Can an inspirational romance have a reincarnation theme?

I'd consider it paranormal. And it would be DOA in the CBA. Your best bet would probably be general market. Best of luck!

It might be an inspiration book, but I doubt that specifically Inspirational publishers would go for that kind of ecclecticism.

Yup - I'd say it would go better in paranormal.
But that's an active market, right? So that's good news.
annie

Dreamer76 said:

I have a light paranormal romance involving reincarnation that straddles both paranormal and inspirational genres. Currently, I'm marketing it as a light paranormal romance and not getting very far. With a few tweaks (mainly taking out the sex scene at the end and replacing it with her sleeping on his couch, and adding more internal religious turmoil over her mother's death), I'm positive I could convert it to be wholly inspirational and thus market it as such. However, if reincarnation is taboo in Christian literature, I don't want to waste my effort.

My MS is called "Heaven's Rainbow" and the following is a quick quote from the book.

“Did you know rainbows are actually a little peek into heaven? You can see all the colorful souls living in harmony.”

The premise is that souls come in many colors (kind of like auras) and opposite colors (on the color wheel) indicate compatability in love. So people can have many "soul mates." However, the hero and heroine have "experimental" powerful black and white souls and are each other's only soul mate. They're reincarnated from the original Romeo and Juliet (Mariotto and Gianozza) -- and they hate each other in this lifetime. But, unfortunately, since their souls are so powerful - hero has passion, heroine has love - they can only enter heaven together as a couple and release their gift or it could create a shift in a very delicate balance. The course of the story has them accepting each other and falling in love (with the help of an invented character called a Fatewinder who is sent from "the big guy" to guide them toward their destinies).

Would you consider this an inspirational romance? Light paranormal romance? Thanks in advance

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Reincarnation is generally (to say the least) taboo in Christian literature ... however the vast majority of book readers world-wide are not Christian and there may well be a significant market for a well wrritten reincarnation love story with the outworking of karma mixed in ... and I can see no reason for it not to also be inspiring ... perhaps just not in a fundamentalist Christian sense ...

I agree with the others....and Dad hit it on the head. Good luck.

Also agree with the other replies!

Only responding because you posted under Christian topic area... its hard to see how this would not be panned by a Christian audience, especially when co-opting a known Christian symbol. FWIW the rainbow = symbol of God's covenant to humantiy.

So Christian genre would probably be a bad place to market it.

Best of luck to you!

Seeing as reincarnation is directly denied in the Bible, this one won't fly in the Christian market.

Clearly the mythology directly contradicts Christianity .. but plenty of fiction books in Christian bookshops do the same .. it is more of a fantasy 'parable' than anything else.

Look at Ted Dekker's "Black, Red, White" trilogy for example.

It is basically a Christian 'parable' with a mythology that references lots of Christian background but just makes up all sorts of fantasies that definitely don't fit into modern Christianity !!

The prequel to the trilogy 'Green' is listed in the top 10 fiction sellers of www.gospellighthouse.ca , so it seems to be accepted Christian Fiction despite having a very different mythology.

It seems to avoid using any words, though, that would be caught as 'non-Christian'. So instead of saying the hero is reincarnated it talks about his soul being 'transported' into the future.

So, in your case, instead of saying that this meaning of Rainbows is the truth INSTEAD of the Christian one, you might claim that a rainbow isn't just a sign of a past promise, it is also a peek of the future.

Good luck !

Mac

Judg said:

Seeing as reincarnation is directly denied in the Bible, this one won't fly in the Christian market.

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My two cents would be that I agree that "reincarnation" isn't familiar enough with readers to work in a "Christian market" ... and sounds spooky!

And, well, okay, there's this:

Hebrews 9:27 reads: "And, inasmuch, as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment",

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But there's also the scene in John chapter 9 ... where Jesus' disciples seem to accept that a man's OWN sins can cause him to be BORN BLIND:

1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

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Obviously the disciples are allowing that PAST sins can cause punishment in THIS life, from birth.

Jesus has a chance to slap the very idea down, but doesn't ... Jesus simply suggests that reincarnation or not, they work to serve God's plans.

The first verse, about dying once ... that's open to interpretation perhaps?

It doesn't say we don't LIVE many times, just that there does come a final physical death ... and the Judgement.

If we were born, lived, then "died" only to be born and live AGAIN and REPEATEDLY ... the Scripture might not call each dying-to-live-again an actual 'death' perhaps, would be the issue?

Anyway, I'm wondering if scripture utterly rules reincarnation out?

Even the BUDDHA dodged the question about reincarnation (like JESUS) ... probably because BOTH had something BETTER to offer.

It could be that Jesus didn't bother shooting it down because it wasn't worthy of attention. He did tend to like drilling down to important issues.

I don't know of any evidence that Jews believed in reincarnation, making it even less necessary for Jesus to comment on it. And I offer as contrary evidence Romans 9:11: "Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad".

And if reincarnation were true, can you seriously believe that God never would have breathed a word of it? All those sacred texts, and never does the notion raise its head. I really can't believe that it would have just slipped his mind. It would totally change the rules of the game.

Judg said:

It could be that Jesus didn't bother shooting it down because it wasn't worthy of attention. He did tend to like drilling down to important issues.

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Well, folks who point to the episode suggest that since Jesus WAS indeed the guy teaching his disciples the VERY important issues, it's odd then that he didn't seize the opportunity to warn his disciples against pagan ideas like "reincarnation" creeping into his miracles.

I don't know of any evidence that Jews believed in reincarnation, making it even less necessary for Jesus to comment on it.

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I'm not pushing it too hard ... but it was possibly a philosophy that the Helenized and Roman-occupied society and even the general folks wouldn't have been totally unfamiliar with, though. Outside ideas infiltrate and influence societies, after all.

Many folks still picture the disciples as having long "Biblical" manes ... though I've read a few histories which suggest that the common hairstyles among Jews might have been fairly "Romanized"

Here's an interesting article about "What Jesus Looked Like" from a few years back:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/1282186.html

Those who criticize the shroud's legitimacy point to 1 Corinthians, one of the many New Testament books the apostle Paul is credited with writing. In one chapter he mentions having seen Jesus--then later describes long hair on a man as disgraceful. Would Paul have written "If a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him" if Jesus Christ had had long hair? For Neave and his team this settled the issue. Jesus, as drawings from the first century depict, would have had short hair, appropriate to men of the time.

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The length of Jesus' hair of course has ZERO bearing on our discussion ... other than to suggest that our own common traditional views of his culture and appearance may not reflect the historical situation.

And I offer as contrary evidence Romans 9:11: "Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad".

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Well, okay, but that verse specifically states that it is because God is purposefully IGNORING "works" (that is, actions that create 'karmic debts') and choosing by CALLING souls to him:

11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

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Someone arguing FOR "reincarnation in the Bible" might suggest that's a comment suggesting that part of God's acting in human history and of Salvation is the removal both of Sin and of Karmic debt due to ACTION ... in this life and (when the Scripture is specifically addressing the unborn and newly born) previous lives and incarnations.

And if reincarnation were true, can you seriously believe that God never would have breathed a word of it?

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Well, much of the world's sacred texts and religions dwell on reincarnation. Certainly there were eras in human history (even Bible history) where most humans alive hadn't ever heard of Judaism or Christianity ... So a thing can be TRUE while folks haven't had a chance to hear of it yet.

All those sacred texts, and never does the notion raise its head. I really can't believe that it would have just slipped his mind.

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Indeed, all those sacred texts ... and many mention it! Hinduism, Buddhism ... I don't know about the pagan religions closer to Israel ... mention reincarnation to a great degree!

It would totally change the rules of the game.

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It depends on which culture's game you're talking about, though.

The folks in INDIA who never got a chance to sit at Christ's feet (through no fault of their own) ... had "rules" that guided them, according to Hinduism, karma, and reincarnation.

I'm not arguing that Jesus was a Hindu of course ... but I do point to an episode and a few verses where it SEEMS he had a chance to label reincarnation as pagan nonsense ... but didn't.

Actually, Jesus didn't bother to attack other religions much, at all, imo. And we need to remember those pagan religions were still all around him.

Jesus definitely went after the hypocrites and greedy materialists of his OWN culture and religion, however.

I was speaking of the Biblical texts when I said sacred texts. I'm afraid that I believe that the very basic law of physics that two physical bodies can not occupy the same space at the same time also applies to the spiritual world: two mutually incompatible ideas can not both be true. Not everything in the world's various sacred texts can possibly be true because many concepts are mutually exclusive. So the fact that Hindu sacred texts mention something does not mean that it is true or that Jesus would expect his followers to go looking there for truth.

The people arguing that it could be true because Jesus did not specifically debunk it are ignoring the fact that in none of the Biblical writings was the concept of reincarnation ever presented as valid, a negative space that is bigger by several orders of magnitude, and therefore much more meaningful. Several centuries of silence speaks much more loudly than silence in one individual conversation. An argument that is based on the non-mention of a subject when there was no good reason to mention it, and on claiming that words don't mean what they normally mean is spectacularly weak. That is fumes, not substance.

Judg said:

I was speaking of the Biblical texts when I said sacred texts.

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Ok. I was considering the possibility that God moves in "mysterious ways" ... and since even the Bible doesn't reveal ALL God's secrets or plans (or claim to) ... there may be other forms of Sacred unknown to us.

I'm afraid that I believe that the very basic law of physics that two physical bodies can not occupy the same space at the same time also applies to the spiritual world: two mutually incompatible ideas can not both be true.

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Ok. Others would point out that if the spiritual Universe basically consists only of every individual soul's personal relationship to the Divine ... then God can certainly relate to us how God chooses to, not how we choose.

You may be jumping to an undue conclusion that Christ and reincarnation are 'mutually incompatible' imo.

If Christ were the ONLY path to Salvation (and we needn't argue philosophy here, in a Writing thread, while may fairly discuss what is fair TO write) and we KNOW there is a world of humans who (by circumstance of birth in place or time) never even got the chance to KNOW ABOUT Christ ... having folks reincarnate (until they hear Christ's message) could be an obvious Divine solution.

It's also a solution that JESUS, or his disciples PREACHING JESUS ... would never need to teach.

If you're hearing JESUS, then YOU don't need to be told about those who haven't been given that chance yet ... because now YOU'RE hearing Jesus (or his message).

Teaching reincarnation then might be like demanding folks have drivers licenses when they'll never see a car in this lifetime. But he who has cars, let him be taught and have license to drive!

Not everything in the world's various sacred texts can possibly be true because many concepts are mutually exclusive.

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Not everything can be true, I agree.
But what is true should not be rejected.

I don't know EVERYTHING true in this world, so I'm careful about rejecting another's truth.

But I agree, not every "sacred" text is necessarily true.

So the fact that Hindu sacred texts mention something does not mean that it is true or that Jesus would expect his followers to go looking there for truth.

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On the other hand, if Hinduism were true, and Christianity were true, Jesus would obviously still be talking to the Jews in front of him according to the traditions THEY'D UNDERSTAND.

Jesus was speaking to disciples who were awaiting their MESSIAH, not some other distant people's avatar of Vishnu. But GOD is still the GOD of those human souls in INDIA.

The people arguing that it could be true because Jesus did not specifically debunk it are ignoring the fact that in none of the Biblical writings was the concept of reincarnation ever presented as valid, a negative space that is bigger by several orders of magnitude, and therefore much more meaningful.

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Well ... not so much 'ignoring' as simply recognizing the circumstances of the culture in which Jesus had been born.

I agree with you that Jesus wasn't teaching his disciples reincarnation ... but he had no REASON to mention reincarnation ... Jesus was speaking to folks who now may have had no further USE for reincarnation.

Just to push the point to an extreme, neither did Jesus explain how to turn bread mold into antibiotics ... though that was true and would've been useful information. Not speaking of it ... neither denies it or discredits it. it's just not the MESSAGE.

Several centuries of silence speaks much more loudly than silence in one individual conversation. An argument that is based on the non-mention of a subject when there was no good reason to mention it, and on claiming that words don't mean what they normally mean is spectacularly weak. That is fumes, not substance.

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Well, I'd repeat that Jesus' SILENCE about reincarnation and about antibiotic medicines discredits the value of neither.

Silence in SCRIPTURE cuts your point apart there, too: it neither discredits reincarnation or antibiotics.



I don't mean to debate our interpretations of "reincarnation in Scripture" beyond a fair degree HERE, though.

It's a thread about the CHRISTIAN FICTION market, and I agreed with you that "reincarnation" might not be received well there.

If we were discussing it in a "fact" thread ... I'd argue more forcefully, simply to defend Scripture against (imo) unwarranted and undue limitation.

But I won't push my "reincarnation" point (or ponderings) further, out of respect for the thread and the OP's fair question.