There is an interesting article on About.com on the similarities of Christianity and Hinduism, taking the stance that Christianity borrowed some elements from Hinduism. It is written by Stephen Knapp, a “writer, author, philosopher, spiritual practitioner, traveler, photographer, and lecturer,” according to his website, specializing in Vedic culture.
Because of the author’s perspective, he cites many similarities between the two faiths with a spin that Hinduism had them first. While the claim that these coincidences imply that one stems from the other is debatable, the specific instances Knapp cites are very interesting. According to the article, St Augustine, a prominent early Christian theologian, said that
We never cease to look towards India, where many things are proposed to our admiration.
From this quote, we see that an awareness and respect for Indian culture was present. Another interesting thing the article brings up is the use of incense, something we take for granted. But the difficulty is that the author infers from traditions — there is no citation of scripture from either faith.
Still, the similarities are compelling. The final claim — that the world’s basic culture is Vedic — is controversial, but Knapp brings up interesting points that can’t easily be explained away as coincidental convergence.
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From what I understand, everyone is Hindu, even if they don’t call themselves Hindu – Hinduism is an all-encompassing religion.
It seems to make sense then that Christianity would stem out of Hinduism. It is one of the many forms of worship that Krishna accepts (he says that he accepts all forms of worship in the Gita).
Also, Hinduism was in practice during pre-historical ages. If one religion does in fact stem from the other, it would make logical sense that Christianity stems from Hinduism.
Priya, I don’t know of any other religion which claims others to be subsets of itself. Lots of people might find your logical viewpoint offensive for that reason. What do you think?
I don’t know if it’s so much that Christianity is a subset of Hinduism, but that since Hinduism is so accepting, it is only natural the Christianity’s views align with it. Almost all religions have the same basic tenets, so perhaps Christianity took some inspiration from Hinduism. They’re all so fundamentally similar that anything’s possible.
I think it’s a stretch to say that Hinduism had a significant influence on Christian practices. (The article, while interesting, cited scholars who are known for taking what you might call a “Hindu originalist” view.) That said, Hinduism may have had an indirect influence on Christianity through the Hellenistic philosophers, particularly Plotinus. Many Greeks knew Persian from Alexander’s conquests, and Persian still bore several similarities to Sanskrit at the time, lowering the language barrier a little. Going back a few centuries, Pythagoras actually visited India (http://9waysmysteryschool.tripod.com/sacredsoundtools/id13.html), and his ideas bear uncanny similarities to several tenets of Hinduism and Buddhism (he believed in transmigration, for example). For more, see this essay: http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/aot/aot/aot04.htm
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