Christianity and Hinduism

Hinduism is an incredibly complex polytheistic religion, with its roots in the Indus River Valley Civilization over 8000 years ago and is still practiced today. Hinduism is typically practiced by the citizens of places such as India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. As indicated by its wide reaching influences, Hinduism does not have one single founder, but started a shift into its more modern form when Aryan invaders brought the Vedas into India around 1500 B.C.E. At its core Hinduism believes in entities called the Brahman, the source of everything in the universe, from these Brahman emerged over 330 million gods, all of which are different manifestations of the Brahman. The most important gods in Hinduism are Vishnu,

Both of the religions Hinduism and Judaism are similar but different in their own ways. Hinduism worships many gods and goddesses, whereas Judaism is a confirmedly monotheistic religion. In the Hinduism religion the bedrock is the belief that the Vedas is sacred and the caste system decribed in it. “Hinduism is a guide to life, and the goal of which is to reach union with Brahman, the unchanging ultimate reality”(75). The dharma or moral law that need to be followed. There are many gods that were worshiped and each person may worship a different god. Images of the gods in homes or temples were presented where each person can show devotion to their personal gods by singing hymns or offering flowers before the images. The Hindus believe in many things such as that the universe undergoes and endless cycle of creation, believe in karma, that the soul reincarnates, the belief that all life is sacred.

For example, he was seen as having the personality of Vishnu the creator, Shiva the protector, and Brahma the creator. Although, overtime Brahma faded into history while a great Mother Goddess grew in importance. Furthermore, Hindu’s are free from choosing who they worship and free from choosing how they accomplish Moksha. These are the path of right thinking, the path of right action, or the path of religious devotion. On the other hand, many hindus have four goals in human life. One of hindus goals is Dharma which is the duties or deeds that a person is expected to perform, which vary and depend upon the person's social standing / caste. Secondly, Artha the pursuit of material gain by lawful means. Thirdly, is a Moksha release from the cycle of rebirth (reincarnation/samsara). Last but not least, Karma the belief that the results of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence affect his or her fate in future existences. Vedas is the hinduism holy book which can’t be traced back to a single founder. Also, ahimsa; the principle of Hindus in which a person should do no harm to living things is one of their religious practices. Therefore, Hindus have set themselves as vegetarians to prevent harm or damage.

considered him to be in direct communication with the Brahman. So completely had he turned within to realize the true Self that he never acknowledged any human presence, although admirers came from miles around to worship him and to lay before him their offerings of fruit and flowers, cotton cloth, and money (Maharaj, 2004: 14).

Christianity and Buddhism exist as two of the predominant religions throughout the world. While Buddhism ranks around fifth in number of followers of religions, it is the third most widespread religion behind Christianity and Islam. Buddhism and Christianity are arrantly distinct in their principle standpoints: Buddhism rejects the existence of a greater being and Christianity proudly professes the power of a universal God. However, despite this rigid dissimilarity, both religions developed and spread with akin practices and messages due to their analogous founders, mother religions with like social significance, and approachable and appealing doctrine.

The Hindu’s view of sin is different to the Christian view in that “sin” is something done against oneself, not against God therefore the penalties for that “sin” are also against oneself. This is why the Hindu has to endure repeated cycle of rebirths until they reach that desired state and escape to Nirvana or oblivion. This is why they must work to be better in their current life to improve their position for the future life and more closely gain their oneness with Brahman.

The world has many different belief systems including Christianity and Buddhism. Both are similar and different in many ways. These religions are used in different places around the world and influenced the lives of its followers and the society in which they are practiced. Christianity is more diverse and complicated in its beliefs and totally depends on faith. In contrast, Hinduism is a belief more based on the simplicity of culture and tradition.

The god Vishnu is the creator, and Shiva is the destroyer. One is not looked upon as better than the other. This shows the ultimate realism that the Hindu culture possesses. These are not the only gods in Hindu culture. There are many others and all have special skills and talents. The gods themselves also give birth to the idea of avatars, or the form of god when he or she comes to earth.

Christianity and Hinduism, are two of the worlds oldest religions. Although they are very different religions they share one main goal; salvation. However, their idea of salvation and what they have to do ,and what must be done to attain salvation are very different.

In a tree of monotheistic religions, Judaism and Christianity, despite sharing common roots and spiritual tradition associated with Abraham, for many centuries diverged and developed in their own distinct ways. The partition, based on different theological doctrines, evolves around the idea of the nature of human relationships with God, which in case of Judaism are based on the Law of Torah, and in Christianity stem from the belief in Jesus Christ and its cornerstone – the doctrine of Trinity.

In contrast to majority of devout religions, Hinduism participates in the worship of many gods – thus making it a polytheistic religion consisting of a Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The Brahma is the The Creator, and a member of the Hindu Trinity. Brahma intimately creates everything in the universe. In addition, Vishnu maintains the balance and harmony of the universe. Last but not least, Shiva perpetually destroys the universe: “it’s the necessary step to make renewal possible” (Hindu Gods and

There are thousands of religions being practiced in the world we live in today. According to the Pew Research Center, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam make up more than half of the world population’s beliefs. In the United States most of the population practices Christianity which is referred to as Western religions because it differs theologically from Hinduism, that originated in the Eastern part of the world, specifically in Asia and India. Islam originated in the Middle Eastern countries and differs theologically from both Christianity and Hinduism. There are several barriers that would make it challenging for a practitioner of Hinduism and of Islam to understand and respond to the Christian Gospel. However, there is a bridge, which would provide a connecting point between these religions and the Christian Gospel.

What is religion? Their has been many differrent interpretations on defining the word religion, but it’s extremely complicated to since their are so many human belief structures that vary. As being a Muslim I believe that being religious is to follow the Holy Book which is the Qu’ran and to follow the five pillars of Islam which are declaration of faith, prayer, charity tax, fasting and pilgrimage. Religion is what has been the most influential in my life and it has shaped me into what I am today.

A religion is an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, practices, and worship that centers around one or more deities (Halverson, 1996). Religion has guided the beliefs and actions of millions of people throughout the centuries. Presently, there are five major religions in the world: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism. Over the centuries, these five religious traditions have profoundly shaped human history. Presently, close to 80% of the world’s population belong to one of these five religions. Over the next five decades, Christianity will remain the world’s largest religion, but both Islam and Hinduism are growing the fastest. This paper will focus on two of the five major world religions, Christianity and Hinduism, and compare the belief systems of these two religious traditions.

Religion is the inner belief in the existence of a higher power sobrenatural - God or gods, which is the object of worship. Religion - is a very complex and multifaceted phenomenon, but at least one aspect of it reflects the desire of the people to understand the inner essence of life, not just something that happens in the world, but also why. Therefore religion is primarily trying to make sense of the events and the meaning of our lives. Religion tries to answer the "eternal questions" that confronts us with life.