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Grouping world religions

This is my theory of religious evolution. I can't prove this happaened, and all I'm doing is pointing out similarities.

There are two main groups: Jews and Muslims, and Christians, Buddhists, and Hinduism. I leave Shitno and other less popular religions on their own becasue they are all so dissimilar.

Jews/Muslims: Same basic codes (Hilal, Kosher). Same basic area. The difference is the recognition of the prophet. Jews didn't have any one main prophet; Islam did.

Now on ot the large sphere: Hindu/Buddhist/Christian. The transition from Hinduism to Buddhism is already well-covered. Here's how the two relate to Christianity.

"My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being, he certainly comes to Me." Sri Krishna, in 11:55 of the Bhagavad Gita.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, for whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16, the Bible.

Very similar, no? How about the Buddha's philosphy that you had to release oneself from desire to achieve Enlightenment vs. Jesus saying, "Truly truly, I say to you, it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle." (Sidenote: the "eye of a needle" probably referred to a pass that was difficult for a camel to take somewhere in Judea. There are several theories as to where it was, which I'll leave ofr another time)

Jesus also took up a vow of poverty, gave a lot of alms to the poor, rebuked Thomas when he suggested they use some of the donations to buy things for themselves, and so on.

Now, there are many other similarities between what Jesus taught and the Buddha, but what of Hinduism? Sri Krishna reveals himself to the Pandava prince Arjuna to be an incarnation of Vishnu, one of the three main faces of Brahman (along with Brahma and Shiva). Sounding familiar? He shows himself in chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita to arjuna, and Arjuna is overcome with all he sees in this cosmic vision. He immediately begins saying prayers, singing hymns, and telling Krishna (which even sounds like "Christ"). This happens a few times in the Gospel with Jesus. The woman at the well, the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her hair, Lazurus and his family (Martha and Mary Magdelene, specifically), etc.

I'm not saying the Christian faith is a blatant rip-off of Hinduism and Buddhism (primarily because there is no physical evidence to support the writers of the Bible actually reading anything the Hindus/Buddhists wrote or heard anything they said). This is merely how I group them, by philosophy instead of heritage.

Salaam (peace unto you, for those without ties to Islam).


  • GAH

    The thing told me that this could not be posted becaus of the original title already being taken. Please comment at http://www.allphilosophy.com/topic/show/1425

    Thank you.

    Voted for by bobrocks.
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