4. Life after death

Once we accept Origen’s teaching on the restoration of all things as plausible, there are many other topics that must be considered. By considering the obvious consequences of the idea of progressive reincarnation with the goal of restoring a soul to perfection, we have the opportunity to better understand biblical references, scientific research and esoteric findings.

One might first ask; “How long does the restoration process of a single soul take?” The bible gives us some clues in this regard. Genesis 5:5 says: “So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.” So Adam spent a total of 930 years living on Earth as a human until he was able to return to Heaven. It has been suggested that the absolute minimum time for a fallen soul to approach its original divine perfection through restoration on Earth would be 2 times 430 years. So based the historical life-expectancy of humans, we could estimate that a soul would live something like 21 lives on average. From anecdotal evidence through various “past life” descriptions, we could estimate that 200 to 300 years might pass between lives.

In 2 Kings there are two specific references that might support the idea of 21 lives for full restoration. Elisha tells Naaman in 2 Kings 5:10 to go and wash himself seven times in the Jordan in order to recover his skin. After sneezing seven times in 2 Kings 4:35 the child opened its eyes. It would be consistent with the observation of human behavior if we take both of these passages to mean that seven incarnations were needed to cure these souls of their vices, which kept them close to death, and thus held them away from the light. Human behavior can also be broken up into three categories to coincide with three sets of seven incarnations: 1) care only for one’s self, either from necessity or selfishness, 2) care only for one’s immediate family, and 3) more care given to others than to one’s self or “loving one’s neighbor as one’s self”.

Taking into account that global human population has been basically doubling each generation, we can draw the conclusion that currently 50% of the souls born have not been here before. Based on the observation above, we also see that a vast majority of people in this world fall into category 1) and a minority into 3). Is this consistent with our observation of the world around us?

As a side comment it should be noted that the line of thought being pursued should not be misconstrued as saying that 3) is better than 1); but rather that all of Earth’s inhabitants have had toand will have to go through the same process. And that there is great need for the 3’s to at least understand the 1’s and to help them in anyway possible. Jesus motivated us to take in the 1’s, because we would be taking Him in.

So, in this framework, what might the life between the deaths look like? As noted above, this appears to be the vast majority of time spent in a soul’s process of restoration. It is obvious that this time must be one of learning and purification if a soul is to become one with God and the Word. It is also clear that the capacity of 1’s to learn is different than 3’s, as would be so with the need for purification. So there must be vast differences in the possible afterlives.

Years ago it was common for churchgoers to pray for “the lost souls”, but we seem to have lost this tradition in modern times. I would equate “the lost souls” with the 1’s. These are the souls that have not yet rediscovered God and who are still in the grips of death and evil as described in 2 Kings. When their life ends, it is quite possible that they had never thought about what could come after and they might not even accept that they are dead.