THE HARM OF HINDUISM

-{Colossians 1}

-In the early 20th century, Albert Einstein revolutionized physics with his theory of relativity. Many began to confuse the laws of the universe he described with the creator behind those laws. Einstein himself insisted that while he unveiled the mysteries of creation, he could not explain the existence of a Creator. This distinction serves as a reminder that while we explore and understand the world, we must honor the distinction between the creation and the divine source that crafted it, rather than conflating the two.

-This is important as we go into our study, where we run into a religion that has played loosey goosey between God and man. The Bible makes it very clear that there is a God, and everything else is not Him. First, look at the passage to which I pointed.

Colossians 1:16–17 LSB

16 For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together.

-Here we have Paul making sure that we understand that Jesus is God. As he plainly states a few verses later:

Colossians 1:19 LSB

19 For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

-And as God, He had the distinction of creating everything else that existed outside of Himself. This is a call back to the very beginning of Scriptures, where Moses records:

Genesis 1:1–2 LSB

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

-So, looking at these verses we find that God existed in His Holy Trinity, and within the counsel of the Godhead they decided to create things outside of themselves. It says in the Colossians verses that they created heaven and earth, the visible and the invisible. All things were created through Him and for Him. So, there is God and then there is what God created that is outside of Himself. While creation dimly reflects God’s attributes, they can come nowhere near to who God is. God is unique. God is separate. God is completely other than anything else.

-This is one of the most basic and important beliefs within our faith, and it is a line that other religions blur. I have been using Wednesday nights for discipleship to learn the excellencies of the Christian faith by comparing it to other religions. This helps us learn how to defend the faith, it forces us to go deeper into our theology, and it prepares us to share the truths of Christianity for the purposes of evangelism.

-Tonight I want to look at one of the oldest religions that there are (outside of Judeo-Christian beliefs). And that is the religion of Hinduism. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world, claiming about 1 billion followers. And in my study to prepare for this lesson, I found that trying to pinpoint solid religious distinctions about Hinduism is like trying to nail jello to the wall. When you try to put down something solid with Hinduism, it just kind of splatters all over the place.

-That’s because Hinduism is not a religion that has solidly defined doctrines, and it has so many different varieties and flavors. And what we find is a religion that has a lot of contradictions, but the people who are stuck in the middle of it don’t see them as such because the religion allows for such things. So, we’ll do our best to see what’s wrong with Hinduism, and how Christianity is the more excellent faith in comparison.

-Hinduism began in India. There were an indigenous people who lived in the Indus Valley of India by the Indus River. Somewhere around 2000 BC, some Aryan people, Indo-Europeans, migrated south into that area. They imposed their Vedic civilization and religion on the Indians there who followed a Dravidian religion. But the two kind of mixed together into a hodge podge . So, this is where it is believed that the culture and religion that dominates India started. The name Hindu seems to come from the Indus valley.

-We will try to define as best we can their beliefs, but as one author said:

Hinduism is a state of mind rather than an assembly of facts or chronological sequence of events.

-But let’s start with their concept of deity. In one sense Hindus are monists. Monism means that they believe that all existence is actually one substance. There is just one singular entity that exists, and all of us are a part of that—we are all manifestations of the one substance. Hinduism is also pantheistic. Pantheism states that all existence is divine. So, if we put the two together, it believes that everything is a manifestation of a singular existence, and that existence is god (for lack of a better term(, so we are all manifestations of god.

-Now, there are some versions that teach what is called panentheism where god is to creation what the soul is to the body—the life force behind it all. Think of the Force in Star Wars which surrounds everything and penetrates everything, and it binds the galaxy together. But for the most part, it is monistic and pantheistic.

-They believe that the one thing that actually exists is Brahman. It is just easier to call this their god. Brahman is the essence, the soul of the whole cosmos. Brahman is that only thing that exists. But this Brahman manifests itself in many different ways. The individual manifestations of Brahman are called Atman. I’m an Atman. You’re an Atman. Everybody that we think as distinctive individuals are Atman.

-So, right off the bat we think there’s something wrong here. Hinduism is saying that we actually don’t exist. We’re just some weird manifestation of the one. That is why we started with the Colossians and Genesis passages. While Hinduism says that there is nothing but Brahman, we know and believe that there is a God who is distinct from His creation, and each part of creation is distinct from one another. Now, granted, there are a lot of people who think that they’re God, but they’re not. And neither are we. And since God is God, and we’re not, that means that He is to be obeyed and worshipped.

-But for Hindus, they say that the one, impersonal Brahman exists, and if there appears to be anything else that exists, it is maya, it is an illusion, and does not truly exist. So, the Hindu god seems to be schizophrenic with a multiple-personality disorder.

-And yet, at the same time, they also teach that some things are more at one with the one than other things. There are things that exist that are closer than others to being one with the one. Humans who have a higher understanding (the gurus or whatever) might be a little more one with the one. But then the more spiritual aspects, what we might call other gods, are a little more one with the one.

-Hinduism is known as the religion of millions of gods. So, that seems like a contradiction—if everything is just one, how could there be millions of gods? But interestingly enough, they have a triad of gods that are the major gods at play—or the major manifestations of Brahman. There is Brahman the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. Many Hindus cling to Vishnu and say that Vishnu (who is a manifestation of Brahman) took on other manifestations called avatars—Vishnu incarnated. So, I guess they are manifestations of manifestations. The Buddha and Rama and Krishna are such avatars. But whatever god is your flavor of the day, you can use any of them to help you on your journey for enlightenment.

-What is this journey? First, let’s think about the Christian journey. Christianity rightly claims that there is this distinction between God and creation. Humanity joined fallen angels in rebellion against God, introducing sin into the world. God, being holy and just, must judge lawbreakers—those who miss His standards. However, God loved these human rebels and made a way for His justice to be satisfied and open a door of forgiveness to sinners. This He did by sending the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, to become human, die on the cross to pay for sins, and He rose again, granting forgiveness and eternal life to those who believe. Then those who are saved are empowered to work and minister on God’s behalf before being taken home to their reward.

-Hindus have a completely different idea about what is going on in the world, what the point of life is, and how to get to where they think they’re going. Hindus believe that they are actually illusory Atmans of Brahman, and they are merely manifestations who have forgotten who they really are, they need to meld back into the one.

-But they believe they are one this roller coaster of existence of continual death and reincarnation. They as an Atman die, but then they come back as a different manifestation. But what determines how they are reincarnated is what they did with their previous manifestation. If they did bad things, they are reincarnated in a lower form (or, if you come back as human, you are born into a lower caste). But if you did good things, you are reincarnated in a higher form, or higher caste.

-What determines how you come back the next time around is a term you are familiar with—karma. That is their version of what you sow is what you’ll reap. The more good karma you reap, the better your reincarnation, and vice versa. You owe a debt for your your bad actions, and they have to be offset somehow. But ultimately, what you are working toward is release from the crazy cycle of reincarnations. This release is called moksha. You get rid of all your bad karma and work your way toward being fully reintegrated into Brahman.

-There are different ways of working your way to this self-realization that allows you to be reintegrated into the one. There is the way of bhakti marga, which is the way of devotion shown through ritualistic sacrifice and discipline. There is the way of jnana marga, which is the path of knowledge or mystical insight, where you achieve self-realization through intuitive awareness and mystical insight. And then there is the karma marga which is the way of disinterested action. All these different methods supposedly end in the same result of release.

-One of the ways of spirituality and meditation within these paths is yoga. Yes, yoga itself is Hindu and pagan. There are spiritual realities to the poses. What they are trying to do is connect to divine reality through the poses which are a form of worship and enlightenment. So, yoga is something to be avoided.

-But having heard their version of reality, just think of the contradictions and illogical conclusions that they come to. If there is no personal God who is the standard of right and wrong, who or what determines if your actions reap good or bad karma? And if there is no personal God that you have personally offended, then why would you have to pay anything at all?

-And if your existence is a mere illusion anyway, why would your actions make any difference one way or the other? And if your existence is a mere illusion that disappears at death, how can that same manifestation appear again in a different form to repay the karma?

-How could going to temples of gods or doing rituals to gods help in any way? Are not these gods manifestations of Brahman as much as the person doing the ritual? What difference would it make? How could one manifestation of Brahman help another manifestation of Brahman?

-I also see a real problem with Hinduism when it comes to suffering. How can a mere illusion suffer? Are they claiming that suffering itself is an illusion? That does nothing to help the one going through the suffering. You seem to be suffering for no reason whatsoever, and there is no recourse for your suffering. You suffer and die and just get reincarnated to suffer some more.

-There are definite issues with Hinduism. And it is right for us to point these contradictions out to Hindus when we evangelize them. There is some caution when we evangelize Hindus. When we speak of Jesus and the gospel, we must emphasize the exclusivity of Jesus and salvation found only through Him.

-If we merely ask a Hindu if they want to follow Jesus, most Hindus wouldn’t have a problem with that. However, what they’re thinking in their mind is that they are going to add Jesus to the plethora of other gods that they follow, and they think that Jesus is just another way of moksha—getting out of the cycle.

-No, as stated from the beginning. We share about the distinction between Creator and creation. That this God is holy, and we’re not. That sin has put us in debt to this God, and we pay it through eternal hell. There is no reincarnation—after death you go to one of two places. But God sent His Son to make the payment. And we believe in Him alone for salvation. We want to pray for Hindus to come to the truth...