mid-term

i don't think it makes much sense.....but whatever....;)

Jesus Bravo
History
4-2-07



Christianity, as a whole is pretty much the direct belief that Jesus Christ is the messianic savior. It started in the mid-first century as it separated it self from its Jewish origins by the Apostles. Jesus is the messiah in Christianity; only through him can some one find salvation and acceptance. The Gospels are examples of myths in Christianity because of the stores and events that are described in them. In the gospel of mark, there is no mention of the resurrection of Jesus; a key part of Christianity, and in the other gospels they mention such an event taking place. Roman Catholics believe in the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth although the no exact evidence except the bible exists to prove the event true. The main scriptures in Christianity, is the Holy Bible and the gospels of Mark, Luke, Matthew and John. The symbol that is most connected to Christianity is the Cross in which Jesus Christ was crucified. There are many rituals in Christianity, the ones that I am most familiar with are Baptism and the Eucharist; which is the “body and blood” of Christ, Roman Catholics perform this ritual more than any other branch of Christianity.
Hinduism is the most unique and most perplexing religion that we have learned so far. Hinduism started in India at about 3300 BCE and spans more than 9000 years. Its chief myths are the stories that are about super humans and spiritual people that rid the world of evil, vanquish demons or offer help to fallen people. Its scriptures are the Vedas which are the oldest scriptures in Hinduism and the Bhagavad-Gita which means “Song of God” and that is a text that contains the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna. The rituals in Hinduism are sacrifice and it was mainly practiced in the early parts of the religions beginning. In Hinduism there are many different gods that play certain parts in the religion and they are represented in many sculptures that are colorful and very amazing.
The central belief in Christianity is the bible and Jesus Christ and in Hinduism it is Dharma (ethics and duties), Samsara (circle of birth), Karma (action and consequence of action), and Moksha (liberation from samsara). The bible is key to Christianity because everything revolves around the worship of Jesus Christ, this structures the religion as the main belief for Christianity, and he is depicted as a kind man who performs acts of kindness for his fellow man. In Hinduism, the central part of it is the reincarnation and Vedas. These structure Hinduism because these are the main principles in Hinduism; the Vedas are scriptures that are followed by every follower of Hinduism. In Samsara, the person is to continue in the cycle of life, rebirth after rebirth until the chains of Samsara are broken by the goddess Kali, who is this vicious looking woman who walks along the sides of battle fields and collects heads of the fallen.
The differences in these two religions are vast because although they have a higher being, they are completely different. In Christianity, there is only one god, one higher being, and is depicted as a caring person and a loving god. In Hinduism, there gods are feared and vicious looking like Kali, who is decorated in human skulls but with this goddess there is no way one can brake the chain of samsara, so they are forever entrapped in the cycle. In Christianity there are no gods that are which to be feared and there is no sacrifice to the god because there is only one god. In Hinduism the sacred is manifested through sacrifice and through the practices of thee Vedas and/or yoga. In Christianity the main principle is to pray, worship, and remember all sacrifice that Jesus Christ went through. It is the opposite of what Hinduism is because there are so many scripture; the Vedas, the yogas and many different gods that are prayed to, different from Christianity which only has one god and one main scripture, the holy bible.
The differences between these two religions are a lot great then I previously imagined. Whether it is the vast amount of gods in Hinduism or the many scriptures, the Bhagavad-Gita, which is so many different stories about the god and all the battles that occurred in early Hinduism, is way different from the bible. The bible also has many different stories; the gospels, old and new testament, etc. but those stories are nothing compared to the stories in Hinduism. These differences showed me how very different and unique Hinduism is, but also how odd as well. The nature of religion is vast and very complicated, although I have learned about the differences of these two religions, I have yet to grasp the main concept of religion. But certainly learning about them I can get a firm understanding of how my people think and what people believe in as there daily lives.