No One Can See the Kingdom of God Unless Born Again

Resurrection and reincarnation — Family ties seen through reincarnation — Instructions from the Spirits about the limits and necessity of incarnation.

Necessity of incarnation

1. Jesus asked the disciples who people said he was. Some answered John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another prophet. When Peter said that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus replied that this understanding did not come only from human experience, but from a spiritual revelation. (Matthew 16:13-17; Mark 8:27-30)

Reference: Mark 8:27-30.

2. Herod also heard different explanations about Jesus. Some said that John the Baptist had returned to life; others spoke of Elijah or some ancient prophet. Herod, who had ordered John to be killed, wanted to understand who Jesus was and looked for an opportunity to see him.

Reference: Mark 6:14-15 and Luke 9:7-9.

3. After the transfiguration, the disciples asked why the scribes said Elijah had to return first. Jesus answered that Elijah had already come and had not been recognized. The disciples understood that he was speaking about John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:10-13; Mark 9:11-13)

Resurrection and reincarnation

4. Kardec explains that ideas about someone returning to life already existed among the Jews, although they were not clearly defined. Many used the word “resurrection” without clearly distinguishing the return of the same body from the idea of a new bodily existence.

In the Spiritist Doctrine, reincarnation means the Spirit's return to bodily life in a new body. This is different from imagining that the same corpse begins functioning again. Kardec considers this distinction essential for interpreting the passages cited.

From this interpretation, if John the Baptist were Elijah in a new existence, John would have another body and other parents. Kardec understands this as reincarnation, not as the resurrection of Elijah's old body.

5. Nicodemus, an important Pharisee, went to Jesus at night and recognized that his teachings came from God. Jesus answered: “No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Nicodemus asked how an adult could be born again.

Jesus explained that it was necessary to be born “of water and of the Spirit” and distinguished what belongs to the body from what belongs to the Spirit. Nicodemus still did not understand how this could happen.

Jesus then asked how Nicodemus, being a teacher in Israel, did not understand these things. He added that, if explanations related to earthly life were already difficult to accept, it would be even harder to fully understand spiritual realities. (John 3:1-12)

6. Kardec brings these passages together to argue that the idea of living again on Earth was present in the religious environment of Jesus' time. For him, the words “you must be born again” should be understood as a reference to reincarnation.

7. The expression “born of water and of the Spirit” has received different interpretations over time. Kardec draws attention to differences among older translations and believes that these choices can change the meaning perceived by the reader.

Kardec's note

8. Kardec also explains that the word “water” needs to be understood within ancient ideas about the formation of life and the world. For many peoples of that time, water represented the matter from which life emerged.

He cites the language of the book of Genesis, in which the waters appear connected with the formation of Earth and living beings. In this reading, “water” would symbolize material nature, while “Spirit” would represent spiritual nature.

Thus, Kardec interprets “born of water and of the Spirit” as being born with a body and a soul. For him, Jesus' statement distinguishing what is born of the flesh from what is born of the Spirit reinforces this separation between body and Spirit.

In Kardec's reading, the expression “what is born of the flesh is flesh” shows that the body comes from the body, while the Spirit would not be created by the body or depend on it in order to exist.

9. The phrase “the Spirit blows where it wishes; you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes” is interpreted by Kardec as compatible with the idea of a soul that existed before birth and will continue to exist after death. For the work, this supports the idea of several bodily existences.

10. Jesus states that John the Baptist corresponds to the Elijah who was to return and concludes: “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” (Matthew 11:12-15)

11. Kardec considers this passage especially important because, for him, Jesus would not be using only a figure of speech when relating John the Baptist and Elijah. The work understands this relationship as a direct affirmation of the continuity of the Spirit in another existence.

When Jesus speaks of the period “from John the Baptist until now,” Kardec understands the reference to Elijah as pointing to a previous existence of the same Spirit, now living as John the Baptist.

Kardec also interprets the expression about the Kingdom of Heaven being taken “by violence” as a contrast between ancient violent practices and Jesus' moral proposal based on charity and gentleness. The phrase “whoever has ears to hear, let them hear” would be a warning that not everyone was ready to understand certain teachings at that time.

12. The book of Isaiah speaks of the dead returning to life and uses images of awakening, light, and renewal. Kardec includes this passage among those he considers related to the continuation of life.

13. Kardec observes that the text says the dead “will live.” For him, this wording does not refer only to spiritual continuation after death, but suggests a new experience of life. This is the interpretation that the work connects with reincarnation.

14. The book of Job also contains questions about dying, living again, and waiting for a transformation. Kardec compares different translations to examine the possible meaning of these expressions.

Passage presented according to Sacy's translation.

Other translations of the same passage from Job use expressions such as “live again,” “transformation,” and “I shall return again.” Kardec highlights these differences because they influence his reading of the plurality of existences.

15. For Kardec, the different versions of the text of Job point to the idea of more than one existence. He understands the expression “I shall return again” as a reference to a return to bodily life.

The expression about waiting for a “change” is interpreted as waiting for a new stage of existence. Kardec considers that the text can be read as the hope of returning to earthly life after death.

In this reading, Job would be speaking from the interval between two existences and waiting for a new return to bodily experience.

16. Kardec's conclusion is that the idea of returning to life, called resurrection in that context, appears prominently in Jewish traditions and in words attributed to Jesus and the prophets. The Spiritist Doctrine interprets these passages as references to reincarnation.

17. In addition to the religious interpretation, Kardec states that reincarnation can also be defended philosophically. For him, observing the differences among human experiences leads to the hypothesis of several existences as part of a natural law of progress.

In the view of the work, reincarnation helps answer questions about our origin, our destiny, and the differences we encounter in life. Kardec considers the preexistence of the soul and the plurality of existences a key to interpreting many Gospel passages.

Family ties strengthened by reincarnation

18. Kardec states that reincarnation does not destroy family ties. In the Spiritist view, Spirits who have affinity and affection form bonds that can continue beyond a single existence. Separation caused by death or by an incarnation would be only temporary.

These Spirits could meet again in the same family or in other circles of relationship, helping one another to develop. Even when some were incarnated and others were in the spiritual world, the bond of affection would continue.

As excessive attachment to matter decreases, the work considers that affection can become freer from selfishness and more spiritual.

For a deeper study of reincarnation, see The Spirits' Book, Book Two, chapter IV, and its notes.

Editorial reference from the edition used as the basis.

For Kardec, the bond that continues after death is true affection between Spirits. Relationships maintained only by physical attraction or material interest would not have the same permanence. What survives is the feeling built from soul to soul.

Thus, relationships based only on interest would lose their reason to exist when that interest ended. Spiritual affection, however, could continue beyond bodily life.

19. The work considers that affinity among family members may have an origin before the present life. It also allows that very different people may be born into the same family to learn from one another, develop patience, repair conflicts, and create new bonds.

In this shared life, Spirits still marked by harmful behavior could improve through example, care, and contact with more balanced people. The goal would be to reduce rejection and broaden the ability to live together.

20. Kardec rejects the idea that several existences would make family ties confusing or weaken love. For him, loving a greater number of people does not mean loving each one less.

Having lived many existences would not mean accumulating disconnected relationships. According to the work, the same Spirits can meet again in different roles over time while keeping the bonds of affection built among them.

21. Kardec compares this view with the idea that the soul begins to exist only together with the body. In that second model, there would be no earlier bonds among parents, children, or other relatives; every relationship would begin only in this life.

With reincarnation, ancestors and descendants could already have lived together before and meet again, deepening affinities built in other experiences.

22. Kardec also compares different ideas about the future of the soul. He criticizes the idea of a final destiny established after a single life because he considers that it leaves little room for continuous spiritual progress.

In the Spiritist view, people who love one another can meet again and continue advancing together. Someone who falls behind on the path does not forever lose the possibility of improving; they can receive help and new opportunities for growth.

Thus, reincarnation is presented as a way of maintaining solidarity between incarnate and discarnate beings and strengthening bonds of affection over time.

23. Kardec summarizes four possible ideas about the future after death: ceasing to exist; losing individuality in a universal whole; keeping individuality with a final destiny; or keeping individuality with continuous progress. The Spiritist Doctrine adopts the fourth possibility.

For the work, the continuation of individuality together with several existences allows bonds of love to continue and develop. This continuity is presented as the spiritual basis of the true family.

Instructions from the Spirits

Limits of incarnation

24. What are the limits of incarnation?

Saint Louis — Paris, 1859. The answer teaches that the Spirit's form of manifestation would not be the same in all worlds. As the Spirit develops, the body or covering it uses would be less dense, less heavy, and less subject to the limitations known on Earth.

At higher levels, this covering would become increasingly subtle. The perispirit would also undergo transformations as the Spirit becomes purified. Different worlds would offer conditions suited to the level of development of their inhabitants.

Spirits more detached from matter would have greater freedom to carry out tasks in different places. If we call incarnation only the dense bodily experience similar to that of Earth, it would be more closely connected with less developed worlds. Gradual freedom from these conditions would depend on the Spirit's own progress.

Even between two bodily lives, the Spirit's condition would be compatible with its level of development. The more developed and less attached to matter it is, the greater its freedom, clarity, and happiness would be.

Necessity of incarnation

25. Is incarnation always a punishment? Do only guilty Spirits need to incarnate?

Saint Louis — Paris, 1859. The answer says that bodily life is a necessary stage in the Spirit's development. Through it, the Spirit acts in the material world, fulfills tasks, and develops intelligence and responsibility.

God would offer everyone the same starting point, ability to learn, freedom, and responsibility. Incarnation would initially be a normal stage of development and not a punishment.

Those who make good use of their opportunities advance more quickly. Those who misuse freedom may delay their own progress and need to repeat similar experiences. It is in this sense that reincarnation can take on a character of reparation or difficulty.

26. Kardec uses the comparison of a school. Studying and passing through different grades is not a punishment; it is the normal path for learning. A dedicated student advances with less repetition, while a student who does not make good use of the opportunity may need to repeat stages.

In this comparison, the punishment is not learning, but having to repeat a stage because the previous learning opportunity was not used well. In the same way, bodily life can be a natural means of developing intelligence and moral sense.

For someone who already has greater moral awareness, repeating very difficult experiences because of previous choices can be experienced as a form of reparation. The idea is that responsibility increases as knowledge grows.

Those who actively work for their own progress could shorten stages and reach better conditions sooner. Kardec presents the moral and intellectual diversity found among people as a sign that Spirits are not all at the same point on their journey.

The work also asks what the meaning of very short experiences would be, such as the lives of children who die early, if each Spirit had only a single existence. Kardec uses this question to argue that even brief experiences are part of a larger journey.

According to Kardec, meeting the same Spirits again in different existences creates opportunities to repair conflicts, strengthen bonds, and practice solidarity, fraternity, and equality in a concrete way.