Hinduism versus Christianity

Comparison chart

 

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	Christianity	Hinduism
Place of origin	Roman province of Judea.	Indian Subcontinent
Place of worship	Church, chapel, cathedral, basilica, home bible study, personal dwellings.	Temple (Mandir)
Practices	Prayer, sacraments (some branches), worship in church, reading of the Bible, acts of charity, communion.	Meditation, yoga, contemplation, yagna (communal worship), offerings in the temple.
Belief of God	One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.	Many gods, but realize that they all come from Atman.
Use of statues and pictures	In Catholic & Orthodox Churches.	Common
Religious Law	Has existed among Catholics in the form of canon law.	Dharma shastras
About	Christianity broadly consists of individuals who believe in the deity Jesus Christ. Its followers, called Christians, often believe Christ is "the Son" of the Holy Trinity and walked the earth as the incarnate form of God ("the Father").	Devotion to the various gods & goddesses of Hinduism.
Means of salvation	Through Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection.	Reaching enlightenment by the Path of Knowledge, the Path of devotion, or the Path of Good Deeds.
Day of worship	Sunday, the Lord's Day.	Orthodox schools prescribe three prayer times a day: at dawn, noon and dusk.
Clergy	Priests, bishops, ministers, monks, and nuns.	No official clergy. Gurus, Yogis, Rishis, Brahmins, Pundits, priests, priestesses, monks, and nuns.
Goal of religion	To love God and obey his commandments while creating a relationship with Jesus Christ and spreading the Gospel so that others may also be saved.	To break the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation, and attain salvation.
Founder	The Lord Jesus Christ.	Not credited to a particular founder.
Ressurection of Jesus	Affirmed.	N/A.
Belief	The Nicene Creed sums up Christian belief in the Holy Trinity.	Diverse beliefs depending on sects.
Human Nature	Man has inherited "original sin" from Adam. Mankind then is inherently evil and is in need of forgiveness of sin. By knowing right and wrong Christians choose their actions. Humans are a fallen, broken race in need of salvation and repair by God.	Depends on sects.
Definition	Disciple of Jesus Christ.	The word Hindu has geographical significance and was used originally for those people who lived beyond the river Sindhu or the region watered by the river Indus. Hindus themselves, call their religion "Sanatana Dharma, " meaning "Eternal Law."
Literal Meaning	Follower Of Christ.	The followers of Vedas are called as Arya, noble person. Arya is not a dynasty, ethnicity or race. Anyone who follows the teachings of Vedas is considered Arya.
Rites	Seven sacraments: Baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, holy orders, matrimony (Catholic and Orthodox). Anglicans: Baptismand Eucharist. Other denominations: Baptism and communion.	Some Hindus believe in a "thread ceremony" for men.
Life after death	Eternity in Heaven or Hell, in some cases temporal Purgatory.	A constant cycle of reincarnation until enlightenment is reached.
Marriage	A Holy Sacrament.	Man may marry one woman. However, kings in mythology often married more than one woman.
Prophets	Prophets in the Bible areVENERATED.	No prophets, but Rishis could be considered equivalent in Vedic times. Avataras of Vedic God are different from human reincarnations, but could be considered equivalent toChristian idea of God in flesh.
God's role in salvation	Humans cannot save themselves or ascend on their own to a higher level. Only God is good and therefore only God is able to save a person. Jesus came down from Heaven to save mankind.	Beliefs vary by sect. Upanishads (scripture) say God chooses who gets salvation. Salvation is attained via good deeds and righteousness (following the "dharma" and avoiding sin)
Second coming of Jesus	Affirmed.	N/A.
View of other Abrahamic religions	Judaism is regarded as a True religion but incomplete (without Gospel, and Messiah) Islam is regarded as a false religion, Christianity does not accept the Qur'an as true.	Hinduism is a Dharmic religion, not an Abrahamic religion.
Scriptures	The Holy Bible	Vedas, Upanishad, Puranas, Gita. Smrti and Sruti are oral scriptures.
Branches	Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant.	Myriad
Status of Muhammad	N/A.	N/A.
Confessing sins	Protestants confess straight to God, Catholic confess mortal sins to a Priest, and venial sins straight to God (Orthodox have similar practice) Anglicans confess to Priests but considered optional. God always forgives sins in Jesus.	Repentance for unintentional sins are prescribed, but intentional sins have to be repaid through karmic consequences.
View of other Dharmic religions	N/A	They believe that Buddhists, Jains, & Sikhs should reunite with Hinduism(which is the original Dharmic religion).
Abrahamic Lineage	Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.	N/A.
Jesus	Son Of God.	N/A.
View of the Buddha	N/A.	Some Hindu sects claim Buddha was an avatar of Vishnu. Others believe he was a holy man.
Geographical distribution and predominance	Europe, North and South America, and Australia and New Zealand.	Mainly in India.
Place and Time of origin	Jerusalem, approx. 33 AD.	Indian Subcontinent, beginning with the Vedic civilization circa 3000 BC
Followers	Christian (follwers of Christ)	Hindus.
Position of Mary	Mother Of God.	N/A.
Belief of God	One God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.	The deity often varies from sect to sect. Smarta/Monists sect believes Everything is God. There are monotheistic sects also.
Promised Holy one.	Second Coming of Christ	Kalki, the 10'th avatar of Vishnu.
Original Language(s)	Aramaic, Greek, and Latin.	Sanskrit
Identity of Jesus	The Son Of God.	N/A.
imams identified as	N/A.	N/A.
Use of statues	Forbidden in Protestant denominations; icons are used in Catholic & Orthodox denominations.	Allowed
Birth of Jesus	Virgin Birth, through God.	N/A.
Population	Over a billion adherents worldwide.	1 Billion.
Authority of Dalai Lama	N/A.	N/A.
Death of Jesus	Death by crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. Will return.	N/A.
Names of God	God, Gud, Gott, Deo, Dios. Jehovah, YHWH, Eli Elohim, Allah, (depending on language Christians are of every language and culture around the world)	Brahman
Position of Abraham	Father of the faithful.	N/A.
Goal of Philosophy	Objective reality. Worship of God who created life, the universe, and is eternal. Christianity has its own philosophy, found in the the Bible. That philosophy is Salvation from sin, through the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.	Salvation, freedom from the cycle of birth and reincarnation.
Use of statues, images	some denominations regard It as forbidden and Idolatry. Anglicans and Lutherans allow pictures but forbid venerating them. Catholics encourage pictures and statues andVENERATE them. Orthodox encourage pictures and venerate them.	Common.
Views on the afterlife	Eternity in Heaven or Hell; some believe in temporal suffering in Purgatory, before admittance into Heaven.	A constant cycle of reincarnation until enlightenment is reached after which moksha is attained.
Views on other religion	Christianity is the True Faith.	Believe all religions have some truth in them.
Virtue on which religion is based upon	Love.	Follow righteousness.
Authority of Pope	Leader and overseer of the Catholic Church. his authority is completely rejected by Protestants, and is viewed by Orthodox as first among equals. Orthodox and Protestants reject Papal infallibility and Papal supremacy.	N/A.
View of God	One God, Who Is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.	Monists believe only Brahman exists, Pantheists believe all things/entities are God, Monotheistic sects consider God as immanent and transcendent and different from others. The Nasadiya Sukta even explores creation-ex-nihilo.
Status of Vedas	N/A.	Vedas are generally regarded as sacred in Hinduism. Post-Vedic texts like the Gita are also revered.
Religion which atheists may still be adherents of	No.	Charvakas and Sankyas are atheistic groups in Hinduism.
sects	Catholic, Protestant, & Orthodox.	Vaishnava, Shaivaya, & Shaktism.
Promised Holy One	Second Coming Of Christ.	Kalki, the 10th Avatar of Vishnu
Virtue(s) in which religion is based upon	Love.	Follow dharma (righteouness), eternal law.