this idea of cyclical rebirth of prominent individuals across certain “ages” or master cycles. Look at Matt 11:13–15 for instance which says, “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, he [John the Baptist] is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Another example is found in Matt 17:10–12, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things, But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not… [speaking] of John the Baptist.” Even if we suppose that Elias/Elijah is just a title/function that John the Baptist assumed, its hard to not see a Jewish belief in reincarnation in scriptures like John 9:2 which says “And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” It certainly seems possible that Judeo-Christian scriptures supports the idea that some of the most noble souls (among those who haven’t exited the Saṃsāra wheel yet) are reincarnated as key figures or even as the father of nations and cultures–becoming the head of entire people’s who reincarnate at given times and seasons or intervals of human history.

The Urantia Book, another spurious channeled text generally against the idea of reincarnation, suggests that it does occur, but never within a single dispensation.

 “A mortal never returns to his native planet during the dispensation of his temporal existence, and if he should return during a subsequent dispensation, he would be escorted by a transport seraphim of the universe headquarters group.” (The Urantia Book, 39:4.15)

In fact the LDS first resurrection itself could possibly be construed as supporting a type of Millennial reincarnation of the righteous depending on your interpretation of the scriptures. In D&C 101 a detailed description of the Millennium is given where we are told there will be infants (birth) but no death,

28 And in that day Satan shall not have power to tempt any man.
29 And there shall be no sorrow because there is no death.
30 In that day an infant shall not die until he is old; and his life shall be as the age of a tree;
31 And when he dies he shall not sleep, that is to say in the earth, but shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and shall be caught up, and his rest shall be glorious. (D&C 101:28–31. see also D&C 45:58)

Bruce R. Mckonkie clarified that these infants will be born through natural birth as mortals—and are not to be resurrected until they reach the “age of a tree” and are “changed in the twinkling of an eye” (Mormon Doctrine, p.496-497). Now why would there be mortals and birth in the immortal, paradisiacal millennium? And is there any scriptural indication that these blessed millennial mortals never lived a previous mortal birth? I submit that there is not. For all we know, many who “come forth in the morning of the first resurrection” will come forth by mortal birth just as others “fly through the air with Jesus” (D&C 76:102; 88:96-98; 109:75; 1 Thes 4:17). In fact some significant modern channeled texts seem to suggest that the eschatological nature of the resurrection at Christ’s coming is laced with metaphor. And that the transition of the earth to a millennial terrestrial glory will occur as a natural evolutionary and cosmic process.

63.27 Questioner: I will make this statement, and you correct me. What we have is, that as our planet [is] spiraled by the action of the entire major galaxy… the [terrestrial] vibrations become more and more pronounced. These atomic core vibrations begin to create more and more completely the [appropriate] core vibrations [of the] the [terrestrial] sphere and the [terrestrial bodies] for inhabitation of that sphere. Is this correct?
Response. This is partially correct. To be corrected is the concept of the creation of [terrestrial bodies]. This creation will be gradual and will take place beginning with your [telestial] type of physical vehicle and, through the means of bisexual reproduction, become by evolutionary processes, the [terrestrial] body complexes. (Law of One 63:27)

What’s more, some text suggest that most of the supernatural references to flying through the air to meet Jesus are descriptions of events occurring primarily to spirits in the earth’s heavens (or higher dimensions) as the veils which divide the heavens temporarily drop and spirits who are ready to ascend to the higher, more physically real levels of heaven are permitted to do so. (see Oahspe, book of resurrections) In the next section I will show how the Christian word and concept of resurrection might actually be a dualistic term which symbolically references both mortal re-incarnation as well as the traditional belief of heavenly ‘physical’ incarnation.

The Second Death and Telestial Resurrection as a reference to Reincarnation

31 And also they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.  32 And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received. (D&C 88:31–32)

The word biblical word resurrection comes from the Hebrew יְקוּמ֑וּן / yekumun or Greek ἀνάστασις, εως, ἡ / anastasis, which literally mean to stand up, awake or rise again. As such it stands as the antithesis or reversal of the biblical concept of the fall from immortality or spiritual death.

The Bible, LDS Pearl of Great Price and endowment actually presents a narrative similar to the Eastern concept of a souls descent into Māyā (duality or illusion). The drama symbolically points to the idea that an eternal aspect of Mankind (symbolized by Adam), existed with God before his earthly or mortal body was created (cycle 0). Later, his eternal spirit was veiled in flesh or placed in a body God created for him in a paradisiacal immortal earth (cycle 1). It was also then separated into two aspects (man and woman). Because of sin, this divided mankind then falls from this immortal (or spiritual) eternal abode in God’s partial presence and becomes a mortal living in a fallen earthly hell subject to death, sin and the temptations or illusions of the devil (cycle 2). In this mortal cycle mankind goes through many different stages of priesthood and changing laws to awake or rise again back through the various layers of redemption, resurrection and unification. To reverse the effects of the three cycle fall, Christ came to help show us how to rise from the death and sin of this temporal earth and return to live immortally and eternally with God once again— and eventually to attain complete moksha or unity with him (John 17:11–22).

Another verse in the Gospel of the Holy Twelve follows this same line of thinking to suggest that the word resurrection might actually be have dual metaphorical meaning in Christian scripture. One which corresponds to Eastern religious traditions.

2. As all creatures come forth from the unseen into this world, so they return to the unseen, and so will they come again till they be purified. Let the bodies of them that depart be committed to the elements, and the Father, who reneweth all things, shall give the angels charge over them, and let the presbyter pray that their bodies may rest in peace, and their souls awake to a joyful resurrection.
3. There is a resurrection from the body, and there is a resurrection in the body. There is a raising out of the life of the flesh, and there is a falling into the life of the flesh. Let prayer be made For those who are gone before, and For those that are alive, and For those that are yet to come, for all are One family in God. In God they live and move and have their being. (GHT 94:2-3)

Here we see a dual use of the word resurrection; using it to refer to both reincarnation in addition to a somewhat traditional meaning. “Resurrection from the body” or “raising [it] out of the life of flesh” being a type of resurrection referred to in the traditional Christian interpretaion as well as Alma 40:15–18 and ubiquitously used in the channeled text Oahspe. (see my article Cosmology for more details on heavenly ascension/resurrection). And “resurrection in the body” or “falling into the life of the flesh” which seems to be referring to reincarnation.

What I would like to suggest by using LDS scripture, is that part of the “resurrection of damnation” (see John 5:29) is being forced to cycle between spiritual and earthly hell (telestial glory) through reincarnation. Whereas spirits worthy of the “resurrection of life” (John 5:29, Mos 16:11, 3 Ne 26:5, D&C 19:6–12) escape the second death and are freed from the cycle of rebirth “to go no more out”.

The Book of Revelation teaches that those who are redeemed to “go no more out”, also escape the “Second Death”. Following the scriptural phrase “second death” through its multiple uses seems to suggest it might also be a dualistic term which actually refers to to both spiritual hell (at death) and mortal reincarnation (at the time of resurrection). so in one case it may refer to those telestial glory souls who at the time of resurrection return to the telestial earth by rebirth (D&C 76:84 defines a telestial resurrection as hell. ). Rebirth on earth separates souls spiritually from God, just as death reunites the righteous to Him (Alma 12:16). When the righteous die, they pass to paradise, being “taken home to that God who gave them life” (Alma 40:10). However, the wicked who do not overcome the desires of the flesh and sin, take part in the resurrection of damnation where instead of rising to higher more blissful levels of heaven they are “cast out” and resurrected or reborn to earth to pay the karma for their acts and desires.

 24 And now, my son, this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets—
3 …it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.
5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.
15 For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all. (Alma 40:24, 41:3-15)

Read these verses from the Book of Revelation concerning the resurrection. I submit that the “lake of fire” is the telestial glory (both fallen earth life, and the telestial glory/hell of the spiritual realm). Those not in the Book of Life (a symbol of those who have attained a terrestrial or celestial glory and are escaping the rebirth cycle of Saṃsāra), are cast into “the lake of fire” to experience the “second death”.

13 And the sea [group 1] gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [group 2] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And [those still found in] death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire [samsara].

Revelation 21:8 explains the type of individuals who experience the “second death” in a bit more detail,

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Rev 21:8)

Compare this to D&C 76’s words on those of the telestial resurrection, where it speaks of telestial souls who “suffer the wrath of God on earth” (v. 104; the rebirth cycle of Saṃsāra), as well as those who “suffer the vengeance of eternal fire”, those same souls who end up in prison/hell between incarnations.

103 These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.
104 These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth [reincarnation].
105 These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire [damnation at death]. (D&C 76:103–105)

So those who attain a Celestial Glory, go no more out, or in other words they remain in heaven nearly indefinitely to reign with God in a state of nearly nirvanan peace. However, terrestial souls reincarnate, but far less often than telestial souls, and have part in the first resurrection, (once again, resurrection being a dualistic term veiled with its own cryptic symbolism referring to those worthy to be raised to heaven OR reincarnated during the latter-day Golden Age of the cycle when earth attains a terrestrial glory) . Hell-bound or telestial souls, on the other hand, will come forth after this symbolic millennium, in the resurrection of the unjust to continue their cycles of mortal experience after the Golden Age has collapsed and war comes back to give them the miserable conditions needed to learn their needed lessons. Only the “sons of perdition” or those who refuse to learn the lessons of telestial justice and willingly choose to follow Satan (selfishness) after all possible cycles of progression have passed will not be redeemed from the wheel of “second death” (see D&C 76:37).

A few more references from the Gospel of the Holy Twelve

The scriptures seem to be symbolically veiled and cryptic when referring to the time frame between resurrections as well as the exact nature of those resurrections. But Christian, Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist scriptures seem to make clear that their prophetic authors saw the history of the world divided into cycles, times, seasons and ages. (D&C 43:18)  To some resurrection and rebirth is an individual thing occurring over and over in the same age. To others it is more broad, occurring only into different worlds. In Mormonism, I hope I have shown that there seems to be scriptures supporting both ideas. Concerning the latter, we are taught in Ether, “the end [shall] come when the earth shall pass away. And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new. (Ether 13:8–9) And as God tells Moses, “And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.” (Moses 1:38) The goal of all Christ’s followers however, is not to be born again of the earth (telestial reincarnation) or even simply born of the water (terrestrial resurrection in a future cycle of the present or some other temporal world), but to be born again of the Spirit to live “eternally in the heavens (or a celestialized earth which has become like unto the heavens) with God.

In chapter 59 of the Gospel of the Holy Twelve we find another of many clarifying verses which shows the dispensational or cyclical nature of restoration:

11. For they who know the Godhead, and have found in the way of Life the mysteries of light and then have fallen into sin, shall be punished with greater chastisements than they who have not known the way of Life.
12. Such shall return when their cycle is completed and to them will be given space to consider, and amend their lives, and learning the mysteries, enter into the kingdom of light. (59:11-12)

Here are the rest of the scriptures given in the Gospel of the Holy Twelve teaching this new view of the resurrection

1. JESUS sat in the porch of the Temple, and some came to learn his doctrine, and one said unto him, Master, what teachest thou concerning life?
2. And he said unto them, Blessed are they who suffer many experiences, for they shall be made perfect through suffering: they shall be as the angels of God in Heaven and shall die no more, neither shall they be born any more, for death and birth have no more dominion over them.
3. They who have suffered and overcome shall be made Pillars in the Temple of my God, and they shall go out no more. Verily I say unto you, except ye be born again of water and of fire, ye cannot see the kingdom of God.
4. And a certain Rabbi (Nicodemus) came unto him by night for fear of the Jews, and said unto him. How can a man be born again when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born again ?
5. Jesus answered, Verily I say unto you except a man be born again of flesh and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and ye hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth.
6. The light shineth from the East even unto the West; out of the darkness, the Sun ariseth and goeth down into darkness again; so is it with man, from the ages unto the ages.
7. When it cometh from the darkness, it is that he hath lived before, and when it goeth down again into darkness, it is that he may rest for a little, and thereafter again exist.
8. So through many changes must ye be made perfect, as it is written in the book of Job, I am a wanderer, changing place after place and house after house, until I come unto the City and Mansion which is eternal.

4. Nevertheless if any be sick among you, let them send for the presbyters of the church that they may anoint them with oil of olive in the Name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith, and the going out of power, with the voice of thanksgiving, shall raise them up, if they are not detained by sin, of this or a former life. (92:4)

… I say, unto you there is no death to those who believe in the life to come. Death, as ye deemed it, is the door to life, and the grave is the gate to resurrection, for those who believe and obey. Mourn ye not, nor weep for them that have left you, but rather rejoice for their entrance into life.
2. As all creatures come forth from the unseen into this world, so they return to the unseen, and so will they come again till they be purified. Let the bodies of them that depart be committed to the elements, and the Father, who reneweth all things, shall give the angels charge over them, and let the presbyter pray that their bodies may rest in peace, and their souls awake to a joyful resurrection.
3. There is a resurrection from the body, and there is a resurrection in the body. There is a raising out of the life of the flesh, and there is a falling into the life of the flesh. Let prayer be made For those who are gone before, and For those that are alive, and For those that are yet to come, for all are One family in God. In God they live and move and have their being.
4. The body that ye lay in the grave, or that is consumed by fire, is not the body that shall be, but they who come shall receive other bodies, yet their own, and as they have sown in one life, so shall they reap in another. Blessed are they who have worked righteousness in this life, for they shall receive the crown of life. (94:1-4)

23. As in the inner so in the outer: as in the great so in the small. As above, so below: as in heaven so in earth. We believe in the Purification of the soul: through many births and experiences. The Resurrection from the dead: and the Life everlasting of the just. The Ages of Ages: and Rest in God forever.— [Amen]. (96:23)

19. And this by ascent of the soul into the spirit and the descent of the spirit into the soul. Who cometh from heaven, and is incarnate of the Virgin ever blessed, in Jesu-Maria and every Christ of God: and is born and teacheth the way of life and suffereth under the world rulers, and is crucified, and is buried and descendeth into Hell. Who riseth again and ascendeth into glory; from thence giving light and life to all. (96:19)

8. Put ye not off from day to day, and from cycle to cycle and eon to eon, in the belief, that when ye return to this world ye will succeed in gaining the mysteries, and entering into the Kingdom of Light. (65:8)

Joseph Smith’s views on reincarnation were a bit ambiguous, but he specifically clarified that he did not believe in the idea of being reborn from animal to human, and that many who profess to be reincarnated famous religious figures are likely being led captive by evil spirits. I agree with those statements, but have a funny feeling that Christian scripture is helping us take baby steps in reconciling all the religious ideas of the world’s great religion into the true view of reality.

.