Hinduism – Connecting Hindu Beliefs to the Gospel of Jesus #1

It is good for Christians to spend time studying other religions.  Christians are commanded by Jesus to go and make disciples.  If Christians are to expect other people to listen to the message of Christ because we hold it to be true and the only way to salvation, it would greatly show other people that we truly care about them, by first knowing what they believe.   I will attempt to start with Hindus, their beliefs and practices, and try to make connections to the Gospel of Jesus Christ from their beliefs, as Paul did with the men of Athens in Acts 17.  
Hinduism originated in India.  Its roots go back over 4000 years ago.  The Harappa culture was an ancient civilization in the Indus River Valley before 2000 BC.  They were very advanced in some ways.  Many symbols from this culture exist in Hinduism, so it is suspected that aspects of Hinduism arose from this culture.  Around 2000 BC there was an immigration of a group of people called the Aryans from modern day Russia.  It is here during this time that a melting pot effect took place.  The gods of the Harrapa culture and the Aryan culture began to blend and mix.  They had many, many gods, some of them are still worshiped today, but many of them are not.  Worship of these gods took place at fire altars where sacrifices of grains, milk, and animals were made, as well as the use of sacred chants.
The sacred chants of this time were later written down, forming what is now called the Vedas.  The Vedas are the only revealed scriptures of Hinduism, meaning that the authors did not create them, but they only heard them and passed them down to later generations.  The good questions to ask here is, who exactly revealed these and who exactly first received them?  These answers when compared to the Gospels do not have historical reliability.  The Vedas consists of four collections of writings – the oldest of which is the Rig Veda.  If you go to Barnes and Noble or Borders and check the Hindu section you will certainly find this book.
The Rig Veda contains an account of the formation of the world, claiming that the universe, as we know it, was formed from the sacrifice of the God Purusha.  This means that the universe itself was made from a divine substance, thus in Hinduism, all things are at their deepest level divine.  The universe consisting of Purusha’s body is therefore eternal.  From this sacrifice, the other gods were then formed, or evolved.  It’s all very unclear in Hinduism how all of this unfolded.  In fact, the account of Purusha’s sacrifice of himself as the formation of the universe is even questioned by the Vedas themselves, because the Rig also recognizes that no one was there to witness and confirm its genesis.
Still none of this initial information about Hinduism has touched on the core teachings of the religion, simply its formation and its explanation of the universe’s existence, but connections to Jesus can still be made in conversation with a Hindu from these teachings alone.  It can be noted that Christians also believe in the special nature of the universe, that Genesis teaches that all things was created by God and that their original state was “very good.”  However, it was not formed from God’s divine nature.  Instead, it was created by God out of nothing through his spoken Word.  Although, Christians don’t believe that God sacrificed himself in the formation of the world, we do believe that there was a sacrifice made before the creation of the world.  Revelation 13:8 refers to Jesus as “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”  Instead of saying that God sacrificed himself to create the world, Christianity teaches that God in the person of Jesus Christ sacrificed himself to save the world before the world was even created.  This of course is possible because God is outside of linear history, unrestrained by the fourth dimension, time.
Christians certainly agree with Hindus that the divine was involved in the creation of the universe and that a sacrifice on the part of God was made from the beginning.  Christians however believe that this God has revealed Himself clearly through his Word delivered through the prophets and apostles of the Bible, and through the person of Jesus Christ, so that there isn’t any doubt about who God is, who we are, and what God has done for us.
Rig Veda - The universe was created from the cosmic sacrifice of Purusha.
Rig Veda – The universe was created from the cosmic sacrifice of Purusha.
Christianity – Before the foundations of the world, Christ was slain.

Andy Wrasman5 Comments

Hare Krishna Encounter – McDonald’s Goes Vegetarian

This summer coming out of a Wal-Mart in Southern California, I saw a rack of books set-up outside that appeared to be Hindu texts.  I struck up a conversation with the lady manning the booth and found out that she was a Hare Krishna.  I’m sure that she gathered that I was a Christian from the questions I asked her, because she wanted to ensure me that she did not deny Jesus, but that she believed Jesus was God.  She told me that Krishna and Jesus are both God, that they both are the same.

I asked her how they were the same.  She told me that they both had the same teachings.  I asked what teachings those were.  “They both taught to love another, to not kill, to not even kill animals, that you shouldn’t eat meat,”  she ensured me.

At that point, I told her, “You are mistaken. You are right that Jesus taught that we should love everyone, to even love your enemies and to bless those who persecute you, but he did not teach that we shouldn’t eat meat.  Jesus was a Jew and he observed Passover, which involved the killing of and eating of lambs!  He definitely cooked and ate fish and approved of others to do the same and some of his closest disciples were fisherman and he never rebuked their profession.  Instead he aided them when they weren’t able to catch any fish. So they can’t have taught the same thing based on this point alone.”

At this, she dismissed me saying, “I don’t know about that.  Wait for my partner to return.  He knows more than me.” And she began to seek others to speak with, and I waited for the guy to come.  He acknowledge that they didn’t teach the same thing and that they weren’t the same person, but that we all are still one in essence.  The conversation didn’t go much further, but I did share that I believe Jesus is God and that he alone can save us from death.  I got his business card and was invited to their temple for a vegetarian meal.  Maybe I’ll take him up on this offer one of these days.

Commonly linked to religions that believe we are all one in nature, that we all divine, and born again and again through reincarnation, is the believe that all life is sacred and animals should not be killed, but cared for and respected for the divine soul within them.  This means that if you go India, don’t expect to find many meat dishes, and especially don’t look for beef products, because cows are considered to be sacred, since they are “next to mother” due to their milk giving capabilities.  McDonald’s is even catching on the religious beliefs in the area and changing their product to meet the market’s demands.  McDonald’s is now opening vegetarian only restaurants in India, especially in regions near religious shrines or pilgrimage sites, and even though they sell chicken patties and fish meals at most of their stores in India; they certainly don’t sell their Big Mac American style.

Check out the article, “McDonald’s Is Opening Vegetarian Only Restaurants”: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mcdonalds-opening-first-ever-vegetarian-134839878.html

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Alice Cooper

alice cooper on stage

Alice Cooper speaking on his faith in Jesus Christ and Christians are called to follow God (taken from “Alice Cooper is a Christian” published in Jesus Journal Tuesday March 28th, 2006):

I was pretty much convinced all my life that there was just one God and there was Jesus Christ and there was the Devil.

You couldn’t believe in God without believing in the Devil. I always tell bands that the most dangerous thing you can do is to believe in the concept of the Devil or the concept of God, because you’re not giving them full credit. When you believe in God, you’ve got to believe in the all-powerful God. He’s not just God, He’s the all-powerful God and He has total control over everyone’s life. The Devil, on the other hand, is a real character that’s trying his hardest to tear your life apart. If you believe that this is just mythology, you’re a prime target because you know that’s exactly what Satan wants: To be a myth. But he’s not a myth, of this I’m totally convinced. More than anything in the world, I’m convinced of that.

We have to make a choice. And everybody, at some point in their lives, has to make that choice. When people say, ‘How do you believe this? Why do you believe this?’ I just say nothing else speaks to my heart. This doesn’t speak to my intellect, it doesn’t speak to my logic – it speaks right to my heart and right to my soul, deeper than anything I’ve ever thought of. And I totally believe it. That being said, I’m not a very good Christian. I mean, none of us are ever ‘good’ Christians. That’s not the point. When you’re a Christian, it doesn’t mean you’re gonna be good, it means you’ve got a harder road to pull.

I’m the first one to rock as loud as I can, but when it comes to what I believe, I’m the first one to defend it too.  It has also gotten me in trouble with the staunch Christians who believe that in order to be a Christian you have to be on your knees 24 hours a day in a closet somewhere. Hey, maybe some people can live like that, but I don’t think that’s the way God expected us to live. When Christ came back, He hung out with the whores, the drunks and miscreants because they were people that needed Him. Christ never spent His time with the Pharisees.

 

It’s obvious humanity is craving for answers directly born of awareness.  That’s the healthiest thing I’ve seen in a long time because there is something better and everybody’s gotta find it in their own way. People aren’t feeling fulfilled by how many cars they own or the size of their stock portfolio. Even the addicts are saying, ‘It doesn’t matter how many drugs I take, I’m not fulfilled. This isn’t satisfying.’ There’s a spiritual hunger going on. Everybody feels it. If you don’t feel it now, you will. Trust me. You will.

I like the comment that Alice made about there not being any “good” Christians.  We tend to rank Christians in categories such as “good,” “bad,” “serious,” “kind of,” “hard core,” and “some what” Christian.  The truth is there really are just two classifications, “Christian” and “Not Christian.”  The moment a person has faith in Christ, that person is a Christian and has salvation.  Alice also nails that we’re always looking for love in the all the wrong places!  Even Christians fall into this trap from time to time, but Jesus and what he offers is the only way we can be satisfied, because what he offers is eternal; it’s permanent!

Some might have problems with Alice’s stage antics and image but I know that he has said in other interviews that he doesn’t sing any of his old songs that encourage or glorify drunkeness, drugs, or adulteress sex anymore.  He also sees that what he is doing is showing people that evil is real, that Satan is real through his work, countering the idea that Satan is just a myth as he spoke about in the interview above.

I also find it inspiring that as the grandfather of “shock rock,” Alice is mentoring and speaking Jesus into the lives of the younger generation of rockers who are following in his genre and style.  I read another interivew of his once that indicated that he didn’t think that his stage show was the place to speak his faith, but that he does it a lot one on one backstage.  Isn’t it rad that he is getting to share his faith like this, that there is a Christian that some non-Christian rock artists respect and look up to as a pioneer in their field?  My gut is that he should be more vocal about his faith on the stage, but maybe he has a good take on what his ministry actually is and there are numerous interviews and articles like the one I have quoted on-line.

BTW, Alice Cooper ran for president of the US once!

alice and slash

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Contradictory Views of the Universe

the universe
How did the universe begin? Did it even have a beginning? What is the nature of the universe? Is the universe eternal? Or was it created? Does it have an end? Does the universe go through cycles?

Nature of the Universe

  •  Judaism – Genesis 1:1, the first verse of the Tanakh clearly states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  The universe and everything in it was created by God.  Except for humanity, who was uniquely created, the first man from the dust of the ground, and the first woman from the side of man, and except for God who is eternal, everything has come into existence out of nothing from the spoken word of God.  It is taught in the Genesis account that the Lord created all in six days and rested on the seventh and is from this structure of creation that the command for humanity to work six days and rest on the seventh is derived (Exodus 20:8-11).  Nature is objective and distinct and separate from a personal, transcendent God.
  • Christianity – The Christian Bible incorporates the teachings of the Tanakh concerning creation, and adds more details to them.  The first verses for the Gospel of John state, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”  Christianity also shows that God is the sustainer of the universe as Colossians 1:17 states, “in him [Jesus] all things hold together.”  Nature is objective and distinct and separate from a personal, transcendent God.
  • Islam – The Qur’an doesn’t have the detailed narrative and specifics of creation as that of Judaism and Christianity, namely it lacks the order of creation that the Genesis account gives, but it is not mute on the subject and retains that Allah created the heavens and the earth in six days (Surah 7:54).  Nature is objective and distinct and separate from a personal, transcendent God.
  • Hinduism – The Rig Veda states that no one knows the origin of the universe, because none one observed it, but it also gives an explanation that the universe came into existence through the cosmic sacrifice of the God, Purusha, with everything being made from his body parts.  The Purusha explanation gives explanation to Hinduism’s teaching that all of creation is one, and that all is eternally divine.  However, this monistic reality is masked by an illusion.  As souls are subject to reincarnation, the universe is subject to cycles of death and regeneration.
  • Buddhism – Buddhism doesn’t have a specific teaching on the origin of the universe.  What is certain concerning the universe is that all things are constantly changing, and in this sense there is a new universe created every moment.  Linked to this permanent shifting is a complete lack of personal identity.  If you are never you, and I am never me, and everything is only classified for convenience’s sake, then what is the universe but nothingness?
  • Jainism – The universe is eternal, neither created nor made by a Creator God.
  • Sikhism – The universe is created by the one and only true God. According to Guru Granth Sahib page 1399, “He established the earth, the air and the sky, the water and the oceans, fire and food.   He created the moon, the stars and the sun, night and day and mountain; he blessed the trees with flowers and fruits.”24

These contradictory views of the universe are some of the contradictory teachings found in the world’s religions that this Contradict bumper sticker is attempting to bring to light.  www.contradictmovement.orgContradict Sticker

 

Andy Wrasman1 Comment

Contradictory Views of the Divine

who is GodViews of the Divine:

  • Judaism – Monotheism.  One person, one nature. God is transcendent and he is called Yahweh.
  • Islam – Monotheism.  One person, one nature. God is transcendent and he is Allah.
  • Christianity – Monotheism. Three persons, one nature.  God is transcendent and exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
  • Hinduism – Polytheism/Pantheism.  There is an extensive number of gods and goddesses that can be worshiped.  Yet those gods, as well as all things, are at their core existent of the same divine essence, called Brahman.
  • Buddhism – No God/Irrelevant.  The Buddha denied Brahman and the individual soul as he split from the teachings of Hinduism.  Irrelevance, or ambivalence, best describes the Buddha’s doctrine of God.  Belief and worship in God can actually be a hindrance to reaching nirvana because following a Supreme Power produces fear, as explained by the Buddha in the Dhammapada verse 188, “Men in their fear fly for refuge to mountains or forests, groves, sacred trees or shrines.” Instead of from a God of sorts, refuge comes from the Four Noble Truths.
  • Wicca – Pantheism and other views.  Everything is the manifestation of the divine, which is associated as being of the female sex, being called the Goddess.    Some descriptions of the Goddess give the impression of energy, like the Force in Star Wars that connects all things.  Although some Wiccans are monotheistic, and others say there is both a transcendent God and Goddess, and some say that both the God and Goddess are one, being of the same divine essence.
  • Scientology – There is a Supreme Being, but “the Church of Scientology has no set dogma concerning God that it imposes on its members.”  One’s view of God is contingent upon each individual’s “level of spiritual awareness.”  (Scientology.org)
  • Laveyan Satanism  – Each man is his own God.
  • Atheism – No God.

Contradict Bumper Sticker

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