Comparitive Religion : Hinduism and Christianity

When looking at Christianity and Hinduism there are many ways to look at each religion from a theological perspective. This is why the best way to look at the broad view of these religions would be to analyze each by comparing and contrasting what each religion is about. The first point to look at would be at how Hinduism and Christianity are very similar in how they view the world. This can be seen in how they both strive to achieve a state of higher being whether it be with the eternal state of Moksha or eternal life in heaven with God. They both also look to be more introspective of themselves in order to maintain a good relationship with their higher being. This can be seen with Christians trying their hardest to maintain their faithfulness to God (Letter to the Romans, Reader p. 200) or Hindus making sure to maintain their duties in their caste in order to climb the system (Bhagavad Gita, Reader p. 75). Another comparison would be that Christianity follows the “Golden Rule” which is better known in the Hindu religion as karma. This is an important cornerstone to both religions because it creates a system of justice for both religions to follow. To truly examine these two religions one must also look at the differences that each religion has to each other that make them each a unique belief. A main difference would be that Christianity focuses more on the short term while Hinduism focuses more on the long term. Another difference is the rewards that a Christian

“Hinduism is a collection of religious beliefs that developed slowly over a long period of time.” (World History Patterns of Interaction, 2005) Hinduism has been made up of so many different cultures and beliefs that unlike Christianity and Islam it is unable to be traced back. Hindus believe in karma and reincarnation. Karma is good and

Hindu’s goal is not salvation but to escape the reincarnation cycle. There are several ways in which this can be done: perform good deeds, withdraw from the pleasures

In Hinduism karma and reincarnation are two meaningful major elements. Karma is a concept that the universe will return your good or bad actions back to you. You will find with certain actions you make, you feel good and others around you feel good. When remembering karma think about mental and physical actions that you would make. In the Hindu religion the soul reincarnates itself over and over until it becomes perfect.

Humans are accountable for actions and our lives are a result of our past actions. Humans are no more important than animals. Many Hindu believe in reincarnation or the rebirth of the soul in a new body. They may see an animal as someone reincarnated from a different life. When comparing Hinduism and Christianity, they both believe in love for everyone. They both also control behavior through either the ten commandments or through the eightfold path. When contrasting the two, Hindu’s worship multiple deities and Christians worship one God. Christians live one life on earth and when they die they either go to heaven or to hell. Hindus believe that their soul is born as an animal and by living the right way, they climb the ladder to a higher class throughout many

In the lives of individuals ordinary they are satisfying their customs and conventions. The act of Hinduism is a religion which favored a number of these ceremonies into observances and consecrated occasions in their day by day life. A devotee who takes after the Hinduism religion must study the conviction framework, the ceremonies and convention, and their social practices in which they consider holy to them, keeping in mind the end goal to comprehend this practice. Keeping in mind the end goal to comprehend, the first step would be to know their convictions. Hindu supporters have numerous Gods in the religion of Hinduism, they trust that stand out of there Gods is the genuine god. Hindus has a faith in karma, that it is one of the laws of the world, they feel that in the event that you do great things, then great things will happen to you and in the event that you do things that are pessimistic, then adverse things will happen to that individual. They likewise trust that a dairy animals is holy, in light of the fact that it speaks to life they could call their own and different

Buddhism has many interesting aspects, but in this paper, I will be focusing on a passage from Essential Buddhism by Diane Morgan, about karma. In her book, karma is defined as both “action and fruits of action” (page 82). Karma is what Buddhist believes your life is shaped by whether it be good or bad Karma. Especially when it comes to reincarnation, since, with good karma you are believed to be reincarnated into better levels of life forms. For example an animal could become a human man. On the other hand, bad karma will downgrade your reincarnation to a less desired level. Karma seems to be independently driven as Morgan states in the passage that “There is no punishing god ... Any action good or bad, is a karmic “seed” that carries within

Firstly, Hindus from all groups shared that reincarnation was the path to achieving Moksha (oneness with Brahman). Mr Kolala (Appendix D) defined Hinduism as way of life based on the ancient sages and scriptures, such as the Vedas taught by educated commentaries known as the Upanishads. The ancient Hindu scripture, Bhagavad Gita, terms reincarnation as “after rejecting (discarding) worn-out clothes a man takes up other new ones (clothes), likewise after rejecting worn-out bodies the embodied one (soul) duly attains new ones” (Gita Ch.2 Verse 22). He continued to claim that “reincarnation is the transfer of one’s soul after death.” Karma determines the condition in which a person is reborn in pursuant to reincarnation. It is the law of cause and effect. So pure thoughts, acts and devotion (such as yoga) can assist with a higher level of rebirth. In other words, the destiny of rebirth is determined by Brahman through one’s moral actions. This cycle of life and

In my opinion, the idea of reincarnation, in addition to the concept of karma, disparages our current life. Hinduism is a monistic doctrine which teaches every being is God, otherwise known as Brahman. Brahman “breathes out” existence, and eventually “breathes it all back in”. As such, it is the goal of the Hindu for one to look past their finite being, known as their atman, and find their inner divine self, their Atman. Our soul both originates from, and in fact is, Brahman itself. In order to be “re-absorbed” into Brahman, one must endure numerous reincarnations and travel through the stages and stations of life. The objective for one practicing Hinduism is moksha, liberation from the cycle of reincarnation and to merge back into Brahman. The primary reason I find the doctrine of Hinduism inadequate is because the concept of reincarnation lessens the significance of our current existence. One must “play the game” of life until they have accumulated enough good karma to finally achieve liberation and merge back into Brahman. As such, the penalty for one living immorally, such as Adolf Hitler, would be to diminish to a lesser reincarnated form like an insect or plant. Though a form of punishment, reincarnation does not establish justice, a virtue believed to originate and be wholly possessed by

Hinduism and Christianity are two of the largest religions in the world today with nearly half of the world’s population claiming one of the two as their own. Without a doubt, both religions have been extremely influential in the world. In the minds of most, this is about as far as the similarities between Hinduism and Christianity go; however, the fact is that the two religions actually have much more in common than is often perceived at passing glance. There are commonalities strung all throughout the two religions, from parallel texts of scripture to eerily similar view’s concerning the nature of the divine.

Hinduism believes that all life is meaningful and sacred. That both humans and animals are as important. Since they believe in being reincarnated, their relatives could easily be reincarnated into an animal. According to Hindson and Caner (2008), “reincarnation is the fate of every single living thing until the person has climbed the ladder of existence and reached the highest state of purity, known as nirvana” (pg. 263). Good karma moves you higher on the ladder of existence, closer to nirvana. Wherein, bad karma you on the lower part of the ladder of existence. “Nirvana is a state of liberation from the bondage of this earthly life” (Gutierrez and Weider, 2014, pg.69).

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.

“If I were asked to define the Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth... Hinduism is the religion of truth. Truth is God.”

The Hindu religion and culture is a very complex subject. The Hindu religion combines rich ethnical and standard beliefs. We will take a closer look and try to understand the Hindu religion and culture. The Hindu religion is the oldest religion of the five major religions, which are Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism (Major World Religions, 2006). The Hindu religion began to develop about 4.000 years ago in India, but it there was no single founder or system of belief (Major World Religions, 2006). There are many diverse and various Gods in the Hindu religion. One of the most important beliefs is the theory of karma, which holds that all beings, human or animal have karma which determines which soul is for which body and

John Calvin once said, “You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy”. This report will discuss two specific faiths - Buddhism and Hinduism, and their beliefs revolving around must there be suffering. Suffering can be defined as the state of undergoing pain, distress or hardship (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017). Buddhism is a religion that encompasses a variety of traditions and beliefs largely based on original teachings learned from the Buddha and resulting interpreted philosophies (ABC, 2014). Hinduism is one of the oldest known organized religions—it's sacred writings date as far back as 1400 to 1500 B.C (Got Questions, n.d.). Buddhist and Hinduist faith earnestly supports the idea of suffering as it is engraved in their religious beliefs from the start and is spoken about in their sacred texts. Following the idea of suffering - they believe in life after death. Both faiths believe that one specific goal is to reach a kind of freedom, for Hinduists, this is ‘moksha’ and Buddhists are ‘nirvana’ - both relating to the faith of a supreme self and a life in which there is no suffering and all people have reached pure happiness. Buddhism and Hinduism see suffering as an unavoidable fact of life as it is evident that to reach this state of self there must be suffering. Suffering is believed to help people learn from mistakes, find themselves - thus achieving supremacy and sense of identity or life purpose. Adherents from both faiths believe in