Download COMPARISON OF HINDU AND CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEWS

COMPARISON OF HINDU AND CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEWS
Subject
Hindu View
Christian View
Relation of Nature/
Creation to the Divine
Creator and creation are one
World created by God out of nothing
distinction made between Creator and
Creation.
The Divine
Impersonal (oversimplification)
One Allness in many forms
Brahma – Shiva – Vishnu (Rama, Krishna)
Personal: reveals self in history.
Trinitarian
Monotheism
Time
A circle or spiral, because time is
Endless. History has little or no meaning
A road with a beginning and an end.
History is meaningful.
Lifetime(s)
Transmigration of souls, reincarnation.
Man has a unique existence. He
He lives only once.
Future Life
Reincarnation, until absorption
Resurrection
Scriptures
None but the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita
Are used almost as scriptures. The Hindu
Is open to all good books.
The Bible. Truth in other books recognized, but
all are measured by revelation in Christ and the Bible.
Man’s Problem
Ignorance, Illusion
Sin. A problem of relationships: to God, to self,
to others.
The Law of Karma; One’s outside acts
Solution
Yoga. Process of yoking self to the divine in a
Way that produces illumination.
You save yourself.
Man cannot save himself. Answer is in repentance
And faith in God’s acts in Jesus Christ. Reconciliation.
Agent of Salvation
Avatars (nine so far) One was a deer and
One was a turtle.
Christ -- God incarnate.
Place of Religious Leaders
Follow guru’s instruction
Complete trust in an accessible God.
Uniqueness
There are many paths to the divine; all are valid.
Jesus was one of many great teachers.
There is one God, not many gods.
Christ is unique.
Meditation, Contemplation
Non focus. Mantras are used to defocus.
No substance.
Focus on God or some aspect of Christ’s life.
Substance