Does the Bible teach reincarnation?

This belief, which is sometimes referred to as metempsychosis or “transmigration of the soul,” maintains that after a person’s death, his “soul” experiences a rebirth in a new body. This “new body” could be that of another person, or even a beast or an insect.

The doctrine of the immortality of the soul is at the core of the reincarnation belief. But the Bible plainly shows that doctrine to be false. Please read Genesis 3:19: “In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until you return unto the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.” Notice that this verse does not say that you will return to another body when you die. It says that you will return to dust.

In Psalm 146:4, we read that when one dies, “his breath goes forth, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” We also read, “For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even one thing befalls them: as the one dies, so dies the other; yes, they have all one breath; so that a man has no preeminence above a beast…All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again” (Ecc. 3:19-20).

You may wish to read our booklets The Truth About Hell, Is There Life After Death?, and What Is Your Reward in the Next Life? These booklets fully expose the fallacy of the immortal soul doctrine, and explain man’s real potential.