It is in the nature of humans that they look for someone metaphysical and supernatural for the solution of their problems and difficulties whenever they feel themselves unable to do the same. It is therefore the institution of religion came into being. Looking into the history of the world at large, it becomes evident that religion existed in all human societies from the most primitive to the most modern ones. Human beings belonging to both ancient and modern civilizations have fashioned their own sets of spiritual sets of beliefs in some enigmatic elements of the universe, which are called as the faith of their society. Since religion is a highly diversified subject, different societies maintain different religious faiths and beliefs. Not only has this that it varies from society to society and from one culture to the other, but also one single society contained the followers of many different religions in it. The question of life, death, worshipped one, worshipper, prayers, Holy Scripture and even the concept of reincarnation exists among almost all religions of the world at large, though its concept varies from one religion to another.
The ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Chinese and Indian civilizations are thought to be the most primitive societies containing rich cultural heritage and norms, mores, values, taboos and laws. They maintained their own art including language, paintings, sculpture, music, dance, poetry and handicrafts. The ancient Greek civilization is thought to be the era consisted of the period of nearly six centuries from 750 B.C. to 150 B.C. The people believed in gods, goddesses and warriors like Zeus, Hera, Hebe, Neptune, Pan, Aphrodite, Adonis, Cupid, Hymen and many more. They believed that gods and goddesses are the source of inspiration, power and strength. Every god and goddess had specialty in his area, as Cupid was the god of love, while Pan had been attributed to the god of jungles, fauna and flora. Zeus was the king of all gods and could adopt shape of any creature for his purpose.
The gods and goddesses were always engaged in wars and battles usually on petty matters. An overwhelming majority used to live in under developed hill and mountainous areas, which helped in building their muscles and made them hard and strong. The ancient Greek political system was monarchical in the beginning, and the rulers were despots and controlled the political system with the help of power. The ancient poets including Homer and Virgil and philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and others gave the religious beliefs and practices new directions. Homer presented his great epic poetry under the title Iliad narrated the wars of gods, goddesses, and kings, while Socrates infused new hopes in the Greek society by preaching virtue and ethics and spreading the light of wisdom and knowledge. His predecessors continued his job, and Plato described various dimensions of poetry and other forms of art. Aristotle applied his wisdom and skills in almost all the subjects and disciplines and articulated theories of political science and art. The philosophers also differed in beliefs and ideas as Socrates did not have belief in rebirth, while Plato declared it the process of attunement. The life style also changed in ancient Greece and people constructed houses, built mansions and castles and developed colonies.
The ancient Roman civilization is also considered the same period as it was with the Greece, and also depicted almost the same traditions attributed to the Greek one. The monarchical political system prevailed in the ancient Rome, but it was converted into Republic by nearly 500 B.C. The legends declared Trojan princes as the first rulers to the throne. The sculptures of that time narrated the stories of the grandeur of the kings. The sculptors carved the statues and sculptures of gods, kings and warriors, and the painters painted the same in order to show their love to their gods. The poets wrote poems related to the brave and courageous deeds of the gods as well as warriors they had displayed during the course of war in the battlefield. Though people had no equal status in the society, yet the members of the council and senate had power to make laws and decide the fate of a person guilty of committing any type of crime.
The ancient Egyptian civilization maintained the notion of rebirth as an essential part of their religion. “It is known that the Egyptians believed in reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul. They thought the soul transmigrated from body to body and this was a reason why they embalmed the body in order to preserve it so that it could journey along with ka, an animating force that was believed to be counterpart of the body, which would accompany it in the next world or life.” (Quoted in the mystica.com)
The three Abrahamic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the most prominent and influential ones among all and share many things including strong belief in God, prophets, the Day of Resurrection and reincarnation on the same day when all the souls from the beginning to the end would be reincarnated and would be taken before the Creator in order to reward the obedient and noble souls and punish the transgressors. The Holy Scriptures of all the three religions i.e. Torah (Hebrew Bible), Bible and the Holy Quran also reveal the same. The Judaism and Islam recommend rewards in heavens on the Day of Judgment for those who have belief in the Oneness of the Lord, in the prophet-hood of the messengers sent to men time to time for the guidance of humanity, and the reward and punishment as well; and practiced all permitted by the Lord and avoided all prohibited by the Lord.” (Zaidi, 2007: 19) Abrahamic religions believe that Almighty God created man out of His own image and blessed him with the superiority over all other creatures. He not only fashioned man, but also developed a comprehensive scheme for his guidance and spiritual uplift on permanent basis.
The basic motive behind that all was to protect the children of Adam and Eve from the seduction of satanic forces. Hence, He sent His angels to His apostles including Adam, Enoch, Noah, Eber, Shelah and others to preach the humanity the noble message of God, so that they could manage to attain their permanent dwellings in the Eden Garden lost due to non-compliance of their first parents in respect of tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree. The individuals, tribes, clans and communities which did not obey the word of God and committed crimes and exercised deviancies by following the path of Satan, were inflicted misery and wrath of the Lord. On the other hand, the nations which remained obedient to their Lord, and displayed virtue and evaded vice, were blessed with the spiritual leadership and God was pleased with them. The reward in the form of God’s favor and mercies was bestowed upon them and were declared as the people of God. Almighty narrated the incidents of their sacrifices and great velour in the Scriptures while facing mountains of hardships and their foot never trembled in any sort of turmoil or turbulence.
The name of the holy prophet Abraham is the most prominent among all. Abraham underwent all types of trials; he was thrown into the burning flames by Nimrod and the people of his nation sent him to compulsory exile; he did not have any children till the age of hundred years; but he remained as firm as the rock and could not be bent down at all. Then it was the benevolence of God which was showered upon Abraham and his progeny. At a time when Abraham was issueless, God said to him that his progeny would be more than the stars on the sky. (Hebrew Bible). Not only this but also God selected his children to bear the burden of spreading the light of the holy message in all corners of the world. Almighty God bestowed Abraham with two pious sons i.e. Ishmael and Isaac and showered His spiritual fervor in the form of prophet-hood on both the two. Thus, God special attention towards one specific tribe was not the outcome of mere a chance. On the other hand, all that was the result of long and untiring efforts made by the forefathers of the chosen seed in the way of God and the pains the noble personalities tolerated while teaching and preaching the word of God. It is therefore, the sons, grandson, great grandson and so on were exalted to the highest spiritual position of prophet-hood.
Jews are the progeny of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. They had been the Heaven’s favorite-most nation since their creation on earth. Therefore, Jews are called as the chosen seed, as Milton quotes in his Paradise Lost: “Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire that Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed”. (Book I, lines 6-7). The history reveals their origin at Canaan, where Abraham’s grandson and Isaac’s son Jacob, also alias Israel, lived. The special blessing of the Creator on the house of Jacob has always been a debatable question for the clergymen, scholars and philosophers since ever. It has often been said that the house of Jacob had been selected as the chosen seed among all the nations and races of the world. The Holy Torah and Hebrew Bible have repeatedly declared the progeny of Jacob as the selected nation, which has superiority over others in the eyes of the Lord. “When God called Abraham aside, He made a covenant, assuring Abraham, “In thee and thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Out of the loins of Abraham came the seed which produced the sacred Scriptural House of Israel.
These people were chosen to fulfill a definite Divine plan of God for the salvation and the redemption of His children of all the nations.” (Smith, 2000) “The essence of the Hebrew religion (i.e. Judaism)”, Alan (1993) states, “was that the Lord had made a covenant with the chosen people, the children of Israel.” The other Scriptures including the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran have also mentioned the same fact that the house of Jacob was once granted supremacy over all other human nations of the world. In the words of God in the Book of Nehemiah: “Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.” (Nehemiah 1: 8-10) Thus, the children of Israel (Jacob) had been blessed with special favor and spiritual blessings from the Heavens. In the words of the Holy Quran: “O Children of Israel! Remember My favors which I bestowed upon you and that I exalted you above the peoples of the time.” (The Heifer, 2:48)
The Holy Torah explains the concept of life in the world Hereafter in these words: “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;” (Zohar II 99b) Almost the same promise has been described in the Holy Quran in these words of: “How can you disbelieve in Allah? You were without life and He gave you life, and then He will cause you to die, then restore you to life, and then to Him shall you be made to return.” (2:29) Islam also lays stress on the Oneness of God, which is called “Tauheed” in the words of the Holy Quran..
Belief in reincarnation contains different meanings in the eyes of both the East Asian religions i.e. Hinduism and Buddhism. The former explains the notion of seven rebirths in a highly complex and complicated way, while the latter negated the reality of soul altogether. Some of the Buddhist teachings believe in rebirth but interestingly in the form of an animal. The Hindus, on the other hand, believe that the virtuous would lead a happy life in the next rebirth, while the wicked would have an adverse life due to their misdeeds. Hence, they view that each rebirth offers new style and nature of life, which is quite unpredictable and is based on the performance and activities made and conducted in present life. Consequently, man could become an animal, a tree, or a metal in his next life. Similarly scientists and researchers have obtained ideas regarding rebirth of human soul. The biologists including Thomas Huxley and Charles Darwin consider that man’s body becomes part of the soil and turns into fossil. They refute the idea of reincarnation altogether. Darwin submits to opine that species had to make so many changes for their survival within the prevailing environment. Failing to survive in the prevailing environment, they ceased to exist and become part of fossil remains. Subsequently, their generation diminished altogether and the existing species are the reflection of their ancestors of the living species that contained the same characteristics and features. It is therefore the concept of reincarnation maintains no meanings for the naturalists. (Turney, 2005)
Bibliography
Carol R. Ember, Melvin Ember & peter N. Peregrine. (2002) Anthropology. Prentice Hall Inc.
M. H. Zaidi (2007) God, Adam and Serpent. Moosa Publications Urdu Bazaar Lahore..
Sankarsan Acharya. (2006) Religion, God and Science. Web.
The Holy Quran. Chapter 2 Verse 29.
The Holy Torah. Zohar II: 99b.
Turney, Jon. (2005) River Out of Eden—A Darwinian View of Life. Web.
Upanishad. Svetasvatarana. (Chapter 5:1)