Comparing and Contrasting Islam and Hinduism to Christianity
Just as the apostle Paul witnessed to the Greeks, Christians are called to witness to their culture in the same way. The Greeks had an unknown god that they worshipped and Paul taught that Jesus was this unknown god (Acts 17:23). In today's culture, in order for Christians to witness successfully they must understand the two religions that are rapidly growing in popularity; Hinduism and Islam. Christians must understand what god(s)
these religions worship and be able to witness to them without destroying their faith entirely. It is not necessary to destroy their faith entirely because Hinduism and Islam have truths that are similar to Christianity. Being able to point out these similarities between their religions and explaining it is all it takes to witness successfully.
The origins of Hinduism make it the oldest religion in the world. It has two founding civilizations. The earliest civilization dates back to 3000 B.C. and was called the Indus civilization. They were a sophisticated culture and an agricultural society. Since the economy of the Indus relied on the land they would pray to goddesses of fertility to bless the land with good harvest. Bale-stamping and clay art forms showed that the Indus were a religious civilization. One bale-stamping seal previewed the god Shiva (Younger and Younger 14). The second civilization that founded Hinduism was the Rig Vedic civilization dating back to 1500 B.C. The Rig Vedic's composed a hymn book called the Rig Veda, and its language is still recited today by Hindu's even though most do not understand it. Texts written by the Rig Vedic civilization ...