Hinduism Compare And Contrast

As Swami Bhaskarananda, author of The Essentials of Hinduism: A Comprehensive Overview of the World's Oldest Religion, once professed, “Hinduism has the unique distinction of having no founder. One may wonder how there can be a religion without any founder, but the eternal and supersensuous truths discovered by ancient Indian sages are the foundation of Hinduism. Unlike other religions, Hinduism is many religions that interact and blend with one another. Unlike other religions, not only do we not have a founder, but we don’t have any creedal statements of faith, or agreed upon authority. We only believe in reincarnation and karma.” Although most Christians have the same fundamental core values (even though there are variances between the numerous

Since I had visited other churches, including a Jewish temple, I was expecting something very different than what I experienced. I did not realize that the Hindu religion does not have a universal belief, a doctrine, or a specific church service. Although I was a little confused at what the meaning of what was going on around me, it was a good learning experience that allowed me to gain insight into other world religions. Comparing the Hindu Temple of Fresno to the last couple fieldtrips, it was apparent that the teachings, and the practices were not consistent with the Christian doctrine in a number of ways. For example, although there are many specific differences between Christianity and Hinduism, the most generalized difference is their plumb lines. Christianity plumb line is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…he was buried…he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Hinduism on the other hand believes that, “There is no eternal hell, no damnation, in Hinduism, and no intrinsic evil--no satanic force that opposes the will of God. Hindus believe that the cosmos was created by a supreme being who both is form and pervades form, who creates, sustains and destroys the universe only to recreate it again in

Each soul is free to find his own way, whether by devotion, austerity, meditation, yoga or selfless service” (Bhaskarananda 2002). In other words, unlike Christians who believe in a personal, loving God, Hinduism teaches Brahma, or a formless, abstract, eternal being without attributes, who was the beginning of all things. In addition, Hinduism also does not teach that Christ died for our sins, was born of a virgin birth, there is a trinity (God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit), that Christ rose from the dead, we have sin, or that the Bible is inspired by God (they in fact don’t accept any part of the Bible). Hinduism instead teaches that Jesus is not God, but just one of many incarnations, or avatars, of Vishnu. Christians believe that God is an eternal, person, spiritual being in third persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), and that Jesus Christ is God, as well as a sinless man and He died for our redemption. Additionally, Hinduism also teaches that sin is an utter illusion because all material reality is illusory. Hindus “seek deliverance from samsara, the endless cycle of death and rebirth, through union with Brahma, which is achieved through devotion, meditation, good works,