Comparing Hinduism to Christianity

[Gary]

Comparing Christianity & Hinduism
by Peter Kreeft

There are two basic kinds of religions in the world: Eastern and Western.

The main differences between Hinduism and Christianity are typical of the differences between Eastern and Western religions in general. Here are some examples:

Pantheistic vs. Theistic

• Hinduism is pantheistic, not theistic. The doctrine that God created the world out of nothing rather than emanating it out of His own substance or merely shaping some pre-existing material is an idea that simply never occurred to anyone but the Jews and those who learned it from them. Everyone else either thought of the gods as part of the world (paganism) or the world as part of God (pantheism).

Good and evil vs. Absolutely righteous

• If God is in everything, God is in both good and evil. But then there is no absolute morality, no divine law, no divine will discriminating good and evil. In Hinduism, morality is practical; its end is to purify the soul from desires so that it can attain mystical consciousness. Again, the Jews are unique in identifying the source of morality with the object of religion. Everyone has two innate senses: the religious sense to worship, and the moral sense of conscience; but only the Jewish God is the focus of both. Only the God of the Bible is absolutely righteous.

Mystical experience vs. Scripture judges experience

• Eastern religions come from private mystical experiences; Western religions come from public revelations recorded in a book and summarized in a creed.[/b] In the East, human experience validates the Scriptures; in the West, Scripture judges experience.

Relative truth vs. The Truth

• Eastern religions are esoteric, understandable only from within by the few who share the experience. Western religions are esoteric, public, democratic, open to all. In Hinduism there are many levels of truth: polytheism, sacred cows and reincarnation for the masses; monotheism (or monism) for the mystics, who declare the individual soul one with Brahman (God) and beyond reincarnation ("Brahman is the only reincarnator"). Truth is relative to the level of experience.

You are your neighbor vs. Love your neighbor

• Individuality is illusion according to Eastern mysticism. Not that we're not real, but that we are not distinct from God or each other. Christianity tells you to love your neighbors; Hinduism tells you you are your neighbors. The word spoken by God Himself as His own essential name, the word "I," is the ultimate illusion, not the ultimate reality, according to the East. There Is no separate ego. All is one.

No sin, guilt, hell vs. Sin and salvation

• Since individuality is illusion, so is free will. If free will is illusion, so is sin. And if sin is illusion, so is hell. Perhaps the strongest attraction of Eastern religions is in their denial of sin, guilt and hell.
  
  Thus the two essential points of Christianityâ€â€sin and salvationâ€â€are both missing in the East. If there is no sin, no salvation is needed, only enlightenment. We need not be born again; rather, we must merely wake up to our innate divinity. If I am part of God. I can never really be alienated from God by sin.

Out of time vs. In time

• Body, matter, history and time itself are not independently real, according to Hinduism. Mystical experience lifts the spirit out of time and the world. In contrast, Judaism and Christianity are essentially news, events in time: creation, providence, prophets, Messiah, incarnation, death and, resurrection, ascension, second coming. Incarnation and New Birth are eternity dramatically entering time. Eastern religions are not dramatic.

Mysticism vs. Sanctity

• The ultimate Hindu ideal is not sanctity but mysticism. Sanctity is fundamentally a matter of the will: willing God's will, loving God and neighbor. Mysticism is fundamentally a matter of intellect, intuition, consciousness. This fits the Eastern picture of God as consciousness-not will, not lawgiver.

Adapted from: -source-

 

[Soma-Sight]

Hinduism is pantheistic, not theistic.

Actually at its core Hinduism is MONOTHEISTIC. The Brahman is the Supreme Creator of all things and all things flow from him and back too him. He is the sustaiuner of all lifeforms and through the Self He can be made known to the seeking spiritual aspirant.

Good and evil vs. Absolutely righteous

Hinduism teaches that the root problem of man is the illusion that he is ever separate from the power of God. One that achieves the Cosmic Union with the Godhead no longer sees things in a dualistic fashion. He sees all things as being equal in regards that they all spring from God and return to Him for His purposes alone. It is a humble point of view.

Mystical experience vs. Scripture judges experience

Yes here we have the Western placebo effect of semantical dissertations versus the language of direct experience of God's character. Language unfortunately is RELATIVE to the one speaking or the one interpretting and is therefore fallible. Give 100 men a Bible verse and get 100 different answers on what is being portrayed.

Give 100 men a direct encounter with the Divine and you have the shared unity of a spiritual connection beyond language.

Relative truth vs. The Truth

The Jewish conception that Truth is somehow limited to one interpreation is confusing to the Hindu. Just as God is infinite in His Divine attributes, He is infinite in His ability to convey the intrinsic Truth the is Transcendent in His ground of being.

You are your neighbor vs. Love your neighbor

Overall from this stanza there is no real difference with how you will end up acting to one another if you take each stance literally. Each produces good fruit.

No sin, guilt, hell vs. Sin and salvation

As far as my research goes this is pretty accurate and a fundamental difference between the two.

Out of time vs. In time

Actaully at the core teachings both faiths teach that God is both wholly transcendent and immanent in His Creation. There also has been numerous incarnations of Krishna to "save the world" as Christ did.

Mysticism vs. Sanctity

Mysticism and sanctity are present in both religons.


Nicew post Gary, seems you want to take a step back from the old Muslim debates eh?? :D

 

[Gary]

Soma, I was an atheist for many years and studied most religions... Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, even Wicca.... but really, there is only value in considering true monotheist religions which are transcendent (God outside of His creation) so I concentrate mainly on Judaism (which helps my understanding of Christianity) and Islam (which, by its errors and challenge, helps to strengthen my Christianity).

I have also considered Roman Catholicism and studied it extensively.... again, their errors strengthens my Reformed Theology and my faith.

 

[Gary]

Pantheism means all (“panâ€Â) is God (“theismâ€Â). It is the worldview held by most Hindus, many Buddhists, and other New Age religions. It is also the worldview of Christian Science, Unity, and Scientology.

• According to pantheism, God “is all in all.†God pervades all things, contains all things, subsumes all things, and is found within all things. Nothing exists apart from God, and all things are in some way identified with God. The world is God, and God is the world. But more precisely, in pantheism all is God, and God is all.

There are differing types of belief within pantheism. An absolute pantheism is represented by the thought of the fifth-century b.c. Greek philosopher Parmenides and the Vedanta school of Hinduism. Absolute pantheism teaches that there is only one being in the world, God, and that all else that appears to exist actually does not.

The multilevel pantheism is found in some forms of Hinduism, especially as expressed by Radhakrishnan. This view sees various levels of manifestation of God, with the highest level manifesting God as the Absolute One, and lower levels showing him in increasing multiplicity.

Another type is emanational pantheism, which was set forth by the third century a.d. philosopher, Plotinus. According to this view, everything flows from God in the same way a flower unfolds from a seed.

There is also the developmental pantheism of Hegel (1770–1831). Hegel viewed the events of history as the unfolding manifestations of Absolute Spirit.

The modal pantheism of the seventeenth-century rationalist Spinoza argued that there is only one absolute substance in which all finite things are merely modes or moments.

Permeational pantheism is the view popularized by the Star Wars movies of George Lucas, in which the Force (Tao) penetrates all things. This belief is found in Zen Buddhism.

Source: Geisler, N. L. (1999). Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics. Baker reference library (Page 580).

 

[DivineNames]

Pantheism means all (“panâ€Â) is God (“theismâ€Â)...
The world is God, and God is the world.

Eastern religion tends to believe that God transcends creation and is immanent in creation. We are not talking about a strict identification of the world with God, as if there was nothing more to God than the world.

 

[bibleberean]

Gary wrote:

"Permeational pantheism is the view popularized by the Star Wars movies of George Lucas, in which the Force (Tao) penetrates all things. This belief is found in Zen Buddhism. "

bb responds:

I know some western "Buddhists" who have told me personally that they believe this...

Eastern religion is so mumbled and confusing that it draws in people who are in rebellion against the God of the bible.

They love the nebulous and ever changing flux of their invented cosmic non personal force...

 

[DivineNames]

Eastern religion is so mumbled and confusing that it draws in people who are in rebellion against the God of the bible.

They love the nebulous and ever changing flux of their invented cosmic non personal force...

lol :D

This is the kind of ignorant nonsense I guess you have to expect from the more fanatical Protestants.

 

[DivineNames]

Hinduism is pantheistic, not theistic.

I will use the source bibleberean recently posted-

http://www.christiananswers.net/evangel ... duism.html

"A particular misconception by Westerners is that Hinduism is essentially pantheistic. Even though it is the case that many Hindus believe in the identity between an impersonal God and the universe, many Hindus (possibly the majority) would be more accurately described as theistic, viz. as believing in a personal God who is not identical with the world."

 

[DivineNames]

pantheism - the identification of God with the forces of nature (Shorter OED)

It is very doubtful whether anyone has ever been a pantheist. It is one of those words that you apply to other people when you want to criticise their opinions without actually reading them. Who has ever said that God is just the wind, the rain and the storm?

The people who are most often said to be pantheists or at least monists are the best-known philosophers of the Indian traditions.

monism - a philosophy or system of thought that recognizes one ultimate principle or being.

But the use of these terms is almost always misleading. Many Indian philosophers (e.g. Madhva) were straightforward theists, accepting a personal lord who is distinct both from matter and from individual souls. The eighth-century Sankara might be called a monist (or non-dualist), but he has already cropped up as a philosopher who agrees with the common classical view that God (nirguna Brahman) is completely incomprehensible. In Sankara's case, it is true that he argues that all things are really identical with Brahman, but he does so, he says, only because the revealed scriptures, the Upanishads, say so (he clearly states that in his commentary on the Vedanta Sutras). And what he means by 'being identical with' is that the universe has no independent source of existence other than God. Any classical theist would agree with that. There is much more to be said about Indian thought about God, but it should be obvious that to call it 'pantheistic' is incorrect, if that suggests that there is nothing to God beyond the physical universe.

When you see what somebody like Thomas Aquinas says about the personal creator, you might well think that he was the one to deny a personal God - but you would, of course, be wrong. Believing in a personal God is just a bit more complicated than you might think.


Keith Ward, God: A Guide for the Perplexed

 

[DivineNames]

As I have said, I think that eastern religion generally involves belief in a God that is both transcendent and immanent.

In theory, this is what Christianity is supposed to believe. In practice however, the tendency is that Christianity denies the real immanence of God in creation.

 

[Free]

There is a difference between the East and the West DivineNames and it lies in how one defines 'immanent' and 'transcendent'. I don't think there are too many Eastern religions that believe that God created everything but is distinct from his creation. Also, not too many believe in a personal God and some don't even believe in 'God'.

 

[Julian Pyke]

I haven't read a single post in this topic... but lemme make it simple for you.

Hinduism= Dead
Christiananity= Alive

 

[bibleberean]

Merriam Webster Dictionary

Pantheism

Pronunciation: 'pan(t)-thE-"i-z&m

Function: noun
Etymology: French panthéisme, from panthéiste pantheist, from English pantheist, from pan- + Greek theos god
1 : a doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws of the universe
2 : the worship of all gods of different creeds, cults, or peoples indifferently; also : toleration of worship of all gods (as at certain periods of the Roman empire)

Taken from the following site.

http://www.christiananswers.net/evangel ... duism.html

"Places of worship are everywhere for Hindus. Shrines and temples are common in India and wherever Hindus live. The most basic place of worship for Hindus is the home shrine in which a person's individual personal gods are worshipped or the family's gods are worshipped. An individual will often keep their gods and pictures on a small shelf or alcove. The family gods will often have a designated place of the house for worship; in wealthier homes it may even be a room of the house."

1 Corinthians 10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

Hindus worship devils...

True Christians worship God...

1 Corinthians 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

1 Corinthians 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

I cannot fathom why any truly searching person would reject the God of the bible and embrace the darkness of the eastern devil cults...

 

[Ajax 777]

Nor can I, but I assure you....I've already seen some attempt to do both simultaneously. Can you believe this kind of insanity exists in the world?

Then it's true: the Devil has already been freed to run amok in the world.

We need to put him back in his cage.

We should pray for this sort of deliverance, for this sort of deception is indeed already awake and moving upon His flock in darkness we weren't ready for yet. This is the true testimony I have to offer all of you.

 

[Soma-Sight]

bb responds:

I know some western "Buddhists" who have told me personally that they believe this...

Eastern religion is so mumbled and confusing that it draws in people who are in rebellion against the God of the bible.

They love the nebulous and ever changing flux of their invented cosmic non personal force...

BB,

Who is it that diffuses the oxygen in your lungs to the blood?
What is it that causes your hair and skin to grow?
How are you responsible for the neurons firing action potentials in your brain as you read this?

There is an "impersonal force" that pervades your physical body. It is called ENERGY for a generic scientific linguistic defintion. This Energy or "impersonal force" is what is responsible for defeating the Japanese in WW2 and the reason you are alive today.

Harnessing that energy in a Christlike manner is what a "devil worshipping Hindu" is all about.

Remeber the verse that states "your body is the Temple" if you are still confused on the devil induced monks of the Himalayas and of India.

You seem to think you are separate from the power of the Most High God? You view yourself as independant from the power of life-force and the Holy Spirit?

This concept is the real "doctrine of devils". Placing your own ego in place of God's Throne.

Many people influeced by the philosphies of the East have a much more concrete, Truthful, and scientific paradigm on the nature of man in relation to the Creator than most Pat Robertson's I know....

 

[bibleberean]

bb responds:

I know some western "Buddhists" who have told me personally that they believe this...

Eastern religion is so mumbled and confusing that it draws in people who are in rebellion against the God of the bible.

They love the nebulous and ever changing flux of their invented cosmic non personal force...

BB,

Who is it that diffuses the oxygen in your lungs to the blood?
What is it that causes your hair and skin to grow?
How are you responsible for the neurons firing action potentials in your brain as you read this?

There is an "impersonal force" that pervades your physical body. It is called ENERGY for a generic scientific linguistic defintion. This Energy or "impersonal force" is what is responsible for defeating the Japanese in WW2 and the reason you are alive today.

Harnessing that energy in a Christlike manner is what a "devil worshipping Hindu" is all about.

Remeber the verse that states "your body is the Temple" if you are still confused on the devil induced monks of the Himalayas and of India.

You seem to think you are separate from the power of the Most High God? You view yourself as independant from the power of life-force and the Holy Spirit?

This concept is the real "doctrine of devils". Placing your own ego in place of God's Throne.

Many people influeced by the philosphies of the East have a much more concrete, Truthful, and scientific paradigm on the nature of man in relation to the Creator than most Pat Robertson's I know....

You are entitled to your opinin... :D

 

[DivineNames]

There is a difference between the East and the West DivineNames and it lies in how one defines 'immanent' and 'transcendent'. I don't think there are too many Eastern religions that believe that God created everything but is distinct from his creation.

As has been explained, Hinduism has a strong monotheistic tendency. As it happens, examples of Christian mysticism are actually more towards being "pantheist" than certain strands of Hinduism.

Whatever faults we can find in eastern religion, we can also find fault with Christianity. One of these faults, is that it does not have a properly balanced view of God's transcendence and immanence.

 

[Free]

As has been explained, Hinduism has a strong monotheistic tendency.

On the contrary, Hinduism is anything but monotheistic. Hinduism teaches that there are many gods, which is polytheism, but is best described as henotheistic (many gods, but one which is essentially superior).

Perhaps you are confusing 'monotheisim' with 'monism' or 'pantheism'.

As it happens, examples of Christian mysticism are actually more towards being "pantheist" than certain strands of Hinduism.

Well then, please provide some examples.

Whatever faults we can find in eastern religion, we can also find fault with Christianity. One of these faults, is that it does not have a properly balanced view of God's transcendence and immanence.

Please, elaborate.

 

[DivineNames]

Hinduism is anything but monotheistic. Hinduism teaches that there are many gods, which is polytheism, but is best described as henotheistic (many gods, but one which is essentially superior).

"henotheism is a term coined by Max Müller... While Hinduism is generally monistic or monotheistic admitting emanating deities, the early Rig Veda (undeveloped early Hinduism) was what Max Muller based his views of henotheism on. In the four Vedas, Muller believed that a striving towards One was being aimed at by the worship of different cosmic principles, such as ((Sanskrit) god of fire in ancient and traditional India; one of the three chief deities of the Vedas) Agni (fire), (Wind god) Vayu (wind), (Chief god of the Rig-Veda; god of rain and thunder) Indra (rain, thunder, the sky), etc. each of which was variously, by clearly different writers, hailed as supreme in different sections of the books. Indeed, however, what was confusing was an early idea of Rita, or supreme order, that bound all the gods. Other phrases such as Ekam Sat, Vipraha Bahudha Vadanti (Truth is One, though the sages know it as many) led to understandings that the Vedic people admitted to fundamental oneness. From this mix of monism, monotheism and naturalist polytheism Max Muller decided to name the early Vedic religion henotheistic.

This, however, is clearly only one possible interpretation of Vedic culture. Extremely advanced, indeed unprecedented and thitherto unduplicated ideas of pure monism are to be found even in the early Rig Veda Samhita, notwithstanding clearly monist and monotheist movements of Hinduism that developed with the advent of the Upanishads. One such example of early Vedic monism is the Nasadiya hymn of the Rig Veda: "That One breathed by itself without breath, other than it there has been nothing." To collectively term the Vedas henotheistic, and thus further leaning towards polytheism, rather than monotheism, is to ignore the clearly monist bent of the Vedas that were thoroughly developed as early as 1000 BCE in the first Aranyakas and Upanishads. However, to deny that a form of polytheism is also present may equally be to ignore aspects of the early Vedic texts. Whether the concept of "henotheism" adequately addresses these complexities or simply fudges them is a matter of debate."


"Indeed, the only period of Hinduism that ever approached henotheism was in the early Vedic period and even that is disputed by scholars, most notably the great Hindu mystic Aurobindo Ghosh."

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encycl ... theism.htm



So Hinduism is not best described as "henotheistic".

Perhaps you are confusing 'monotheisim' with 'monism' or 'pantheism'.

I don't think so. :D

Hinduism has a strong monotheistic tendency. You obviously find this difficult to accept.

 

[DivineNames]

Well then, please provide some examples.

At some point.

Please, elaborate.

With Protestants, it would be a waste of time to try.