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Comparing and Contrasting Hinduism and Christianity

By: James Holan

There are many differences between Hindu and Christianity. These differences range from the actual beliefs systems that are followed in the religions themselves, to the Gods and Goddess that the religious believers follow. The major differences between the religions, however, are formed around their beliefs about the nature of the world, the systems their society follows and runs by, and the amount or lack of amount of Gods in their particular religion.

The first and perhaps biggest difference between these two religions is the belief in how the universe works. In Hinduism, which is a religion that believes in cycles, a person or anything for that matter never truly dies. Instead they follow the "cyclical" view of the universe, which is a flowing of the soul, meaning it never ends. Instead, the soul follows a set pattern throughout its life. Everything is, of course, born. After its birth the soul goes through a period of growth, in other words it matures, once it has matured it goes through the normal decline as is experienced in all living and non-living things. After this declining stage, the soul goes to death but, unlike the Christian view of the world, the soul does not then depart to a heaven or a hell. Instead the soul is reborn as something new, creating an inevitable cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

The next major difference between Christianity and Hinduism comes from their separate cultural belief systems. In the Hindu religion, there is a set system of order among its classes, in other words they have a complex system that dictates a person's status in society, better known as the Caste System. The Cast System is still practiced today in some places, although it is no longer widely used throughout the world. The premise of the Caste System is that everyone is born into a specific social class which comes from five preexisting classes. The first is the Bramins or the priest, the second is Kshatriyas or the military and royalty, the third is the Vaishyas or the merchants and entrepreneurs, the forth is the Shudras or the craftsman and people who practice fine arts, and the last is the Dalit or the socially and economically underprivileged sometimes referred to as the untouchables because no one wants to be part of their class. Within this system there is no way to gain a higher social status because it is usually prohibited for one class to marry another. In the Christian religion this system is not used, instead a person is pretty much allowed to marry whoever they or their family deem worthy, this allows an individual to, basically, change social classes.

The last difference and probably the most commonly noticed difference between the two religions is seen in the amount or lack of amount of deities both have. In the Christian religion there is only one God, and underneath that God there are Archangels, angels, cherubs, the devil, demons, and humans respectively. In the Hindu religion, however, there are multiple Gods and Goddesses, meaning it is a polytheistic religion. However, there is a similarity between the two. In the Christian religion there is the Holy Trinity, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, these three make up the power behind God. In the Hindu religion there is also a trinity of sorts between three Gods, Brahma, Vishnu or Krishna and Shiva. Brahma is the creator of all of reality, similar to the father, Vishnu or Krishna is the preserver of all creation, similar to the son, and Shiva is the destroyer of creation, similar to the Holy Spirit. This shows the similarity that can be seen between these two religions.

In the case of Hinduism and Christianity, there are many differences as well as similarities. The two religions are similar in the fact that they both have a trinity of sorts within them, that control and keep safe the world. They are different in their beliefs, their systems of human government, and in their views on the universe.

Copyright (c) 2010 James Holan

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This article offers a comparison between two different religions: Christianity and Hinduism.

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