by Bill Nugent
Article #29
I was explaining the Christian faith to some men on a construction site recently. I told them that Jesus died for our sins. Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself so that we don’t have to suffer God’s punishment for our sins. One of the men immediately objected and seemed almost outraged. He said “Every person must suffer for their own sins! How can you say that we don’t have to suffer for our sins? How can anyone die for someone else’s sins?”Then I replied “What about God’s mercy? God sent His Son to die for our sins so that we can be forgiven!” The man would hear none of it. He was a Hindu.
Let’s examine, for a moment, what Hinduism actually teaches. Hinduism has no redeemer. Every person must bear the consequences of his or her own sins in this life or in a future reincarnated life. This is called Karma. One sect of Hinduism teaches that a soul must pass through one of 21 hells before being reincarnated into a life of suffering. In Hinduism there is no forgiveness of sins.
Poverty relief and social justice were unheard of in Hindu lands before the missionaries came. The poor were not helped because it was believed that it was their Karma to suffer poverty.
There was no scientific experimentation in Hindu countries before the 20th century because Hinduism teaches that the visible world is “Maya” meaning “illusion.” Since Hinduism teaches that the material world doesn’t really exist they didn’t do experiments on it.
Inductive experimental science, which is now called “modern science” arose in Europe beginning in the 17th century. I have shown in several DTF articles that the Bible provided the worldview that allowed for the acceptance of the inductive principle which is the basis for experimental science.
This Hindu denial of the real existence of the material world is an implicit denial of the first law of logic. The first law of logic is called The Law of Identity. The Law of Identity is simply “A”is “A.” To give an example: a teacup is a teacup. To a committed Hindu, a teacup is an illusion. For this reason Hinduism is not constrained by observable facts or by logic.
In Europe and the United States westernized forms of Hinduism called New Age religion, mind sciences, Theosophy and Transcendental Meditation have become popular. These forms of Hinduism are popular among Americans who are postmodernist in philosophical outlook.
Like Hinduism, postmodernism is not constrained by logic or rational thought. Postmodernists believe that truth is not something that is discovered by reasoning processes. To them truth is arbitrarily created by the human mind and emotions. Postmodernists that think alike tend to band together to form intellectual movements. One movement heavily influenced by postmodernists is the “Politically Correct” ideology that dominates American universities.
My point in this article is not to denigrate Hindu believers or postmodernists. People are free to believe whatever they want. I do, however, think it entirely appropriate to examine the truth claims made by Hinduism and postmodernism.
Christianity is based on the historical facts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christianity is based on hard facts, not bland, freestanding philosophical statements. Jesus fulfilled over 300 Old Testament predictive prophecies when He came the first time. Jesus is the promised Messiah of Israel.
The Bible also contains hundreds of other prophecies relating to other events in history. Some of these prophecies were fulfilled in biblical times and some are being fulfilled in our own day.
Christ is our Redeemer through whom we receive forgiveness of sins. We look forward to our resurrection from the dead, not hundreds of reincarnations. The Bible in Hebrews 9:27 says “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.“Jesus died for us so we don’t have to endure the damnation of hell. Turn to Christ now. His salvation is free!
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