Similarities Between Hinduism And Christianity
In the state of Telengana, India, about five hours away from any city and public transportation, is a small village called Gonga Devi Guppa. Accompanied by my translator, Hymavathi, I lived among the people for three weeks. The American culture I was raised in gifted me several prejudices against Hinduism that I was not aware of until I experienced for myself the truth about the religion. Prior to India, I viewed Hinduism barbarically despite not knowing much about it. Ironically, I experienced Hinduism first hand in a Seventh-day Adventist church—stuck squarely in the middle of the Indian plains and forests. Through a Christian mission trip, the people in India preached to me their own message of their beliefs and showed me how similar we really are. It was proven to me over and over again that all religions are structurally similar; I learned that specifically through Hinduism and Christianity. I have researched and experienced several points that show how Hinduism and Christianity are similar.
Hinduism is an extensive system of deities and gods—approximately 330 million different gods exist. The number of almighty figureheads in Hinduism is an automatic contrast to Christianity’s belief in one god and one trinity. However, in Hinduism a three-god system call Trimurti exists outside of that assumption. In Hindi, Trimurti …show more content…
directly translates to “three forms” indicating three separate gods form together as the Trimurti “Beliefs,” sec. 2). Brahma, who creates the universe, is recognized as creating the other gods. Vishnu, who preserves the universe, sends avatars as humans to save people from tyranny and natural disasters. Shiva, the final member, destroys the universe in order to re-create it (Frawley, sec. 1). These three gods are responsible for every other god and creation that occurs within Hinduism. Even though there are millions of gods within Hinduism, believers superiorly worship the Trimurti. The different gods in Hinduism-or in Christianity-are also the different representations of god and the different "names" of god. For example, the god who heals and the god who overcomes could be the same god.
In Christianity, the trinity operates as the Trimurti. “Trinity” comes from a Latin root trinitas that means triad or three (Frawley, sec. 1). Also referred to as the godhead, the trinity is made up of three separate gods: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three gods, though having their own identity, all form the one god that Christians worship. In Christianity, the trinity was not created; it has simply been in existence forever, and Hindus hold the same belief in their Trimurti. This pattern could compare the numerous gods that surround the Trimurti to the hosts of angels that the Christian faith believes serves the trinity. Upon closer inspection, the structural similarities become unfathomable.
Likewise, Hinduism and Christianity both serve as broad terms. Hinduism has four specific types of sects worship and serve a preferred god within the Trimurti that they believe the strongest in. The four sects (or denominations) are Saivism, Shaktism, Viashnavism, and Smartism. Saivism believers devote their lives to Brahma, Shaktism believers connect more to Shiva, Viashnavism believers primarily worship Vishnu, and Smartism believers are simply believer’s who do not choose between the Trimurti gods and it is left up to the individual (“The Four Denominations of Hinduism,” sec. 1). Differences between these sects include who they worship, how they worship, festivals to gods that belong to their sect, and traditions within villages or families including diet and marriage views. These four sects deviate so strongly from each other that they stand alone as independent religions underneath the umbrella of Hinduism. Accordingly, Christianity has various denominations. Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox are categories that Christian denominations characteristically fall under. Like Hinduism, these denominations differ in beliefs, practices, type of worship, and even places where worship can be experienced. These factions of Christianity form their own cultures and religious systems that tie their identity to their denomination—again operating underneath the broad term of Christianity.
Although both Hinduism and Christianity have varying denominations, their concrete morals and teachings are fundamentally the same.
They each teach betterment of the self and the world. Principles such as nonviolence, forgiveness, and selfless living are themes Hinduism and Christianity promote as an optimal lifestyle. In Hinduism, devotional love towards gods and idols are stressed. Christianity also supports living a life of service to others so that the world might be bettered. Worship comes from different venues, but each has a flavor of self-sacrifice and an end goal of reaching a better world and evolving into a higher being (Caron, sec
8).
In addition to theology, Hinduism and Christianity have a significant historical resemblance. Though Hinduism does not particularly claim any one prophet like Christianity does, a prominent Hindu figure, Krishna, has stark similarities to Jesus, Christianity’s messiah. In fact, the connection could be called miraculous. Firstly, Krishna and Jesus were both born of virgin mothers, visited by shepherds and wise men following a star, and angels warned the parents that a dictator would kill the babies (Caron, sec. 7). Secondly, each was born of a holy trinity: Jesus was born of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit while Krishna was born of Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. Both Krishna and Jesus, while on earth, performed numerous and similar miracles—including raising the dead. Finally, at the end of their time on earth, they were resurrected.
All of these reasons prove that prejudices between religions are a result of false assumptions. However, when you peel back those layers, acceptance can blossom. Hinduism and Christianity are fundamentally harmonious religions; it is only the people within the religions that view the opposing side as an oddity. The bridges that connect religions together are built one brick at a time—if the time is taken to educate and understand a different religion, individual, or culture.
Hinduism is an extensive system of deities and gods—approximately 330 million different gods exist. The number of almighty figureheads in Hinduism is an automatic contrast to Christianity’s belief in one god and one trinity. However, in Hinduism a three-god system call Trimurti exists outside of that assumption. In Hindi, Trimurti …show more content…
directly translates to “three forms” indicating three separate gods form together as the Trimurti “Beliefs,” sec. 2). Brahma, who creates the universe, is recognized as creating the other gods. Vishnu, who preserves the universe, sends avatars as humans to save people from tyranny and natural disasters. Shiva, the final member, destroys the universe in order to re-create it (Frawley, sec. 1). These three gods are responsible for every other god and creation that occurs within Hinduism. Even though there are millions of gods within Hinduism, believers superiorly worship the Trimurti. The different gods in Hinduism-or in Christianity-are also the different representations of god and the different "names" of god. For example, the god who heals and the god who overcomes could be the same god.
In Christianity, the trinity operates as the Trimurti. “Trinity” comes from a Latin root trinitas that means triad or three (Frawley, sec. 1). Also referred to as the godhead, the trinity is made up of three separate gods: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three gods, though having their own identity, all form the one god that Christians worship. In Christianity, the trinity was not created; it has simply been in existence forever, and Hindus hold the same belief in their Trimurti. This pattern could compare the numerous gods that surround the Trimurti to the hosts of angels that the Christian faith believes serves the trinity. Upon closer inspection, the structural similarities become unfathomable.
Likewise, Hinduism and Christianity both serve as broad terms. Hinduism has four specific types of sects worship and serve a preferred god within the Trimurti that they believe the strongest in. The four sects (or denominations) are Saivism, Shaktism, Viashnavism, and Smartism. Saivism believers devote their lives to Brahma, Shaktism believers connect more to Shiva, Viashnavism believers primarily worship Vishnu, and Smartism believers are simply believer’s who do not choose between the Trimurti gods and it is left up to the individual (“The Four Denominations of Hinduism,” sec. 1). Differences between these sects include who they worship, how they worship, festivals to gods that belong to their sect, and traditions within villages or families including diet and marriage views. These four sects deviate so strongly from each other that they stand alone as independent religions underneath the umbrella of Hinduism. Accordingly, Christianity has various denominations. Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox are categories that Christian denominations characteristically fall under. Like Hinduism, these denominations differ in beliefs, practices, type of worship, and even places where worship can be experienced. These factions of Christianity form their own cultures and religious systems that tie their identity to their denomination—again operating underneath the broad term of Christianity.
Although both Hinduism and Christianity have varying denominations, their concrete morals and teachings are fundamentally the same.
They each teach betterment of the self and the world. Principles such as nonviolence, forgiveness, and selfless living are themes Hinduism and Christianity promote as an optimal lifestyle. In Hinduism, devotional love towards gods and idols are stressed. Christianity also supports living a life of service to others so that the world might be bettered. Worship comes from different venues, but each has a flavor of self-sacrifice and an end goal of reaching a better world and evolving into a higher being (Caron, sec
8).
In addition to theology, Hinduism and Christianity have a significant historical resemblance. Though Hinduism does not particularly claim any one prophet like Christianity does, a prominent Hindu figure, Krishna, has stark similarities to Jesus, Christianity’s messiah. In fact, the connection could be called miraculous. Firstly, Krishna and Jesus were both born of virgin mothers, visited by shepherds and wise men following a star, and angels warned the parents that a dictator would kill the babies (Caron, sec. 7). Secondly, each was born of a holy trinity: Jesus was born of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit while Krishna was born of Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. Both Krishna and Jesus, while on earth, performed numerous and similar miracles—including raising the dead. Finally, at the end of their time on earth, they were resurrected.
All of these reasons prove that prejudices between religions are a result of false assumptions. However, when you peel back those layers, acceptance can blossom. Hinduism and Christianity are fundamentally harmonious religions; it is only the people within the religions that view the opposing side as an oddity. The bridges that connect religions together are built one brick at a time—if the time is taken to educate and understand a different religion, individual, or culture.