Foreword

Religion is a problem which has beset the whole of mankind ages ago.
History proves that great wars that cost countless lives occurred - all in the name
of religion. This grave problem which gave rise to bloody struggles is not confined
to the days of old, but transcends to this age - the age of the 80-called
sophisticated civilization and intellectual advancement. The world is a witness to
some strife-tom areas. In Northern Ireland, Protestants and Catholics are looked
in bloody struggles - killing each other. In the Middle East the same is happening
with the Arabs and Jews.
Thus, the critically-minded find themselves in a quandary. Their attention is
called by the fact that its religious leaders and founders studied what is known as
theology.
This book will present two concepts as regards religion. We shall know the
meaning of religion as defined and analyzed by men, and the true meaning of
religion in the light of the teachings of the Holy Scriptures.
Likewise presented are some of the various forms of religion 11ke Hinduism
(the alleged man's oldest religion), Jainism and Buddhism which find their origins
in India, also discussed are those that evolved in China, Iike Taoism and
Confucianism, Zoroastrianism which find growth in Persia (now Iran) and Islam
which developed in Arabia. In our short treatment of these religions, some points
on their historical development, the life and teachings of the founder (if they
have) doctrines or beliefs, and practices were mentioned.
It will be noted that Judaism and Christianity are not included for these
have been thoroughly taken up in separate books. Judaism 13 treated in the
history of Israel, and Christianity in the history of the Church founded by Christ.

Quezon City and Baguio City 1976

iv
 Chapter I

HISTORY OF RELIGION

Introduction

The term religion calls attention to the all-important fact that man is a
religious being. There is that in his nature which prompts him to some sort of faith
and worship. With or without special revelation from God, he requires the
satisfaction and consolation and guidance which comes from faith in the unseen
and the eternal.
Arnold Toynbee says: "Religion is manifestly one of the essential faculties of
human nature. No individual human being and no human community is ever
without a religion of some kind." Wherever and however he lived, man has
worshipped and has shown a belief that he possesses an immortal soul.
The Meaning of Religion. This study gives us two biblical meanings of the
term religion:

1. Service to God. The term "religion" is used to describe man's service to God in
accordance with His commandment and statutes as found in the Holy Scriptures
(Dt. 10:12-13; Ps. 100:2-3; Dt. 12:32). Webster's Mind How International
Dictionary defines it as: the personal commitment to and serving of God or a god
with worshipful devotions, conduct in accord with divine commands especially as
found in accepted sacred writings or declared by authoritative teachers, way of
life recognized as incumbent on true believers, and typically the relating of
oneself to an organized body of believers." It came to be applied to the services
and ritual and rules by which faith in and devotion to deity were expressed.
History of Religion

2. A Return to God. When men's right to worship and serve God was forfeited
because of sin his relationship to God was cut off. In such desperate situation of
man God has sounded a call:
From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have
not kept them. Return to me and I will return to you..." (Mal. 3:7). The dictionary
derives the word religion from roller which means literally, to bind back or to the
back.
Thus religion after the fall of mankind came to be applied to man's effort of
turning back to God's ways, His commands and statutes, whence man had turned
aside.
Origin of Religion: In theory and Archeology
In the sixth century B.C., the Greek philosopher Xenophanes wrote: Mortals
think that the gods are begotten, and wear clothes like their own, and have a
voice and a form. If oxen or horses or lions and hands and could draw with them
and make works of art as men do, horses would draw the shapes of gods like
horses, oxen like oxen; each kind would represent their bodies just like their own
forms. The Ethiopians say that their rods are black and flat nosed; the Thracians,
that theirs are blue-eyed and red-haired." The observation is notable; it shows
that already in ancient Greece there were acute minds to perceive the essential
relativity of religious conceptions. Whether Xenophanes was the first to look
critically at religion is not know.

Theory a) The Egyptians. That men, elsewhere had earlier perceived, the
comparative aspect of religion is attested in ancient Egyptian literature. The
Pharaoh Akhenaten, that strange genius who tried to change the ancient
polytheism of Egypt into monotheism, understood that the providence of a single
supreme deity could not be confined to the people of Egypt. Accordingly, in his
famous Hymn to the Aten, -the sun's disk which manifested the presence of his
god - he proclaimed that this supreme and beneficent deity had placed a Nile in
the sky for other peoples: to his mind the main that watered foreign lands was
celestial counterpart of the river Nile which irrigated Egypt. Egyptian priest also
speculated about the beginning of things. But their purpose was theological, not
rationalistic.
History of Religion

The priesthoods of various gods each sought to show that their own
particular deity was the original creator, and that all the other gods were
descended from him. In the theological system composed during the Old Kingdom
period (e. 2778-2423 B.C.) at Memphis by the priests of Ptah, the origin of
religious worship was actually described. The approach, however, was essentially
mythological: Ptah was represented as arranging for the establishment of the
temples and cultus of the other gods. Similar cosmogonies were composed in
ancient Mesopotamia; like the Egyptian systems, they always assumed the
existence of some primordial divine being that was responsible for the creation of
the world and of mankind and its institutions. According to these Mesopotamian
explanations of the origins of things, the human race had been specifically created
to build temples for the gods and to feed them with offerings: hence religion was
essentially divine service, and constituted the reason or justification for existence
of mankind.
b) The Greeks and the Romans. Such early explanations were theologically-
inspired etiologies, and not rationalistic accounts of the origin of religion. The
critical attitude manifest in Xenophanes' statement reveals a very afferent quality
of mind that soon finds farther expression in Greek literature. About the year 450
B.C. the philosopher Anaxagoras scandalized the devotees of traditional religion
in Athens by declaring that the sun was not divine, but a red-hot mass, and the
moon was made of earth, and, therefore, not a goddess; he was condemned for
impiety and exiled from the city. About 300 B.C. Buhemerus of Messine
propounded a theory concerning the origin of the gods which has perpetuated his
memory into modern times as Buhemerism". In a so-called Sacred History, he set
forth his ideas in the form of a fictitious account of his travels. He relates how he
visited an island in the Indian Ocean, named Panchaia. There he found a majestic
temple of Zeus, who was the supreme deity of the Greek pantheon. In the temple
he read, inscribed on a gold stela, a long account of the exploits of Zeus, and of
Uranos and Kronos, who, in Greek tradition, were regarded as the divine rulers of
the universe before Zeus. This account was designed by Buhemerus to show that
these gods had originally been great kings of remote antiquity, who were
subsequently deified.
History of Religion

His explanation of the origin of the gods was not altogether fantastic;
modern research has shown that the deities of many peoples were in origin
ancient heroes, whose deeds caused them to be venerated and ultimately
divinized.
The extent to which the origin and nature of religion could be rationalized
in Graeco-Roman society is seen in the De nature rerum (about the nature of
things) of Lucretius. This Roman poet, who lived during the first century B.C., was
a follower of the Greek philosopher Epicurus (e. 342-270 B.C.) whom he regarded
as the true savior of mankind; for Epicurus, according to him, had been the first to
expose the pernicious nature of religion, which enslaved the human mind.
Lucretius did not deny the existence of gods; but he held that they had no contact
whatever with this world and its inhabitants. He explained the origin of religion in
two ways. First, that men dreamed of the gods as beings of surpassing beauty and
stature, to whom they attributed omnipotence and mortality. Next:
"They observed how the array of heaven and the various seasons of the year
came round in due order, and could not discover by what causes all that came
about. Therefore, their refuge was to leave all in the hands of the gods, and to
suppose that by their nod all things were done. They placed the gods' habitation
in the sky, because through the sky the night and the moon are seen to revolve,
moon and day and night and the solemn stars of night, heaven's night-wandering
torches, clouds and sun, rain and snow, winds, lightning and hail, rapid roaring
and threatening throes of thunder.... unhappy race of mankind, to ascribe such
doings to the gods and to add there to bitter wrath! What groans did they then
create for themselves, what wounds for us, what tears for generations to come?"
The free enquiry into the origin and nature of religion, which characterized
Graeco-Roman society, was essentially speculative. Although many thinkers were
skeptical about traditional religious belief and practice, contemporary scholarship
had no effective criteria or research techniques for a truly scientific investigation
of religion. Whether such would eventually have been formulated is unknown;
the establishment of Christianity as the official religion of the Homan Empire in
the fourth century completely changed the religious situation and the ethos of
academic thought.
History of Religion

c.) Jude-Christian. For the scholars of the Church there was only one true
religion, namely, their own. Its origins clear to them. The Bible was the divine
record of God's dealings with mankind from the very Creation. In a superb
narrative, the purpose of God was vividly presented: the original sin of Adam and
Eve had caused God to plan for the redemption of their posterity, which had been
achieved by the sacrifice of Christ and the founding of the Church. The early
Christians were aware of the existence of other religions: but they easily
accounted for their origin. Judaism was due to the culpable obduracy of the Jews
in rejecting Jesus as the true Messiah and persisting in the now-superseded Old
Covenant, which the coming of Christ had made obsolete. The pagan cults of the
Graeco-Roman world were dismissed as the inventions of the Devil and the
perversity of man. The pagan gods were seen as demons that had enslaved kind
until humanity was emancipated by Christ. It is interesting to note, however, that,
by one of those strange ironies of history, the gods of Greece and Rome did not
entirely lose their influence. Through their being identified with the planets, they
continued an effective existence in astrology, in which even popes and bishops
believed during the Middle Ages.
The emergence of Islam in the seventh century A.D. faced Christians with a
new religion that threatened the existence of their own. Although they vigorously
opposed it by force of arms, they took no interest in its origin and nature.
Generally, Islam was regarded as a form of heresy: Dante, in the Divine
Commedia, placed Mohammed in the eight circle of Hell, where he was eternally
punished as a schismatic. Of the great religion of Asia, Hinduism and Buddhism,
medieval Christendom had but meager and vague knowledge. Indeed, so great
was the ignorance concerning the life and the teaching of the Buddha that a
garbled version of his deeds was written up by St. John of Damascus (c. 676-756)
as the exploits of two saints named Barlaam and Joasaph. Thus the Buddha
entered the Calendars both of the Roman and the Greek Church as St. Joseph, this
name being a corruption of the Buddhist title Bodhisattva.
The Renaissance marked the beginning of a change in the traditional Christian
attitude to other religions, as it did in so many other ways. The emerging
humanism, with its eager curiosity about the world and human institutions, was
soon stimulated by maritime exploration and discovery.
History of Religion

The horizon of educated men was no longer limited to Europe: exciting

information of new lands and peoples came back with the season and other
adventurers. Some of these newly discovered peoples were barbarous by
European standards; but others, particularly in India and China, possessed
civilizations of high achievement. Europeans began to understand that the world
was not conterminous with Europe, nor were European ways and institutions the
only form of sophisticated living. Then, too, there was the significant fact that all
these different peoples, some highly civilized, had their own religions, to which
they appeared a devoted as were the peoples of Europe to Christianity.
The chief reaction of the European peoples to this revelation of the
existence of vast heathen populations throughout the world was consistent with
their Christian profession. These heathen must be won for Christ. Soon
missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, were following the merchants, to the
far-off lands, to bring the Gospel to their benighted peoples. But the new
knowledge also stimulated some minds to reflect on the significance of both the
variety and the similarity of religious belief and practice which were thus
revealed. The results of their reflection began to find expression in a series of
publications concerned with explaining the origin of such phenomena. Among
these early essays in the comparative study of religion as the theory advanced in
1724 by the Jesuit scholar Joseph Lafitau. Noting similarities of idea and ritual in
the cults of the aborigines of the New World, in classical paganism, and Catholic
Christianity, Lafitau supposed that there must originally have existed a religion of
nature-rites that was universal among mankind. In 1960 De Brosses, in a work
entitled De culte des dieux fetiches ou parallele de l’ ancienne religion de l’ Egypte
avec la religion actuelle de nigrittie, sought to explain the animal-headed deities
of Egypt in the light of the religious practices of contemporary savages. Even more
revolutionary perhaps was the attempt of Charles-Francois Dupuis, in 1795, to
discern behind the figures of Christ and Osiris, of Bacchus and Mithra, a common
tendency of mankind to personify the sun in its annual course through the
heavens.
These eighteenth-century attempts to rationalize the complex phenomena
of mankind's religious ideas and practices heralded the more scientific work of
the next century. The commercial and political denomination that the leading
European nations - achieved in Asia and Africa produced a rich academic harvest.
History of Religion

Artistic treasures and manuscripts brought home from the East encouraged
the study of oriental Languages and cultures, while the new sciences of
anthropology and ethnology were stimulated by an abundance of material.
Political influence and wealth also enabled archeologist to search such ancient
and hitherto closed lands as Egypt and Mesopotamia. This great mass of new data
was eagerly investigated by European and American scholars; the stupendous
task of reconstructing the past of mankind was at least properly begun. It was
inevitable that much of this research should have concentrated on the origin of
religions.
d.) Other Theories on the Origin of Religion, Friedrich Max Muller. Friedrich
Max Muller (1823-1900), who, a young man, came to Oxford to translate certain
ancient religious texts of India for the East-India Company, and who subsequently
became professor of Comparative Philology there and editor of the great series of
translations entitled Sacred Books of the East. During that time he pioneered a
new line of research. He maintained that a comparative study of language could
reveal common patterns of mythology. Further, that, since language governs
thought, the names given originally to celestial phenomena profoundly affected
their conception. Thus, by giving the sun masculine name primitive peoples
thought of it as a male person - a sun god.
This use of cooperative philology was deemed too doctrinaire by those
concerned with anthropological data. They believed that the original form of
religion could best be understood by studying the cults of the so-called primitive
peoples still existing in the world, such as the aborigines of Australia.
Sir Edward B. Tylor. A foremost exponent of this anthropological approach
was Sir Edward B. Tylor, who published in 1871 a great work entitled Primitive
Culture, which was widely influential. In it Tylor advanced a theory known as
animism to account for the origin of religion. He proposed, as a "minimum
definition," that religion consists in a "belief in spiritual beings," He supposed that
primitive man first acquired the idea of "spirit" (anima) from his experience of
sleep, dress, shadows, breath and death.
History of Religion

Having thus conceived of the spirit as the invisible animating principle in

each of his own kind, primitive man attributed the principle to all entities that
seemed alived, including the sun and moon and other natural phenomena. Since
he was naturally awed by phenomena that appeared powerful, he peopled the
universe with mighty spirits and worshipped them.
Sir James G. Frazer. Of even greater influence than the work of Tylor was
that of Sir James G. Frazer (1854-1942). His approach to the study of religion was
essentially anthropological. The titles or some of the constitutive volume of his
magnum opus, The Golden Bough, indicate its nature and scope: The Magic Art;
Taboo and Peril of the Soul; The Scapegoat; The Dying God; Spirits of the Cora and
of the Wild. Fraser was particularly concerned with the effect of agriculture on
religious ideology and practice. In the annual cycle of the death and resurrection
of the core he saw a factor of tremendous import, the influence of which he
traced in many religions, including Christianity. Following the suggestion of the
German philosopher Hegel, Frazer believed that an "Age of Magic" preceded the
"Age of Religion” and that can first sought to coerce the powers behind the
natural world by ritual magic, before he sought to win their favor by prayer and
sacrifice.
Rudolf Otto. Of the many other attempts to explain the origins of religion
we may notice that of Rudolf Otto (1869-1937), because it posited the operation
of a non-rational or pre-rational factor. In a book published in 1917 under the title
of Das Heilige, Otto maintained that has the faculty of becoming aware, at certain
times and places, of the presence of a mysterious force that is wholly different
from all else in the world of normal experience. This presence evokes a feeling of
the uncanny; and, when experienced, it both terrifies and fascinates. Otto sought,
accordingly, to explain religion as stemming from a “unique original feeling
response,” which preceded any ratiocination about the source or agent of the
experience. The theme of Das Heilige was illustrated from Hebrew, Christian and
Indian sources. Its Inspiration was essentially theological; and it bag exercised a
considerable influence on modern Christian thought.
The Many and diverse theories, advanced during this period by reputable
scholars to account for the origin of religion, are generally impressive for their
learning and ingenuity.
History of Religion

They were mostly patterned on the evolutionary principle, which has

dominated Western thinking since the nineteenth century. The majority are
characterized also by their secular approach and freedom from apologetical
motivation. The theological concept of divine revelation, coon to most religions,
was evaluated only as a datum of religious phenomenology. Despite the
professed concern with the history of religions, this investigation tended to be
based on deductions from the study of primitive societies existent in various parts
of the world. As we noted previously, the early anthropologists believed that the
ideas and institutions of savage peoples closely reflected the chronologically
primitive cultures of mankind. This pre-occupation was probably due to the
contemporary maturity of the science of Prehistory. Although archaeological
research had greatly extended knowledge or the early civilizations of the Near
East, similar advance had not been made in the study of Paleolithic culture. This
defect was serious; for if the beginnings or earliest forms of religion were to be
found anywhere, it would surely be in the remains of the most ancient human
communities that archaeological research and excavation could reveal.
Archaeology. The earliest skeletal remains of true man (Homo sapiens) data
from about 30,000 B.C. With the remains, or related to them, relics have been
found of the culture of these earliest representatives of our race. Although this is
the earliest evidence in the archaeological record, these people, often referred to
as the Cro-Magnons’ from the place where their remains were first discovered,
were obviously the descendants of unknown generations of Homo sapiens. Their
immediate precursors, according to archaeological evidence, were a sub-human
type usually designated Neanderthal Man. The remains of this species date back
to about 100,000 B.C. Even this remote Neanderthal Man had a culture that
included a practice of great significance for our subject.
The evidence concerned here is provided by the burial customs of these
peoples of the Old Stone Age. But first we must appreciate the significance of the
burial of the dead. No other animals so dispose of their dead: generally they just
abandon them where they die. Palaeolithic man, however, did not just bury his
dead as a practical measure to get rid of them; he buried them ritually. This
means that he did things that were not practically necessary to inhumation.
History of Religion

Thus stone implements, ornaments of shell or bone, and food were placed
in the grave; and often the corpse was covered with red pigment. Although there
are no inscriptions to inform us - writing was not invented until the fourth
millennium B.C. - we can make some legitimate inferences from this funerary
equipment. The placing of food and tools or weapons in the grave must surely
indicate that it was believed that the dead would still need such things. In other
words, this evidence suggests that the Palaeolithic peoples believed that death
was not the end, and that the dead survived in some way. The covering of the
corpse with a red pigment clearly had some purpose. Pre-historians generally
agreed that the purpose was magical. In primitive thought red is associated with
vitality, since it is the colour of blood, the life-substance. To cover a dead body
with red pigment suggests, therefore, some magical practice to restore or
maintain its vitality, thus to insure its continued existence for the after-life of the
deceased.

The posture of the corpse in these Palaeolithic burials is also significant.

The dead were rarely buried in the extended position normal to us. Generally they
were laid on their side, with the legs tightly flexed and the hands covering the
face. The meaning of this posture has been much discussed. Some pre-historians
have seen it as merely a more economical form of burial -a flexed body would fit
into a smaller hole. Others have suggested that these crouched burials stimulate
the prenatal position of the infant in the womb. If this interpretation could be
proved, very significant fact would be known about Palaeolithic men's belief. To
lay' a dead person designedly in a prenatal posture in the grave might well signify
some idea that the dead were laid in the womb of Mother Earth to be reborn.
That such a positioning of the corpse was purposeful is certain; but we have no
evidence to show what that purpose was. It is also necessary to note that
sometimes the body was so tightly flexed that it must have been hound in that
position before rigor mortis set in. Such instances could indicate a fear of the
dead: Savage peoples of modem times have been known to bind corpses before
burial, to prevent the dead from returning to hare the living.

Palaeolithic archaeology provides other evidence of religious significance.

On many sites there have been found figurines, carved out of stone or bone, of
women. They are remarkable for two features: the sexual or maternal attributes
are grossly exaggerated, but the faces are blank.
History of Religion

These figurines, known quaintly as "Venuses," are small and portable. From
Laussel, however, in the Dordogne, comes a much larger figure, carved into a
block of hard limestone. This "Venus" of Laussel is not only a remarkable piece of
sculpture; it provides a clue to the meaning of these "Venus” figures. Like the
figurines, the Laussel "Venus" is faceless and has the sexual features accentuated;
in addition it holds in one hand the horn of a bison. It was discovered together
with other sculptured figures, and it appeared to have formed the chief object of
rock-sanctuary, where fertility rites were probably performed.

The emphasis upon the sexual or maternal features in those figures,

together with the fact of the blank faces suggest that they were not portraits of
individual women but represented "women" as the mother," the source of
fertility or continuing life. That these Palaeolitic peoples were urgently concerned
with the fertility is confirmed by their cave-art, as we shall see: for the animals
which they hunted for food are often depicted as pregnant. To these primitive
communities, just managing to maintain themselves against the perils of their
environment, the need to insure that they should have children was a major
preoccupation. It is possible also that their interest in maternity extended beyond
this. The figure of the pregnant female held the promise of the renewal of life to
offset the grim negation of death.

These "Venus" figures, therefore, embodying such hopes and aspirations,

may justly be regarded as religious objects. With the "Venus" of Laussel we may
legitimately go further in our surmise. Since this figure seems to have the chief
cult object of a sanctuary, we may indeed have here the earliest representation of
deity. In other words the Laussel "Venus" may well represent the deification of
the maternal principle, and, as such, be the first depiction of the Great Goddess.
In the archaeological record the "Venus" of Laussel does, in fact, constitute the
first of a long series of such figures that have been found on many ancient sites of
Asia and Europe. They can be traced through the Neolithic Period, into the early
civilizations of the Near East. They doubtless represent a tradition of deifying the
maternal principle that eventually found expression in the Great Goddess
conceptions of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the Aegean area.
History of Religion

It seems, therefore, that the concept of deity had already emerged early in
the Upper Palaeolithic era. That it found expression in terms of a divine mother
naturally leads us on to ask whether the male principle was also deified. The
evidence is far more problematic than that concerning the conception of goddess.
First, we may note there is no evidence of a similar preoccupation with the
generative aspect of the male; indeed, It has been questioned whether these
early peoples understood the male factor in procreation. However that may be,
what constitutes the most likely evidence of the idea of a god seems to have a
quite different significance from that of the “mother goddess”.

This evidence, if such it be, is provided by every strange creation of

Palaeolithic art. It exists, engraved and partly painted, on the wall of one of the
innermost recesses of the cave of the Trois Freres in the department of Ariege,
France. It has the form of being who combines human and animal features. It has
posture suggest the action of dancing.

This fantastic figure is generally known as the "Dancing Sorcerer." There is

some evidence that, in these Palaeolithic communities, sorcerer or shamans may
have disguised themselves as animals and mined their actions in a magical dance.
Their acting would have been part of a hunting ritual, intended either to gain
control of the animals before a hunt or to propitiate their spirits when killed. This
interpretation is reasonable and modern ethnological parallels can be cited in its
support. Moreover, it is generally agreed that Palaeolithic cave-art, such as the
superb examples at Lescaux show, was magical in intent. The depiction of animals
wounded by lances and darts, or as pregnant, was part of hunting magic, designed
to achieve successful hunt and ensure the supply of further animals.

The so-called "Dancing Sorcerer' could thus represent such a masked

dancer. But, if this interpretation be accepted, another problem has to be faced.
Why should the depiction of such a dance be made, when the actual dance could
have been staged at any time? It is possible to think up answers to the question; a
different Interpretation, however, merits consideration. The figure is so placed in
the cave that it seems to dominate the representations of other animals. The cave
gives the impression of having been a sanctuary, of which the figure was the most
significant object.
History of Religion

Such considerations have led some eminent French pre-historians to regard

it as a representation of a kind of divine "Lord of the Beasts, "conceived by the
Palaeolithic hunters as the owner of the animals they hunted. Since these animals
constituted the main source of their food, such a being would be of supreme
significance, and worshipped as such. If, then, the so-called "Dancing Sorcerer
represents a kind of embryonic deity, we say conclude that Palaeolithic man's
urgent concern about his food supply induced him to imagine a supernatural
being, combining human and animal attributes, whose favour must be won, if
game was to be plentiful and easy to catch.

We have now surveyed what seems to be the most likely evidence of

Palaeolithic man's religion. The conclusions drawn must necessarily be treated
with the greatest caution, considering the nature of the data available. They
indicate that the earliest representatives of our race were concerned about three
fundamental issues: birth, death and the food-supply. Their approach to each of
these problems was essentially practical, though it was based upon intuitions of a
supernatural or religious character. Death demanded action that involved
economic loss; that they so responded attest the strength of their conviction
about the reality of post-mortem survival. The mystery of birth evoked a response
that produced the conception of a Divine Mother, the source of life. The necessity
of providing their food resulted not only in the development of weapons and
hunting techniques. The Palaeolithic hunters also believed that they could
reinforce their own strength and skill by magical means. Their cave-art, which
supplied this, may also have served to express their belief in a supernatural being
that owned and controlled the animals, and, as such, had to be propitiated.

Such, then, are the earliest forms of religion as revealed by archaeological

research. That they were compounded with magic is not surprising; for magical
elements are to be found even in the great religions of today. These findings may
not be as spectacular as some of the theories about the origin of religion, based
on other considerations. And they do not reveal the actual beginnings of religion.
They have the virtue, however, of being drawn from the earliest evidence
available.
History of Religion

Obviously a long period of development lies behind the culture of man in

the Upper Palaeolithic period; and somewhere back in that remoter past the first
manifestations of religious thought and practice lie.

It is possible that future archaeological discoveries will provide information

of these beginnings. For the present we must be content with knowing something
of the nature of religion as soon as Homo-Sapiens appears in the archaeological
record. That something is very significant for our understanding of human ideas
and institutions.

Current Developments in History of Religions

In recent decades such scholars as G. van der Leeuw, Joachim Wach, and
Mircea Eliade have stressed the sociological and phenomenological study of
religion. In their attempts to establish a scientific basis for the study of religions,
they use a descriptive approach, which makes it necessary to consider seriously all
experience of religious phenomena, physical or supernatural.

This brief summary of a century of development in the study of religious

origins should indicate that the problem is important, but insolvable. In our
approach, we crow upon the available materials to describe, rather than to
explain, man’s religions; to facilitate our description, the world's religions are
classified into four groups and each group is treated as a larger unit. These four
classes are (1) the religious outlook of primitive or preliterate peoples; (2) the
outlook of world view represented by the monotheistic religions of biblical Iands;
(3) the world view represented by the religions of India, and (4) that represented
by the nature and ancestor worship of the religions of China and Japan.
History of Religion

A Working Classification of Religions

Although there is much overlapping between some religions, and although
an increasing number of persons, especially in Western Europe, North America,
and the countries now under communist influence, deny any religious affiliations,
the approximately three billion people in the world may be divided according to
religious classification as follows:

1. Primitive peoples. Uncivilized, preliterate, scattered around the world, but

concentrated in Central Africa, South America, North Asia and the Pacific Islands,
these number about two hundred millions. The religious point-of view common to
such peoples underlies that of the three other groups of religions.

2. Members of religions originating in biblical lands. Judaism, Zoroastrianism

(Parsis), Christianity, and Islam claim approximately one and one-quarter billion
people. These religions hold in common several basic beliefs, separating them
from the other three groups. These are belief in a single, creator god
(monotheism), in a real world of time and space in which each person is placed
(created for a single life span, and in a destiny of reward and punishment based
upon once belief and practice in this earthly life.

3. Members of religions originating in India. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism

claim about six hundred million people in South Asia. In common these hold that
each person is reborn into this present world according to the deeds (karma) of a
previous life, and that man's highest destiny is to escape this cycle of rebirth.

4. Members of religions of East Asia. Taoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism claim

about one billion believers under their influence. They are blended with various
forms of Buddhism. Although they maintain the importance of this present world
of time and space, these religions have no creator god in the Biblical sense.
Instead, the two elements of nature and ancestor worship are blended with
varying emphasis and degree.
 Chapter II

HISTORY OF RELIGION ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE

Having been through with the task of surveying the studies and
investigations conducted by peoples of different persuasions as to the meaning,
origin and history of religion, we shall now engage ourselves in comparing them
with the teachings of the Bible. Biblically, the term religion means service and fear
of God, and walking in all His ways, loving and worshiping Him with all heart and
soul - not based on man's will but based on the commandments and statutes of
God (Dt. 10:12, 13).

It is man's obligation to serve God, because God created him and owns him
(Ps. 100:2-3). The proper way to know and love God is to obey His
commandments (I John 2:3; 5:3). This is the whole duty of man (Ec. 12:13), and it
is the very way to realize the purpose for which he was selected by God: to be
holy and blameless before Him in love (Eph. 1:4). No one has the right to change
the commandments of God because His instruction is strict: everything that He
commanded shall be carefully obeyed, adding nothing to it, taking nothing from
it. For if man were to serve and worship God which is not based on His commands
but on teachings and precepts of men, then his worship is made vain by God
(Mat. 15:9).

The Origin of Religion. Religion began in the Garden of Eden when the first
man created by God, Adam, was given the commandment which must be the
guiding principle of his life and thereby he could practice religion or perform
service to God. God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every
tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat of it, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gen. 2:16-17). But this
command was violated by the first men and instead listened to the serpent or the
devil (Gen. 3:1-5; Rev. 22:9). Hence, the statement of the Bible that God made
man upright, but he had sought out any devices was fulfilled (Ec. 7:29). As a result
men were cursed by God.
History of Religion According to...

They were driven out of the Garden of Eden as it is written: "He drove out
the man; and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a
flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life" (Gen.
3:21). In short, God has abandoned man and is separated from Him. Because of
sin committed by man, he was sentenced to suffer two deaths: the first is the
cessation of breath and the second is death in the lake of fire which is called
second death (Rom. 6:23; Rev. 20:14).
The consequence of the fall of man. Through one man (Adam) sin came into
the world and so death spread to all then because all men sinned - one is
righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God; all have
swerved, one and all have gone wrong, no one does good, not a single one" (Rom.
1:12; 3:10-12). So the whole world is held accountable to God, kept in store for
the destruction of ungodly men on the Day of Judgment (Rom. 3:19; II Pet. 3:7,
10).
The worst consequence of man's straying from the commands of God is the
loss of his right to serve God. Even if he serves and establishes his own religion, it
would all be futile for his sins have made a separation between him and God
which made God hid His face from man, so that He does not hear” (Is. 59:2). If he
calls upon Him, God will not answer; if he seeks to diligently, he will not find Him
(Prov. 1:28).
The Religion Evolved by Men Who Were Rejected to God. But since it is
inherent in men to recognize God or he is inherently religious, he strived to
develop some kind of service and worship, and established a religion. But what
sorts of religion have been evolved by men who were rejected by God? They have
made crooked roads for themselves and have been led to darkness as it is written:
"their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts
are thoughts of iniquity, desolation and destruction are in their highways. The
way of peace they know not, and there is no justice in their paths; they have
made their roads crooked, no one who goes in them knows peace. Therefore
justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us, we look for light,
and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope for the
wall like the blind, we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as
in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men" (Is. 59:7-10).
History of Religion according to…

Their religion therefore is estranged from the statutes of God or from the
straight path, which is the right Judgment of God or his words that serve as "a
lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Ps. 119:137, 105). From these men
swerved, and sought out many devices (Ec. 7:29).
Indeed men rejected the straight path, the words of God. They made their
own crooked paths or ways, examples of which are the so-called "The Middle
Way" and "The Noble Eightfold Path" of Buddhism, "The Way of the Tao" of
Taoism, "The Way of the Kami" of Shinto, "The Way of the Ancestors" of
Confucianism, etc.
And from worship of the true God who created the heavens and the earth
and all that are therein, men turned to the worship of "graven images in the form
of any figure, the likeness of male and female, the likeness of any beast that is on
the earth, the likeness of any winged bird, that flies in the air, the likeness of
anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water
under the earth" (Dt. 4:16-19).
This we can prove in Hinduism, the alleged oldest religion of man. It regards
the whole universe as an Incarnation of God and hence everything in heaven, on
earth, and under the earth may be worshipped, thus the total number of its gods
is 333,000,000. Brahman, its supreme god has three manifestations: Brahma,
Vishnu and Shiva, who are all men-gods and have respective mates who are
goddesses themselves.
Also, we find in Hinduism images in the form of figures in the likeness of
anything that creeps on the ground, winged bird that flies in the air, beasts on
earth and fish in the water. Its god Vishnu lies on Ananta, many-headed serpent,
Vishnu usually rides through the heavens on Garuda, a man-bird.
The monkey-god, Hanaman, is Rama's (Vishnu's another Incarnation) chief
helper. Another lower deity is Varuna, riding Makars, a monster fish; likewise the
Nagas, snake gods, and the Ashvins with the head of a horse and the body of a
man.
Men also worship "the sun and the moon and the stars, all the hosts of
heaven" (Dt. 4:19).
History of Religion According to...

We have seen this fulfilled. Some of the gods and goddesses worshipped in
Hinduism which are on the lower level than the chief deities of the trinity
(Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) are Surya, the sun-god, with his seven horses;
Chandra, the moon-god; Vayu, the wind god; Ushas, the dawn goddess whose
cows represent the days of the week; thousand-eyed Indra, god of the firmament;
and the Maruts, who are in charge of storm clouds.
Such forms of worship are not confined in Hinduism. “Ama terasu, the sun
goddess, (is) the chief deity in the Shinto pantheon..." Her brother Susa-no-wo,
the storm-god is also worshipped, and Tsuki-yomi, the moon-god, and many other
nature deities.
Taoism like Hinduism and Shinto has many gods. It has a god for almost
everything. It worships the spirits of animate and inanimate objects, also
ancestors and great historical figures. It also worships a great number of stars.
In Confucianism on the other hand, Heaven and Earth are worshipped and
also the ancestors.
And what's more, they sacrificed to demons which were no gods; to gods
they have never known, to new gods that have come in of late (Dt. 32:17). "The
Yakshinis and the Yakshas, demon followers of Kubera, god of wealth and Savana
the demon king are all Hindu gods. Demon worship is also found among peoples
of Himalaya. When Padma Sambhava, the eighteenth-century guru from India
preached the enlightenment or teachings of Buddha in the Himalayan lands, he
found it rife with worship of spirits, demi-gods, and demons. As regards "new
gods that have come in of late," this was likewise fulfilled. In Mahayana Buddhist,
Bodhisattvas or savior gods evolved. Lao Tzu (founder of Taoism) and Confucius
(founder of Confucianism) were raised to the ranks of gods.
They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling
mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles (Rom. 1:22). For they were led to
believe that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art
and imagination of man (Acts 17:29). This brings to our mind the Buddhist temple.
Wat Benjamabopitr, which shelters a golden age of Buddha. Images of Buddha
are not only found in gold but in stone, silver, etc.
History of Religion According to...

In Islam, Mohammedans have also an object of worship known as the Black

Stone framed in silver. This is found in Kaaba, Sacred shrine in Mecca.
And although there are those who attempted to serve the true God, yet
their “zeal for God... is not enlightened." They attempted to establish religion but
"being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God" they did not submit to
God's righteousness. And instead of establishing the religion of God they seek to
establish their own" (Rom. 10:2-3). The result is the proliferation of religions.
Moreover there are people who would rather not in any religion and who
deny the existence of God. "They say to God, Depart from us! We do not desire
the knowledge of thy ways"! (Job 21:1). Atheists emerged - people who
recognized no God and who say that all things are the result of natural
phenomena.
They are fools because the Bible says: "The fool says in his heart ‘There is
no God’” (Ps. 14:1).
Its Effect Upon Man’s Life. "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge
God, God gave them up to a base mind and to proper conduct. They were filled
with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent,
haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless,
heartless, ruthless” (Rom, 1:28-31). God has purposely abandon men to wicked
ways, so as to make them believe what is false: "So that all may be condemned
who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (II Th. 2:12-
12).
The Chance Given by God. Because of God's great love, He gave men a
chance before the Day of Judgment comes, as it is written: "From the days of your
fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return
to me, and I will return to you...." (Mal. 3:7). It is from God's statutes that man has
turned aside, hence, he was separated; it is in these same statutes man must
abide so that he could return to God.
History of Religion According to…

Thus, religion, after the fall of man came to be applied to man's effort of
turning back to God's ways, to His commands and statutes, whence on had turned
aside.
The Setting Apart. In order that men who turned back to God could become
His own people, He sets them apart. As attested to by the Bible: "But know that
the Lord has not apart the godly for himself: the Lord hears when I call to him
(Ps.4:3).
Seth. The proof that God sets apart the righteous for himself is His choice of
Abel and His acceptance of Abel's offering rather than Cain's. Setting apart by God
began with Seth, one of the children of Adam and Eve. It was during that time
when men began to call upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:25-26). But when men
began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them,
the sons of God (this is Seth's generation) saw that the daughters of men were
fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose although it was against the
will of God. As a result of such intermingling of the sons of God and the sons of
men, the wickedness of man became great in the earth and every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. So the Lord and, "I will blot out
man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and
creeping things and birds of the air” (Gen. 6:1-2, 5, 7).
Noah. After Seth's generation turned away, God chose and set apart Noah,
a righteous and blameless man to whom he gave the right to served Him. And
God said to Noah: "I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is
filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside
and out with pitch" (Gen. 6:8-9, 13-14). For God will bring a flood of waters upon
the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven;
everything that is on the earth shall die. Noah, his wife, their sons and their son's
wives were supposed to come into the ark together with two of every living thing
to keep them alive. Also, he took with him every sort of food that is eaten, and
stored it up to save their food. Noah did this; he did all that God commanded
(Gen. 6:17-22). And when the waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the
earth, the ark floated on the face of the waters. Everything on the dry land in
whose nostrils was the breath of life died. Only Noah was left, and those that
were with him in the ark (Gen. 7:18, 22-23).
History of Religion According to…

The people then cannot complain that they were not given a chance for
Noah truly preached God's righteousness. So God preserved Noah, a herald of
righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the world
of the ungodly (II Pet. 2:5).
After the flood God blessed Noah and his sons and told them to be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the earth (Gen. 9:1). But Noah's generation did not obey the
commandment of God. Instead, they resolved to build a city and a tower with its
top in the heavens lest they be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole
world. It was an outright violation of God's command, and could not be tolerated.
So God confused their language that they may not understand one another's
speech, and thereby scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the
earth (Gen. 1:-8).
Abraham. When the generation of Noah turned aside from the statutes of
God, God chose a man, from whom the people who will serve Him will come. He
called Abraham and set apart. He told him, "Go from your country and your
father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will bless you, and make your
name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and
him who curses you I will curses and by you all the families of the earth shall bless
themselves" (Gen. 12:1-3). And what is most important is what God said to him:
"...I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after
you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you
and to your descendants after you" (Gen. 17:7). The right to deity and serve God
was given to Abraham and his descendants. And God confirmed this right to Isaac,
to Jacob and to the Israelites (Ps. 105:9-10). And Israel came to Egypt through
Joseph and the Lord made them very fruitful and made the stronger than their
foes (Ps. 105:23-24). The descendants of Israel very fruitful and increased greatly
and there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. He took a
cunning method with their race, oppressed their ancestors and forced them to
expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving.
Moses and the Israelites. At that time Moses was born, was brought up for
three months in his father's house and when he was exposed, was adopted by
Pharaoh's daughter, He was brought up as her own son. Moses was instructed in
all the wisdom of the Egyptians and he was mighty in words and deeds. After forty
years he visited his brethren, the sons of Israel.
History of Religion According to…

And when he saw one of them being wronged he defended the oppressed
man and avenged him by striking the Egyptian. When this was discovered he fled
and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became father of two sons.
And when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of
Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When he saw it he wondered at the sight;
and as he drew near to look, the voice of the Lord came, "I am the God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob." Moses trembled and did
not dare to look. And the Lord said to him, "Take off the shoes from your feet, for
the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the ill-
treatment of my people that are in Egypt and heard their groaning, and have
come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt" (Acts 7:17-
22, 30-34).
For God Himself told Israel: "For you are a people holy to the Lord your
God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out
of all the people that are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were
more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love upon you and
chose you for you were the fewest of all peoples; but it is because the Lord loves
you, and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has
brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of
bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt" (Dt. 7:6-8). Although there
were many nations at that time Israel alone had God, and God recognized her as
His own people.
"They are Israelites," said Apostle Paul, and to them belong the sonship, the
glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises" (Rom.
9:4). People who are alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, are considered
strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world (Eph. 2:12). Only the Israelites were given the right to serve God and to
receive His promises.
But the people of Israel did not abide in the covenant of God. They did not remain
keeping is words. "They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers,
who refused to hear My words; they have gone after other gods to serve them
the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I
made with their fathers" (Jer. 11:10).
History of Religion According to...

In view of this, God declared: "My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest
to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will forget your
children" (Hos. 4:6). And worse, the Israelites were cursed by God, as it is written:
Your first father sinned, and your mediators transgressed against me. Therefore I
profaned the princes of the sanctuary; I delivered Jacob to utter destruction and
Israel to reviling" (Is. 43:27-28).
By the turning away of the people chosen and set apart by God for himself,
we will notice the continuing fulfillment of what is stated in Palms 14:3 that:
"They have all gone astray..." And also that which is written in Ec. 7:29: "God
made man upright, but they have sought out many devices."
The Redeemer. Man was once more given another chance by God after
repeated turning aside from His proven by the Holy Scriptures: "Thus says the
Lord: 'Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good
way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls..." (Jer. 6:16). Christ is the good
way in whom all man should walk to find their way back to God. As He declared: "I
am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me"
(John 14:6). Because of God's front love for men He gave his only Son that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the old path and the good way that lends to God.
For man is God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10). Nevertheless, at
the very beginning Christ was not in existence corporally, but "...he promised
beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his
Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh..." (Rom. 1:1-3). And
even before the promise concerning Christ was made, He was already in the mind
of God before the foundation of the world" (I Pet. 1:20, The Catholic New
Testament).
After the fall of Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, the Savior was
promised, referred to as the "seed of the woman" (Gen. 3:15). He was also called
"the seed of Abraham" (Gen. 17:7), und when Apostle Paul explained who the
seed is he said that that seed is Christ (Gal. 3:16).
History of Religion According to...

Apostle Paul also cited the prophecy of Isaiah: "Through the number of the
children of Israel he as the sand of the sea, remnant shall be saved... and as Esaias
said before, 'Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as
Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah" (Rom. 9:27-29).
God purposely created man for Christ's adoptions pointed out in the Bible:
"He destined us in love to be His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the
purpose of His will... In him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:5, 7).
God know beforehand that the man whom He created will sin and will be
condemned to die in the lake of fire. He therefore foreordained Someone who
can adopt man. That Someone is our Lord Jesus Christ in whom there is
redemption because through His blood man is redeemed from the curse of the
law (Gal. 3:13). Through Him man can return to God.
The Way. So that man may be able to return to God through Christ, God
made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of His will, according to is
purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all
things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth (Eph. 1:9-10). "For in him all
things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities - all things were created
through his and form. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together
(Col. 1:16-17). Even all the things in heaven were subjected to Christ in
accordance with the will of God. Thus the Scriptures say: "Who has gone into
heaven and is at the right band of God, with angels, authorities, and powers
subject to him" (I Pet. 3:22).
How could the people before the birth of Christ be gathered in Him? The
regulations for form of worship during the pre-Christian era manifested the belief
and anticipation of those people in the coming of the Savior. As a proof of this,
they offered sacrifices such as goats, calves, and the bloods of these animals were
used to purify those who were blemished.
History of Religion According to...

But at the coming of Christ, the High Priest, purging is no longer through the
blood of goats and bulls, because Christ entered once for all into the Holy Place,
taking not the blood of goats and calves but His own blood, thus securing an
eternal redemption (Heb. 9:1, 9-12). "For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with
the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the
purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb. 9:13-14).
Here we can mention what those who were set first did like Abel who
offered sacrifice to God (Gen. 4:3-4), Noah who "offered burnt offering on the
altar" (Gen. 8:20), Abraham who “built an alter to the Lord and called on the
name of the Lord" (Gen. 12:7-8). But the offerings done by those chosen people
of God ceased when Christ offered Himself once for all (Heb. 10:8-14). It was
enough for the sanctification of those who believe in Him (Rev. 10:10). From then
on, there is no need "to offer sacrifices daily ... he did this once for all when he
offered up himself"(Heb.7:27).
The Church of Christ. How can the people be gathered together in Christ
after Jesus had offered Himself up in sacrifice? Christ was made the head of the
Church which is His body, as it is written: And he has put all things under his foot
and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the
fullness of him who fills all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23). The fact that through the Church
which is the body and Christ Himself its Head men will be gathered together in
Him is proven by Apostle Paul when he said: "For as in one body we have many
members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though
many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another (Rom.
12:4-5). All members are gathered in this one body or Church. And to stress that
man must be a member of the Church Apostle Paul said: "Now you are the body
of Christ and individually members of it" (I Cor. 12:27).
History of Religion According to…

So, men may be gathered together in Christ after He offered Himself up, by
entering the Church which is His body. Thus, to realize this, Christ instructed men
to enter in Him "I am the door," then said, "If anyone enters by me, he will be
saved..." (Jn. 10:9).
But which Church should be entered in or joined by men? The Church
founded by Christ, which He calls "My Church" (Mt. 16:18). The Apostles call it
Church of Christ" (Acts 20:28, Lamsa). All men gathered together in this Church.
This is the express will of the Lord God.
Anyone who refuses to join the Church of Christ refuses to be subject to
Christ, because the Church alone is subject to Christ (Eph. 5:24). And since the
Church alone is subject to Christ hence this alone will be saved by Him: “For the
husband is the hand of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and
is himself its savior (Eph. 5:23). The body that will be saved by Christ is the Church
of which he Himself is the Head, namely, the Church of Christ (Col. 1:18; Acts
20:28, Lamsa).
Christ will save His Church because He loves her and gave Himself up for
her (Eph. 5:25), that is, by redeeming or purchasing her with his own blood, as it is
written: “Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the
Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the CHURCH OF CHRIST which he
has purchased with his blood (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Version).
God's Righteousness. The Church is Christ's means of salvation. Because
this is the righteousness of God as pointed out by Paul: "For our sake he made
him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness
of God” (II Cor. 5:21). Without the Church of Christ, salvation cannot be justified.
For it is not just to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as
the wicked. God will not do that. "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?"
(Gen. 13:25). Thus, God's law states: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the
children, nor all the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be
put to death for his own sin" (Dt. 24:16).
History of Religion According to...

But Christ had no sin. He never committed sin as Apostle Peter testifies: "For to
this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an
example that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin; no guile was
found on his lips" (I Pet. 2:21-22), All men sinned (Rom. 5:12), except our Lord
Jesus Christ. So in order for Christ to save men without violating the law of God
and for salvation to be in accordance with the righteousness of God, Christ
created in Himself the one new man out of two, so making peace (Eph. 2:15). The
two which compose the one new man are Christ who is the Head, and the Church,
which is the Body of Christ (Col. 1:18). And even if Christ was nailed and died on
the cross, He bore the sins of His body, or of the Church - the Church of Christ (I
Pet. 2:24; Acts 20:28, Lamsa).
Therefore if man is separated from the Church of Christ, he himself will
answer and die for his own sin as Christ said: "I told you that you would die in
your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he" (Jn. 8:24),
Christ likened Himself to the vine and the believers to the branches. "Apart from
me," He declares, "you can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5). Those who are separated from
Christ can do nothing because men sinned and "without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness of sins" (Heb. 9:22). Man who is purified from dead works
by means of the blood of Christ have now the right to serve the living God (Heb.
9:14). They are now in the true religion.
Whoever is outside the Church will be judged by God (I Cor. 5:13). And even
if those who are outside the Church of Christ would strive to serve or diefy God,
they are deprived of that... right, for those who are separated from Christ are
Godless, in short, God refuses to be deified by them (Eph. 2:12). And those who
entered the Church of Christ but have not persisted shall be in the lake of fire
which is the second death (Jn. 15:16; Rev. 20:14).
The First-Century Church Founded by Christ Was Apostatized. But the
Church founded by Christ in the first century did not continue to obey the
doctrines of God. They turned away from God like the ones whom He set apart in
the past. They were deceived into following the doctrines of the demons and
departed from their faith (I Tim. 4:1). Two of the doctrines of the demons were
mentioned by Apostle Paul in I Tim. 4:3: "Forbidding marriage and "abstinence
from meat." These we may find in the Catholic Church which upholds these two
doctrines (The Faith of Our Fathers, p. 328; The Question Box, p. 440).
History of Religion According to...

Apostle Paul calls the leader of apostasy, the man who turned away from the faith
the man of sin because this man will oppose and exalt himself against God, as it is
written: "Who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of
worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be
God" (II Th. 2:14).
The man of sin opposes and exalts himself against God by disobeying the
command which forbids any man to be called father on earth (Mt. 23:9), that is,
like the Fatherhood of God in heaven. God is the Father of the soul because all
souls belong to Him, He being the Creator (Ezek. 18:4). Whoever allows himself to
be called the father of the soul is a transgressor, opposing God and exalting
himself against God.
Apostle Paul's prophecy is fulfilled in the person of the Pope and the priests
of the Roman Catholic Church. They teach their members to call each of them
father of the soul, and that the Pope is the highest father of the soul on earth
(Iglesia ni Cristo, p. 12 trans. A Catechism For Non-Catholics, p. 78).
The apostasy of the Church founded by Christ was also prophesied by
Apostle Peter. According to him, false prophets will arise from the Church of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and they will bring in destructive heresies even denying the Lord
Jesus Christ (II Pet. 2:1). They denied Jesus Christ in His position as the Rock and
Head, and they rejected His name which is found in the name of His Church, the
only name by which man must be saved. (I Pet. 2:3-5; Eph. 2:20-22; 5:23; Acts
14:10-12).
According to the teachings of the Catholic priests the rock upon which the
Catholic Church is founded is Apostle Peter (What They Ask About the Church, p.
11); the Pope is the successor of Apostle Peter and is also the Head of the Catholic
Church (A Catechism For Inquirers, p. 55). The Roman Catholic Church also
rejected the name of our Lord Jesus Christ by changing the name of the Church.
The name Church of Christ was replaced by the name "Roman Catholic Apostolic
Church" (Apostles Creed, p. 191).
It is clear that the Church founded by Christ in the first century did not
continue to obey the doctrines of God. It apostatized or turned away from God
and needed the doctrines of the demons. And it was the Roman Catholic Church
who led the apostasy.
The Church of Christ in the Philippines. When the Church established by our
Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem during the first century was apostatized men were
deprived once again of the right to serve and deify God because they have been
rejected by God.
History of Religion According to...

But like what had occurred since the beginning, whenever the people set apart by
God for Himself turns away from Him, He sets apart another to carry on the
obligation of serving and worshiping Him. Even if the first Church of Christ had
been apostatized, it reappeared in the Philippines in the last days - since
according to our Lord Jesus Christ, He has "other Sheep" (note they are Christ's
sheep and not Brother Felix Manalo's) - that are “not of this fold" He was referring
to the Church which He founded in the first century. These other sheep are not of
that fold. Then who were the sheep who were already in the fold? Apostle Peter
says, "For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off,
every one whom the Lord our God calls to Him" (Acts 2:39). Here Apostle Peter
distinctly points out the three groups of people who will become members of the
Church of Christ: 1) "to you" 2) "to your children" 3) "to all that are far off" (every
one whom the Lord God calls to Him). The first two were already in the fold
during that time. They were the Jews and Gentile members of the Church of
Christ in the first century (Rom. 9:24). The third group was not yet in the fold, the
members of this group were yet to be called and they were far off. The "far",
whence these other sheep of Christ will come whom God will call to become
members of the Church of Christ is the Far East (Is, 43:5-6, Moffatt). It is the
Philippines, a country in the Far East (World History, p. 445).
According to the prophecy of Isaiah, these other sheep of Christ will be
called by the name created by God for His glory (Is. 43:7). The name created by
God for His glory in Christ. (Acts 2:36), hence the name Church of Christ (Rom.
16:16).
Regarding these "other sheep” of Christ who were not yet in the fold then,
Christ said that He must bring them also, and they will heed His voice, so there
shall be one flock and one shepherd (Jn. 10:16). "Flock" means the Church of
Christ (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Version). It is clear therefore that the other sheep of
Chris are to be made Church of Christ by our Lord Jesus Christ.
This seemed unbelievable to many. "How could Christ establish His Church
in the Philippines when in fact He was already in heaven in 1914 and never did set
foot in the Philippines?” they ask. Christ explained how a man could be made
Church of Christ: he must hear the words of Christ and do them (Mt. 7:24-25).
History of Religion According to...

Everyone then who hears these words of Christ and does them will be like a wise
man who built his house upon the rock. The house refers to the Church (I Tim.
3:15), and the rock refers to Christ (Eph. 2:20-22).
But not to all preachers must we hear the words of Christ. It is only to the
messengers we must hear because they alone have the authority to preach (Rom.
10:14), and to hear the messenger is to hear Christ. It is not surprising then that
here in the Philippines Christ re-established His Church in 1914, for there is a
messenger sent here by God who is none other than Brother Felix Manalo, whom
we believe to be the Last Messenger of God.
Through his preaching function, God once again set apart another group of
people, who were given the right to deify and serve Him thereby establishing the
true religion amidst the estranged and irreligious mankind.
Last Work of Salvation which Will Never Be Estranged. The Church of Christ,
which begun in the Philippines through the instrumentality and leadership of
Brother Felix Manalo, will never estranged. There will never be another apostasy
like that which occurred to the people called earlier by God. This is God's last
work of salvation, because what will follow is the work of reaping, as it is written
in Rev. 14:9-15: "And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud
voice, "If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his
forehead or on his hand, he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured
unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb and
the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day
or night, these worshippers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the
mark of its name.” Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep
the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from
heaven saying, 'write this: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth.’
Blessed indeed,' says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their
deeds follow them!' Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud
one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his
hand.
History of Religion According to…

And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who
sat upon the cloud, Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for
the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.

The third angel or messenger in this prophecy is the Last Messenger of God,
Brother Felix Manalo, who warns those who have received a mark on their
forehead and right hand which are the members of the Catholic Church. Blessed
are they who will be embraced by this last work of salvation. Blessed indeed are
the members of the Church of Christ who have had endurance in keeping the
commandments of God or those who remain in the true religion, for if they die,
"they may rest from their labors." This mission of the last messenger will continue
until the reaping time or the end of the world (Mt. 13:39). They are the ones
whom Apostle Paul referred to as the people "who are alive, who are left until the
coming of the Lord," who together with the dead Church of Christ members who
will be raised first from the dead on Judgment Day, will meet the Lord in the air so
that where He is, they will be also (I Th. 4:16-17; Jn. 14:2-3).

After learning, in this chapter that the true religion established by Christ,
and is therefore God's way of salvation in the last days is the Church of Christ
(Iglesia ni Cristo), we shall find in the succeeding chapters some of the numerous
religions man established for the purpose of serving God in his own way. As
already revealed in the words of God we can prove that the ways established by
man are crooked as a consequence of his transgression and turning away from
the Lord's way. Hence, the result of this is the proliferation of innumerable
religions with various gods, beliefs and practices.
 Chapter III

HINDUISM

Introduction

In theory, Hinduism is the simplest of all religions; it has no central authority, no

hierarchy, no direct, divine revelation, and no rigid, narrow moral code. In
practice it is so complex that on city streets comers and village paths, countless
gurus-religious teachers-sit for hours each day, surrounded by disciples and
bystanders, endlessly dissecting its subtleties.
Its contradictions make it puzzling. It has one god, Brahman, who is the
eternal spirit. But it also has three hundred thirty three (333) million gods.

History

Hinduism has no founder or uniform dogma. Generally regarded as man's oldest

living religion, Hinduism started itself. The very name Hinduism derives not from
doctrine but from geography--the Sanskrit word Shindu or Indus, ocean or river.

The origins of Hinduism go back 4,000 years. It has grown up in India and can be
identified with the main stream of Indian culture. Over four millenniums, new
cults and philosophies have enriched it; waves of reform have challenged it. Other
religions have brought their witness to India and strengthened rather weakened
this tolerant, marvelously diverse faith.
Hinduism

It is not amazing, therefore, why its 450 million followers, most of them in India
and nearby lands, some dwelling on Pacific islands, in Africa, and in the New
World believe that Hinduism is the fountainhead of all religions.
We may for the sake of convenience divide the history of Hinduism into
three broad periods: Vedic, Epic, and Classical.
Vedic Period. In the Vedic age, which extended to about 600 B.C., Hinduism
depended almost entirely on the Vedas for its doctrines and practices. In the
earliest Vedic hymns, we find many gods, often representing natural forces; but
there is also the idea of the Deity emerging from such polytheistic conceptions as
those of the storm-god Indra and the god of the cosmic order, Varuna. There is an
evolution toward monotheism, the belief in a single god, and monism, the
doctrine that there is only one ultimate reality. This evolution was effected
through an important religious phase known as "henotheism, the tendency to
worship one god out of the pantheon at a time, treating him as the highest and
ascribing to him the powers of the others. The highest expressions of this trend
towards monotheism and monism are found in the thirteen Upanishads,
speculative treatises concerned with man and the origin of the universe. The
modes of Vedic worship were simple. They centered around the sacrifice as
defined in the Vedic prose writings known as Brahmanas. The ends sought were
both of this world and of the next.
The Upanishads (about 800 B.C.) - The term means "to sit down near” from
the words shad ("to sit"), upa ("near") and ni ("down"). It refers to the time when
the sages no longer wandered but gathered their pupils at their feet to share a life
of work and meditation. The term reflects the nature of these writings which are
essentially dialogues in which a teacher instructs a pupil. They contain the
answers that the renowned teachers of that period gave to questions about life
and the universe.
The speculative thought of the Upanishads tends in the direction of a
monistic world view in which all reality is derived from a single principle.
Hinduism

It is based upon the assumption that all that truly exists is the Brahmanatman (the
cosmic spirit beyond this world of time and space), that this present world is
maya conditioned by time and space, and that the goal of religion is to free the
atman (soul) of the individual from its successive rebirths to ascend the scale of
merit until-after a life of rectitude, self-control, nonviolence, charity reverence for
all living creatures, and devotion to ritual -- it wins liberation from worldly
existence to achieve union with Brahman (the ultimate god).

Epic Period. In the Epic period, after about 600 B.C., Hinduism took on a
popular form. A new type of sacred book appeared which adopted the narrative
for to achieve a popular appeal. In this period the great epics Mahabharata and
Ramayana were composed; they are revered next to the Vedas themselves,
especially the exalted Bhagavad Gita, a section of the Mahabharata that is itself a
dramatic poem. The multitudes of gods were now made to fall into an order. The
three phases of world-creation, preservation, and destruction were assigned to
three different aspects of the Godhead, called respectively Brahma, Vishnu, and
Shiva (Siva), known together as Trimurti (three aspects). Also definitively
formulated in the Epic period was the doctrine of incarnation, according to which
god appears in this world from time to time in incarnate forms, or avatars, in
order to preserve righteousness and punish the unrighteous. There are no more
revered or loved figures in India than Rama and Krishna, both incarnations of
Vishnu. Temple worship became popular. The leading cults of Hinduism,
especially Vaishnavism (the worship of Vishnu) and Shaivism (the worship of
Shiva) developed in the Epic period. The texts of the various sects, the agamas,
were composed. Also dating from this period is the code of Manu, which not only
is the most authoritative legal document of the faith but also sets forth an
account of the creation of the universe and the ordering of society.

a) Mahabharata. "The Great Bharata” epic tells of early rivalries in the land
of Bharat which is India. In its present form, it is a complex work. The main epic
consisted of about 18,000 couplets, but additions of all kinds of legends, lore and
traditions have expanded it by some five times.
Hinduism

It thus constitutes a prime source for knowledge of the popular religion of India.
The main story concerns an ancient rivalry between two sets of cousins, the five
Pandavas and the one hundred Kurus. The five Pandavas, of the house of Bharata,
lose their kingdom to the Kurus by trickery, and the epic recounts their years in
exile, their return to reclaim their kingdom, and the final annihilating battle
between the relatives. The battle is used as a framework of the famous Bhagavad-
Gita.
b) Bhagavad-Gita. "The song (gita) of the adorable one", sometimes called
the "New Testament of Hinduism," is primarily a dialogue between the most
famous fighter of the Bharata brothers, Arjuna, and his charioteer, Krishna, who
reveals himself in the course of the poem to be none other than the god Vishnu,
who has taken human form in order to reveal the way of salvation by bhakti, or
devotion, to Krishna as Bhagavad, or Lord.
c) The Ramayana. "The story of Rama" is the older of the two main epic
poems of India. A poem of 24,000 couplet verses, it is ascribed to the sage
Valmiki, and in its present form comes from about the time of Christ. It tells how
the god Vishnu manifested himself in the form of Rama, son of Dasaratha. In the
story Rama is betrothed to Sita, who is abducted by the demon Ravana. The main
part of the epic tells of the wanderings of the chief characters and of the help of
the monkey-god, Hanuman, in the great battle to vanquish Ravana and free Sita.
This epic is known all over South Asia, much as the Gospel stories are known
throughout Christendom.
d) The Laws of Manu. This collection of social and religious laws dates from
about the time of Christ. The legendary author, Manu was the first man, born of
the god Brahma. These laws are in verse and describe in detail the rules for the
"twice-born" or three upper classes. It probably originated with a school of
Brahmans (priest) known as the Manavas.
Classical Period. It was in the early centuries of the Christian era that the
Classical systems of Indian philosophy were founded. The philosophical systems
naturally exerted a powerful influence on the religious doctrines.
Hinduism

Each of the Hindu cults received a metaphysical foundation. A great philosopher

of the eight century, Shankara, reformed Hinduism on all its levels, showing that
every genuine belief and form of worship had its place in the scheme of spiritual
disciplines.
Several other reformers followed Shankara, and successive waves of bhakti
(devotion) movements swept the country. Saintly poets appeared all over the
land and spread the gospel of devotion to god through moving songs. Even in the
recent past there have been saints and sages serving as the spiritual guides of the
people. It is through constant renewal in the lives and teachings of an unbroken
line of seers and saints that Hinduism has been able to live and flourish in spite of
the adversities of India's complicated history
Two outstanding medieval thinkers, who worked and wrote during the
scholastic age of Europe, deserve mention:
a) Shankara (about 788-830 A.D.). Born in southeast India, Shankara
opposed the waning Buddhism of his day and helped to revive Hindu theology. He
founded schools and wrote extensively; his works include commentaries on the
Upanishads and the Gita. He followed the Vedanta school and his system is
known as advaita (undivided) monism. He taught inana-marga, salvation by the
path of knowledge. Although he accepted the idea of a creator god for the
common man, he conceived of the ultimate deity as an impersonal entity without
human or other qualities. He is the principal influence in current Indian
philosophy.
b) Ramanuja (about eleventh century A.D.). This theistic thinker stressed
bhakti-marga, the path of devotion. Also from Madras area, Ramanuja alledgedly
founded some seven hundred monastic centers and wrote commentaries on the
Gita and other classics. In his qualified monism (oneness of all gods and all living
things), the lord Vishnu is the source of all, but the individual self, when it
achieves moksha (release), continues to have independent existence in Vishnu's
care.
Hinduism

Several important sects stem from Ramanuja. His position, that Vishnu has a
personal concern for his created beings has interesting parallels to the Christian
doctrines of faith and grace.
Hindu Doctrines
1. Conception of God. Theistic Hindu cults conceive god as the creator, preserver,
and destroyer of the Universe. He is the Supreme Being, Brahman, who is both
the creator of all and the totality of all creation. From these three functions arose
the doctrine of the Hindu Trinity, consisting of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

Hindus are worshiping a host of gods, Hinduism has one god, and it also has
333 million gods. In the tolerant Hindu religion, the worship was both permitted
and encouraged. Now its supernatural world swarms with gods resembling men
and animals, with demons, heroes, ghosts and heavenly dancing girls.

2. The Sacred Scriptures. Devout Hindus believe that their most ancient scriptures
are of divine origin. The oldest Hindu sacred writings are the Vedas. The bards
who first recited the Vedas ages ago were "rishis”, inspired seers who were said
to have received them direct from Brahman. Although never given official
canonical status, some of the Vedas are acknowledged even by skeptical
historians to date back 4,000 years.

The two divisions of the Hindu Scriptures are:

1. Shruti (what is heard or revealed) - Collectively called Vedas.

a) Ancient Vedas
b) Brahmanas
c) Aranyakas
d) Upanishads
Hinduism

2. Smriti (What is remembered) - embraces the great epics and the Puranas
– tales of gods and ancient kings -- as well as philosophical and sectarian texts.

3. The Goal of Hinduism. The goal of Hinduism is to achieve union with god. Union
with god is achieved through ritual and the common ideals of Hindu ethics: purity,
self-control, detachment, truth, nonviolence, charity, and compassion toward all
living creatures.
The ways to approach god. As one can ascend to the top of a house by
means of a ladder or a bamboo or a staircase or a rope, so diverse are the ways
and means to approach god, and every religion in the world shows one of these
ways. Different creeds are but different paths to reach the Almighty.

4. The Nature of Man. Man is "soul" or "spirit". Every being which possesses
senses is a soul. But man alone has the possibility of making spiritual progress. All
other creatures must be born into the human species before they can progress
toward the goal of perfection. The Hindus believe that the soul is eternal. Even
god does not create a soul.

5. Reincarnation. This is a basic belief of Hinduism. Every creature that dies goes
to a heaven, hell or purgatory - depending on the life it has led - and is later born
again. At death the soul does not perish but passes, or transmigrates, to another
body, where it is reincarnated as a new life.

The fortunes of the soul in each rebirth are determined by its behavior in
former lives. This law of Karma (literally action) states that no sin ever goes
unpunished and no virtue remains unrewarded; if a man does not receive
punishment or reward in this life, he will, in some succeeding life. By his behavior
a man determines whether his rebirth will be in higher station or lower, whether
he will be reborn as a man, as a god, or as the lowest insect.
Hinduism

What happens at death is the shedding of one physical body, and, at birth, the
taking on of a new one. The mind and its faculties, however, continue to
accompany the soul until it is released from bondage.

Since a Hindu's goal is his release, through death, from a long series of
reincarnations, the greatest event in his life is his death. When he is about to die,
he goes, if possible, to Benares, where the Ganges (River) will wash him free of
sin.

6. The Messengers of God. The Avatara or Savicur is the messenger of god.

Whenever there is a decline of religion in any part of the world, god sends his
Avatara there. It is one and the same Avatara that, having plunged into the ocean
of life, rises up in one place and is known as Krishna, and diving down again rises
in another place and is known as Christ. The Avataras (like Rama, Krishna, Buddha,
and Christ) stand in relation to the Absolute Brahman as the waves of the ocean
are to the ocean.

Hinduism has shown a great capacity for absorbing ideas and adapting to
prevailing condition. It absorbed much of the Christian message: gurus began to
teach the Sermon on the Mount and many of them made a place for Christ as the
10th incarnation of the god Vishnu.

7. On Spirituality. To the Hindu spirituality means to return to the spirit, to divest

one's self of the world of men and matter, to be beyond good and evil. When a
man this state, he may be physically alive, but spiritually he has returned to
Brahman.

8. Vegetarians. Since Hindus see god in everything, they revere all life. Because of
this, they practice nonviolence to animals and are mostly vegetarians. For a Hindu
to consume beef is a sacrilege, tantamount to cannibalism. "All that kills...cows",
warn the scriptures, "rot in hell for as many years as there are hairs on the slain)
cow." Hindus bow to all Cows they pass.
Hinduism

"One should cease from eating all flesh…cessation from them produces great
fruit" (Ordinances of Manu).

Hindu_ Practices

It is generally accepted principle in India that conduct, not creed, counts;

that, if the right disciplines are practiced, true insight will follow.

The various cults and schools of Hinduism agree in practice because their
aim is the same, to liberate the soul from its bondage to the temporal cycle of
birth and death. It is called moksha, release. The pursuit of moksha, however,
does not imply an escapist other-worldliness. The joys of this world are not
spurned by the Hindu. Besides release, three other ends are recognized by the
Hindu teachers: economic prosperity, sense pleasure, and righteousness. These
are, however, instrumental and not intrinsic ends. Prayers for length of life,
worldly wealth, good progeny, and the pleasures of existence are not infrequent
in the ancient texts. But these should be acquired and enjoyed in such a way as to
prevent regression in the scale of spiritual evolution. If righteousness becomes
the basis of economics and pleasure, then one progresses towards the final goal
of liberation. This is the rationale of all Hindu religious practices.

External Worship. a) Vedic Ritual. The Vedic ritual consisted of sacrifices

offered to the gods for various purposes. Sacrificial material such as ghee
(clarified butter) or rice grain was given as an offering to the gods, either by
consigning it to the sacred fire or by spreading it out on a bed of sanctified grass.
The mode of sacrifice was at first simple, but became more complicated with the
passage of time.

b) Classical Ritualism: the Mimamsa School. In the classical period of Indian

thought, there arose a "fundamentalist" school of philosophy named Mimamsa,
which grounded its entire teaching on the ritual sections of the Veda. The
followers of this school maintained that the duty of the individual wag simply to
obey the commands of the Veda.
Hinduism

From such obedience would be generated an unseen potency affording the

individual enjoyment in heaven after death. Very soon, however, the Mimamsa
school realized that heavenly enjoyment could not be the ultimate goal of man, it
was compelled to admit moksha, release, as the final end. Even so, the school
insisted that the performance of ritual acts was the only means to release.
According to the revised scheme, one should avoid the optional rites and perform
the other sacrifices conscientiously. If one kept strictly to this regimen all his life,
one would attain release at death.

c) Private Worship. In later Hinduism, religious practices based on the

scriptures of the popular cults, known as the agamas or tantras, came largely to
replace the Vedic sacrifices. There are several domestic or household rites taught
in these sacred texts. No important event in the household is unassociated with
religious ceremony. The birth of a child, giving it a name, the first feeding with
solid food, sending the child to school, graduation, marriage, and the funeral all
have their appropriate rites. The purpose of these ceremonial acts is to give a
spiritual significance to the journey of life. There ought to be no wedge, driven
between the secular and the sacred, for the sanctification of the entire life of man
is the aim of religion.

Besides celebrating the chief events occurring in his family, the

householder must perform every day five sacrifices – the sacrifice to the gods,
consisting in propitiating the sacred fire or worshiping the family deities; the
sacrifice to the seers, which takes the form of studying the Vedas and other
sacred books; the sacrifice to the ancestors by oblations of water; the sacrifice to
the lower animals (especially Cows), which means feeding them; and the sacrifice
to guests by entertaining them and giving alms to such of those that are poor. The
conception of the five daily sacrifices unites the various orders of being - the
divine, the human, and the subhuman - and the different periods of time — past,
present, and future.
Hinduism

The most significant event in the orthodox Hindu household is the daily
ceremonial worship of the family deity. The shrine room is the central place in the
house. At least once a day the deity, in the form of an image, is worshiped. There
may be many images in a household. Five are usually placed on the pedestal of
worship known as the panchayatana. The image of the principal deity, for
example Vishnu or Shiva, occupies the center, with the other four arranged on the
sides. The worshiper first invokes the presence of the deity in the image, and then
treats the god he has invited as he would an honored guest. The images are
bathed, dressed and decorated; food, water, and flower offerings are made;
ceremonial lamps are waved in front of the images, incense and camphor are
burned; and the gods are finally requested to retire. Each act of worship is
accompanied by a set formula or prayer. In certain forms of tantrika worship,
mystic designs called yantras are used in place of carved images, and syllables
with secret meanings are uttered. These forms of worship are highly technical,
and one may not adopt them without expert guidance.

d) Public Worship. The worship in temples follows the model of domestic

worship, but on a much larger scale. No visitor to India will fail to be struck by the
grandeur of these temples. The towers which typically serve as entrances to the
temples reach to the skies as symbols of the aspiration of the human soul for the
infinite. The temples themselves are constructed on the plan of the human body.
The most holy place within the temple, the sanctum sanctorum, symbolizes the
heart center where god takes his seat.

Apart from the worship of the principal and auxiliary deities in a temple
several times a day, there are festivals connected with each temple which are
occasions for congregations of devotees from far and near. The pious Hindu at
some time in his life visits the main temples of the land and other places of
pilgrimage. He climbs the hills to commune with god and bathes in the sacred
rivers to remove his physical and mental dirt. He keeps a religious calendar and
fasts and feasts as occasion demands – to celebrate the victory of good over evil
or the incarnation of a god.
Hinduism

The Surrender of the Ego. External worship, however, is not the final discipline. As
a devotee progresses spiritually, his devotion is supposed to become less formal
and external, and more real and internal. God demands, not material offering, but
the offering of one's heart, the surrendering of one's ego. In the traditions of
Shaivism and Vaishnavism alike, there are several stories of saints who had
neither high birth nor much learning, but who were able to realize god even
through uncouth and uncivilized modes of worship. The aim of devotion is to turn
the mind to god. It is the sublimation of the baser passions and desires through
the devotee's unswerving loyalty to god.

a) Raja-yoga. The same objective can be achieved through a technique

called raja-yoga, taught first in its complete form by an ancient sage named
Patanjali (c. 150 B.C.). This technique involves eight stages, usually known as the
"limbs of yoga." The first two constitute ethical training, consisting of certain
restraints and observances. The restraints are non-injury, truthfulness, non-
stealing, continence, and non-possession. The observances are cleanliness,
contentment, penance, study of scripture, and devotion to god. The third and
fourth stages in yoga are training in steady posture of the body and control of the
breathing process. Then comes the withdrawal of the senses from their objects.
The last three stages, which constitute yoga proper, are concentration,
contemplation, and absorption. These three are but different degrees of the mind
control which is the aim of yoga.

b) Vedanta and Karma-yoga. Although Patanjali considered his yoga to be a

sovereign and self-complete path to the goal of release, it is more generally
regarded as an auxiliary to the path of devotion already described and to the way
of knowledge. While theism takes devotion to be the main discipline, absolution
teaches the path of inquiry as the principal means of release, Ignorance of the
truth is the root of bondage, according to absolutism, and ignorance can be
dispelled only by knowledge. The path to knowledge is that of study, reflection,
and realization.
Hinduism

The Vedanta texts should be studied first under a competent teacher. Then their
import should be reflected upon. But a mere intellectual understanding of the
Vedantic truth is not enough. It must be realized intuitively. Persistent inquiry
should be made until the intuitive wisdom is achieved. And when wisdom dawns,
there is release.

Statistics
According to the 1974 Britannica Book of the Year, the world population of
Hinduism is 515,580,500.
 Chapter IV

JAINISM

Introduction

Jainism is a religion which developed in early India. It took its name from
the word Jiva (conqueror"), a title designated to Vardhamana Mahavira founder
of the movement. Its very goal is to attain the highest perfection of the nature of
man, which, it holds was in its original purity free from all pain and the bondage
of life and death. This religion started earlier as a reform movement in Hinduism,
Jainism is considered a religion of love and kindness because it stresses on equal
kindness tom ward all life, even toward the meanest.

History

The Jains hold that their faith is eternal and has been revealed through the
successive ages of the world by the tirthan-karas, (great teachers or Jinas or
"victorious ones") a line of saints or prophets, 24 in number, each of whom
attained perfection and absolute freedom and then preached Jainism to the
world, The first thirthankara, Risabha, is traditionally the founder of Jainism, but
though his name occurs in the Vedas and the Puranas very little else is known of
him; nor is there historical evidence of the other tirthankaras. The actual and
historical founder of Jainism was Vardhamana called Mahavira ("Great Hero"), the
twenty-fourth tirthankaras, and an older contemporary of Gautama Buddha. After
attaining enlightenment through hard-work and meditation, he preached Jainism
for thirty years.
Jainism

Jainism has never been torn by philosophic dispute; however about A.D. 82
two principal sects diverged on two points of rules and regulations for monks. The
two sects who exist until now are:
1. Digambara. Living in the warmer zone of south India, the Digambara
believe that to become a saint, a man should own nothing, and wear no clothing.
Hence, nudism begun by Mahavira is practiced. They also denied that women are
eligible for salvation.
2. Shvetambara. Living in a cooler region to the north, this sect wear
clothes and followed a less rigorous order.
Vardhamana Mahavira. Mahavira was born about sixth century B.C. in
northeast India of the Kshatriya class (warrior or nobleman) He was the son of a
petty king. He married and had one daughter. It is said that on his parent’s death,
in his thirtieth year, he renounced his home, and became a religious devotee and
recluse. For twelve years he practiced the most rigorous kind of asceticism
searching for salvation. For the final thirteen months of his quest, he wandered
completely naked. Finally he experienced moksha, "release" the experience of
blissful nonattachment to the world. Because of this, he is called Jina, the
conqueror. He spent the last thirty years of his life teaching his doctrines and
founding an order of monks, the Sangha ("congregation"). After his death, at
Pavapuri (also Bihar), his followers continued to increase, and around the time of
Christ, appear to have been an important group in India. Since his death, Pavapuri
has been one of the chief places of Jain pilgrimage; a number of temples have
grown up, and Diwali, the Hindu New Year festival, is a day of great pilgrimage for
the Lord Mahavira.

Development of Jainism. As Jainism grew and prospered Mahavira and

other teachers, historical and legendary were deified. Many beautiful temples
were built. Cult, images, festivals, offerings of flowers and incense were
instituted.
Jainism

However, as time passed, the line between Hindu and Jain became more and
more unclear. Some Hindu gods as Rama and Krishna were drawn into the Jain
pantheon. Hindu Brahmans started to preside at Jain's death and marriage
ceremonies and temple worship. The caste system which primitive Jainism had
rejected, also become part of later Jain doctrine.
Doctrines and Practices

A. The Scriptures of Jainism

The Jains were able to preserved two main canonical writings called the
Angas, or "limbs," and the Upangas, or "secondary limbs”. Most are written in a
late popular dialect of Sanskrit and contain sets of monastic rules, parables and
stories, legends and myths. The more important have been translated into
English. In addition to these the Jain community over the centuries produced a
fairly large and important body of literature.

B. Doctrines of Jainism

1. Cosmos. Mahavira taught that the world is made up of 2 eternal

substances: the Jiva, life or soul, and the Ajiva, nonliving. The universe might be
imagined to consist of levels or layers of existence in each of which jivas dwell; at
the lowest level is evil and restricting; at a higher level is the world of animals and
men; still higher is the world of gods or higher beings; and at the top is a state
unconditioned by time and space in which free jivas dwell, all-knowing and
blissful.

2. Deity. In the true sense Jainism has no god. The gods they know are in no
way different from other jivas or living beings, except that they stay temporarily
at the level of existence for gods. But each will be reborn at a higher or lower
level until liberation from rebirth is attained and each god is a jiva who is
responsible not only for his final achievement of moksha, or release.
Jainism

He can neither help others nor receive help in his cycle of rebirths. Thus, Jainism
may be thought of as a theistic.

3. Man. Man is a jiva reborn into this world. His body is made up of various
forms of ajiva, or matter. What determines his rebirth and present level of life as
a man are his karma. Karma, in Jainism, consists of matter in a fine atomic form
which clings or sticks to a jiva soul; the more karma that clings, the heavier it
becomes, and the lower one's rebirth, conversely, the being at a higher level of
existence has less karmic weight to drag it down. Through all the series of rebirths
which a jiva experiences, the jiva remains unchanged and unharmed by karma's
clinging - just as a diamond is changed, whether it rests in filth, the stomach of a
dog, or a platinum setting. Thus, man's jiva is in no way different from that of a
jiva living in rocks or roaches, stallions or gods. But each jiva is free to choose and
learn how to alter its present pitiable condition of existence, trapped in ajiva, time
and space.

4. Man's Plight. Since in its free, untrammeled state a jiva is omniscient and
blissful, man's plight is to have his true essence, his soul or jiva, trapped in
existence and in the cycle of rebirths. In addition, any activity or thought causes
karma to stick to one's soul, weighting it down. Although, good karma does not
cling too closely, it still enmeshes man and all bad actions and thoughts add
greatly to the burden of karma, causing him to sink deeper into the lower levels of
life. Likewise karma permeates the pure substance of jiva, driving out its purity
and introducing suffering and ignorance.

5. Salvation. Because thoughts and actions cause karma to stick to one's

jiva, salvation can only be achieved by ceasing to think or act. This somewhat
absurd conclusion is actually followed: one must think and act only if it is
absolutely necessary.
Jainism

Penance for wrong thoughts and acts, and the disentanglement of karma from
one's jiva by strict asceticism make it possible for a man to experience kevala
(alone, solitary), glimpsing final release (moksha) while still attached to this world.
It is identical with the nirvana of the Buddhists. He whọ thus sloughs off his
burden of karma is called jina or conqueror.
6. Conduct. In Jainism the ideal way of life is strict asceticism. Jains believe
that through it man would avoid wrong thought and action, and improve his level
of rebirth. Jainism's two levels of adherents - the holy man (monk) and the
layman - take vows:
a) not to harm any living creature (ahimsa)
b) to be absolutely truthful
c) not to steal.
d) to be chaste in thought and deed
e) to practice nonattachment to the world by the strict limitation
of possessions. For the holy man, the last two require celibacy
and poverty. Perhaps the main contribution of Jainism to Hindu
life is the teaching of ahimsa or noninjury of animal life. Jainism
upholds an absolute respect for life. Man's primary duty is the
evolution and perfection of his soul and that of his fellow creatures.
Thus in Jainism, non-hunting of any living creature, lower or higher
insect or human being, is the cardinal principle. This is the reason
why Jains avoid agriculture since ploughing, for example kills
worms. Hence, most Jains engage in merchandising and banking.

Furthermore, all Jains must observe the "Three Gems", the treasures of the
faith. They are right knowledge, right conception, and right actions.
7. Destiny. If one's jiva does not slough off all karma by the time of death,
the remaining karma will cause a new linking of one's jiva with ajiva, and rebirth
at a predetermined level will result.
Jainism

Since all bad thought and action cause karma to cling, suicide is forbidden,
although one is allowed, under the most carefully prescribed conditions, to lie
down out of doors and, by abstaining from food and drink, to allow death to
come. For the Jina who dies freed from Karma, the Jain Nirvana, moksha (release)
occurs. In this state, the jiva floats free of all attachments and enters the highest
level of existence in which the jiva is blissful, all-knowing, and free from karma,
never again to be reborn.

Statistics

The attitude of Jainism toward other forms of religion is that of non-

criticism. It does not compete with other religions and has never cared for the
propagation of its faith. Its adherents totaled just over 1,600,000 in the early
1960's with the Digambara majority in the south and the Shvetambaras in the
north. Among its followers are found the rich merchants of Gujarat and
Maharastra, forming about 0.45% of the total population of India.
 Chapter V

BUDDHISM

Introduction

Buddhism is the oldest of the world's three missionary religions existing for
nearly 2,500 years. From the title of "The Buddha" (meaning in Sanskrit "the Wise,
the enlightened"), Buddhism, next to Christianity, is the most extended religion. It
is widely spread in Ceylon, Nepal, Burma, Siam, Cambodia, China and Japan
counting some 180,000,000 adherents. And even in the United States it calls to
100,000 followers. More than any other force, religious or philosophical, it shaped
the civilization of Asia, having stimulated the arts and influenced the great Tang
Dynasty culture of China in the Seventh to Tenth Centuries A.D. and brought
civilization to Japan, Being so widespread and having so many facets it has been
called a "family of religions." rather than a single religion.

History

Diverse opinions had previously prevailed as to the time and place of the origin of
Buddhism. Some looked upon it as a relic of the original religion of Hindustan (the
land of the Hindus); a relic of a widespread primeval worship, whose ramifications
it was endeavored to trace by identifying Buddha with the deities of the ancient
Egyptians, and with other mythological personages. Others believed that it could
not be older than Christianity and must have originated in a blundering attempt
to copy that religion, so striking are the many points of resemblance that present
themselves. Although the means are still wanting of giving a circumstantial history
of Buddhism, the main outline is no longer doubtful.
Buddhism

It arose in the 6th century B.C., as an offshoot of the prevailing Hindu religion of
north India in what is now Bihar, west 07 Bengal. According to the Buddhist
books, the founder of the religion was Gautama Buddha.

Gautama, The Buddha. The founder of Buddhism was born about 567 B.C.,
in the town of Kapilavastu in southern Nepal, about 100 miles north of Benares.
His father was a petty ruler of the Kshatriya class (noblemen), the petty rajah on
Kapilavastu, on the southern border of the District of Nepal. He was a prince
named Siddhartha. He is often called Sakya, which was the name of the family,
and also Gautama. The name Sakya often becomes Sakya-muni (muni, in Sanskrit,
means "solitary'), in allusion to the solitary habits assumed by the prince. To
Gautama is frequently affixed Sramana, meaning "ascetic". Of the names or titles
given to him the most important is Buddha, which is from the root budh, "to
know," and means "enlightened" or "he to whom truth is known." The legend
about Gautama shows that his followers believed that he had renounced the
greatest possible earthly security and splendor in order to find the true way to
salvation.

Gautama's traditional life-story tells how his father was informed by a seer
at the birth of his son that Gautama was destined to become the greatest earthly
ruler of history. If, however, he were to see four things – disease, old age, death,
and a monk who had renounced the world - then the boy would abandon his
earthly heritage to become the founder of a way of salvation for all the world. His
father tried to keep his son from these experiences, so that he might pass on to
him his kingdom, Thus, he built a great palace in the midst of a park and gave
orders that neither the sick, the aged, a dead body, nor a monk should be allowed
near the palace. The boy grew up shielded from the world and was married to a
beautiful girl, Yasodhara, who bore him a son. Despite his father's orders that he
remain in his palace, he rode out into the world. As he was being driven through
his park, he saw first a man tottering with age, a corpse being carried to its grave,
and finally a mendicant monk in ochre robes whose appearance was peaceful and
whose body was healthy.
Buddhism

Gautama asked what each vision was, and when he was told, he began to
meditate on the meaning of life and upon his new knowledge that each of us
must grow old, may be wracked with disease, and eventually must die. But the
serene appearance of the monk helped him to make "the great resolve." It is said
that one night a great feast with drunken revelry was held in Gautama's palace;
finally, he alone was awake and sober. He surveyed the scene of debauchery and
was revolted by its apparent meaninglessness. Then he decided to renounce
forever his life of security, which also involved self-indulgence, pleasure and
material comfort. He left his sleeping wife and son and departed from his palatial
home to take up the life of a wandering mendicant. It had already become
common practice in India for a man to renounce his family and to seek salvation
as a student and monk. He shaved off his hair and put on the yellow robe of a
mendicant.

The next part of the legend tells how he studied the Upanishads with the
best teachers of the day, but he finds their doctrine unsatisfactory. He then tried
the other way of salvation -- asceticism for six years. He was so thorough in his
practice that five monks began to follow him as their leader. Gautama became a
living skeleton, but found that this way is equally vain. Once when the daughter of
a herdsman came by and offered him a bowl of curds, Gautama ate. Because of
this, his five followers deserted him as unworthy of their respect. But Gautama
seated himself under a Bo tree and vowed he would not move until he had
attained the secret of Enlightenment. In a vision the armies of Mara (death or
evil), the demon attacked him with storms, rains, rocks and blazing weapons, and
Mara himself offered the wealth of the world if he would desist from his purpose.
But Gautama sat unmoved meditating. He triumphantly withstood the temptation
by the demon Mara. After 49 days of meditation Gautama experienced the bliss
of nirvana, of ultimate salvation. Whatever this experience was it is described as
the act of becoming awake, bodhi, and at that moment Gautama became the
Buddha, the 'one who had fully awake', or enlightened.
Buddhism

The scene of this final triumph received the name of Bodhimanda ('the seat of
intelligence’), and the tree under which he sat was called Bodhidruma (the tree of
intelligence), whence Bo tree, Buddhists believe the spot to be the center of the
earth.
After his tremendous experience, Gautama returned to the world and
traveled to the holy city of Benares where, in a park outside the town, he met
again with the five monks and preached to them his first sermon on the meaning
of life and the way to salvation. For the next 45 years the Buddha traversed
northern India, preaching and making converts to his religion. An order of monks,
the Sangha, was founded, and by the time of his death, the new religion had
thousands of adherents.

The Development of Buddhism. The great paradox of Buddhism is that a

way of life that began with the teaching "to live is to suffer," and demands the
annihilation of all desires and attachments to the world, should become a great
missionary faith. Gautama, after his enlightenment, returned to the world and
preached his doctrines. Then he commanded his disciples to "go forth... for the
help of the many, for the well-being of the many out of compassion for the
world". In the third century B.C. the great king Asoka, who welded most of India
into an empire, became a convert and by his patronage made Buddhism an
adjunct to the throne and a sweeping movement. Tradition says he sent
missionaries to preach throughout Southeast Asia, had contact even with Egypt
and Greece. Tolerant of other gods and ideas, Buddhism flowed and absorbed
and diversified. And in the 2 1/2 millenniums since Buddha it has split into three
main divisions: the Hinayana, the Mahayana and the Tantric.

A. Hinayana (Theravada). During the early years after Gautama's death, his
followers gradually began to differ in their opinions on what was most important
in the search for understanding of life, thus resulting to the rise of different
Buddhist sects with varied interpretations of Gautama's teachings. To certify the
accuracy of the doctrine and the rules of the Sangha the first great council was
held in the 5th Century B.C. in Rajagaha.
Buddhism

In the 4th Century B.C. the Council of Vesali was held and by this time there was a
dispute over the stringency of the monastic rules for obtaining Buddhahood.
From these emerged two separate schools of thought, the Hinayana and the
Mahayana. The third council was held in 3rd Century B.C. called by Emperor
Asoka, and as a result of this Buddhist missionaries were sent throughout India,
Syria, North Africa, Greece and Ceylon (now Shri Lanka). By this time, Hinayana
Buddhism was strong and developed. It is the branch of Buddhism that claims to
have changed least from the form of the Buddha's teachings. Also referred as
Southern Buddhism, detractors label it Hinayana because of its teaching that
nirvana is obtainable only by a few who follow strictly the way of the Buddha. But
this sect prefers to be called Theravada (Way of the Elders). The underlying basis
of their faith is that one is responsible for his own salvation. A person's past,
present, future - all are up to him. There is no god who can arrange for one's
salvation. The ideal Hinayana Buddhist is the "arhat" or holy man, thus Hinayana
stresses the monastic life or the Sangha (Monastic Order). Yet paradoxically, from
earliest times their monasteries have possessed great wealth and much land
given by pious laymen, or by members taking the vow of poverty upon joining the
order. Today, this sect prevails in Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos,
where it has built beautiful temples and contributes to education in Burma and
Thailand.

B. Mahayana. The teachings of Theravadin Buddhism offer salvation and

nirvana only to the arhat who has renounced this world. A man who marries and
has a family and who seeks to earn a living as a regular member of society may
become a lay follower of Buddhism, but he is excluded from those destined for
nirvana, Due to this restriction, Buddhism, lacked an essential ingredient of a
missionary religion: the element of universality which gives hope to anyone,
without restriction, who is seeking present salvation and final release. This
element was supplied by Mahayana Buddhism, the Greater Vehicle. This Northern
Buddhism dates in the first century B.C. from the years immediately following the
death of Gautama, when his followers were yearning for the old days when he
was with them. Always they treated his memory with reverence. Some of them
soon came to attach special importance to anything that reminded them of his
life.
Buddhism

The meeting places of some disciples gradually began to look like temples. Great
changes took place in the interpretations of the scriptures. Thus, arose a newer
form of Buddhism called Mahayana.

Go Although the Buddha himself seems to have taught that there are no
gods who can help man for his salvation, one of the distinctive characteristics of
Mahayana is the Bodhisattva, a being whose "essence is enlightenment." This is a
person who is attuned to the sufferings and hopes of all human beings that he
refuses to enter nirvana until all others have achieved salvation with him.
Gautama after his enlightenment did not immediately enter nirvana but instead
returned to the world and for forty-five years, preached his doctrine. Perhaps it
was only logical that his later adherents should teach that even after his death he
had not completely deserted mankind. In any case, the doctrine of Bodhisattvas
allows for many such beings who have been victorious and achieved buddhahood,
but who are still available, as helpers to those who call upon them in faith. Thus,
by incorporating into its scheme the local gods of the different areas Mahayana
Buddhism has become a religion of savior gods. An illustration of Bodhisattva's
place in this form of Buddhism is the story of Amitabha. Although Amitabha was
originally a Bodhisattva, he is now referred to as a Buddha, since in Mahayana
there are many Buddhas. Amitabha Buddha or "Buddha of Infinite Light" is next to
Gautama in the hearts of Buddhists. According to legends, Amitabha was a monk
who lived infinite ages ago. He made a vow that he would devote all his wisdom
and merits to saving others. Through the years he built up what might be called a
"Treasury of Merit," a tremendous checking account of goodness. Mahayana
Buddhists believed that anyone in need of merit can draw upon this account by
meditating upon the compassion of Amitabha and praying to him.

Another important development which made Mahayana appealing to

masses of followers, instead of just the few monks, was its idea of life after death.
Some Mahayana sects elaborated a conception of hell to which the souls of evil
doers passed at death, while a goddess of compassion known as Kuan Yin was
developed to guide the faithful to the Promised Land.
Buddhism

The Doctrines, of Mahayana Buddhism

1. The Cosmos. The metaphysical teaching of the Mahayana is known as the

doctrine of the void (sunyata). This frequently involves a kind of monism, or
idealism, in which the concept of nirvana becomes not extinction, but "the void"
emptiness, the unconditioned. All that is truly important is said to be timeless,
and except under rare circumstances, ultimately unknowable whereas the world
is believed to be transient and perishing.
2. Deity. Gautama denied that there are any gods who can help man, but in
Mahayana deification resulted - particularly of powerful bodhisattvas deemed
Buddhas-to-come. It is probably from Hinduism that this pattern is derived.
Hinduism teaches three levels of divine beings. The highest is the paramatman, or
world soul; next is the level of the Tri-murti, or secondary manifestations of the
ultimate, and finally the incarnate savior gods, or avatars, which lived among men
for salvation. In Mahayana we find an almost similar scheme in the three levels
and three bodies of the Buddhas:
a) The Dhyani Buddhas. Possessing a dharma-kaya, or absolute body
they are "Buddhas of meditation" being always engaged in peaceful
meditation. They are a peculiar kind of Buddhas who are not required to
pass through the stage of a Bodhisattva. They voluntarily abstain
themselves from the act of creation for to create is the work of their
emanations, the Divine Bodhisattvas. Having entered nirvana forever,
they never again would have contact with the world of space and time.
This corresponds to the paramatman of Hinduism.
b) The Bodhisattvas have a sambhoga-kaya, the body of bliss or the
refulgent body of the Buddha. It is a very subtle body which manifests itself
in the various conditions of bliss in the superhuman beings for preaching
the noble truths and for arousing in the minds of other Buddhas and lay
Bodhisattvas joy, delight and love for the noble religion. This corresponds
to the level of the Hindu god, Vishnu, for though they live in paradise they
have power to come to the aid of men.
Buddhism

c) The Manushi Buddhas. These are the mortal or human Buddhas

having a nirvana-kaya or body of transformation. These Buddhas have lived
among men, as did Gautama, and are comparable to Krishna as the avatar
of Vishnu. A manushi Buddha is beyond the prayers of men once he has
entered nirvana.

3. Man. Man is a conscious being, of a high level that because of his past
karma is reborn. He is caught in time and space, and his true goal is to escape this
cycle of rebirth (endless round of lives).

4. Man's Plight. Man's present sorrow is caused by his ignorance of the

causes of his rebirth and of the nature of the ultimate truth. Suffering and
transmigration can be made to cease only if a person ceases his uncontrolled
craving and attachment to the world.

5. Salvation. In the Mahayanas, salvation has two levels. One gives man
help if he turns to some great Bodhisattvas, who by their accumulated merit save
people from hell, and assure rebirth in heaven to all those who devoutly repeat
the name of their favorite Bodhisattva. But in the midst of time and space nirvana
is to be found by those who follow the path of knowledge and search on the true
significance of life. This is the second level of salvation in this form of Buddhism.

6. Conduct. This Northern Buddhism emphasizes a high order of ethical

living. Although it does not require complete renunciation of the world, this sect
stresses nonattachment to the world and selflessness, The Dhammapada, a
scripture summarizing the path of the law is widely taught. Faith in a Bodhisattva
also carries the belief that a Mahayana Buddhist should do good, not only to
acquire good karma but also to please the savior god.
Buddhism

7. Destiny. Buddhism inherited from Hinduism the doctrine that rebirth,

and possible intervening existence in hells or temporary heavens, is the fate in
store for those who do not, in this existence, achieve nirvana. Thus as stated
earlier, some Mahayana sects did conceived a hell to which the souls of evildoers
passed at death. A goddess of compassion named Kuan Yin, compared to the
Catholic Madonna was developed to guide the faithful to the Promised Land. Also
in China the Ch’ing T’u, or "pure land" sect (Jodo sect in Japan) teaches that, if
one has faith in the Bodhisattva Amitabha, and repeats in faith his name, at
death, Amitabha will take the faithful to the pure land of bliss.

C. Tantric. The third branch of Buddhism, Tantric, sprouted about 750 A.D.
when a Buddhist Indian monk crossed the mountain in Tibet, where Buddhism
already existed in scattered monasteries. There he preached a different and
peculiar form of the doctrine known as Tantrism, a mixture of Mahayana
Buddhism and certain magical and mystical doctrines derived from Hinduism.
Invoking deities by magic and rituals, it expanded the pantheon with an array of
new divinities - personifications of Buddha's thoughts and acts, female
counterparts of deities, even demons. In Tantric teaching the male gods gain
power through union with their female counterparts. Devotees seek to attune
themselves with this primal power through elaborate rites, some involving sexual
union as well as use of wine, meat, flesh and parched grain.

Each division of Buddhism musters claim that it represents the original or

true form. Actually, each developed, by stressing specific elements within the
early faith. And as Buddhism spread, it articulated its insights in words and
symbols that differed from country to country. In Southeast Asia it learned to
speak the language of kingship. In Tibet it learned to speak with shamans
(monks). In China it picked up the language of the family. But its essence remains
the message of Siddharta Gautama: "Seek In the impersonal for the eternal man,
and having sought him out look inward - thou art Buddha".
Buddhism

Buddhism Sects

Lamaism. It is the form of Buddhism so different from those, elsewhere

that has assumed among the peoples of Tibet and Mongolia. The name is derived
from the Tibetan lama (blama), properly a title of the monks in the higher ranks of
the hierarchy. This Tibetian form of Buddhism with its priesthood of lamas, or
superior ones was founded by Padma Sambhava, the eight-century guru who
spread the enlightenment of Buddha in Himalayan lands rife with worship of
spirits, demigods, and demons. Hindu and Buddhist cults of Tantrism, together
with the age-old demonolatry of Tibet made up Tibetian Lamaism. Out of
Lamaism, with its popular prayers, ritual dances and exorcism of devils grew
Tibet's theocratic state dominated by Dalai and Panchen Lamas, believed to be
living incarnations of Buddhist holy beings of the past. Lamaists, like other
Buddhists, believe that all beings strive through many lives to achieve the peace
of perfection. Some, like Padma Sambhava who have won release through good
works choose to return – for the good of man - for yet another turn of the wheel
of life.
Reformed Lamaism with its elaborate ritual of the religious services, the
ceremonial dresses of the monks, their organization in hierarchical ranks, and the
local divisions into diocese, dependent on a central authority, have been noticed
and compared with similar features in the Roman Catholic Church.
Zen Buddhism. Once Gautama was handed a gift of a golden flower and
asked to preach the secret of the doctrines. Gautama held the flower aloft and
looked at it in silence, indicating that the secret lay not in words but in profound
contemplation of the flower itself. From this mystical and legendary act
descended the doctrine of Zen, regarded by many scholars as the noblest in
Buddhism. Thus, this sect emphasizes meditation as a means to transcendental
wisdom and mental tranquility. Zen was brought to China where it was called
Ch'an, in the Sixth Century by the Indian missionary Bodhidarma, who is reported
to have spent nine full years meditating with his face to a wall, saying nothing to
anyone.
Buddhism

In the 12th Century, two schools of Ch'an, Rinzai and Soto, migrated to Japan,
where the sect was given its present name. The goal of Zen is spiritual
enlightenment, or satori, and there are two chief ways of achieving it. Rinzai
involves whacking the heads of the students, shouting at them, setting them
difficult tasks and propounding paradoxical statements called koan to help nudge
their minds into a perception of the truth and become one with the universe.
Rinzai masters believe that enlightenment comes in a sudden flash of intuition
(insight) during disciplined meditation. In contrast, Soto Zen, while also adopting
koan, stresses quiet, seated meditation with no conscious attempt to reach a
definite goal. Zen is unique in that it has no written scriptures, and in fact
considers books as inadequate to define the state of enlightenment. Its monks
besides shunning books, shun preaching, discussion or theories holding that
enlightenment is attained through individual effort. They teach that the simplest
daily acts contain the essential mystery of life. Even tea drinking or gardening can
become a means to understanding. Zen monks live simple, working in the fields,
begging for their food, eating little and meditating. Much of the simple eloquence
and orderliness of Japanese culture --- as in ceramics, drama, flower arranging,
architecture as well as swordsmanship and judo are inspired by Zen.

The Scriptures of Buddhism

Since Buddhism does not require orthodoxy in belief, there is no closed

canon of scriptures. Accordingly if all the Buddhist sacred writings were gathered
together, they would fill hundreds of shelves. Nevertheless, there is an early body
of scripture which is held as basic by most Buddhist sects, the Scriptures of
Theravadin or Hinayana Buddhism, known as the Tipitaka, or The Three Baskets.
They are in the early Pali dialect of Sanskrit of northeast India. Tradition states
that at the death of the Buddha, a council of five hundred elders was called to
determine the accuracy of the teachings of the Buddha as preserved by the
community. Probably there was no recording of oral traditions until about the
first century B.C. The Tipitaka is therefore relatively late and may represent many
centuries of composition and compilation.
Buddhism

The Tripitaka. This name is the more common Sanskrit title of the Tipitaka,
and refers to the form in which it appears as the basic scripture for the southern,
or Theravadin. Buddhism of Ceylon (Shri-Lanka), Burma, and south Asia. The three
divisions are:
1. The Vinaya Pitaka is the basket or collection of discipline, consisting of
the rules of the Order.
2. The Sutta Pitaka is the basket of discourses, of the dialogues between
Buddha and his disciples on the teachings of the religion.
3. The Abhidhamma Pitaka is the collection of teachings on metaphysics.

The Teachings of Gautama Buddha

What the Buddha learned - and later taught through his Enlightenment
must be considered against the background of traditional Hindu beliefs, for
Gautama was born a Hindu, and Buddhism itself was a protestant revolt against
orthodox Hinduism. The Buddha was of the Kshatriya class and may have reacted
against the Brahman teaching that only members of the highest Brahman caste
(class) could hope to end the cycle of life without at least one more rebirth. He
rejected the authority of the Vedas and Upanishads and denied the monistic
doctrine of Hinduism that man has an atman (soul) which is of the same essence
as the paramatman. From Hinduism Buddha, accepted the doctrine of karma, and
of rebirth, but denied the belief that this present world is maya (has no final
reality). Also he accepted the concept of the world as an abode of ignorance and
sorrow from which wise men should seek release by taming the appetites and
passions of the flesh.

Although he agreed with the Hindus on such concepts and objectives, he

disagreed about the right methods to achieve the objectives. His experiments
with violent austerity had convinced him that the spectacular mortifications of
the body practiced by many Hindu ascetics of his time were vain and useless.
Buddhism

He preferred what he called the Middle Way between asceticism and self-
indulgence and believed that the wise man avoided both extremes in a life of
calm detachment. He also disapproved of the Hindu caste distinction, believing all
men to be equal in spiritual potentiality.

The kernel of his teaching lay in two pronouncements which formed the
subject of his sermon at Benares and which have since been known throughout
the Buddhist world as the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path The
Truths deal with the cause and cure of human suffering, and the Path is the
practical technique of action by which the cure can be achieved.
The Four Noble Truths are the following:
(1) Suffering is universal :)
(2) The cause of suffering is craving
(3) The cure for suffering is the elimination of craving
(4) The way to eliminate craving is to follow the Middle
Way, a technique which embodies the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Path consists of (1) right knowledge, (2) right intention, (3) right
speech, (4) right conduct, (5) right means of livelihood, (6) right effort, (7) right
mindfulness, and (8) right concentration, or meditation. This path leads to the
cessation of craving and, finally, to nirvana, the cessation of rebirth.

THE MIDDLE WAY. If to live is to suffer, then the easiest way to cease to suffer
would be to cease to exist to commit suicide. For Gautama Buddha, however, the
very desire to cease to be was also a craving that had to be overcome. The Noble
Eightfold Path was not to be that of complete self-denial, as was the way of the
Jains. Instead, he taught a modified asceticism - the Middle Way - between self-
indulgence, like that he had known as a prince, and the ascetic way of complete
self-denial, which he had found to be useless.
Buddhism

The Doctrines of Buddhism

When we turn to a description of Buddha's world view, we find him

reluctant to discuss metaphysics. Like other religious leaders, such as Confucius,
Socrates and Jesus, Gautama stressed the need for man to understand his present
lot than to speculate upon the origins and nature of the universe, or the nature of
life after death. Any reconstruction of his metaphysics is actually a reading back
into his thoughts of later points of view; there is therefore much disagreement on
this matter among both Buddhist and Western scholars. At the same time,
Gautama must have presented to his hearers a point of view with which they
were familiar. On this assumption, it would appear that Gautama rejected the
monistic view of the world and man found in much of the thought of the
Upanishads, but followed instead a dualistic position of the sort that later
developed into the orthodox Hindu system known as Samkhya.

1. The Cosmos. One possible interpretation of the Buddha's view of the

cosmos, then, is that he taught a dualism of matter and spirit, Matter is called
prakriti, which constitutes the physical world. To prakriti is added a spiritual
principle called purusha (person), and there is an infinite number of purushas. The
world, therefore, is real and a living being is a purusha confined to existence in
this world.

2. Deity. Like Mahavira (founder of Jainism) Buddha denied belief in any

god who might influence man's life. But he undoubtedly believed in deities who
lived in heavenly spheres; in fact in many of the stories of the Buddha's previous
lives in the famous Jakata Tales, the Buddha appears in the form of a god. But in
his way of salvation no god is important. He believed that no outside power can
come to man's aid.
Buddhism

3. Man. Man is a spirit or person who has been reborn because of past
karma into his present life. The prakriti (matter) which makes up his physical body
is described in various Ways. One refers to the various aspects of man's nature as
skandhas, "aggregates of grasping" the five elements of which are bodily form,
sensation, perception, mental elements and consciousness, Another system of
thought analyzed man's nature as composed of seventy-five dharmas or
constituent elements. Both systems regard man as a phenomenon, resulting from
the causative factor of a karma-bearing purusha which acts as a sort of magnet to
bring together real elements to produce a temporary being. The original birth
which began the wheel of life probably was caused by avidya (ignorance), and
partly by the asavas (fetters) of craving.

4. Man's Plight, Man's very existence in a real world is his basic plight,
caused partly by past karma and ignorance. All desire and attachment to the
world hold man in bondage to rebirth. His life is filled with fear, anxiety, and
hopelessness. And he is enslaved by the mistaken belief that he is an ego or true
self as long as he is attached to this world in which to live is to suffer. The Four
Noble delineates the nature of man's plight for the Buddhist.

5. Salvation. The path that Buddhists follow is that taught by Gautama

which he described as the "Middle Path between extremes. The extremes to be
avoided were the life of sensual indulgence and the life of drastic asceticism. Both
led to out-of-balance living. Neither led to the true goal of release from suffering.
Gautama discovered that neither extreme was wise, for neither brings happiness.
The Fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path which follows the middle way
between self-indulgence and extreme asceticism, is the Buddhist way to find
meaning in a world characterized by suffering, and is the way to the cessation of
craving and to peace.

6. Conduct. Buddhist ethics are admired for the total demand which they
make upon the faithful. The Noble Eightfold Path stresses the importance of self-
discipline which leads to a life of good works and inner peace.
Buddhism
This stress is made explicit in the five vows which are required of all who join the
Sangha (the monastic order), a practical code of conduct called Five Precepts.
These are (1) to abstain from killing, (2) to abstain from stealing, (3) to abstain
from sexual immorality, (4) to abstain from lying, (5) to abstain from the use of
intoxicants and narcotics. It is clear that from these precepts even the thought of
hatred or lust is renounced.

The sanction and motivation which prompt obedience to this high ethic is
to be understood in connection with Buddhist teachings about the nature of man
and his salvation. Although there is no god to obey, two compelling reasons
support right conduct: the need to root out self-centeredness or ego in one's life,
and the desire to follow as religiously as possible the life of Buddha.

7. Destiny. When the Buddha was asked what happens after death to the
monk who attains liberation, he answered that he had not tried to answer this
question. He had sought out and explained the causes of becoming-of birth,
growth, decay, and death — and the way to put an end to this becoming. But
what happens when one ceases to “become” he had not explained. The ultimate
goal of the Buddhists is called nirvana, a term used earlier by the Hindus. The
minimum meaning of nirvana is the extinction of all craving, resentment and
covetousness. To the Buddhist extinction of craving and other improper attitudes
was true happiness. Another meaning of Nirvana which is just as important to
most Buddhist is that it is the release from all future reincarnations, escape from
the cycle of rebirth. Following the foregoing analysis of the future of man's plight
and his salvation, Buddhist nirvana can be understood as the waning of the tanha,
the craving, desires, passions, which serve to perpetuate the cycle of rebirth.
Remove the fires of craving, man's purusha (consciousness) would be freed from
all attachment to the world.

Since the fate of the liberated after death was left open, Buddhists discuss
a fourfold possibility or “tetralemma": after death the liberated being may either
exists or does not exist; if it exists, it is either conscious or unconscious. In the
history of Buddhist thought, Buddhist philosophers have taken almost every
conceivable position on that question.
Buddhism

D. How does one become a follower of the Buddha. From earliest times,
anyone who wanted to follow in the path of the Buddha to seek salvation and
nirvana renounced the world and made his declaration of faith: "I go to the
Buddha for refuge; I go to the Dhamma for refuge; I go to the Sangha for refuge."
This is the way one declares his desire to become a follower of the Buddha, to
seek to understand and follow the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Lightfold Path
with its attendant dhamma (religious law), and to enter the fellowship of the
Sangha and submit to its discipline. To this day, one who takes this step is striving
to live as an arhat, “worthy one" or saint. Those who feel that they are not ready
to lead the life of poverty and chastity of an arhat may serve the arhats as lay
members. Without the strong support of the lay community, the Sangha could
not have survived. Throughout Buddhist history, pious lay men and women have
contributed generously, both to the Sangha and to mendicants, thereby gaining
good karma which will aid them in their own spiritual pilgrimages through their
cycles of lives.

Worship

Since the death of Gautama Buddha in about 483 B.C., monks and laymen
alike revere relics of his body, including teeth and hair which are preserved and
enshrined. Homage is paid to Gautama's person as a symbol of the Buddhist way.
The relics are housed in domed or tower-like shrines, called stupas or pagodas,
found in cities and countryside throughout the Buddhist world. Both monks and
laymen, especially in south Asia, flock to these shrines and walk around them (a
practice known as circumambulation) to make offerings of food and to meditate
on the doctrines taught by Buddha. Since authentic relics are few, some of the
Asian stupas house other reminders such as images, sacred writings and prayers.
Stupas are the sites of many activities practiced by Buddhist laymen in order to
acquire merit that leads to rebirth in a better life.