Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity fitting together?

[StrawberryJam]

Hi HN160: What do you think her mentor would tell her?

Your friend,
Sufjon

I was told the Christian God is the Abrahamic God of the Jews and Muslims and Christians.

Was I lied to?

 

[benedictus2]

I would have answer NO. We have nothing in common them.

Agree with this one. Jesus is not just another guru or enlightened being. Jesus is the Son of God.

The gospel is not just Christ’s teachings - beautiful and wise as they are. The Gospel is Jesus Christ.

 

[benedictus2]

I’m afraid these forums are not filled with open minds ready to accept much more than Catholic doctrine to the core.

And why should we accept non-Catholic teachings? Why should we accept error? Would you?

I have learned a lot here but mostly all things Catholic. There are some here who like philosophy but I have seen people get their ideas shut down hard in here by hard core Catholics with closed minds.

Not closed minds. Catholics who actually know their faith and defend it. Unlike some cafeteria Catholics who subscribe to relativism so anything goes.

I for one see the obvious connections between living for a higher power, treating people like you want to be treated, and a life of service to others.

Where the difference comes is that we name that Higher Power to be the Trinity. We say that the Trinity is not just a higher power but Love.

The biggest difference I see is that we are offered a way of salvation through Jesus sacrifice on the cross so we are not judged as much on our actions but on our response to the grace we have been given.

We are not just offered A way of salvation but the ONLY way of salvation. That is what Christian teaching is and you cannot equivocate on that.

 

[benedictus2]

I was told the Christian God is the Abrahamic God of the Jews and Muslims and Christians.

Was I lied to?

In the sense that there is only one God yes. In terms of how we understand this God, No -because we accept the OT and the NT and reject the Quoran.

 

[benedictus2]

Hi HN160: What do you think her mentor would tell her?

Your friend,
Sufjon

Hopefully the mentor would know enough to answer in the negative. But there are many in RCIA formation who are relativists and are not that well grounded on Catholic theology so would most likely say yes.

 

[StrawberryJam]

In the sense that there is only one God yes. In terms of how we understand this God, No -because we accept the OT and the NT and reject the Quoran.

Okay, but are the Abrahamic religions no matter if they agree or do not agree with any theology still the Jewish, Christian and Muslim followers?

I do understand rejecting the Muslim holy book. Yet they are still followers of Abraham, as I am told.

 

[benedictus2]

Okay, but are the Abrahamic religions no matter if they agree or do not agree with any theology still the Jewish, Christian and Muslim followers?

Sorry but I do not get this question. Can you re-phrase it?

I do understand rejecting the Muslim holy book. Yet they are still followers of Abraham, as I am told.

They say they are followers of Abraham. Whether their concept of what following Abraham means is in tangent with Judaic or Christian belief is another.

For example, the claim that Jesus is a prophet so in a certain sense they follow Jesus. But because they deny everything else about Jesus then they can’t be said to truly follow Jesus.

You can liken it to the Christian sects who twist the Bible so bad you truly cannot call them Christian.

 

[Stylites]

I was told the Christian God is the Abrahamic God of the Jews and Muslims and Christians.

Was I lied to?

No, you weren’t. The Church recognizes that Muslims believe they worship the God of Abraham, as seen in CCC 841.

 

[Stylites]

What you are saying is that syncretism is good and that we all worship the same god. The only problem is that we worship one God, Three in One, Muslim worship their god Allah, Jew worshio a single God and Buddhist worship Buddha or whatever. There is no way that you can come to the Father except through Christ or are you calling Christ a liar. We do not have anything in common with these other religions as mush as Oprah likes to think.

“You must agree with how I interpret the words of God or else you are calling Him a liar” gets pretty old as far as fostering truth and understanding.

The Church teaches that those who through no fault of their own follow another path, and who otherwise do what God intends for them, can be saved through the grace of Jesus Christ even without having to pass His name through their lips.

Consider these other words of Jesus (Matt. 7:21-23):

Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.

And of St. Paul (Romans 2:14-16):

For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law; these having not the law are a law to themselves: Who shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness to them, and their thoughts between themselves accusing, or also defending one another, In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

 

[Stylites]

A friend of mine lent me his World Religions(Huston Smith) text book. I ended up reading the chapters on Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The 3 religions all shared notable storys and teachings such as:

Mara trying to tempt Buddha (Jesus in the desert with the Devil)
The ideas of acceptance of God.
The stages of life (Sacraments),
The idea of letting go of material items to follow God or a deeper calling.
The 10 Commandments and Path of Renunciation (refrain from certain things for God)
Love, joy, and peace and a lifestyle free from guilt.

These are all deep basic ideas that all trace back to morality, and the idea of 1 God; living a better lifestyle. In a sense, they all seem the same on ground level. Is it possible to be Christian but agree and follow some Hinduist and Buddhist ideas?

I would say that it is possible, but for a catechumen it is unadvisable. God desires that everyone come to the fullness of truth as can only be found in the Catholic Church, and you ought to focus your mind on the revelation of God as faithfully taught by His Church, while being assured of His great mercy for all.

 

[SunnaB16]

I’m afraid these forums are not filled with open minds ready to ]accept much more than Catholic doctrine to the core. I have learned a lot here but mostly all things Catholic. There are some here who like philosophy but I have seen people get their ideas shut down hard in here by hard core Catholics with closed minds.

As a Methodist, you would reject quite a lot of the Catholic Church`s teachings: eg the Mass and most of the Sacraments.
On issues of Faith and Morals, the teachings of the Catholic Church are infallible.
Any Catholic worthy of the name has no choice (Thanks be to God!) but to accept these Truths.
What do you expect us to do?

GK Chesterton asked: “Do we want our minds to be so open that our brains fall out?”

I suggest you try www.christianforums.com where there are many forums open to discussion about all aspects of Christianity and not just Catholic. I’ve been spending a lot of time there. Here is where I talk about real down and dirty fundamental Catholic stuff…
Godspeed-
Rturner76

Already stated, for a Catholic who doesnt follow “Cafeteria ‘Catholicism’”.

The “different names” for God are not the only difference…

As far as RCIA goes, more than one convert has said: “I endured the ordeal of RCIA.” If its nothing but watered down and distorted mush, its worse than worthless.

 

[Sufjon]

I was told the Christian God is the Abrahamic God of the Jews and Muslims and Christians.

Was I lied to?

Hi Strawberry Jam: I am pretty sure that there is only one God. I don;t see a “my God” or “your God.” Just God is good with me.

Your friend
Sufjon

 

[SedesDomi]

Is it possible to be Christian but agree and follow some Hinduist and Buddhist ideas?

Yes, it is possible, because many ideas are not exclusively “Christian” or “Buddhist” or “Hindu”. For instance, the idea of loving other beings in a selfless, egoless manner: that idea is not exclusively “owned” by any of these three religions, so if a Christian follows this idea of love, he or she is also following a “Buddhist” idea and a “Hindu” idea.

 

[Contarini]

I would have answer NO. We have nothing in common them.

Too sweeping. Universal negatives are unwise.

Certainly some folks (Smith is a particularly wise and knowledgeable example) overstate the similarities among religions, but nothing is to be gained by this kind of overreaction.

 

[Contarini]

One thing that, in my opinion, sets Christianity apart is that our flesh is good, not evil, and that our bodies will be a part of the “ressurection of the dead”. In my searching days, a very brief look at Buddism showed how the material world is something we need to disconnect from because it is inherantly bad.

What’s your source for believing that this is a Buddhist idea? It isn’t the material world per se that is bad in Buddhism, but the world of samsara–of birth and death, of selfish craving and the false selfhood that arises from that craving.

Some forms of Mahayana Buddhism, especially Zen, teach that the material world should be embraced because you find enlightenment there.

We shouldn’t caricature Buddhism based on a superficial understanding, just as we don’t like it when people do that to our religion.

also, unlike Buddism and Hinduism, we do not believe in reincarnation.

Paul Griffiths has an interesting take on this question. To use his terminology, we certainly don’t believe in metempsychosis–but Buddhists don’t either.

We traditionally believe that a future life or lives take(s) place solely in other realms of reality and not in this one, giving this earthly life more significance than it has in Eastern religions. That’s certainly a significant difference, but we should be careful not to overstate it.

 

[Contarini]

buddists view God as a powerful spirit which God and Jesus are but you have a more definitive understanding of God than they do.

Rather, Buddhists tend to assume that when we speak of “God” we are speaking of a powerful spirit. That is not the best way to talk about my understanding of God, so I tend to challenge them on this, suggesting that our conception of God is more like the Mahayana conception of “Buddha nature.”

 

[benedictus2]

I would say that it is possible, but for a catechumen it is unadvisable. God desires that everyone come to the fullness of truth as can only be found in the Catholic Church, and you ought to focus your mind on the revelation of God as faithfully taught by His Church, while being assured of His great mercy for all.

I’d disagree with the “I would say that is possible” but for the rest it is excellently put.

 

[benedictus2]

Your question is my answer. Because I’m curious. Besides God tells us to love one another, not to impose your opinion upon others.

This is nothing more than a relativistic view of Christianity and religion.

While we cannot impose our opinion on another (that is impossible for one thing) we are supposed to live and defend our faith. And if we do not know our faith because we have been more interested in dabbling in non-Christian religion then how can we life and defend it? As Catholics, we are supposed to be learning the Catholic faith and practicing the Catholic faith.

Simply understanding other religions helps decrease religious intolerance- Always a good thin.

Tolerance by its very meaning is learning to deal with something less than good. We don’t tolerate what is good, we tolerate what is not good.

This matters to me to me because I question faith and other religions to strengthen my faith.

That is good. I would say though that it is important first of all to study our faith. Not all faiths are equal.

There is nothing in Buddhism or Hinduism that has not been perfected in Christianity.

 

[Contarini]

What you are saying is that syncretism is good

“Syncretism” is one of those words that is more often used as an insult than substantively.

The Christian faith has a particular shape that must not be compromised. However, at the same time Christianity (like Biblical Judaism from which we derive) has historically taken on board ideas and practices from many other traditions, and will certainly go on doing so. So it all depends on what you mean by “syncretism.”

and that we all worship the same god.

There is only one God. Traditionally Christians have believed that all monotheists should be spoken of as worshiping the same God. Early Christian apologists (including St. Paul–see Romans 1 and Acts 17) recognized the Supreme Deity of the pagans as being the true God, faulting the pagans for worshiping what they themselves recognized to be lesser beings.

I see no reason to break with this ancient tradition simply for the pleasure of sneering at Oprah.

The only problem is that we worship one God, Three in One, Muslim worship their god Allah, Jew worship a single God

Who is that single God? Are you suggesting that Jews worship another god? When did they switch gods? I can’t see how this position makes sense, though I applaud you for including the Jews in your list (people often claim that Muslims worship a different god without addressing how this applies to the Jews). Christians have not traditionally claimed that Jews worship a false god. And the only medieval Christians who claimed that “Allah” was a false god were misled by a mistranslation of the Qur’an, which led them to think that Muslims think God to be a solid mass of metal. You do not find St. Thomas Aquinas making any such claim.

and Buddhist worship Buddha or whatever.

It’s about as fair to say that Buddhists worship Buddha as to say that Catholics worship Mary.

We do not have anything in common with these other religions as mush as Oprah likes to think.

I don’t see that Oprah is relevant. The OP mentioned Huston Smith. I don’t agree with Smith on everything by any means, but he’s a serious scholar who is worth reading and discussing. Why not keep the discussion on that level? Why bring Oprah into it?

Edwin

 

[benedictus2]

Hi Strawberry Jam: I am pretty sure that there is only one God. I don;t see a “my God” or “your God.” Just God is good with me.

Your friend
Sufjon

While there is only one God, different religions have different understanding of God. This is where the “my God” and “your God” come from.