# False Christian doctrines and practices

Defining heresies by standards established by groups or society is a bad idea for Christians:

- [The fashions of Christianity move around](history-church.md), and what is heresy today may not be in 1,000 years.
- Cult deprogrammers often define "coercion" with vague enough terms that it can apply to *any* religion whatsoever that exerts [influence](power-influence.md), including Christianity, and their efforts are often a source of [persecution](hardship-persecution-church.md).
- Most people claiming to be a Christian [when Jesus returns](jesus-returns.md) likely won't believe in Him ([Matthew 7:22](https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-22.htm)).

To Christians, a heresy is a belief that deviates from a dominant Christian [theory](values.md), opinion, or practice.

- Jesus is the supreme authority for *everything* ([John 17](https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/17.htm), [Matthew 28:18](https://biblehub.com/matthew/28-18.htm)).
- Heresies may or may not bar someone from going to heaven, but they *might* impede a Christian's development.
  - For many of them, we often won't know their full impact until Judgment Day ([Matthew 25:31-46](https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/25.htm), [Revelation 20:11-15](https://biblehub.com/bsb/revelation/20.htm)).
  - Jesus and the New Testament in general warns about heretics ([Matthew 7:15-23](https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/7.htm), [1 John 2:19](https://biblehub.com/1_john/2-19.htm)).
- In order of significance, heresies strip or add a secondary authority to:
  1. God the Father and Holy Spirit
  2. Jesus, as God and as man
  3. Scripture and the value of the Bible
  4. Humanity's [immoral state](morality.md), especially regarding [sin](morality-sins.md)
  5. The [Church's](church.md) position to [lead believers](spiritual-discipleship.md)
  6. [Spiritual rituals](spiritual-exercises.md) and [how they should be done](mgmt-church.md)

Within reason, someone can still believe heresies and have a [relationship with Jesus](identity.md).

- Their salvation is certainly crippled, but can still exist as long as they [understand](understanding.md) and believe [the basics of the Gospel](jesus-gospel.md).
- Cults, however, can easily arise in the absence of the solid theological foundation of good Christian doctrine.
- Sometimes heresies are completely unintentional, and generations of mindless ritual can often create [institutional misunderstanding](mgmt-badsystems.md).
- As long as the [leadership](mgmt-church.md) of that group still defers their authority to Christ and what is true, that group is never at risk of becoming a cult.

## 1. Near-heresies

Isolationism - Following Jesus requires severing ties completely with the rest of the world ([James 4:4](https://biblehub.com/james/4-4.htm)):

- To be precise, *desiring* friendship with the world is to be an enemy to God ([1 John 2:15](https://biblehub.com/1_john/2-15.htm)).
  - Jesus came to save sinners, and associated frequently with them as part of His ministry ([Matthew 9:10-13](https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/9.htm)).
- Following Jesus means a cycle of associating with other believers, then going out into the rest of the world ([John 17:13-15](https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/17.htm)).
- One variation of isolationism is to believe there are *no* ties between a person's professional or [cultural](people-culture.md) life and their Christian life.
  - However, if you choose to identify as a Christian, your lifestyle *will* change, and it *will* reflect on a [holier lifestyle](morality-sins.md).
  - Saying something is "just business" is never used to justify a morally *good* action, so most of it is motivated toward [gaining some form of power](power-types.md).

Christian Hedonism - God receives the most glory through us when we are most satisfied with Him ([Romans 15:13](https://biblehub.com/romans/15-13.htm)):

- We *will* find joy in Christ when we serve Him.
  - In fact, God designed all wisdom for the purpose of *long-term* [satisfaction in life](success-1_why.md) ([Proverbs 4:5-9](https://biblehub.com/bsb/proverbs/4.htm)).
- However, if that joy ever steps across *any* of God's commands, it's still a [sin](morality-sins.md), and He is *not* satisfied with it.

Cultural Christianity - Christians are responsible to instill a holy culture in the world around them ([Deuteronomy 28:1-14](https://biblehub.com/bsb/deuteronomy/28.htm)):

- We *are* responsible to build a culture that reflects Christ-like living [wherever we are](https://theologos.site/devotion-chaos/).
  - At the same time, people in this life *will* reject doing lawful and good things ([Romans 2:1-9](https://biblehub.com/bsb/romans/2.htm)).
- We'll never achieve any true spiritual culture until [Jesus establishes it directly and in-person](https://theologos.site/millennium/).
  - In this life, we're destined to battle hardship, which includes [not being able to fully trust those around us](hardship-persecution-church.md).
- A variation of this is Christian nationalism, which indicates a person's Christian background should reflect on their [political views](politics-conservativeliberal.md).
  - While our political views can be shaped by our spirituality, [sound economic theory](economics.md) and [governance principles](legal-doctrines.md) will *not* have relevance once [Jesus returns](jesus-returns.md).
  - To live for the Kingdom of Heaven, we must learn to love others sacrificially, which has very little to do with [how we choose to vote](politics-systems.md), any attempt at a [political revolution](people-conflicts-war.md), or our [political activism](culture-cults.md).

Second Work Theology - Salvation can be enhanced through the baptism of the Holy Spirit ([Acts 2:38](https://biblehub.com/acts/2-38.htm)):

- Jesus died for our sins as a first work, but then God gave a second work in [Acts 2](https://biblehub.com/bsb/acts/2.htm) as the baptism of the Holy Spirit baptism that gives [spiritual gifts](spiritual-gifts.md) (most notably speaking in tongues).
  - Most of their experience can be traced to autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), which is a low-grade euphoria mixed with a tingling sensation.
  - Scripture doesn't emphasize the idea of "repent, then receive the Spirit's baptism" as much as "[repent, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior](jesus-gospel.md)".
- Second-work believers (typically associated with Pentecostalism) typically advance beliefs in extra-biblical revelation and dismiss portions of the Bible that clarify spiritual gifts (e.g., [1 Corinthians 12-14](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_corinthians/12.htm)).
  - Paul addressed the Corinthian Church as if they had universally accepted the Holy Spirit's baptism ([1 Corinthians 12:1](https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/12-1.htm)) but called them spiritually immature in the same letter ([1 Corinthians 3:2](https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/3-2.htm)).
- Aspiring for extra holiness or righteousness is a waste of time ([Colossians 2:20-22](https://biblehub.com/bsb/colossians/2.htm)).
  - Instead, work to improve the quality of your [works](spiritual-exercises.md) ([1 Corinthians 3:10-15](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_corinthians/3.htm)).

Church services with drug use:

- Typically, they'll use hallucinogenics and psychedelics to "enhance" their spirituality.
- The experience of consuming drugs is in direct defiance of the holy lifestyle appropriate for a Christian ([1 Peter 1:13-16](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_peter/1.htm)).
  - Members tend to have *severe* spiritual experiences, but typically [not with God](spiritual-warfare.md).
- Recreational drugs also often have the unfortunate side effect of becoming [addictive](addiction.md).

Philosophical vagueness about aspects of Christianity:

- [The Gospel](jesus-gospel.md) is a simple concept, designed to be absurdly simple to understand.
  - God Himself has many mysteries, but He's also *very* accessible ([James 1:5](https://biblehub.com/james/1-5.htm)).
- Smart people are often foolish with their intellect and tend to clutter up doctrinal matters that would otherwise be easily [understood](understanding.md) ([Romans 1:22](https://biblehub.com/romans/1-22.htm)).
  - *Highly* intelligent people have a tendency to heavily parse [language](language.md) to the point that it's difficult to precisely follow them, and readers or listeners can often get lost.
  - God literally *[designed](creations.md)* [universals](humanity-universals.md) in nature for us to [presume](trust.md), but some smart people have major [trust issues](understanding-certainty.md).
- Some people will define words like "God" and "eternal" in strange ways that create tremendous [uncertainty](unknown.md).
  - Most [post-modern philosophy](philosophy.md), including pseudo-Christian works like Kierkegaard, fall into this domain.

Jesus doesn't *technically* need to eternally exist, but must be God:

- Christians *must* believe [Jesus is completely equal with God](god.md), but also that He's completely [human](humanity-christian.md).
  - This paradox is called the "hypostatic union": 100% God and 100% man.
- However that equality doesn't necessarily mean that the Father and Son were necessarily eternally existing in the form they exist in right now ([Colossians 1:15-20](https://biblehub.com/bsb/colossians/1.htm)).
- If God were to split Himself at the beginning of creation (e.g., for the purpose of a relationship with created beings) there is no heresy as long as Jesus is still the ultimate authority with a completely equal and shared essence with God.

Dispensationalism - there are different "ages" where God interacted (and will interact) with people differently, and when Jesus came He completely divorced the meaning of "Israel" and Hebrew.

- Before Christ, the hope *was* in the [coming Messiah](jesus-prophecies.md).
- The Holy Spirit is the [down payment](people-contracts.md) for [the coming Age](https://theologos.site/millennium/) ([2 Corinthians 1:21-22](https://biblehub.com/bsb/2_corinthians/1.htm)).
- Not all Israel is "Israel" (Romans 9:6-8).
- The natural implication, therefore, is that modern-day Israelis are no longer part of God's plans.
- However, dispensation theology was also created before [geographical Israel coming back into existence in the Middle East](history-israel.md).
  - Revelation declares a war on Israel, and it'll almost certainly be those geographical locations indicated.
  - God clearly hasn't given up on the Jews ([Romans 11:11-15](https://biblehub.com/bsb/romans/11.htm)).
- Many people use dispensationalism to justify antisemitism, which is fully inconsistent with Christianity because it's a severely unloving behavior toward a people group, which happens to be the race Jesus was born into as well.

Losing one's salvation:

- Some Christians believe someone can lose their salvation, and needs to regain it again by praying once more to receive Christ or being re-baptized.
- However, some Bible verses imply that former followers of God have lost their salvation ([Deuteronomy 13:6-11](https://biblehub.com/bsb/deuteronomy/13.htm), [Hebrews 6:4-8](https://biblehub.com/bsb/hebrews/6.htm), [2 Peter 2:20-22](https://biblehub.com/bsb/2_peter/2.htm)).
  - These people have somehow followed Jesus but now have absolutely no redemption available to them.
- Once Saved, Always Saved - Any person who decides to follow Jesus will prevail to the end.
  - The people stated in the above passages, however, *do* have significant experience with God working.
- Most Christian culture tends to set the goals for salvation wrongly by implying it happens at the [conversion to Christ](jesus-gospel.md).
  - Protestants are the worst at it, since they tend to treat a conversion to Christ as the only sufficiently necessary task.
  - Catholics, however, have a similar attitude about being confirmed and baptized, with the extra-biblical theology of Purgatory and indulgences often mixed in.
  - They're not considering that starting the spiritual journey isn't *nearly* as important as finishing it ([2 Timothy 4:7-8](https://biblehub.com/bsb/2_timothy/4.htm)).
- Salvation doesn't technically happen until the moment God judges all of us ([Revelation 20:11-15](https://biblehub.com/bsb/revelation/20.htm)).
  - Before that point, we're carrying a [discipleship](spiritual-discipleship.md) and [journey](spiritual-exercises.md) until that fulfillment ([Romans 8:22-25](https://biblehub.com/bsb/romans/8.htm)).
  - In this situation, the passages plainly indicate the person who has abandoned that journey entirely in light of all the information they possessed, and their decision is themselves possessing full knowledge at that moment.

Rapture Theology - Jesus will come back twice, once for Christians and once again for the rest of the world (more on the subject [on this essay](jesus-returns.md)).

## 2. Clear deviations from Christ

Gay Theology - Homosexuality is not a sin:

- The Bible clearly indicates that homosexuality is a sin ([Romans 1:26-27](https://biblehub.com/bsb/romans/1.htm)).
  - However, while it definitely represents more deviance, it's as much sexual sin as fornication or adultery ([1 Corinthians 6:18](https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/6-18.htm)).
  - It is distinctly odd (along with other domains like transgenderism), so many Christians don't know how to handle it.
- The Bible's context indicates how homosexuality is a form of self-worship, and God lets people run to it when they reject Him.
  - Many of them are part of the Pride cult (see below), so they severely need God's love and grace.

Spiritual Celibacy - Virginity outside of marriage is a purer state of existence than being married or divorced:

- The general idea is a simplified one:
  1. The ideal is to be single all your life, but...
  2. If you burn with romantic passion, then get married, and...
  3. Never leave your spouse, ever.
- At the extreme, this can take the form of mandatory celibacy to join a church.
- There is evidence in the Bible that being unmarried makes a person's [ministry](spiritual-discipleship.md) easier to perform, and that reconciling marriage is a good ideal ([1 Corinthians 7](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_corinthians/7.htm)).
  - But, everyone is [gifted differently](spiritual-gifts.md), and it's better to marry than burn with [romantic desire](relationships-why.md).
- The idea often implies *all* marriages should reconcile without divorce.
  - In the case of clear abuse, it's clear someone should *not* live with their spouse if they're in any danger, but doesn't give license for divorcing.
  - Jesus *certainly* doesn't give free license to divorce or remarry, and remarriage will typically devastate another person in the process ([Matthew 19:7-10](https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/19.htm)).
- If someone repents from their situation, we *are* responsible to forgive them if they've truly changed ([Matthew 18:21-22](https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/18.htm)).
  - Without this forgiveness, a church culture can reject someone simply for having been a non-virgin *before* they were Christians.
  - It makes common sense for the divorcing person to spend at *least* 4-5 years single first, though.

There is no hell, it isn't eternal, or is a figurative state of mind:

- That hell isn't eternal or is a figurative state of mind, but the Bible verses make hell an abundantly clear location for unrepentant sinners.
- Arabici - Humans' souls die with their body, but are resurrected with the body on Judgment Day.
- Hell is clearly real, and clearly eternal ([Matthew 25:41](https://biblehub.com/matthew/25-41.htm), [Jude 7](https://biblehub.com/jude/1-7.htm)).
  - God reserved hell for the Satan and his fallen angels ([2 Peter 2:4](https://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-4.htm)).
  - Irrespective of its controversy, the Bible makes it clear it's for unrepentant sinners.
- Other people don't imagine how an all-loving God could deliver eternal punishment, but several independent thoughts shed some light on it:
  1. [Our souls](humanity-christian.md) are designed to be infinite.
  2. The rest of creation would suffer in the presence of unrepentant, corrupted souls, and [God's essence](god.md) can't coexist with sin because He sees the depths of a soul's heart ([Psalm 7:9](https://biblehub.com/psalms/7-9.htm)).
  3. He therefore has no choice for infinite, unrepentant souls except to put them away from the rest of creation.

Some heresies about Christian [rituals and practices](mgmt-church.md) create an environment with [bad boundaries](people-boundaries.md):

- Adamism - Everyone should live naked, like Adam and Eve.
- Barallots - Everyone should share *everything* in common, including wives and children.
- Donatism - The sacraments' validity depends on the character of the [minister](mgmt-church.md), not on the members' devotion.
  - They believed Christians who denied Christ and turned in their Bibles should be persecuted.
- Iconoclasm - Icons ([symbols](symbols.md) of specific things) should be destroyed.
- Kinism - People are only to consort, worship, and marry people of their same race.
- Egalitarianism - Females can be in positions that rule over men, such as pastors ([1 Timothy 2:9-15](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_timothy/2.htm)):
  - Some people claim it's sexist, but [gender distinctions have a significant spiritual purpose](gender.md).
  - Many females in so-called "[pastor](mgmt-church.md)" roles are actually preachers, or they straddle that line very closely.
- Novationism - Christians who sacrifice to pagan gods or deny their faith, even under extreme pressure, are no longer Christians.

One of the most prominent heresies stems from [magical thinking](understanding-certainty.md) about God's interactions with humanity:

- Positive Thinking - Thoughts can form reality (either by willpower alone, or with God's unconditional endorsement).
  - We can't add to faith because it's a refined force given at God's discretion ([Romans 12:3](https://biblehub.com/romans/12-3.htm), [1 Peter 1:7](https://biblehub.com/1_peter/1-7.htm), [Ephesians 2:4-9](https://biblehub.com/bsb/ephesians/2.htm)).
- Prosperity Gospel - The Gospel's promises do *not* promise hardship, but do include physical health or earthly wealth.
  - God's covenant with Abraham ([Genesis 12](https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/12.htm), [15](https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/15.htm), [17](https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/17.htm), [22](https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/22.htm)) does *not* apply completely to all Christians in this life for material gain.
  - Jesus commands His followers to carry their torture device and follow Him ([Matthew 16:24](https://biblehub.com/matthew/16-24.htm)), and that nobody can serve both God and money ([Matthew 6:24](https://biblehub.com/matthew/6-24.htm)).
    - To treat giving like a spiritual form of [investing](money-investing.md) (expecting future gain) is absolutely against the spirit of denying oneself ([Matthew 16:24](https://biblehub.com/matthew/16-24.htm)).
  - The only Apostle who cared heavily about [money](money-1_why.md) was Judas, who betrayed Jesus at the end.
  - Jesus and the Apostles were [homeless wanderers](hardship-homeless.md), and almost all of them suffered shameful and brutal deaths by [persecution](hardship-persecution-church.md).
- Popularity Gospel - Jesus calls for us to love our neighbor, and God loves us so much that what we do is immaterial.
  - At the farthest end, we don't need to maintain any [correct conduct](spiritual-exercises.md), to the point that *any* disliking of [sins](morality-sins.md) (e.g., LGBetc.) is unloving.
  - Popularity Gospel churches tend to focus on growing church numbers more than strong doctrine.
    - There's typically more [cultural shaming](morality-taboo.md) than [theological](theology.md) strength to most of their arguments.
    - To that end, it's impossible to indicate *precisely* what they believe, except that [they're not very rigorous about it](understanding.md).
  - While they insist on having compassion and kindness (which *is* a product of love), they tend to disregard God's justice against sinners ([Romans 2:1-9](https://biblehub.com/bsb/romans/2.htm)).
- Word of Faith - Spoken words can form reality (either by the words alone, or with God's empowerment).
  - Some go as far as saying *all* Christians with enough belief can receive [spiritual sign gifts](spiritual-gifts.md) like the Apostles.
  - Scripture indicates our [desires](purpose.md) will change, but makes [no promise](people-contracts.md) of physical gain in this life ([Galatians 2:20](https://biblehub.com/galatians/2-20.htm)).
- Magical thinking doesn't bar anyone from salvation, but it *will* discourage Christians long-term.
  - At its farthest, magical thinking will become a standard cult if a very [eloquent](power-influence.md) speaker can [influence](power-influence.md) enough people.

Heresies that take away part of the Bible:

- Often, people would rather not accept something uncomfortable or offensive.
  - Their justifications are often clearly against the Bible, and anyone else can see that they're taking a hard deviation from what the Bible teaches.
- Anti-Paulism - the Apostle Paul was a heretic and that the books he wrote are not a part of the Bible.
- Liberalism - Scripture is not inerrant or infallible.
- Neo-Orthodoxy - The Bible is God's revealed word as people read it, *not* through its original penmanship.
- Standpoint Epistomology - A person's [understanding](understanding.md) of the Bible is directly proportional to how far down the [proletariat ladder](politics-leftism.md) they are.
- When speaking in tongues is a direct measure of spirituality, [1 Corinthians](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_corinthians/1.htm) doesn't apply anymore.
- When the Bible only has explainable components, Revelation shouldn't be part of the Bible because we can't verify its author, or that it was already completely fulfilled with the Roman Empire.
- When evidence is the only way to believe, Hebrews and Job aren't part of the Bible because they can't verify who wrote it (though the ideas echo completely in other Scriptures).
- If God is too intense, the Old Testament doesn't apply anymore.
  - Marcionism - The God of the Old Testament is evil, and the God of the New Testament is good.
  - The Law and Jewish history are the foundation for God's grace ([Matthew 5:17-18](https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/5.htm), [Romans 3:31](https://biblehub.com/romans/3-31.htm)).
  - Some of God's promises in the Old Testament certainly *do* transfer to the Church ([Romans 10:12-13](https://biblehub.com/bsb/romans/10.htm)).

Heresies that add content to the Bible:

- Montanism - The Bible is either insufficient or incomplete, and God regularly gives new revelations that change based on the [culture](people-culture.md) He's speaking to.
  - Their attitude created a *lot* of [political friction](people-conflicts-war.md) for the Christian church.
  - There are multiple works inspired by them (mostly apocalypse-focused), including the Apocalypse of Peter, and the fact that they accepted the Apocalypse of St. John (now known as Revelation in the Bible) is why the Assyrian Church of the East won't accept it as canon.
- Some works have *very* significant historical value (e.g., Jasher, other early Christian letters).
  - This information is *very* valuable to gather context and understanding of the culture and context around the Bible.
  - However, the works are *not* inspired by God, and should be considered as authoritative as the writings of [spiritual leadership](mgmt-church.md).
- Some ancient works such as the Gnostic writings (e.g., Gospel of Thomas) have vastly contrasting ideas to anything in the Bible.
- Many cult leaders create documents they claim give more clarity to Scripture, but tend to add entirely new ideas.

## 3. Outright heresy

Heresies about [God's nature](god.md):

- Audianism - God has a human form, and we're precisely created in God's image.
- Christian Deism - God does not intervene in or interact with the world.
- Limited Theism - God is not omnipotent, and His powers can be limited.
- Neoplatonism/Pantheism - We are emanations from God, and we return to become part of God again when we depart this life.
- Open Theism - God doesn't know everything, including the future.

Heresies about the Trinity:

- Monarchianism - God is only one person.
- Modalism/Patripassianism - The members of the Trinity are only three different aspects or modes of the same person, not three distinct persons.
  - Sabellianism (Emanations) - The Father was the Old Testament God, The Son was the New Testament God, and the Holy Spirit is God right now.
- Partialism - Each member of the Trinity is not fully God, but only 1/3 of God.
  - Swedenborgianism - Each member of the Trinity is like humanity's [body, soul, and spirit](humanity-christian.md).
- Tritheism The Godhead is actually three separate gods.

Heresies about Jesus' nature:

- Adoptionism - Jesus became God sometime after His birth.
- Apollinarism - Jesus did not have a rational [human soul or mind](humanity-christian.md), but instead His soul was simply a Logos.
- Arianism - Jesus and the Holy Spirit are lesser, created beings and not directly God.
- Docetism - Jesus was divine, but only seemed to be human, and didn't experience any human experiences.
- Ebionitism - Jesus was distinguished from other humans, but was nonetheless purely human.
- Eutychianism/Monophysitism - Jesus only has one nature, which is divine, and any finite nature is swallowed up by it.
- Kenosis - Jesus wasn't divine while on Earth.
- Nestorianism - Jesus is two persons.
- Socinianism - Jesus is a deified man, and there is no Trinity.
- Subordinationism - The Son is lesser than the Father in essence or attributes.

Heresies about the Holy Spirit:

- Macedonianism - God the Holy Spirit is merely a creation of God and not one of His persons.

Heresies about the Virgin Mary:

- Collyridianism - The Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, is a goddess.
- Virgin birth denial - Jesus was not born of a virgin.

Heresies about [sins](morality-sins.md) and [morality](morality.md):

- Antinomianism - Jesus rescues Christians from the legal guilt of sin, so they're free to sin as they please.
- Manichaeism - Good and evil are both equally powerful in ability or authority.
- Pelagianism - Human nature does not have a fallen state and isn't corrupted by original sin.
- Semipelagianism - Man and God cooperate to achieve man's salvation.
- Works Righteousness/Legalism - Humanity is saved by what they do, or a combination of what they do combined with faith in Jesus.
- Christus Victor - All sins, and all death, has been abolished entirely, so there's no judgment for them anymore.

Heresies about salvation:

- Dual Covenant Theology - Jews can still receive salvation without believing in Jesus.
- Inclusivism - Faith is not necessary for salvation, and God's mercy includes non-Christian peoples on the earth.
- Pluralism - Two or more religions in conflict can be true at the same time.
- Rauschenbuschism (social gospel, or social justice gospel) - The primary purpose of the Gospel is to cure social issues, not to forgive sins and reconcile with God.
- Universalism - Everyone will go to Heaven.

Heresies about human nature:

- Reincarnationism - some humans (which may include Jesus and New Testament figures) are reincarnations of previous people (such as Old Testament figures).