Wednesday, April 14, 2010

"Christ-Bearing" Scenarios in Hinduism- Part 1 of 5

I'm putting together three beloved stories from Hindu mythology to illustrate the idea that Christianity is either the "fulfilment" or the "crisis" of Hinduism. The three stories are based on 3 personalities- (1)Sudama, (2)Harischandra and (3)Arjun. This is in 5 parts, this current post counting for an intro, then the three stories and finally their elucidation in the context of Christianity. Please bear with me as this will be a long term (1-2 months) project as I put the material together. Also do not be surprised if there are other posts in between.

My goal is to present Christ as the end of our desires. He is clearly the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets in the hitory and tradition of the Hebrews. But if the Law needed to be fulfilled and thereby superceded, then the traditions of the non-Hebrew world could be understood to face a crisis of fulfilment at the end of their questions. This is the way I'm hoping to posit the Christian Gospel. So here goes.

2 comments:

chardy said...

Wow! That is an ambitious but fun project. I am eager to read it. Will you be discussing the relationship between the holy books of Hinduism as India's precursor to Christ? How they relate to the OT?

Wayfaring Stranger said...

I'm getting my toes wet on that subject. One reason is that the role of prophecy in the OT is a very strong precursor to Christ, but such indicators that point to a savior in Hinduism are not the best-known stories. These 3 stories are very well-known to Hindus and there is a very strong Messianic anticipation in them. The key factor in these stories are- (1) a pretty accurate understanding of the sinful nature conflicting with our desire to be sinless, (2) purity of desire in worship but the inability to achieve this, and (3) an affirmation of the idea that a righteous and transcendent person can and must be a substitute for people to have Moksha (salvation).