top of page

 

Christians and Buddhism/Hinduism

 

1.  historical background

2. the understanding of God

3. commandments

4. church service

5. karma

6. reincarnation
7.  sin and atonement

..1. Historical background  

Buddhism and Hinduism are considered the fourth and third largest religions in the world, respectively. Both belong to the so-called experiential religions. Buddhism emerged from Hinduism. At the center of the Buddhist religion is the historical person Buddha, behind whom lies the Indian religious founder Siddhar-tha Gautama, who, according to traditional tradition, lived from 563 to 483 BC. lived. His teachings are the foundation stone for Bud-dhism. In Buddhism, a Buddha (= the awakened one) is understood as a person who, through his own efforts, has achieved the perfect state of mind that all Buddhists strive for. The Bible tea-ches that no person can be saved through their own efforts, but that one can only receive the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Buddhism does not provide an answer to how and why the universe and life came into being. According to this teaching, we are all made of energy. However, energy is a personalityless, intangible force. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that God created us humans as capable individuals with an understanding, a con-science and a personality.

 

 

..2. The understanding of God  

Buddhism and Hinduism are considered the fourth and third largest religions in the world, respectively. Both belong to the so-cal-led experiential religions. Buddhism emerged from Hinduism. At the center of the Buddhist religion is the historical person Buddha, behind whom lies the Indian religious founder Siddhar-tha Gautama, who, according to traditional tradition, lived from 563 to 483 BC. lived. His teachings are the foundation stone for Bud-dhism. In Buddhism, a Buddha (= the awakened one) is understood as a person who, through his own efforts, has achieved the perfect state of mind that all Buddhists strive for. The Bible teaches that no person can be saved through their own efforts, but that one can only re-ceive the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Buddhism does not provide an answer to how and why the universe and life came into being. According to this teaching, we are all made of energy. However, energy is a personalityless, intangible force. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that God created us humans as capable individuals with an understanding, a con-science and a personality.

..3. Commandments  

In both Buddhism and Hinduism there are va-rious moral rules of life, some of which coin-cide with God's commandments in Holy Scrip-ture. This includes, for example, dealing with people in a friendly and considerate manner. In addition, there are countless ritual regula-tions such as ablutions, sacrificial rituals and various breathing exercises (meditation). While in the Old Testament God imposed ritual com-mandments on his people Israel for a limited time that essentially had a symbolic or symbolic meaning, these can no longer be found in the New Testament. However, the most important moral commandments that prohibit murder, theft or adultery still apply to all people.

..4. Church service  

The service in Hinduism is called Puja. This traditionally takes place in your own home or in one of the countless temples and shrines. Different gifts are offered as sacrifices to each “deity”; including fruit and meat and blood. In earlier times even children are said to have been sacrificed; something that is detestable in God's eyes. The everyday life of Hindus consists of various religious rituals. This includes, among other things, worshiping images of gods and worshiping them with incense candles. Plants, animals, rivers and mountains are also viewed as divine and worshiped; including the cow.

In the Vedas, the religious texts of Hinduism, the cow is described as a sacred creature that must not be killed. It is said that various deities reside within the cow. Already in ancient times, gods in the form of animals were worshiped in al-most all pagan religions. However, the second of the Ten Commandments of the Bible expressly prohibits making an image of God. This means that God may not be depicted or worshiped in this form either as an animal or as a human being. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that God is spirit and has no physical form. On the other hand, we humans should not reduce our all-powerful, all-knowing Creator to a transient creature. The Old Testament tells of how the Israelites - after God freed them from captivity in Egypt - contrary to God's clear instructions - made a golden calf to worship as God. As punishment for this, thousands of peo-ple had to die. As history progressed, God con-tinually had to judge the Israelites because they had turned away from the one true God to serve pagan idols.

In Hinduism, deceased relatives, Gurus and Bol-lywood stars are revered as saints; a practice that God strictly forbids in Holy Scripture. Selected priests who belong to the caste of the so-called Brahmins - the highest level in Hindu society - serve as mediators between people and the countless gods. These include, among others, temple priests, pilgrim priests and tea-chers (gurus). There are also astrologers, hea-lers, priests of the dead and many more. God, on the other hand, condemns all forms of sorcery, fortune telling and necromancy, as these are associated with the devil and evil spirits (de-mons). Some Hindu priests live as monks. They undergo extreme asceticism, where they do not move for years and eat almost no food. The Bible calls this type of ascetic practice useless because it does not bring anyone closer to God; in contrast to fasting, in which believers ab-stain from food for a limited period of time in order to fully focus on God.

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and us humans. At the same time, Holy Scripture describes everyone who believes in Jesus as priests of God. In con-trast to the Hindu tradition, Christians no longer offer animals as sacrifices. Rather, our entire life should be a (spiritual) sacrifice to God. This is expressed above all in obedience to God's commandments and selfless devotion to our fellow human beings.

..5. Karma  

Another element that appears particularly in Hinduism is karma. The word karma comes from the ancient Indian language. It means “action” or “effect” and describes a spiritual connection between cause and effect: According to the doctrine of karma, every physical and mental action has a consequence that can occur both in this life and in the next. Karma therefore arises through a law and not as a result of an assessment by a judge of the world or God. However, a law cannot create itself. It needs a legislator who, in turn, must have a personality. Furthermore, this legislator must have the will and the power to ensure justice, that is, to reward good and punish evil. To do this, he must define what is good or evil or right or wrong and judge each person's actions individually. Only God as Creator comes into question for this task. Without God there can be neither life, nor morality, nor justice.

However, God is not only just, but also merciful. This means that God does not immediately pu-nish us humans for every wrongdoing we com-mit. If God were to do that, we humans would be hopelessly lost because we more or less con-stantly violate God's commandments; be it in-tentionally or unintentionally. The fact that God is merciful to us humans and wants to for-give us instead of condemning us shows love. Love, in turn, corresponds to God's very own nature. In other words: Because God loves us humans, he wants to forgive us. The karma prin-ciple, on the other hand, knows neither love nor mercy nor forgiveness.

..6. reincarnation  

In Buddhism/Hinduism there is also the concept of the so-called “(re)incarnation” or “transmi-gration of souls”. This teaching is also not found in the Bible. Only in the course of the Hellenization of Judaism were such ideas par-tially adopted from paganism. The claim that the doctrine of (re)incarnation was subse-quently removed from the Bible is in view of the fact that the Bible (still) contains a large num-ber of clear statements that testify against this doctrine , neither durable nor comprehensible.

The doctrine of (re)incarnation states that hu-mans have a soul, which is viewed as an immor-tal part of the human being. It is taught that after physical death, this soul takes place in the body of a newly conceived human or animal. Thus, each individual - whether human or ani-mal - is born anew into this world in a conti-nuous cycle, giving their soul the opportunity to develop further. Depending on whether a person has done good or bad in their life, their soul can ascend or descend in this learning process. This process is called “Samsara”. The goal is to overcome the eternal cycle of re-birth and achieve the perfect spiritual state called “Nirvana.” In this state there are no longer any desires or evil tendencies. However, since a person knows nothing of his previous existence, he cannot develop spiritually.

The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that every person is given one life by God and that their eternal fate is decided in this life. This means that every person only has one chance to be saved. The prerequisite for this is repentance from sins and faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In addition, the Bible speaks of the present and the coming world times. The current world time is limited and will pass. The coming world time, on the other hand, is eternal, i.e. it will have no end. In this context, Holy Scripture testifies that there is a resurrection of the dead; on the one hand, the resurrection to eternal life and, on the other hand, the resur-rection to the judgment and eternal damna-tion of the ungodly.

..7. Sin and atonement  

Hinduism teaches that every person who com-mits wrongdoing can atone for their own sin, e.g. by making amends for their bad deed or apo-logizing to a person they have wronged. The Bible, on the other hand, makes it clear that all people are sinners and therefore every person needs forgiveness from God. Jesus, who was with-out sin, atoned for the sins of the world through his death by dying on the cross as a representative of all people and being raised from the dead. Anyone who believes in Jesus and confesses their sins to God will receive forgive-ness and thus be absolved of all guilt. The subse-quent reparation for a wrongdoing is a visible expression of a person's remorse and conver-sion.

 

bottom of page