Hinduism and Christianity
Hinduism and Christianity:
Parallels Abound
Steven Williams
World Religion
Professor A. Bisson
November 28, 2010
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. In this paper, I will thoroughly explore many these little known similarities. In an effort to do so as objectively as possible, I will use authoritative scriptures from the two religions themselves to state my case and provide evidence for it.
First off, there are similarities in the ideas on cosmology, or how the cosmos came to be, in Hinduism and Christianity. In Christianity, God is seen as the creator of all things, in whom all things draw their very existence. This is evidenced in scriptures such as “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) and “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). For Hindus, Brahman is viewed in quite a similar manner. The Katha Upanishad tells us that “the whole universe came forth from Brahman and moves in Brahman... in Brahman it lives and has its being.” Obvious similarities can be seen between the two religions view of creation from these passages (BibleGateway, Krishnananda, & Wolfe). Hinduism and Christianity also agree on the natural state of man, in that both believe that man is deluded, and can only be enlightened to the real truth by God incarnate. The bible says, speaking of man, that “they are blind guides, and if a blind man
Parallels Abound
Steven Williams
World Religion
Professor A. Bisson
November 28, 2010
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. In this paper, I will thoroughly explore many these little known similarities. In an effort to do so as objectively as possible, I will use authoritative scriptures from the two religions themselves to state my case and provide evidence for it.
First off, there are similarities in the ideas on cosmology, or how the cosmos came to be, in Hinduism and Christianity. In Christianity, God is seen as the creator of all things, in whom all things draw their very existence. This is evidenced in scriptures such as “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) and “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). For Hindus, Brahman is viewed in quite a similar manner. The Katha Upanishad tells us that “the whole universe came forth from Brahman and moves in Brahman... in Brahman it lives and has its being.” Obvious similarities can be seen between the two religions view of creation from these passages (BibleGateway, Krishnananda, & Wolfe). Hinduism and Christianity also agree on the natural state of man, in that both believe that man is deluded, and can only be enlightened to the real truth by God incarnate. The bible says, speaking of man, that “they are blind guides, and if a blind man
Bibliography: Purohit, and Kendra Crossen. Burroughs. Bhagavad Gita: Annotated & Explained. Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths Pub., 2001 Rood, Rick. "Hinduism." Leadership University. Web. 02 Dec. 2010. <http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/hindu.html>. Roychoudhury, H. P. "Hinduism & Christianity." HubPages. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://hubpages.com/hub/Hinduism-Christianity>. Wolfe, George. Parallel Teachings in Hinduism and Christianity. Austin, TX: Jomar, 1995