Metempsychosis: A belief in which the soul goes from one body to another, until either time ends or the soul is made pure or complete. This belief is older than recorded history, and was probably a feature of the early religions of the Indo-Europeans and South Asians. It is fully present in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Judaism, medieval Kabbalists developed a limited form of it. In Greek philosophy, Plato was its best-known supporter; it was Plato's followers who first used the term. Through Plato, it influenced some early Christians, including Origen. Yet, Augustine of Hippo argued vigorously against it, and it was eventually condemned at the Council of Florence in 1439. Metempsychosis conflicts with Christian belief in resurrection of the entire person, a belief that does not separate the body and the spirit from the soul. Metempsychosis treats the body as a 'container' that's not an essential part of who we are. Thus it stands with gnosticism in not treating the physical world and bodily life as being real or of any ultimate value.