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Hinduism and Christianity
Jan 22, 2005 9:25 AM
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Greetings and salutations from the hermitage of my mind.
I'm picking this up from a post I made on a different thread that I liked so much I wanted to keep talking about it for ages and ages and ages, not even stopping when I had made my point with lots and lots of totally unnecessary words.
Anyway, there are basically two religions in the whole world that are worth considering: one is Hinduism, and the other is Christianity. Let me explain why.
Every religion in the world either leads up to one of these two, or is descended from them -- either a precursor or a heresy. So, with Hinduism, all the ancient forms of eastern paganism and animism, even the developed ones (like Shinto in Japan), are essentially precursors of Hinduism and either share or form its basic assumptions. On the other hand, the subsequent religions are essentially Hindu heresies -- Buddhism, for example, is built upon Hindu principles, as is Jainism. On the other hand, Judaism and many Greek philosophies (e.g. Platonism and Stoicism) are basically precursors of Christianity -- although of course a special place belongs to Judaism. The other western faiths are all Christian heresies: so with Gnosticism, Mormonism, Islam, Rationalism, and all the rest. Anything you can find in these secondary religions, you can find better and more fully developed in Hinduism or Christianity.
Now for the difference between the two. Both present surprisingly similar surfaces in many ways: for instance, the sanctity of life is highly respected by both; both have both an ascetic side and a pleasurable side; both, even, have a triadic idea of divinity. But beneath these seeming agreements is one of the sharpest differences you will ever encounter. In some ways, both Hinduism and Christianity share more with atheism than with each other.
Hinduism is a pantheistic religion, which means two things. One is that the divine nature, in the Hindu system, is (as Nietzsche put it) 'beyond good and evil'. This is called relativism, and is related to the more common connotation of the word 'pantheism' -- that the divine nature is wholly immanent, or united to all things; so, Brahman is present in me, and in the keyboard I am using to type. There is divinity everywhere in this system, and it is basically identical with the world.
Christianity is the exact opposite of this. It is a monotheistic religion -- not everything (pan in Greek) but one, mono. He is, as C. S. Lewis put it, "a God who takes sides, who loves love and hates hatred". In short, He is a God of absolutes; hence, we are an absolutist system. Correspondingly, we believe in a transcendent God: He created creation; He is not identical with creation. He is above it, separate from it (although not cut off from it). Furthermore, He can choose to be present in one thing in a way that He is not present in another: He is not in the keyboard the same way He is in me, nor in a bad man the way He is in a good man.
Linked to the pantheism-monotheism divide is a different understanding of logic. Hinduism considers logic unnecessary, and calmly accepts contradictions without any fuss. It does not feel any need to straighten itself out; for, since divinity is present in everything, then it is equally present on both sides of the contradiction.
Christianity, once again, is the precise opposite. The Christian insists that only one side of a contradiction can be true, and the other must be false. In other words, Christianity accepts the basic requirements of logic; for God is one, and God is Truth -- not falsehood. Consequently He is not 'present' in falsehood, but is in the truth. And as a corollary, to find the truth is to find the place where God dwells, but to remain in falsehood is to remain where He is not. (Paradoxes we have, in abundance, but the definition of a paradox is that it is unexpected, and looks like a contradiction at first glance, but can be shown not really to be a contradiction at all.)
In addition to these, and continuous with them, is the fundamental nature of personality. Hinduism teaches that the divine nature is impersonal; it simply does, and the existence of a doer is not really needed. Personality is secondary in their system, and arises out of impersonality. There is a tritheistic idea -- Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva -- but they are subordinate to the divine nature as a whole.
Christianity, on the other hand, demands that God is personal. We believe that the personal God created the impersonal and personal aspects of this world, and is primary -- that He is before everything in every way. What is more, the Christian doctrine is of a three-personal God: God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It is from the Trinity that we derive the teaching that God is love; but more on that another time.
Next we come to the doctrine of matter. Hinduism, in most of its forms, denies the reality of matter; Buddhism is an excellent example of immaterialism. Consequently, any attachment to matter is attachment to that which does not really exist, and causes pain accordingly -- which we'll get to in a moment.
Christianity, in another contrast, proclaims that God made the world and pronounced it good, and that matter is real and a good thing, and will be redeemed just as surely as man will be redeemed. Although this is widely forgotten, the Biblical doctrine does not have Heaven as the Christian's final resting place; rather, a new earth, a perfect one, is the place where we will spend eternity. The sacraments -- baptism and the Eucharist -- both proclaim the holiness of matter as the vehicle of the Spirit.
Connected to these ideas of matter are the teachings of reincarnation and resurrection. Hinduism believes in reincarnation; any soul which is insufficiently pure to be absorbed into Brahman is sent back, for continued purification, into a body. All suffering endured here, the Hindus believe, is a result of karma, or in English 'deeds.' In other words, no matter what happens to you, you deserve it.
Christianity unilaterally denies reincarnation; but we affirm resurrection -- for the same reason we reject reincarnation. We do not view dwelling in the body as a punishment at all; rather, it is our natural state. This si why we don't stay in Heaven forever. Heaven is solely spiritual, and as long as we are there we are incomplete. Rather, just as Christ rose from the dead in a body, so we will be given new and perfect bodies, to dwell in forever. These bodies are a gracious gift, not a punishment. And again, the things that happen to us in this life are sometimes things we deserve and sometimes not. Hence the doctrine of the Last Judgment. God will, come the Last Day, intervene and punish those who have practiced injustice (a feat which is impossible in the Hindu system, because no matter what you do to someone they must deserve it, or you wouldn't be able to do it).
Linked again to these is the doctrine of fate. Fate is primal in the Hindu system, as indeed it must be: the primacy of the impersonal in Hinduism leads directly to the idea of fate.
Christianity defends free will. Over against determinism, Christians believe that we are free agents, and that our actions really mean something, now and forever.
I could go on listing contraries between Hinduism and Christianity till my fingers went blue, so I'll just put down one more. In Hinduism, there is no doctrine of redemption; union with the divine nature, better put as absorption into the divine nature, is achieved through good works (karma), accumulated over lifetimes. There are several visits of Vishnu to the earth to preserve it -- at least nine, if I recall correctly -- but these have no particular significance to man.
Christianity could not present a more different face. Besides the Trinity, the Incarnation is perhaps the most important doctrine of Christianity. Christianity does teach that only righteousness can come to the presence of God, and be united to Him (but not, like in Hinduism, absorbed); but it also teaches that no man is good enough, or can be. And so, because of the love of God with which He chose to love us, He came down and was made a man -- the God-Man, Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary. For our sakes -- for the sake of men, whom He specially loved -- He suffered, died, and was buried; and for them He rose from death, triumphing over it. And He suffered so that we would not have to suffer like that, He went to Hell in our place, He who knew no sin was a sin offering for us, which atoned for our guilt.
This redemption; and it is unique. Works you will find in every religion, even Christianity: grace you will find nowhere but in the arms of Christ. This is the seminal contrast between Hinduism and Christianity. This is why I believe Christianity. Hinduism is a complete system, but I don't think Hinduism is prepared to deal with reality, a reality in which logic is true and God is sovereign and love is really worth something. One of the trademarks of Hinduism, and Buddhism, is that their prime goal is to escape this world, to avoid the pain of being connected to the unreal. But Christianity is a fighting religion. We take the bull by the horns, we face the fact that all this ghastly stuff -- weeping and suffering and blood and cruelty and death -- is real; and we believe in a God who is determined to make it into something beautiful, and one who is willing to weep, to suffer, to bleed, to endure cruelty, and to die to make that happen. We don't run away from the world, and it won't run away from you when you shut your eyes.
This is our creed, our confession of reality:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in His only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended into Hell. The third day, He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there He will come again to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.
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