Was it Jesuschrist? Or one of the Fathers of the Church? Or perhaps one of the Popes?

You will probably find it hard to believe, but the one that banned the concept of reincarnation from Christianity was… a Roman emperor!

And he did it by very mundane purposes…

In the year 543 of our present era, the Emperor Justinian convened a Synod in Constantinople, for the sole purpose of condemning the teachings of Origen regarding reincarnation. Origen was probably the most respected and beloved Father of the Early Church.

In ‘Encyclopedia Britannica’ we find this statement:

“It is certain that the Fifth General Council was convoked exclusively to deal with the affair of ‘The Three Chapters’ and that neither Origen, nor Origenism was the cause of it.”

The three Chapters in reality had to do with some teachings of three so-called heretics, who had nothing to do with Origen, and it was used as a subterfuge to convene the Synod.

The imperial command versus the Pope

In 1553 Justinian convoked the fifth Council of Constantinople, now known also as the Second Ecumenical Council. It was presided by the incumbent patriarch of Constantinople, Eutychius, with the presence of 165 bishops.

But did you know that Pope Vigilius, that had been summoned by the Emperor, opposed strongly the council and took refuge in a church in Constantinople because of the vindicative wrath of that evil emperor? He was not present at any of the deliberations, nor was he represented and therefore, never accepted the ban of the reincarnation doctrine.

The Council crafted a series of anathemas, some say 14, others 15, mainly directed against the doctrines of three “schools” or “heretics,” which where all dear beliefs of what Justinian considered his political enemies and that had Origen as their most trusted theologian. The documents relating thereto, are known as “The Three Chapters.”

Only these papers were presented to the pope for his approval. Reincarnation was not even mentioned in those papers.

But the power of Justinian was enough to make his decision to ban reincarnation from Christian beliefs prevail over the very Pope.

Succeeding popes, including Gregory the Great (590-604), while dealing with other matters arising out of the Fifth Council, made no mention at all of Origen’s concepts regarding the doctrine of reincarnation.

What Justinian did, was to enforce the acceptance of his personal decision of what seems to have been merely an extra-conciliary session. A gifted politician, he somehow made it appear to have ecumenical endorsement or sanction.

Who of the bishop was to stand before him and refuse to follow his orders?

From thereon, the idea of reincarnation disappeared from European thought after the provincial synod of 543 and the Fifth Council of 553.