Good Example Of Essay On Comparing Hindu's Krishna To Christians' Jesus

Introduction

Both Christianity and Hinduism influence a vast number of staunch followers across the globe with their unchangeable strict doctrines. The Krishna of Hinduism and the God of Christianity are both regarded as the highest unchallengeable deities with supreme authority and might. They are invincible, omnipotent and omniscient. Both religious believe that the deities they worship are responsible for creating the universe and the complex human life out of nothing. Although the details in the creation stories differ between the two religions, the concepts and structure of development of the events are similar. They also believe that these two leaders play the role of the second senior most Supreme Being in the Trinity of the Godhead.
Hinduism began in the 6th Century B.C. It focuses on mysticism rather than sanctification and salvation (as in Christianity) (Samovar 2012). Mysticism addresses and defines consciousness, self-respect and intellect rather than laws. According to Samovar, It ignores the reality of nature and individualism considering these two as an illusion. Instead, Hinduism focuses on free will and avoids the consequences of breaking laws and an eternal destiny (heaven for the good and hell for the bad).
It resembles Christianity in the process of historical development. The first Christians congregated in the 1st century (six centuries after Hinduism began) a few days after bereaving their master; Jesus Christ. With reference to the Bible (advanced from the Jewish Torah), Christianity rapidly rose through persecution to become the world's largest religion influencing most of the world governments and people. This paper seeks to reveal the similarities between principles and doctrines of the Krishna of Hinduism and the Jesus of Christianity as the supreme deities in complete control of nature and the destiny of all things.

Similarities between Hinduism and Christianity

Krishna's comparison to Jesus
Krishna lived on approximately 3 centuries before Jesus. Hindus believe that he is the second person in command in the Hindu Trinity. He is considered as the incarnation of Vishnu (a god who lived earlier and who is more powerful than him). Jesus, on the other hand, was born and lived in Palestine circa. Followers of both Hinduism and Christianity believe these two (Jesus and Krishna) are the second most important beings in authority of the God-head.
Both Krishna and Jesus were sent from their natural residence in heaven to earth. They both arrived disguised in the form of a man with the intention of interacting freely and not drawing obvious attention from humans. Sent by a higher authority, they both served the duties of a savior. Both Hindus and most Christians believe Krishna and Jesus occupied the position of second in command in the Trinity.
Events in their lives resembled each other. First, they were descendants of a famous royal family recognized by the natives. According to the holy books of both religions, these beings were conceived of a spirit and not a completely natural human birth. During their birth, according to respective ancient records, wise men and shepherds arrived at the venue of birth guided by a strange star.
In both accounts, the young babies' (young Jesus and young Krishna) lives, angels warned their parents of a probable plan to kill them. This threat, by a local dictator, was an official decree for assassination. Fearing the command and determined to protect the baby, Krishna's parents fled and settled in Mathura while Jesus' parents fled to hide in Egypt. They believed and heeded the angels warning leaving other babies to suffer the consequences of their ages.
As adults, these two leaders retreated from the public to fast in the wilderness without notifying anyone. As leaders, the Bible refers to Jesus as the 'lion of the tribe of Juda' (Revelation 5: 5) while Krishna was called 'the Lion of the tribe of Saki.' According to historical material, both leaders were 'the seed of the woman that will bruise the serpent's head'. In their speech, both Jesus and Krishna mentioned that they existed before their natural birth and that they had not sinned.
Krishna and Jesus (also referred to as Yeshua) selected their disciples and separated them from the public to help them spread their teachings. Their followers regarded them as supernatural as they contacted the unseen spiritual world and worked miracles unimaginable and impossible to man. Each of them healed people from all manner of diseases, cast out demons dwelling in men and raised the dead.
The public recognized them as meek and merciful people who displayed good deeds that benefited the poor people especially. The clergy accused them of associating with sinners. In both stories, there was an encounter with a woman at a well. They forgave their enemies, descended to Hell and resurrected. Close people witnessed the event in which they both ascended into heaven in a supernatural manner.
Non-violence is perhaps the most popular principle associated with Hinduism. The Vedas support the use of non-action in governing and ruling of fellow men. This principle is impractical. The Bible, however, dedicates most of the verses to define, guide and counsel ruler-ship and authority. It defines the role of leaders and their duties to ensure harmony, as well as the realization of prosperity and success. It also defines relationships (such as man and wife, political leadership, and subjects as well as parents and children) while emphasizing the need to respect authority.

Differences

Christianity is a worldwide religion with followers spread all over the globe in most of the countries. Only a few countries that forbid the freedom of religious practice do not have open practice of Christianity. Hinduism, on the other hand, is regional as it is an ethnic religion. Found only in Asia and especially India, it influences only a particular group of people.
While Christianity restricts its doctrine to a single God, Hinduism accommodates the notion of many supernatural beings. As a monotheistic religion, Christianity discourages advancement of the religion or dynamic views on the nature of the supernatural. This Christian doctrine keeps the followers' uniformity. The style of worship of the ancient faithful resembles the current form of worship and beliefs (Ruokernen et al. 2010). However, the Hinduism liberal nature allows advancement and diversity and are hence creating differences between the believers of Hinduism.
Hindus claim that the invisible, all powerful Krishna created the first human by giving birth naturally. They purport that he, Vedas, respects the order of nature and, for this reason, is passive in character. He desists from interfering and influencing the course of nature preferring to observe and preserve the order of nature. The Christians believe that God, created the entire universe and all that is within it (both visible and invisible) for His own pleasure. He is concerned with every little detail and is capable of altering the course of nature at His pleasure (Ji 2010).

Conclusion

Apart from the number of beings with authority and deity, Krishna's teachings are mostly philosophical and, for this reason, accurate and useful. He encourages the faithful to acquire wisdom and live in harmony with one another while caring for their environment. The concern of other humans and the environment creates peace on earth. This peace will in turn raise the standards of living of the people and reduce the gap between the rich and powerful people in society and the poor, disadvantaged people. The Bible, on the other hand, has a more complex theme of redemption by faith apart from the philosophy and wise counsel to promote peace among humans. The single omnipotent all powerful God plans and controls everything. Since the two religions are independent both of their origin and nature of the supreme deity as well as the concept of destiny, the consistent similarities between them suggest the fact that there is a high likelihood of truth in their stories.

Work Cited

Dhavamony, Mariasusai. Jesus Christ in the Understanding of World Religions. Roma: Pontificia Università GregJi, Jingyi. Encounters between Chinese Culture and Christianity: A Hermeneutical Perspective. Münster: Lit, 2009. Print.oriana, 2009. Print.
Grigg, Ray, and William Gaetz. The Tao of Zen. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2012. Internet resource.
Ji, Jingyi. Encounters between Chinese Culture and Christianity: A Hermeneutical Perspective. Münster: Lit, 2010. Print.
Ruokanen, Miikka, and Paulos Z. Huang. Christianity and Chinese Culture. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2010. Print.
Samovar, Larry A, Richard E. Porter, and Edwin R. McDaniel. Intercultural Communication: A Reader. Boston, Mass: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.