A Summary of Hinduism
This is a research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course DR37002, World Religions at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Kansas City, MO) on November, 18th, 2023.
Introduction
As of 2012, there were over 900 million people worldwide, with one million of those people residing in the United States, who claimed to adhere to Hinduism.[1] Hinduism is a collection of various religious and philosophical beliefs, which causes difficulty in attempting to define what exactly Hinduism is and what exactly the beliefs of the adherents to Hinduism are.[2] The reality concerning Hinduism is that Hinduism has been referred to as the collective thoughts, philosophies, religions, and worldviews of India and the term itself reflects this ideology.[3] In fact, many scholars have transitioned from utilizing the term Hinduism to using “the Hindu religious traditions” to denote the various religious and philosophical beliefs of the Indian people.[4] This essay will describe the core beliefs of most adherents to Hinduism before evaluating Hinduism both philosophically and theologically. The essay will end with a missiological approach to best evangelize those who adhere to Hindu beliefs.
Description of Hinduism
The Theology and Anthropology of Hinduism
Hinduism’s theology is seen in its understanding of Brahman and the lesser gods that are also worshiped and celebrated by the Hindu people. A brief survey of Hinduism relates several hundred and, according to some, thousands of deities that are worshiped by different Hindu people at different times depending on their purposes, which complicates the Hindu idea of theology for a non-Hindu person.[5] In addition, despite what many misunderstand about the pantheon of various Hindu gods, Hinduism actually believes that the variety of gods are just representations of part of the one god, Brahman. Ultimately, the primary goal of Hinduism is to eventually break out of the cycle of reincarnation, known as samsara, and become one with the god, Brahman. This becoming one with the god Brahman is called moksha and is the breaking of samsara.[6]
Concerning mankind, Hinduism provides a somewhat complicated view. Due to the Hindu caste system and the cyclical nature of samsara, mankind is in an essentially multi-lifetime journey from one caste to another.[7] As the person continues in his process of samsara on his way to moksha, he either moves up toward a greater caste or down toward a lesser caste depending on the way that he lived the previous life in question. Essentially, the caste system provides a system of social segregation depending on one’s position in the caste system—Sudras are seen as lesser than Vaishyas; Vaishyas are seen lesser than Kshatriyas; Kshatriyas are seen as lesser than Brahmins.[8]
The Cosmology, Ethics, and Epistemology of Hinduism
According to Hinduism’s understanding of cosmology, there is a cycle in life, which is tied to their understanding of God, deities, and self. This cycle continues in such a way that it interacts with all of the universe and all living entities concerning their existence and their being in the universe.[9] Essentially, Hinduism teaches that god is all things and yet is distinct from other beings until the being, through the process of samsara eventually breaks from himself and becomes part of god, also known as Brahman.[10] Hinduism provides different teachings concerning creation in various written forms,[11] which makes specifying one creation account as more tenable than others impossible.[12] Belief in creation differs depending on which school or sect a Hindu adherent has learned from.
Hinduism’s teaching of samsara provides an ethic for the religion as a whole. The whole system is based on how one chooses to live their lives—if they live rightly, they move closer to moksha; and if they live incorrectly, they move further from moksha. Of course, this system of learning how to live rightly is then taught through their writings—the Vedas, Brahmanas, Sutras, and Upanishads—and then by members of their priestly or scholarly caste—the Brahmins.
Evaluation of Hinduism
From a philosophical perspective, Hinduism does not provide sufficient answers to give a fully formed worldview. Since Hinduism does not answer the questions of cosmology consistently, it does not provide an answer for the origin of all things, nor does it provide a sufficient answer as to the nature of knowledge and where knowledge originates. Likewise, from the perspective of anthropology, Hinduism provides an antiquated system of castes, which places those born in a lower or lesser caste at a sufficient disadvantage in life.[13]
From a theological perspective, the question of who God is is given an unsatisfactory answer in Hinduism. Whereas Christianity, Judaism, and Islam provide the knowledge of a personal God and the capability of knowing the personal God, Hinduism provides a panentheistic view of God in which various lesser gods are seen as parts of the whole. Essentially, all is god, and yet, all is separate from god. And the ultimate goal of Hinduism is not to know this impersonal, all-encompassing god, but rather to eventually become a part of this impersonal, all-encompassing god through moksha—essentially, mankind is and will become part of god, which is a bleak view of this life.
Missiological Approach to Hinduism
The complexities of Hinduism and the lack of consistency provides a significant problem for a Christian in their missiological and evangelistic approaches to Hinduism because it creates a situation in which there is no single methodology that can be used to evangelize every Hindu adherent. Rather, because of the differences of beliefs concerning Hindu adherents, the Christian needs to start simply by asking the individual “what exactly do you believe?” And through patiently working with the person, then a Christian can start presenting the truth of the Gospel to a Hindu person.
For a Christian to evangelize a Hindu person, there is a need for the individual to see that everything that they are looking for and hoping in through the worship of Hinduism’s pantheon of gods is found only in and through Jesus Christ. It is vital that the Christian clarifies that Jesus is not another god to be added to their pantheon, but He is the only God. After providing this knowledge and information concerning Jesus, then the Christian can point to the need of a Savior to atone for the sins of mankind and to save man from the consequences of sin. Essentially, a Christian attempting to evangelize a Hindu person needs to patiently work through the Hindu’s ideology and continuously point to Jesus as the fulfillment of all their need.
Conclusion
Hinduism is a collection of various religious and philosophical beliefs; and in the modern world, there are millions of adherents. While trying to come to a consensus as to what every Hindu adherent believes is vastly difficult, the knowledge of some of the basic religious and philosophical beliefs of India helps Christians better navigate evangelizing Hindu people. This essay, though not comprehensive, described the core ideology of Hinduism before evaluating Hinduism and providing a simple missiological approach for evangelizing adherents of Hinduism.
[1] Winfried Corduan, Neighboring Faiths: An Introduction to World Religions (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 267.
[2] Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger, Everyday Hinduism (Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2015), 2-3.
[3] Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, The Hindu View of Life (London, England: Allen & Unwin, 1971), 12.
[4] Irving Hexham, Understanding World Religions: An Interdisciplinary Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 118.
[5] Flueckiger, 18.
[6] Corduan, 280.
[7] Ibid., 275.
[8] Nidhin Donald and Asha Singh, “Writing as a Non-Hindu Indian: J.E. Sanjana and the Caste Question,” Nidān 7, no. 1 (July 2022), 106.
[9] Anna S. King, Introduction to World Religions, Christopher Partridge (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2005), 146.
[10] Corduan, 280-281.
[11] Though it is worthwhile to note that not every Hindu adherent believes in a creation account. There is great variety amongst Hindu adherents.
[12] Raimon Panikkar, “Creation in the Indic Metaphysics,” in Opera Omnia: Volume IV Hinduism, ed. Milena Carrara Pavan (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017), n.p.
[13] Despite Radhakrishnan’s defense of the caste system, it is thoroughly unjust.
