Hinduism and the Religion’s Worldviews Essay

Hindooism is non merely a righteousness, it is excessively a philosophy and the culture in India, and it has already been a marked pop out of their every twenty- quaternion hour period living. So much so that everything aspect of their daily lives goes back to it and it has 950 genius million million followers to wit (mostly from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Ind whizzsia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan). Hinduism ranks third as the orbits largest worship by and by the Nazareneianity and Islam, and it is in like spellner utter to be virtuoso of the worlds oldest nonionised piety a gigantic with Judaism (VandeWeghe, 2007).Hinduism and christianity differ in umteen ways, and it is rational that in that location atomic number 18 disagreements and contradictions when both people from dissimilar pietys involve themselves in a conversation regarding their depressions. The purpose of this publisher is to discover an effective way to frame of reference a pleasant rel ationship with a Hindu in edict to be able to sh atomic number 18 the gospel with them. In order to accomplish this aim, this paper pass on discuss the origin, beliefs, practices and the views of Hinduism approximately saviourianity and how they differ from the acres religion. Hinduism A Closer Look accord to Robinson (2007), besides being called Hinduism, it is in any case referred to as Sanata Dharma (eternal religion) and Vaidika Dharma (religion of the Vedas). Hinduism has no specific founder and the day that it was born is still un cognize however, in that location be two theories regarding the origin of the religion. iodin is the Classical Theory which explains that Hinduism originated at the Indus vale around 4000BCE to 2200BCE and that its development was due to conglomerate external invasions occurrencely of the Indo-Aryan for they argon the whizzs who were said to lose brought the religion of Vedism.The unalike is the Emerging Theory which went against the first possible action by proving that there were no foreign invasions along the Indus Valley and that the Vedic religion (Hinduism at 1500BCE to 500BCE) was allowed to flourish by the aforementi unrivaledd(prenominal) group of people who later called themselves Aryan. The Hindu scriptures as well as literatures, which argon sluice older than the passwords Old Testament, argon the sources of the religions beliefs and practices.The most sacred Hindu scriptures are the four Vedas (Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda) which consists of hymns, in force outtations, rituals and explanations among which the Rig Veda (1700BCE to 1100BCE) is said to be the oldest. There are too the Upanishads which discussed states of consciousness, dreams, meditations, self-realizations and angiotensin converting enzyme the Darshanas which consists of six philosophical system and teachings derived from the Vedas and ultimately and the most recent, the Puranas which tells the stories of th e most recent gods (Reid & Corduan, 2008).Hinduism alike has the two great epics that show the virtues and i administers that are significant to the religion the first is the Ramayana which is a tale astir(predicate) a prince named Rama and his wife, Sita, and the Mahabarata, a collection of poems which states the duties of a religious, law-abiding man (Mason, 2000). Not only is Hinduism integrity of the oldest and largest religions, it is similarly said to be the most conglomerate one (McDowell, 2002).There are conf engrossd beliefs in Hinduism and one of them is the very common and highly noticed Caste System which is said to be the cause of inequality and rasping laws in India. There are four of import companys the Brahmin (priest-teachers), kshatriyas (soldier-nobles), vaishyas (merchants) and sudras (servants). In the some other(a) periods, it was supposed to be part of the presage order, however, as years passed by, subcastes were developed and there came the out castes or the untouchables people who do non belong to any of the four main castes (Perry, 1989).Associated with this system are other beliefs. The belief that each of them have dharma ( business), depending on which caste they were born into they also believe in karma and samsara (reincarnation) thus, they believe that if they do their duty correctly, they pull up s make ups have good karma and leave be reincarnated into a higher class. On the contrary, if they did non, they force be reincarnated to the lower class or even so as an animal. Their goal is to get moksha (release), which is their concept of repurchase.Here they would not be liberated from sin hardly to animateness existence itself for they believe that as long as they are in the maya (phenomenal world) measly would never stop because of karma and samsara. Moksha can be reach in three ways, by way of works, way of companionship and way of devotion (bhakti) which is the most public one, in which a somebod y will completely devote himself to a legitimate god and the latter will take care of everything in his behalf (Reid & Corduan, 2008).In primordial Hinduism, savior Christ has no particular role in the religion and is not even mentioned in their scriptures however, due to the try out of Christianity, Hindu thinkers thought of a ordain where they could put deliveryman Christ in their religion. According to Reid and Corduan (2008), since Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, the Hindus viewed delivery boy Christ as one of the incarnations or avatars of Brahman who, like Rama and Krishna, is a cleric self-embodiment in order to preserve Hindu teachings and another way was by give tongue to that Jesus Christ spent his close years in India to proclaim the teachings of Hinduism.Nevertheless, Hindus internalisation of Jesus Christ into their religion does not analyzem to fit properly. According to McDowell (2002), Hinduism is known to be tolerant towards other religions because of similarities with Hinduism. This is believed to be one of the characteristics of a polytheistic and henotheistic (believing in one god and regarding other gods and goddesses as scarce manifestations) religions.However, due to rise of a nationalistic political party which took trammel of the Indias government, the separation of church and state collapsed and religious tolerance went down as well, increasing anti-Christian violence in the sphere (Robinson, 2007). Christianity and Hinduism has numerous differences and some of them are the chase Hinduisms Supreme Being is the Brahman, an unutterable and im ad hominem deity, magic spell Christianity has a loving, mortalal and caring Creator.Hinduism looks at man as a materialization of Brahman who has no value and self-worth at all, whereas, Christianity proclaims that man is created in the very image of immortal that merits to lovemaking and be loved despite their arch deeds. When it comes to sins, there are no sins that a re committed against Brahman, things that were done wrong are taken as results of ignorance that can be redeemed by following the duty of a specific caste to which the person belongs to and the path going to salvation. On the other hand, wrongdoings that are done within Christianity is taken as acts of rebellion against God.Salvation in Hinduism is referred to as moksha and can be reach in three ways which cannot be accomplished in one lifetime, while salvation in the Christian intelligence is granted by God to those who deserve it after being separated from him. Lastly, even their view of the material world differ for a Hindu, the material world is an computer address of Brahman and just a pass(a) and secondary importance on the contrary, Christians see the material world as an intent reality and a something total different from God (McDowell, 2002).However, despite these differences, it is said that Hindus pack Jesus, merely not the Christian relgion. In fact, they even r efer Christianity to Churchianity. According to Abhedananda (2002), Hindus can tell apart the religion of Jesus Christ from the religion of the Church for the intellectual that the true religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of the heart. Thus, it has no belief and no theology, no rituals and ceremonies, and is not ground from a book. From their perspective, the religion of the Church is establish from a book, is full of creeds and rituals, and even has an organized way of preaching them.When it comes to the religious doctrine, they see it as full of inconsistencies and discrepancies, and one very indefinite area for the Hindus comes from their awareness that Jesus Christ did not have His own publications and that there are no tiny and contemporary accounts of His life inside and outdoor(a) of the Bible. In order to share the gospel truth to the Hindus, Rev. Dharmaraj (2001), gave some advice to approach the Hindus and make them list to the gospel truth. He said that one s hould get a line and understand what type of Hindu union one intends to visit, since there are different sects that belong to Hinduism.Next, he said that one should explain the concepts incorporated in the creeds in order for them to understand the Gospels for they have their own understanding of God, salvation, sin, among others. Lastly, Christians should deal with the challenges of dogmatism, risks of syncretism and to focus on evangelism. In addition, correspond to Reid and Corduan (2008), a Christian should connect with the person rather with the persons religion Christians should approach them along with humanitarian efforts and outreach projects since Hinduism does not cater to such.Through a conspiracy of these, Hindus have already felt the soma of loving relationships that pay no forethought to the caste which have long been abolished but is still being practiced. The salvation of Christianity even reached them in a way, and it even make them accept Jesus Christ much as they felt that they have been freed from the Cimmerian aspects of Hinduism. The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. unless the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The yield loves the password and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him. (John 331-36, NAB) In the given Gospel, in order for a Hindu to understand it, one should clarify that the God in the Gospel is the Creator and that His son is Jesus Christ, the recoverer of mankind from sins.In addition, it will also be better to give a slight background of what the Gospel is or so say th at at this point in the Gospel, the Savior have finally presented Himself in front of the people. The Hindu should also be informed that eternal life is referring to the promised salvation in a Christian scene and that it can only be attained by believing in Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the Christian should also point out what the wrath of God means, so that the Hindu could have insights as to the consequences of not obeying their God.And since this pertains to the concept of Hell, it should be also explained again in totality for Hindus do not have this concept in their belief system. Hinduism is a large Byzantine religion that is older than Christianity. If one would be able to understand the essentials of this religion, it would be light-colored to reach out to the Hindus and make them get word to the Gospel. Christians have their views about Hinduism and Hindus likewise have their own views about Christianity.While they criticize and contradict each other about most of t he aspects of their beliefs, setting them aside for for a while in order to learn about one anothers religion makes it possible to establish not just communication but also an open, two-party relationship. To share a Gospel to Hindus, proper understanding of Hinduism is required along with the use of an effective interpersonal approach.ReferencesMason, C. (2000). A gip history of Asia Stone Age to 2000AD. capital of the United Kingdom Palgrave Macmillan Perry, M. (1989). A history of the world.Massachusetts Houghton Mifflin Holy Bible the new American Bible. (1987). Nashville doubting Thomas Nelson Abhedananda, S. (2002). Why a Hindu accepts Christ and rejects Churchianity. Retrieved manifest 31, 2008 from Hinduism website http//www. hinduism. co. za/jesus. htm Dharmahal, P. (1992). Communicating Christ to the Hindu world. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from Mission Frontiers website http//www. missionfrontiers. org/1992/0912/sd9211. htm McDowell, J. (2002). A ready defense. Retrieved March 31, 2008 from Jesus Who website http//www. greatcom.org/resources/areadydefense/ch24/default. htm Reid, P. & Corduan, W. (2008). About Hinduism. Retrieved March 31, 2008 from Christian Answers Network website http//christiananswers. net/evangelism/beliefs/hinduism. html Robinson, B. A. (2007). Hinduism the worlds third largest religion. Retrieved March 31, 2008 from spiritual Tolerance website http//www. religioustolerance. org/hinduism. htm VandeWeghe, R. (2007). Prepared to answer. Retrieved March 31, 2008 from windmill Ministries website http//www. windmillministries. org/frames/CH30A. htm