There are so many religions around the world, and each of them has its own beliefs and disbeliefs. Some of them are related to spiritual connections too. Incarnation and reincarnation are two such beliefs that might sound similar but are a lot different from each other. Although there are many religions that believe in both of them, and some only believe in one.
Incarnation vs Reincarnation
The main difference between Incarnation and Reincarnation is that incarnation is the belief that God has taken the form of a human being or any living being in order to wander on earth, whereas reincarnation is the belief that souls can leave one body at the time of death and rebirth in the form of another physical being.
Incarnation can be simply described as the belief of son religion that sometimes God embodies himself as a living being and come in between mortal beings for some purpose. Many religious books have also described forms that God has taken in the past as incarnations.
Reincarnation, on the other hand, is the belief that spirits never die. After the death of the first being, the spirit gets carried forward to the next person as a form of new to the living being, that is, rebirth. It has been seen that many religions from the eastern part of the world believe in reincarnation.
Comparison Table Between Incarnation and Reincarnation
| Parameters of Comparison | Incarnation | Reincarnation |
| About | Incarnation is the belief that sometimes God takes the form of a physical being. | Reincarnation is the belief that sometimes spirits leave one body and come back again through rebirth. |
| Soul | There is no passing of the soul. | The soul is believed to pass on to another body by rebirth. |
| Cycle | Incarnation is not a cycle. | Reincarnation is a cycle. |
| Religion | Mostly Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam (some forms) believe in Incarnation. | Mostly eastern religions like Sikhism, Hinduism, and Jainism believe in reincarnation. |
| Death | Since it is the embodiment of God, it doesn’t depend on the death of anyone. | It is believed that only after the death of an individual can they reincarnate. |
What is Incarnation?
All the legends present in the world preach some God or believe in the existence of some spiritual power. The older the belief gets, the stronger they become. Incarnation is such a belief that has a long history and is even mentioned in a lot of religious scriptures and books. Incarnation is the belief that God or some spiritual power that people believe in sometimes take the form of humans and enter this mortal world with some purpose to achieve. Since incarnation is seen as the embodiment of God, there is no such aspect of the passing of the soul like in reincarnation.
It is simply a belief that sometimes when situations in the world get out of the hand of humans, then God takes the form of some spiritual being and comes to solve that problem. Incarnation is also not some sort of cycle and is different every time. Many religions like Hinduism, some forms of Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Ancient Egyptian religion, etc., believe in incarnation strongly. Their religious books and scriptures also hold evidence of such happenings in the past. For example, in Hinduism, the most common incarnations are that of Vishnu, Shiva, and Ganesh.
What is Reincarnation?
Reincarnation is yet another very common belief that a lot of religions hold in common. In reincarnation, it is believed that the spirits leave one body upon death and move on to another body and get reborn. It is a very old belief, and people from all around the world, sometimes even irrespective of religion, believe in reincarnation. Reincarnation has a big role in the soul or spirit. Basically, some religions believe that a spirit never dies and just moves on from one body to another, which is also known as the cycle of rebirth.
It is mostly found in eastern religions like Jainism, Sikhism, and Hinduism. Some people also believe that it is just a way of dealing with the grief of losing someone beloved. The idea that no spirit ever dies makes it easier for some people to overcome the death of someone close to them. Also, there is no compulsion that the spirit might return in the form of humans only, but they can take the form of any living being. The same thing is also applied many times in cases of animals too.
Main Differences Between Incarnation and Reincarnation
- Incarnation is the belief that God takes the form of a physical being to wander earth sometimes, mostly for a reason. Reincarnation is the belief that the soul never dies and keeps moving from one body to another after the death of the first.
- Incarnation does not involve the concept of passing on the soul. Reincarnation believes in the passing on of the soul from one body (after their death) to another as a rebirth.
- Incarnation is typically not a cycle, whereas Reincarnation is a cycle.
- Mostly Buddhism, Isla, Christianity, and Hinduism believe in Incarnation. Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and some more eastern religions believe in reincarnation.
- Incarnation is the embodiment of God and doesn’t involve the death of a being. On the other hand, Reincarnation is the rebirth of a soul and can only happen when the previous holder of the soul dies.
Conclusion
In a world where there are so many religions with their own belief system, it is bound to have something in common. Incarnation and reincarnation are two such beliefs that many religions share in common. These are also very specifically mentioned in their respective religious books and scriptures. In a way, these two things help people in feeling connected with some spiritual power as well as getting over the grief of losing their beloved. As far as such beliefs aren’t harming anyone, they are good for the peace of mind of humans.
References
- https://search.proquest.com/openview/b999b414b10a69c63ad9d3c62d5f1549/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819659
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-asian-studies/article/circulation-of-estates-in-tibet-reincarnation-land-and-politics1/E38806AD48AC10CF0AC99384C2036006