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A Series of Lessons in Mystic Christianity1088
but that the souls of good men are only removed into other bodies—but
that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment.” They also
quoted from Josephus, regarding the Jewish belief in Rebirth as evidenced
by the recital of the instance in which, at the siege of the fortress of Jotapota,
he sought the shelter of a cave in which were a number of soldiers, who
discussed the advisability of committing suicide for the purpose of avoiding
being taken prisoners by the Romans. Josephus remonstrated with them as
follows:
“Do ye not remember that all pure spirits who are in conformity with the
divine dispensation live on in the loveliest of heavenly places, and in the
course of time they are sent down to inhabit sinless bodies; but the souls of
those who have committed self-destruction are doomed to a region in the
darkness of the underworld?” Recent writers hold that this shows that he
accepted the doctrine of Re-birth himself, and also as showing that it must
have been familiar to the Jewish soldiery.
There seems to be no doubt regarding the familiarity of the Jewish people
of that time with the general teachings regarding Metempsychosis. Philo
positively states the doctrine as forming part of the teachings of the Jewish
Alexandrian school. And again the question asked Jesus regarding the “sin of
the man born blind” shows how familiar the people were with the general
doctrine.
And so, the teachings of Jesus on that point did not need to be particularly
emphasized to the common people, He reserving this instruction on the
inner teachings regarding the details of Re-birth for his chosen disciples. But
still the subject is mentioned in a number of places in the New Testament,
as we shall see.
Jesus stated positively that John the Baptist was “Elias,” whose return had
been predicted by Malachi (4:5). Jesus stated this twice, positively, i.e., “This
is Elijah that is to come” (Matthew 11:14); and again, “But I say unto you that
Elijah is come already, but they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever
they would.…Then understood the disciples that he spoke unto them of