Reincarnation is the traditional belief of both Hinduism and Buddhism, but the belief of increasing numbers of western people. The basic idea is that you try to purify yourself in this life so that when you die, your soul is transferred to a higher form of life. If you make a mess of one life, you start again at a lower level of human or animal life. Reincarnation deals with the problem of justice by a continual process of judgement. It balances out from life to life, though it may take thousands of years for justice to be done. Finally, when the purifying process is complete, the soul moves to its final state in another realm.

The main problem is that people who believe in reincarnation don't remember their 'former lives'. There are some accounts of people who claim to remember, but at best these are just sketchy 'memories' of incidents or events. The vast majority of people remember nothing at all. If there is no bodily connection with a 'former life' and clearly no mental connection since no-one seems to remember), then we have to ask - "Is there any connection at all?" A future life must be a continuation of 'me', or it is not my life at all.

There are other weaknesses with reincarnation. A God of justice must make a clear distinction between good and evil. Reincarnation makes no such distinction - because you always get another chance. So there is no real urgency for me to do right in this life, and my evil acts have no permanent significance. Both good and evil finally arrive at the same destination. Jesus gave an urgent call for men and women to get right with God now. It was based on the fact of each one's life and the one final judgement that we all face after death. He made it clear that there is no second chance, never mind a third, fourth or fiftieth.

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