punishment for ill-doing incarnated in physical bodies till discipline should render them fit for spiritual existence. Supporters of this doctrine, the Pre-existants or Pre-existiani, are found as early as the 2nd century, among them being Justin Martyr and Origen (q.v.), and the idea not only belongs to metempsychosis and mysticism generally, but is widely prevalent in Oriental thought. It was condemned by the Council of Constantinople in 540, but has frequently reappeared in modern thought (cf.