Re-incarnation
Re-incarnation is a Judeo-Christian term, even though traditionally, neither Jews nor Christians believe in reincarnation. The term reincarnation originates from the Judeo-Christian belief that at birth God inserts a spirit into a human body, which is called an incarnation. At death, which is called discarnation, the spirit is believed to separate from the body and remain as a discarnate spirit. The term “reincarnation” therefore means that the discarnate spirit re-enters a body. This is a Judeo-Christian interpretation of the Buddhist idea of “rebirth.” Although some Buddhists use this term re-incarnation in ignorance it is important for Buddhists not to use this term as it conveys wrong information.
Though re-incarnation is not an orthodox Judeo-Christian belief, some Jews and some Christians also believe in it, and when they do so, they place the belief within the Judeo-Christian frame work. They like to think that God is compassionate enough not to judge or punish a person for what the person did in one life. Instead God is supposed to allow a person several chances through reincarnation to purify the soul. Therefore every reincarnation is a purging of sins until finally when one is fully purified by purging all sins, then one is taken to heaven. This belief makes the human world become a purgatory, and this also dispenses with the idea of eternal suffering in hell. The re-incarnationists do not believe that a human being will be reincarnated as an animal, because they believe that animals do not have a soul.
Those who believe in reincarnation are called reincarnationists, but they are not Buddhists, nor are they Hindus. It is incorrect to use the term reincarnation when referring to the Buddhist belief in rebirth, because “rebirth” and “reincarnation” are not synonyms. They are two words with two different meanings. This is a common mistake made by negligent writers.
For Christians who believe in re-incarnation, however, the discarnate spirit re-enters a human body at birth. There may be several such human births, during which the soul goes through a gradual purification until it is fully purified, and enters heaven. In other words, the human world, to them, is the purgatory where the process of purgation takes place, through, several incarnations. Some even believe that the process of reincarnation has no end, as the purified spirits like Christ are also reincarnated from time to time in order to help purify others. The Reincarnationists are averse, however, to the belief that the human soul can enter animal bodies also. It is important to understand that Reincarnationists are not Buddhists or Hindus but are unorthodox Judeo-Christians.