One strong criticism levelled against the divinity of Jesus Christ is that he is Christ of the Bible, the Christian holy book. “Show us” other evidence, the detractors say “from outside the Bible”.
I understand that Rigveda, the first Vedic scripture, presents Christ without mentioning His name, but referring to Him as the Word who is God. “This man is all that has been, all that is and all that has to be. He controls the eternal life and it is for the redemption of mankind”. This of course accords with the opening verses of the gospel according to St.John which goes like this:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
But sadly I am no Vedic scholor – nor indeed scholor of any kind – so I have to be dependent, draw from others. In this quest I came across a PDF version of
“JESUS IN THE VEDAS”
The Testimony of Hindu Scriptures in
Corroboration of the Rudiments of
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
published by
FUNK & WAGNALLS C OMPANY
(London, New York, Toronto)
What is significant is that this book was authored by a “A NATIVE INDIAN MISSIONARY” whose name I could not find. I suppose those interested can contact Funk & Wagnalls (or their successors) who hold the rights.
I confess I have only browsed the book but not read it, mainly for the reason (stated above) that I am not well aquainted with the Vedas. I commend it to those who are.
But I know from a reading of the Bible (sorry about bringing Bible again) that it quotes Jesus in John 5:39 as saying that “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
And திருக்குறள் that 2000 year old treasure box of couplets dripping with distilled wisdom familiar to Tamils says:
எப்பொருள் யார்யார் வாய்க் கேட்பினும் அப்பொருள்
மெய்ப்பொருள் காண்ப தறிவு. ( குறள் 0423)
In this context, the very sight of this book
authored by a Hindu yogi Paramahansa Yogananda (PY) was enough to knock me down with a feather
You……. still there?
Now read Jeremiah 29:13: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart”
Makes sense, what?
So it isn’t all that incredible that a Hindu Yogi honestly searching for the Truth, should find it. For that is what the Bible says. And the Preface to the above book agrees. I quote:
“Here is a man from the orient of Hindu religion. Yet such is his love for Christ that he has seen him in commune with him.”
The volumes are huge, PY writes extensivley and I quote from here and there:
“Jesus Christ is very much alive and active today” (let me emphasize this quote is not from the Bible)
Now compare this with what Jesus says in the context of the great commission in Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen”
I think it is needless to labour the point, but cut me some some slack please in this endeavour.
Quoting PY: “The eternal, omnipresent, unchanging spirit has neither a corporeal nor heavenly form called God”
My comment: ” Whither then the myriad idols of god?
My comment: Fine, this rules out the possibility of there being multiple gods. Check out Deut. 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord“
In the ancient Tamil literature of திரு மந்திரம், we find a gem ” ஒன்றே குலம். ஒருவனே தேவன்” by திரு மூலர். At one stroke this decimates casteism and polytheism.
It was Rev. Sunder Krishnan (yes KRISHNAN) , pastor at the Rexdale Alliance church (Toronto) for 36 years who said (something like):
“Christianity might appear the same on the outside like other religions, but when you go deep you discover that it is unique.”
PY goes on to hold up as other intermediaries – “khanda avatars, or partial incarnations in God knowing souls and and purna avatars, liberated beings who are fully one with God.” In support of his contention, he quotes Bhagavad Gita (which he insists on calling sacred Hindu Bible!!) chapter iv: 7-8.
Now, why would he do that?
I think ‘enough is enough’!
Not everybody is concerned with life beyond the present.
Many are quiet satisfied with the ebb and flow of life such as it obtains, become accustomed to it and even to an extent, comfortable with it. The divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, the educated and illiterate, the upper classes and the scum of the earth, those born with a silver spoon in their mouths and those condemned to work with ‘blood,sweat and tears’ for a square meal, those born to rule and those lorded over, those with a sense of entitlement and those who routinely expect nothing but injustice, caste wars between the privileged classes and the underprivileged, wilful miscarriage of justice by humans who sit in seats of judgment with an eye on future etc., etc., barely cause a ripple in their lives -if they belong to the upper half of this divide.
They go on living the good life as it were, not worrying about any thing called eternity. The rich man mentioned in Luke 16 exempifies this category. Please read the story:
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
There are also others – like ‘nepo kids’ – who from time to time get pummeled with kid gloves for their excesses, and they end up like this man in Proverbs 29:1: “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” He hadn’t thought of eternity at all as he went about enjoying life with nary a care for propriety, or the consequences of his debauched existence.
Yet another category has got all ends covered. They have ‘nest eggs’ much larger than needed, the perfect insurance plan and retirement benefits in saecula saeculorum. Jesus talk about this kind of careful planners as well. See Luke 12:
“16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
There are some people in the lower half of the scheme of things who from time to time try to pull themselves up – if need be by their boot-straps – only to be pushed back by the high and the mighty from their position of vantage.
And yes there are others who take a “keynesian” view “for in the long run we are all dead”. Their credo is ‘one life one destiny’.
On the other hand there are people who have been dealt a raw deal in this life and they are looking for a turn around in eternity. The prime example is of course the black people of America bound for years in slavery. But they believed in a God Who will square accounts – if not in this life – in life beyond. They sang songs like:
– something of the (poor) Lazarus syndrome.
They believed in John 14 where Jesus says:
“1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
The most pathetic of all is the kind which dies with no hope because it did not believe in a saviour. Paul writing to the Corintians says ”
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15)
The same theme is found in Romans 5 – but as befits the enlightened citizens perhaps – this is mantled in philosophical robes:
14 ……….. death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”
It is interesting to observe that Jesus’s disciples who walked with Him on earth were not all of the same persuasion. While they were certainly some who could see Him sitting in the heavenlies, there were others who were discussing amongst themselves cabinet positions here on earth when He should displace the Roman rule. Luke 9:46 “Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest”
The crowd was motely and Jesus was teaching them about prayer, judgment, humility and innocense when out of the blue appears a man with this bull’s eye of a question:
“18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?“(Luke 18)
A certain ruler ? We don’t even know they guy’s name.
But he had a mind of discernment, eyes that looked beyond the temporal, a mouth that sought to know the truth and a head that did not hesitate to emerge from obscurity.
How about you?
Are you a thinker or are you a floater?
Do you discern or do you ‘dab with the same brush’?
Can you see beyond your nose?
Does Truth matter to you?
Would you rather belong to the silent majority?
Have you the courage to stand up and ask a question that can make a difference to your life – here and eternally?
The rich young anonymous ruler recognized in Christ a saviour, redeemer, God – who belongs to the realms beyond – as did PY in recent times.
What is your perception of Jesus Christ?
Do you sense that “he is the way, truth and life”?
It would be years before Paul wrote his famous treatise to the Corinthians beginning, “19If in this life only we have hope in Christ.”…….(quoted earlier) but our man knew with his eyes of faith that “in Christ shall all be made alive”
Rejoice
It is Easter
______________________________________________________________