Week 6

Hinduism

This week we have been studying the religion of Hinduism. So far, this has been the hardest one to grasp. With Catholic, Islam, and Orthodox, they a least had something in common with Christianity. Hinduism, on the other hand, is totally different. Right off, a big difference is their belief in God. A follower of Hinduism can believe in one god, no god or many gods. Hinduism is said to have 330 million gods.

There are two core beliefs in Hinduism that differ from Christianity: reincarnation and karma. Reincarnation is the belief that a persons soul comes back in different bodies. These bodies don’t have to be human. They don’t even have to be animate objects. This uncreated and eternal soul is totally different than the view in the Bible where were we are created being. The bible also says it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Heb. 9.27). Once we are dead that is it. We have one shot at this life.

Karma, which means action, is a process of cause and effect. If you are good, good things happen to you. If you are bad, bad thing will happen. This karma can even affect you status when you are reincarnated.

Regarding Jesus, Hinduism would believe that He is not God, but one of the many incarnations, or avatars of Vishnu, their supreme god. Remember they have 330 million gods that they can worship, so Jesus could be just one to them. This was a problem with missionaries. They would go into a highly Hindu region and a lot of people would make a decision for Christ. Their thinking is “we’ll accept Christ; we’ll put him with our other gods. When talking with Hindus we need to be careful. They need to understand that God has became incarnate only once (John 1:14) and that he is the only way to God (John 14:6)

Another point that we disagree with in Hinduism is their view on sin and salvation. Sin to them is an ‘utter illusion”. Everything including sin is just an illusion and not real. They seek the endless cycle of being reincarnated, by mediation, devotion, good works and self control. This will put them at one with Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. Christians see ourselves as sinners (Romans 3:23). Because of that sin we can not received eternal life and heaven. God didn’t want that and did a wonderful thing for us. While we were sinners, He came to earth as a man to pay for our sins(Romans 5:8). So that if we turn from our sins (Acts 3:19) and put our trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, we will be saved (Romans 10:9)

Our Visit

Our scheduled visit was not home. While trying to find the address at an apartment complex, we saw a lady getting out of her car. We initially asked her about the address we where trying to find. When we got back, with no luck, she was still trying to get her two kids, a suitcase and a backpack out of the car and up the stairs. Joanna got out to give her a bible and noticed that she needed help. So both Joanna and Sherri helped her upstairs. This was a great time to talk to here about the gospel. We asked the key question “What do you understand that it takes for a person to go to heaven” and she had no idea. We explained to her what it took by using what we learned in FAITH class. We had a good talk with here and prayed with her before we left.

Prayer Request

Pray for Brother Harris. He is out sick. Pray that he will have a speedy recovery. We also have had a scheduling conflict and I’ll be losing a very good team member in FAITH. Pray that God will find a replacement. Joanna had a chance for a long talk with someone about Jesus. Pray that this person will chew on the things that were said.