Religious affiliation is one of the valuable components of the human personality. Adhering to particular religious worldviews in this way becomes an essential topic for research. This implies comparing aspects such as historical and geographical origins, core beliefs and practices, and important texts. Therefore, this essay will compare Hinduism and Christianity with respect to these components and find similar and different characteristics.
First of all, it is necessary to compare the origin of Christianity and Judaism. Thus, the historical place of the emergence of the Christian religion is the Roman province of Judea, modern-day Israel, and Palestine (“Rome early Christianity,” n.d.). Initially, it was followed by a reasonably small community, which was forbidden to practice their religion. However, gradually, Christianity gained remarkable recognition and became one of the most widespread religions in the world. Hinduism, in turn, originated in the Indian subcontinent near modern-day Pakistan. It became a mixture of several practices that were combined to create one religion that also spread throughout the world.
The next aspect is the core beliefs and doctrines of Christianity and Hinduism. The main difference between Christianity is that it adheres to the existence of one God. Moreover, in this faith, there is such a thing as the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Hinduism, due to the mixing of several practices, believes in the existence of several Gods, but they come from Atman. It is considered the “soul or one’s eternal Self and resides in all living creatures, giving the materialistic body life” (Devaki, 2020, para. 1). Another difference between religions is that Christianity believes in the existence of Heaven and Hell, which people fall into after death. On the other hand, Hinduism defines the existence of reincarnation, the end of which is the achievement of enlightenment.
Rituals and practices become another aspect that defines the differences between Christianity and Hinduism. Further, in Christianity, the leading practice is to perform prayers and worships in the church. Moreover, in this denomination, baptism is practiced connecting a person with God and the Eucharist, which consists in lighting bread and wine, which are used during the sacraments. In Hinduism, meditation and yoga are often practiced both in extraordinary temples and in-home settings. In addition, it does not have a baptism ritual, as in Christianity, since it is believed that people are born immediately in connection with religion.
The last but no less important aspect is the presence of important texts and narratives. Hence, in Christianity, the basis is the Bible, which defines all the fundamental beliefs and postulates for followers. It speaks about the love of God, love, and respect for one’s neighbor and talks about the main struggles and the path of the formation of religion. If in Christianity, there is one holy scripture, then in Hinduism, there are much more of them. Among the most basic can be named the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, the Bhagavad Gita. In addition to them, there are other narratives that talk about the gods that the followers of the religion believe in.
The main similarity of these practices is that they are all aimed at connecting with higher forces, in which followers of religions believe. Therefore, despite the fact that religions differ in the number of worshipped Gods, religions emphasize their value to man. Moreover, they point to the importance of human relations and building a world in which kindness and compassion towards other people will be the main thing.
In conclusion, the study of differences and similarities between faiths is a valuable insight. This is due to the fact that it promotes awareness of the importance of religions and how they affect people’s lifestyles and worldviews. Henceforth, Christianity and Hinduism, being one of the most widespread religions in the world, have big differences in practices, origin, beliefs, and texts. However, all of them are aimed at building a connection with higher powers and establishing peace between people.
References
Devaki, M. (2020). The journey of the Atman. Hindu students’ council. Web.
Rome early Christianity. (n.d.). History’s histories. Web.