Christianity
religion I
not only believe but know for sure that Christianity is a religion. Before we
elaborate on the issue whether Christianity is a religion we need to understand
the definition of religion.
Every religion
primarily is the following of an enlightened master. Gautama Buddha
gained enlightenment within his lifetime and his teachings came
to be known as Buddhism aka the middle path. In a nutshell Buddhism
is a religion which started after the advent of Gautama Buddha on
Mother Earth.
Before Gautama
Buddha was born there was nothing like Buddhism that existed on
Mother Earth.
The coming of
Jesus Christ announced the dawn of Christianity. Primarily Christianity
is the teachings of Jesus Christ available to mankind. Whatever
Jesus Christ invoked from Almighty God... all the Scriptural text
was produced in the form of a compiled document... the revered Bible.
Christianity
is also a religion as before the advent of Jesus Christ nothing by the name of
Christianity existed on Mother Earth. Christianity is a following of the doctrine
preached by Jesus Christ. Likewise Buddhism is following the teachings of Gautama
Buddha alone. On
the contrary the Islamic Dharma is partly religion for the teachings of Prophet
Mohammed have been inculcated into it. Rest is all direct invocation from the
kingdom of God. Hinduism
is not a religion. It exists from times immemorial. Hinduism is not following
the teachings of one particular person... a singular enlightened master. Hinduism
can also be stated as Sanatana Dharma... something that exists from times immemorial.
Sanatana stands for something from the beginning of time... something that does
not have a beginning! Whenever
there has been an enlightened master who was able to invoke the words of God...
people believed in him and his teachings. Gradually this enlightened master developed
a following that finally swelled into a religion. In
Hinduism many saints became enlightened. This does not mean each one of them developed
a following. Having gained enlightenment there are two paths for one to follow.
Leave the body and gain salvation (liberation from the cycle of birth and death
forever) and go back to the kingdom of God (known as Vaikuntha in Hinduism). Alternatively,
one can impart the wisdom thus gained before leaving the mortal frame. This happened
in the case of Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed. All
these enlightened souls gave back to the community whatever they had learnt from
the house of God. The
following of Mahavira is never known as Jainism. Mahavira was the 24th Tirthankara
of Jainism. Before the advent of Mahavira there had been 23 more enlightened masters
who preached philosophies that are contained in the sacred scriptures of Jainism.
The prime reason why Jainism is not known as a religion but is defined as, "a
way of life"! Contrary
to the teachings of Jesus Christ, Mahavira always stated that every human being
had the potential of becoming a Mahavira. He never advocated himself as the only
son of God. He clearly mentioned in his discourses that the prime goal of every
human being is to gain enlightenment at the end of the journey... the earthly
abode! Whether
we follow the teachings of Gautama Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed...
the gist of all the teachings is the same. We may take any path... but the end
result of all would always remain the same. Every journey culminates in reaching
the kingdom of God having gained enlightenment forever. If
one desires to come to India from New York... we have two paths. We either take
the western route (via Europe) or the eastern (via Japan). The goal in both the
journeys remains the same. More on Christianity here - Jesus
Christ Essay by: Vijay
Kumar "Atma Jnani" Vijay Kumar... The Man who Realized
God in 1993 explains more on Christianity religion. For more details on christianity
teachings of jesus christ visit -
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