coming direct from Jesus. The Christian Doctrines
on the subject come from the Theologians, and represent simply the views
of the "majority" of some Church Council--or of the most powerful
faction.

While the objection that Reincarnation "is not in accord with the
highest conceptions of the immortality of the soul" is one that must
depend almost entirely upon the personal bias or opinion of the
individual as to what constitutes "the highest conceptions," still a
comparison of the conceptions is not out of the way at this place. Do
you know what was the doctrine favored by the dominant majority in the
Church Councils, and for which Pre-Existence and Re-Birth finally was
discarded? Do you know the dogma of the Church and the belief of masses
of the orthodox Christians of the early centuries? Well, it was this:
That at the death of the body, the person passes into a state of "coma,"
or unconsciousness, in which state he rests today, awaiting the sound of
the trumpet of the great Day of Judgment, when the dead shall be raised
and the righteous given eternal life IN THEIR FORMER BODIES, while the
wicked in their bodies may pass into eternal torment. That is the
doctrine. You doubt it? Then look over the authorities and examine even
the current creeds of today, many of which state practically the same
thing. This belief passed into one of the Christian Creed, in the words:
"I believe in the Resurrection of the Body."

The great masses of Christians today, in general thought on the subject,
speak as if the accepted doctrine of the Church was that the soul passed
to Judgment, and then eternal soul life in Heaven or Hell immediately
after the death of the body, thus ignoring the dogmas of the Church
Councils regarding the future Day of Judgment and the Resurrection of
the Body at that time. A little questioning of the religious teachers,
and a little examination of religious history, and the creeds and
doctrines of their respective churches, would astonish many good church
members who have been fondly thinking of their beloved ones, who have
passed on, as even now dwelling in Heaven as blessed angels. They would
be astonished to find that the "angels" of the churches are not the
souls of the good people who have been judged and awarded heavenly joys,
but, rather, a body of supernatural beings who never inhabited the
flesh; and that instead of their loved ones now enjoying the heavenly
realms, the dogmas hold that they are now i