by Jayaram V
Hinduism is partly revelatory
and mostly evolutionary, while Christianity is mostly revelatory and
partly evolutionary. Hinduism is a continuously evolving religion, not founded by a
particular
person or prophet and shaped by the collective wisdom of enlightened masters,
incarnations and revelations of
God accumulated over several millenniums. It is regarded as an eternal
religion (sanatana dharma) by its followers. Christianity is founded by Jesus
Christ.
To be
a Christian, one should invariably believe in the way of Jesus only and
acknowledge him as the only savior. Central to Christianity are the life and teachings
of
Jesus Christ and the glory of God, as described by witnesses and others
in the old and new testaments of the Bible.
Sources of Doctrine
The Bible is the main source of the principles and values of
Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church acknowledges tradition along
with Bible as the source for their doctrine. Central to Hinduism are the
smritis, or books of revelations, which include the Vedas, the Agamas and the
Bhagavadgita, which
Hindus revere as God in
word form and which are considered to be eternal, inviolable and revealed by God for the
welfare of the worlds. Tradition, law
books, the
epics and the Puranas and the writings of several enlightened scholars,
philosophers and masters also play an important role in the religious
lives of Hindus. Hinduism
played a significant role in the emergence of other world class
religions such as Jainism, Buddhism and
Sikhism and shaping the history
of the eastern world, while Christianity
played a significant role in shaping the history of Judaism and Islam
and the western world. Hinduism is also the most dominant source of
inspiration for many new age religions and religious movements.
Organizational Structure
Christianity is an organized missionary religion. Its activities are
guided and regulated by its churches. The churches are independent organizations
having a tradition and history of their own. According to a widely accepted
school of thought, the Christian Church is divided into three major groups, the
Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant Churches and the Orthodox
Churches. The apostles established several independent churches in
different parts of the world of which
the Roman Church of the Vatican became the most successful. Hinduism does not have a
centrally controlling organization like the church of Rome headed by the Pope or the
Protestant Church of England headed by the ruler of England. It is a decentralized religion with no particular authority except the
authority of some ancient scriptures to guide it. For a long time, the priestly class has kept the
ritual tradition of
Hinduism alive and still play a dominant role
in the temple traditions. The temples do bring people together
and create a sense of belongingness. But they have no control over the
religious lives of Hindus. The Shankaracharya began the tradition of
religious matts in different parts of the country, each headed by a
religious leader. But they do not have the kind of
authority or influence as some of the established churches of Europe.
However in both Christianity and Hinduism there is a divergence of
opinion and tradition. If Christianity is a
loosely held religion of several organizations, churches, movements and traditions that believe in Jesus
and owe their allegiance to him, Hinduism is a set of several
loosely held religions, sects, sub-sects, schools of thought and teacher
traditions that believe in
the Vedas and accept certain core beliefs as inviolable authority.
Tolerance
Hinduism and Christianity differ widely with regard to their
individual approach towards other religions. Certain orthodox sections
of Hindus may not like to dine with Christians or allow inter religious
marriages or have social engagements outside their particular castes,
but from dogmatic point of view Hinduism tolerates Christianity and
other religions. According to Hinduism the paths to God are many and in
whatever way we worship Him sincerely He responds. Christianity has an
uncompromising attitude towards other religions in matters such as the infallibility of the
Bible and belief in Jesus Christ. Any form of worship not approved
by the Bible is an anathema to the Christian faith. According to
Christians the only way to salvation is the way of Jesus and faith in
Jesus and only those who believe in him would be
saved from the consequences of sin against God. It is blaspheme to
question the actions of God or the teachings of Jesus or belief in Jesus
himself. Technically both Islam and Christianity are intolerant
religions in which there is little scope for any compromise or
reconciliation. To accept another religion one has to permanently disown
one's own religion and the teachings of its prophets. Hence so much of
irreconcilable differences and religious animosity.
Creation
Christianity believes that God created the worlds out of nothing.
Hinduism declares that nothing can come out of nothing and that
everything has to exist in a latent form before it manifests. So God created
the worlds out of himself using the elements and qualities of His energy known as
Prakriti. Christianity believes
that God and men are different. God created man in His own image but the
world and men exist separately from Him. So is the kingdom of God. Hinduism believes that God created men and beings out of Himself and
resides in them as individual atman or self. Essentially beings, objects
and God are the same in their inmost aspect as Self. God lives
everywhere. The whole universe is enveloped and inhabited by Him. His
highest world is a world of uniform bliss and
unconditional love in which there is no illusion, no limitation and no
duality.
Hinduism believes that the universe was created billions of years ago
through a gradual process of materialization brought out by Prakriti and that the earth is just one world in a series of thousands of worlds.
Christianity believes that the world was created a few thousand years
ago over a period of seven days and that earth is the center of the universe.
Conversions
Hinduism does not believe in the conversion of people. A person becomes a
Hindu either by birth or through conscious choice. In the Bhagavadgita Lord Krishna advises men not to follow another's dharma however
superior it may be for it would hamper their spiritual progress.
Christianity does not think so. Christianity accepts
conversion as a way of bringing non believers into the fold of believers
and saving them from a certain damnation. It is the responsibility
and sacred duty of every Christian to save their fellow human beings who
are not Christians by bringing them to the path of Jesus and fulfill his
promise to the mankind.
Karma and Divine Justice
According to
Hinduism man is judged by his own karma and the consequences of his desire ridden
actions decide his fate and future continuously. As long he indulges in
egoistic and desire ridden actions, induced by the qualities of nature,
considering himself to be the doer of his actions, he runs the risk of
leading an illusory and ignorant life subject to the cycle of births and
deaths and the laws of nature. The only way out of this is by doing
desireless actions, surrendering to God and acknowledging Him as the
doer of all actions, offering the fruit of all actions to Him with
detachment, devotion and sense of sacrifice. Christianity believes a
person commits sin against God by transgressing His law, not against
himself. If he leads a life of sin without acknowledging God and without
believing in Jesus, he will become a victim of the Devil and fall into temptation.
The gates of hell will be wide open for him. If he is a true believer,
God will save him and grant him an eternal life in heaven. So it is the
conduct of a person upon earth in the light of God's established law and
his belief in God that determines the fate of an individual here and
hereafter. A sinner can seek forgiveness of God and Jesus through repentance
and submission and he will be forgiven according to the strength of his
belief. On the Judgment Day all souls are resurrected and judged by God according to their actions on
earth.
Destruction of World
Both Hinduism and Christianity believe in the eventual destruction of the world. However
Hinduism does not believe in the permanent destruction of the world but
in the repetitive nature of creation. There will be repetitive cycles of
creation followed by destruction. God does it for his own enjoyment.
Each cosmic cycle is equivalent to a day of God which stretches over
billions of years and comprises of four cosmic ages or yugas. God is
creator, sustainer and also destroyer. He creates the worlds through a
centrifugal process of expansion or going out like the rays of the sun
or the web of a spider while he destroys them through the centripetal process
of withdrawal or contraction. At the end of each cosmic cycle God
withdraws His entire creation into Himself and then goes into sleep or
hibernation to be awakened again after a certain time to initiate
another cycle of creation. Christianity does not
believe in the repetitive cycles of creation. Creation takes place in an
instant through the will of God over a period of seven days. There is no
evolution of life. All life happens at once. The beings live upon earth
only once never to return to it again. After that they reside either in the heaven or in the hell
eternally. At the end of creation, following a fierce battle
between the forces of good and evil, God heralds a Judgment Day on which he
decides the fate of each individual according to his or her actions upon earth.
Incarnations and Son of God
In Hinduism there is no concept of a prophet or messenger of God.
There are no hard
and fast rules as to how God reveals His knowledge and chooses His messengers.
Sometimes He incarnates Himself, sometimes He reveals Himself physically
to pure beings and some times He selects a heavenly being or a pure
soul on earth to do the work for Him. He reveals his knowledge
through the Vedas at the beginning of each cycle of creation. Besides,
every self-realized person who has overcome the duality and is one with
Brahman is a messenger of God in his self-realized state.
According to Hindu scriptures, the battle between good and evil forces
is ongoing and continuous and whenever the evils seems to be gaining
ground, God heeds to the call of His devotees and takes the side of the
good to restore the balance. In His aspect as Lord Vishnu, He incarnates
upon earth in human form several times to restore order and destroy
the evil. His next incarnation is going to be that of Kalki which
will come at the end of this cosmic age. According to Christianity
God has sent several prophets in the past starting with Abraham to
preach His message. Then in an epochal event of cosmic proportions he
decided to send His only son, Jesus Christ in flesh and blood to remind
the people of His law and give them an opportunity to redeem themselves
eternally. Christians believe that although born in a human form, Jesus should not be mistaken as
a mere human. He is the son of God who came to the earth willingly with
a specific mission to save the humanity by showing them the true way.
They also believe that there would be no more messiahs
till the second coming of Christ during which he will judge the living
and the dead.
Pantheon
Christians believe in God, the Trinity, Jesus and Holy Spirit. Hindus
believe in absolute highest Brahman, Mother
Goddess, the Trinity of Brahma,
Vishnu and Siva and several hundreds of gods and goddesses,
emanations, incarnations, aspects and so on, essentially as different aspects of one
supreme Brahman. In Christianity God and the Trinity are different. In
Hinduism God and Trinity are one and the same in their purest form. The
Trinity is but His functional and awakened aspect. Hindus also worship Mother
Goddess as the universal mother. According to some, she is an aspect of
God and according to some independent of Him. Besides God, the Holy
Ghost and Christ, some Christians venerate Mother Mary, acknowledge her miracles
and accept her as Holy Mother, pure and sinless, who ascended to the heaven in her
physical form through the intervention of Jesus Christ. Some churches
approve offering of
prayers to saints and belief in the communion of Saints and
Apostolic succession.
Missionary Activity
Missionary activity is an integral aspect of Christianity and rooted
in the teachings of Jesus. A mission is considered as the will of God
whose aim is to enhance the glory of God as reflected in the teachings
of Jesus by planting new churches all over the world and increase the
number of God's disciples.
Places of Worship
In Christianity a church is not a mere building but an organization
of true believers. Officially Jesus is the head of all the churches in whom
are vested all the powers of governing them. The churches play an
important role in spreading the teachings of Jesus among non believers
and recruiting new converts. In Hinduism a temple is essentially a place
of worship where devotees can congregate and offer their worship. The
priests and temple administration do not indulge in missionary activity.
They do however provide, wherever possible, facilities for people to
listen to discourses or participate in religious events.
Marriage
In Hinduism marriage is between two souls whose relationship may go
beyond this life and stretch over several past and future lives. In
Christianity the purpose of marriage is procreation, companionship and
cohabitation. In Christian tradition polygamy and divorce are not
allowed. It is God's will that marriages should be strictly between one
man and one woman. At one time, Hindu tradition permitted both polygamy
and polyandry, but both are now declared illegal. Marriage in Hinduism
is a sacred relationship between only a man and a woman, whose primary
purpose is procreation and achievement of the four aims of human
life,
dharma (personal, family, social and religious laws), artha (wealth),
kama (sensual enjoyment) and moksha (spiritual liberation).
Gender Differences
Christianity believes that men and women are created separately and
differently. Hinduism believes that the gender of a being is a personal
choice or product of one's past karma. A soul does not have to be
eternally male or female. It may take birth either as a male or female
depending upon its past actions. In contrast Christianity believes that
a soul is either male or female and remains so eternally.
Concept of Sin
Christianity believes that God created laws for the benefit of
mankind and whenever any one transgresses these laws he commits sin against God. Since it is almost impossible for people
to obey the law of God, they invariably commit sin. Jesus has promised to take upon himself
the sins of all those who believe in him and accept him as their savior
and there by save them from possible retribution. Those who do not believe
in him will go to hell as they have no redemption for their sins.
Hinduism believes that sin is committed by beings against themselves, not against
God. God creates beings out of Himself and then subjects them to
illusion and ignorance. He
is the cause of their ignorance. In Him there is no duality. He is neither wrathful nor vengeful but unbound bliss and love.
So He would not sit like an old man in some grand heaven and punish
people for their actions. He reveals His laws and lets the
individuals to work out their salvation through their own efforts.
Because He
is unbound love, He always responds to the calls of His devotees, bestows
upon them His grace and helps them achieve liberation either directly or
through enlightened masters and saints. Unlike Christians, they can liberate
themselves from this cycle of births and deaths by following any of the several paths
revealed by Him from time to time. Hindus believe in karma and suffering and redemption through
desireless actions and surrender to God. Christians believe in sin and redemption
through refuge in Christ.
Heaven and Hell
Christianity believes in one heaven ruled by God and one hell ruled
by a devil. Hinduism believes in a gigantic star studded universe
consisting of innumerable worlds, heavens and hells, created by one
Supreme God and left to the care and control of several gods and
goddesses. The dark world is populated by demonic forces who play a
negative role according to the divine plan.
In the scriptures of Hinduism, we find references to an Asvaththa
tree or the tree of life, whose roots are in heaven nourished by gods
and whose branches are spread into the earth to sustain life. In
Christianity there is a legend about a tree of life, which stands tall
in the garden of Eden, whose branches are spread in heaven and whose
roots reach into the hell and with which many Christian myths and
legends are associated. It is the same tree from which Eve allegedly plucked
the apple leading to the downfall of man, which Noah carried in his boat
during the great flood, from where Moses got his staff during his
wanderings on Mount Sinai, whose trunk Solomon said to have planted in front of his palace, having failed
to use it in the construction of his temple, and from which the cross, on
which Jesus was crucified, was allegedly made.1
Evolution and Involution
Hinduism believes in the physical, mental as well as spiritual
evolution of life. This is not exactly evolution as explained in science books but
rather the progression of soul in matter. Christianity does not believe
in any form of evolution. According to Christianity,
God created all life forms at once over a period of seven days. In
Hinduism manifestation is essentially a process of entanglement of pure
soul with matter. Creation happens because the self becomes involved
with the qualities (gunas) and principles (tattvas) of Prakriti and
loses its true awareness. This is called illusion or maya or
forgetfulness. Once the involvement reaches a particular level, a being
decides to withdraw gradually from the sense objects and become
completely free. This
is called liberation or moksha. Left to itself this process may take a
very long time. But human beings can hasten their liberation through the
practice of devotion, desireless actions, yoga and meditation. During
its existence upon earth, the soul passes through various physical
bodies from lower organism to higher organisms and finally into human
forms. In Christianity the concept of
physical or spiritual evolution is anathema or sacrilege. God created
the world perfectly from the beginning. He populated it with living
forms. He created a man and a woman in the garden of Eden and asked them
to abide by His law. He cast them away from heaven when they failed to
obey. Hinduism believes that God inhabits the diverse aspects of His
creation as inmost self. The soul exists in all animate and inanimate
objects including stones, rivers, hills, plants and animals. Christians
believe that only human beings have souls.
Ethics
Hinduism advocates belief in prayers, surrender, egolessness,
forgiveness, compassion, unconditional love, harmlessness and inner
purity. Virtue, faith and inner purity are vital to earn the grace of
God. So does Christianity. In Hinduism these are the means to
soul's liberation. In Christianity these are the means to abide by the
law of God and personify the will of Jesus and Christian values.
Liberation from sin comes not because of them but because of their abiding faith
in Jesus and his teachings and the law of God.
Origins
Hinduism is the most ancient living religion of the world with a
history of over 6000 years. It played a significant role in the
evolution of religious thought, astronomy, mathematics, metallurgy and
medicine in the eastern hemisphere. Hinduism began as a vedic religion
but over a period of several centuries it assimilated many other
religious thoughts and movements such as Saivism, Vaishnavism and
Shaktism. Divergent schools of thought arose as to the nature of God,
nature of soul, the purpose of creation, the role of Prarkriti and the
nature of earthly existence. Debate among scholars on some of these
issues still continue. Christianity began its journey as an established
religion after the migration of Christ's
disciples to Rome sometime in the first century AD. They suffered
initially from severe persecution by Romans till the Roman rulers
saw light in the preaching of Jesus Christ and embraced Christianity
whole heartedly. For nearly five hundred years after the gentiles and
Romans were first converted to Christianity, the scholars quibbled among
themselves on some important aspects of Christian theology such as
application of the laws of the Torah, the birth of Jesus, whether he was
man or God or son of God, the nature and status of Mary and the role of
the church and the state and so on. The debate on some of these aspects
still continues. Just as Buddhism posed a great challenge to Hinduism in
the ancient period, Islam posed a great threat to Christianity during
the medieval period. Despite the setbacks, Christianity triumphed
against Islam in Europe and played a significant role in the evolution
of religious thought in Europe, Africa, Australia and the north and
south Americas.
Idol Worship
Christianity does not approve idol worship. Neither Hinduism. Hindus
are not expected to worship lifeless idols or images. If some one
does so, it is purely out of ignorance. Hindus are expected to worship living
idols in which gods are installed through invocations and supplications. The idols
are God in image form just as human beings are God in human form. They
are worshipped only after they are infused with the presence of God and
transformed into a living image.
Rituals of Initiation
In Christianity baptism is a prerequisite to become a Christian.
According to Hinduism a person becomes a Hindu by birth because he or she
desired so in his or her previous life. However there is a provision to
admit non Hindus into Hinduism through purification
ceremonies. Some even suggest that a person can become a Hindu purely by
choice or according to the wishes of an enlightened guru without any
ceremony. In Christianity a born again Christian is the one
who is originally a non-Christian and who has been baptized into Christianity
by a church official. In Hinduism a twice born Hindu is usually an upper caste
Hindu who has been initiated into vedic studies. Also spiritually every
self-realized person is twice born.
His first birth takes place when he is born physically and his second
birth when he gains the knowledge of Brahman and Atman and the nature
and purpose
of his existence.
Did Jesus Live in India?
According to one very popular theory, Jesus Christ said to have
visited India when he was young and went to the Himalayas after visiting
the Gangetic valley. He said to have received spiritual initiation in
the Himalayas from some siddhas (spiritual adepts) before he returned to
Jerusalem at the age of 34 or 32 and made his presence felt through his
miraculous healing powers and powerful speeches. It is further said that
he did not die on the cross, but escaped from Jerusalem with the help of
his followers and traveled back to India and lived in Kashmir where his
grave said to exist till today. According to the
Unknown Life of Jesus Christ by Nicolas
Notovich (1890), Jesus was
initiated into Buddhism and lived in a Buddhist monastery as a monk for
sometime somewhere in the Himalayas or Tibet before he returned to
Jerusalem. He also visited Varanasi where he witnessed religious
animosity between Buddhist monks and Hindu Brahmins. According to the Urantia
Book, Jesus roamed throughout the Roman empire accompanied by two
Indian companions and learned about India and Hinduism from them.
According to the
Aquarian Gospel also. Jesus visited India before he began preaching
his teachings to the people of Jerusalem.
While many instances are quoted in support of this theory, the
following points need to be addressed with convincing proof.
1. Jesus Christ himself never mentioned anything even remotely about
India or Hinduism. None of his disciples ever mentioned any thing about
it in the Bible.
2. There is practically very little in common between his teachings
and the main tenets of Hinduism or Buddhism except in matters of ethics and moral
conduct.
3. It is hard believe that Jesus Christ lived in Kashmir, and being a
great personality as he is, would have remained silent. He would have
definitely made his presence felt in the region through his teachings.
Besides it is hard to accept that he would have gone to Kashmir all
alone without any of his trusted followers accompanying him.
It is also a well known fact that after the death of Jesus the Christ and
long before Europe was Christianized, one of the Apostles of Jesus, St.
Thomas, went to India probably by sailing across the Arabian Sea and landed in
what is now known as Kerala. He lived there for sometime
and converted some people to Christianity, whose descendents practice a very
ancient form of Christianity till date. St Thomas was however killed by
the natives who were disturbed by his activities and unfamiliar
doctrine.
Christianity and Hinduism confronted each other in a big way during
the British Rule in India. The activities of the Christian missionaries
and the politics of East India Company led to the Mutiny of 1857, after
which the British Government adopted a policy of secularism and kept
itself aloof from the politics of religion and conversions.
The Christian missionaries did a substantial work in the Indian
subcontinent in helping the poor and the downtrodden, more for the
purpose of conversion rather than philanthropy, except persons like
Mother Theresa, but they could not achieve much in terms of
conversions.
Tensions do smolder between the religious communities from time to
time, but it is more because of the critical and over zealous nature of
prejudiced missionaries and the very uncompromising and inherent attitude
of Christianity towards Hinduism and other religions. From the Christian
perspective Hinduism is a religion of the heathens in which there is no
place for Jesus and the law of Christian God and hence no scope for its
followers to save themselves from eternal damnation.
