Hinduism is a religion started in India sometime around 2000 BC—so it is twice as old as the religion of Christianity. Our calendars are dated by the birth of Christ, which marks the start of Christianity; the year 2020 AD stands for 2020 anno domini (“in the year of Our Lord”). Even though much of the world has turned away from Christianity and now writes the year as 2020 CE (“common era”) it nonetheless still marks the point of departure from BCE (“before the common era”) as that moment of the Incarnation—when in Christianity the Savior (the Word) became Flesh, i.e., when God became Man. For this reason, it must be said that Christianity has had the greater impact on the world, since the world still marks its days by the birth of Christ.
The two religions differ not just in age but also in how they approach the concept of God. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, meaning it promotes the worship of many gods and goddesses (ESRI). However, it also teaches that all gods/goddesses are the same. The different manifestations are simply different expressions of the same spirit. For that reason, it could be argued that Hinduism while seeming to be polytheistic is actually monotheistic. In fact, the same arguments are often made for Christianity. Christianity is a monotheistic religion; however, it is sometimes called a polytheistic religion (usually by Jews, who resent the Christ) because of the Holy Trinity—the doctrine that God is three divine Persons in One God (Dyneslines). Christians believe in one God, however. In this sense, they are similar to Hindus, who even acknowledge that Christ is God, and accept that, saying that all gods are the same God (BBC).
The beliefs of Christianity are more fixed than in Hinduism. Hinduism sees life as a constant cycle of death and rebirth; Christianity sees life as having a beginning, middle and end—and in the end, one is either in Heaven with God or in Hell...
Works Cited
BBC. “Religions.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/beliefs/intro_1.shtml
Brown, Peter. The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
Diffen. “Comparison Chart.” https://www.diffen.com/difference/Christianity_vs_Hinduism
Dyneslines. “Judaism and Polytheism.” http://dyneslines.blogspot.com/2010/02/judaism-and-polytheism.html
ESRI. “Hinduism and Christianity.” https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=885a98af925645e1a06050aac07a679b
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