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 inhabited by a devil, who is also described to be its chief
prisoner. 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.
