The Sunday Mail
Continued from last week…
Chrishna, as well as Christ, was “without sin” and both assumed the divine prerogative of forgiving sins. Both came to destroy the devil and his works.
They also introduced the:
165. The doctrine of free will or free agency.
166. Predestination seems to be inferentially taught by each.
167. In each case man is a prize in a lottery, with God and the devil for ticket-holders.
168. Both make the devil (or devils) a scapegoat for sin.
169. Both teach that the devil or evil spirits as the primary cause of all evil.
170. The destiny of both body and soul is pointed out by each.
171. The true believers are known as “saints” under both systems.
172. Saints with “white robes” are spoken of by each.
173. Both specify “the Word of Logos” as God.
174. Wisdom, too, is personified as God by the Holy Scriptures of each.
175. Both teach that God may be known by his works.
176. The doctrine of one supreme God is taught in each bible.
177. Light and truth are important words in the religious nomenclature of each.
178. Both profess a high veneration for truth.
179. “Where the treasure is, there is the heart also,” is taught by each.
180. “Seek and ye shall find” is a condition prescribed by each.
181. Religious toleration is a virtue professed by both.
182. All nations are professedly based on an equality by each.
183. Both, however, enjoin partiality to “the household of faith.”
184. The doors of salvation are thrown open to high and low, rich and poor, by each.
185. Each professes to have “the only true and saving faith.”
186. There is a mystery in the mission of each Savior.
187. “Rama” is a well-known word in the bible of each.
188. “The understanding of the wise” is a phrase in each.
189. Both speak figuratively of “the blind leading the blind.”
190. “A new heaven and a new earth” is spoken of by each.
191. The doctrine of a Trinity in the Godhead is taught by each.
192. Baptism by water is a tenant and ordinance of each.
193. “Living water” is a metaphor found in each.
194. Baptism by fire seems also to be recognized by each.
195. Fasting is emphatically enjoined by each.
196. Sacrifices are of secondary importance in each system, and are partially or wholly abandoned by each.
197. The higher law is paramount to ceremonies in each religion.
198. The bible of each religion literally condemns idolatry.
199. Both also make concessions to idolatry.
200. Polygamy is not literally encouraged nor openly condemned by either.
201. The power to forgive sins is conferred on the disciples of each.
202. The doctrine of blasphemy is recognized by each.
203. Pantheism, or the reciprocal ‘in-being’ of God in nature and nature in God, is taught by both.
Bibles and Holy Scriptures
204. Each has a bible which is the idolised fountain of all religious teaching.
205. Both have an Old Testament and a New Testament, virtually.
206. The New Testament inaugurates a new and reform system of religion in each case.
207. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” is the faith of the disciples of each.
208. Each system claimed to have its inspired men to write its scriptures.
209. Both hold a spiritual qualification necessary to understand their bibles.
210. It is a sin to become “wise beyond what is written” in their respective bibles.
211. Both recommend knowing the Scriptures in youth.
212. Alteration of their respective bibles is divinely interdicted.
213. The bible is an infallible rule of faith and practice in both cases.
214. “All scripture is profitable for doctrine” is the faith of each.
215. Both explain away the errors of their bibles.
Spirituality of the two religions
216. The religion of Chrishna is pre-eminently spiritual no less than Christ’s.
217. Both teach that “to be carnally minded is death.”
218. External rites are practically dispensed within each religion.
219. The spiritual law written on the heart is recognized by each.
220. “God is within you,” Buddhists teach as well as Christians.
221. Both recognize an invisible spiritual Saviour.
222. “God dwells in the heart,” say Hindoo as well as Christians.
223. Inward recognition of the divine law is amply seen in both.
224. Both confess allegiance to an inward monitor.
225. The doctrine of inspiration and internal illumination is found in both.
226. The indwelling Comforter is believed in by both.
227. Both also teach that religion is an inward work,
228. Both speak of being born again – i.e., the second birth.
229. A spiritual body is also believed in by both.
230. “Spiritual things are incomprehensible to the natural man” say each.
231. God’s spiritually sustaining power Buddhists also acknowledge.
232. Both give a spiritual interpretation to their bibles.
233. Each has a new and more interior law superseding the old law.
234. The spiritual cross – self-denial or asceticism – is a prominent feature of each religion.
235. The duty of renouncing and abandoning the external world is solemnly enjoined by each.
236. Buddhists renounce the world more practically than Christians.
237. Withdrawal or seclusion from society is recommended by each.
238. Bodily suffering as a benefit to the soul is encouraged by each.
239. Voluntary suffering for righteousness’ sake is a virtue with each.
240. The cross is a religious emblem in each system.
241. Both glory in “the religion of the cross” as better than a religion without suffering.
242. Hence both teach “the greater the cross the greater the crown.”
243. Earthly pleasures are regarded as evil by both.
244. Contempt for the body as an enemy to the soul is visible in both.
245. Retirement for religious contemplation is a duty with each.
246. The forsaking of relations is also enjoined by each.
247. Spiritual relationship is superior to external relationship with both.
248. “To die is great gain” we are taught by each.
249. A subjugation of the passions is a religious duty with each.
250. The road to heaven is a narrow one with each.
251. The same state of religious perfection is aspired to by the disciples of each.
