Survey: What Do You Think is the #1 Difference in Teaching that Separates Christianity From Other Belief Systems?

Today I’m asking you to be part of a survey based on the blog series I posted about different belief systems and if they teach the same core truth. Over the last two weeks I’ve posted blogs about Hinduism, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Islam, and Taoism. I contrasted their teachings to those of Christianity and came to the conclusion that each belief system has completely different teachings. There is no way you could say that they teach the same core truth. I’ve also shown how the New Age movement takes something from each of these systems and incorporates it into New Age spirituality.

Now I’d like to hear from you!

What do you think is the #1 difference in teaching that separates Christianity from other belief systems? There are many, but I want to know from you which one you think is the most significant! The following is a list of differences that I noticed right away. Which important element of Christianity do you think separates it from other religions?

• The belief in heaven and hell.
• The teaching of sin and the need for salvation.
• The belief that Jesus is God.
• The belief that Christians worship a personal/relational God and not an impersonal one.

These are just a few suggestions. Please leave a comment and let me know your answer. You can choose an answer from what I listed or add your own!

 

God Bless,

Gina

Clip art photo from Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Christianity vs. Hinduism

Today we will examine Hindu beliefs and how they compare or contrast to Christian doctrine. Before I start, I just want to say that these blog posts are just surveys of each belief system and are in no way exhaustive. I’ve made an effort to include a web page or source that anyone can turn to if they wish to learn more. My purpose is to identify the core beliefs that make up each system so that we are able to examine and see if it’s really possible that all belief systems can be true at the same time and teach the same thing. This is what New Age teachers claim.

All comments are welcome and very appreciated! Now, to Hinduism …

Hinduism is the dominant religion in India. Hindu’s practice the worship of many gods. However, throughout history the worship of many gods has been expressed in different ways. Years ago Hindu’s worshipped a myriad of gods and goddesses. But today, most focus on worshipping the three gods known as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

Some Hindu’s have an impersonal relationship with the god they worship and some have a personal relationship with him. This personal relationship is a result of the Hare Krishna movement. There are many sacred books in the Hindu religion and they are categorized by whether they are direct revelations from God or lesser vehicles of religious truth.

Hindu’s believe this world is just an illusion. Man is responsible for his actions and beliefs. To achieve enlightenment, one must realize that he is god (Brahman). A person must be one with god.

Lastly, salvation is attained by following moral duties. Hindu’s believe that man is caught in a cycle of life that consists of birth, death, and afterlife: Reincarnation. If I understand this correctly, a Hindu’s only hope for salvation is by moving beyond the negative karma (the moral law of cause and effect).

There are two ideas that I want to address after doing this research. The first is the issue of achieving enlightenment by realizing you are one with god. This idea is found everywhere in New Age teaching! This is one more idea that New Ager’s take from other belief systems to create their own philosophy and belief. Second, again this is another religion of works. You have to work your way toward salvation by doing moral duties.

Hinduism is not similar to our Christian beliefs. We believe that because of God’s mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice, we are forgiven for our sins. It isn’t a cycle of reincarnation or the attempt to get rid of negative karma. Christianity teaches that there is a separation between the Creator and the created. We are never one with God. There are many more differences, but we can already see, through the limited information presented, that Hinduism and Christianity do not teach the same thing. Therefore, again, we’ve come to the conclusion that all religions do not teach the same core truth. They both teach very opposite things and cannot be true at the same time.

For more info on Hinduism, you can visit http://www.hinduismtoday.com/. My research today came from the book Religions A to Z.