At a Glance: What Other Religions Think of Jesus

Ed. Note: This article is part of our "Various Views of Jesus"

In spite of the importance and centrality of Jesus Christ for human history and welfare, apart from Christianity, all the world’s religions, ideologies, and philosophies reject Him. None accept His virgin birth, incarnation, atoning death on the cross, or physical return. All nonChristian beliefs view Christ as either a good man or example, a prophet, guru or avatar, or an invention.

Some four billion people in the world accept at least one of four dominant beliefs: materialism, Marxism, monism, or the Muslim faith.

In materialism, Jesus Christ is seen as a common product of naturalistic evolution and therefore as having no inherent special status. He was only a man.

In Marxism, belief in Jesus Christ is viewed as a deception that has duped millions of people with a religious opiate. Marxist governments have done all they can to destroy those who believe in Christ, since they are perceived as enemies of the dialectical advance of history.

In monism, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, Christ is finally an illusion of the deceptive world of duality. Christ may be seen as a guru or a representative of a higher god, but He is never seen in His biblical role. Even as a guru, according to Vendantic Hinduism, He is only part of the maya or illusion of the world. Jesus Christ and His atonement are, in the end, merely the illusory play or sport (lila) of the impersonal God Brahman and have no final meaning or significance. Buddhism emphasizes the need to escape suffering, and claims that suffering and true reality are finally incompatible. It is almost impossible for a convinced Buddhist to accept the image of the cross and Christ’s atonement, since it interweaves suffering with ultimate reality.

In Islam, Christ is merely one of the prophets of Allah. It is considered an unforgivable sin (shirk) to accept His deity. A key tenet of Muslim faith is that Christ is not God and cannot be the Son of God. Since it is unthinkable that Allah would let one of his prophets be crucified, Islam also rejects the biblical teaching that Christ died on the cross for our sins. Muslims believe that Allah would never condescend to become a man, let alone die on a cross for man’s sins. As the Qur’an declares of Jesus, “They did not slay him, neither crucified him,” and “The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary was only a Messenger of God,” and “They are unbelievers who say, ‘God is the Messiah, Mary’s son.’”^[1]

The list below illustrates that all variety of newer religions deny both Christ’s deity and atoning sacrifice. We have emphasized the denial of Christ’s unique deity or nature, but statements rejecting Christ’s atonement could easily be given for each group.

Perhaps the world’s denial of Christ illustrates the difficulty it will face when Christ returns in judgment to the very world He made and lovingly gave His life for:

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—… For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 1:1012, 3:1719).

The individuals listed below are the founders and/or current or previous leaders of the group specified. Although the citation is occasionally not by the individual listed, it is still taken from the group’s authoritative literature.

Anthroposophy (Rudolph Steiner): “[Jesus]... must be designated in the truest sense of the word as a ‘mere man’….”^[2]

Association for Research and Enlightenment (Edgar Cayce): “He is an ensample [sic] for man, and only as a man, for He lived only as a man, He died as man.”^[3]

Astara (Earlyne Chaney): Jesus is “the Master Mystic of all time” who realized the Christ, a state of higher consciousness. Jesus is not the Savior from sin and only incarnation of God.^[4]

The Christadelphians (John Thomas): “Jesus Christ did not exist as a person from eternity as one of the triune Godhead…. He did not actually come into being until He was begotten of the Holy Spirit and born in Bethlehem.”^[5]

The Christian Spiritual Alliance(Roy Eugene Davis): “…Jesus was not the only begotten.”^[6]

Church of the New Jerusalem(Emanuel Swedenborg): “This [belief in the Trinity] is the source and only source from which have sprung monstrous heresies concerning God… [and] introduced into the church… death as well.”^[7]

Church Universal and Triumphant(Elizabeth Clare Prophet): “God the Father did not require the sacrifice of His son Christ Jesus or of any other incarnation of the Christ, as atonement for the sins of the world.…”^[8]

The Divine Life Society/Integral Yoga Institute(Sivananda Satchidananda): “…Remember that Christ is not a person. It’s an experience—Christhood. Like Nirvana or Buddha. It’s an experience….”^[9]

Divine Science(Nona Brooks): “Someone has said that the greatest discovery of the nineteenth century was Jesus Christ. He was rediscovered and rescued from the superstitious misconceptions regarding him, in which he was thought of as a superman of extraordinary powers which were and ever would be beyond the rank and file of the race….”^[10]

Eckankar(Paul Twitchell): “…do not put Him [Jesus] in a special category, for all saviours and prophets who came to earth to help mankind did their part and passed on to the glory of the heavenly kingdom….”^[11]

The Foundation of Human Understanding(Roy Masters): “You must not have any concepts of what Christ is like or God is like. It all must be an inward revelation process.”^[12]

The Free Communion Church(Da Free John): “The conventional cultic and exoteric interpretation of the life and person of Jesus considers him to be an exclusive manifestation of God, representing a history, a way of life, and a destiny that no one else can enjoy or duplicate.... Such was absolutely not the point of view of Jesus himself.”^[13]

The Gurdjieff Foundation(Gurdjieff): “[In a conversation] Gurdjieff said: ‘I hate your Jesus, poor Jewish boy’—the emphasis being on ‘your.’”^[14]

The Hanuman Foundation(Ram Dass): “I have a relative [a brother] who is in a mental hospital. He thinks he is Christ. Well, that’s groovy. I am Christ also... as far as I’m concerned we are all God.”^[15]

The Himalayan Institute(Swami Rama): “The Christ is your Soul and you should learn to see Him in all beings....”^[16]

The Holy Order of Mans(Paul Blighton): “The Master Jesus never made any claims for himself.... [He] was a man, and through discipline and striving became receptive enough for the Christ force to enter and change him....”^[17]

Integral Yoga(Sri Aurobindo): “If Jesus returned today, He would not recognize in Christianity what He Himself taught.”^[18]

International Society for Krishna Consciousness(A. C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada): “Christ’s claim to be the only son of God is often misunderstood…. When Jesus Christ taught His doctrine in the Middle East, he appeared to be God’s only son, or pure devotee…. [But] why should God have only one son?… God can have billions and trillions of sons and... each and every one can be His ‘only’ son.”^[19]

Love Family(The Children of God) (David Berg): “[There is] no reason why He [Jesus] shouldn’t enjoy the sexual fellowship of Mary and Martha! AND HE DID BECAUSE I SAW MARY MAKING LOVE TO HIM in a vision.”^[20]

Lucis Trust(Alice Bailey): “The Incarnation, which is for popular Christianity synonymous with the historical birth and earthly life of Christ, is for the mystic not only this but also a perpetual cosmic and personal process.”^[21]

Mighty I AM (Guy Ballard—pen name Godfre Ray King): [alleged revelation from Jesus] “I [Jesus] wish it distinctly understood by all who may receive this or ever contact it, that I am not and never was a Special Being created of God different from the rest of humanity!…”^[22]

New Thought: “We revere Jesus the man… as one who exemplified... the great Principle of perfection and wholeness. Jesus was a WayShower—the Savior—in the sense that He drew us out of our limitations.”^[23]

Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism(Daisaku Ikeda): “The doctrines of the divinity and the resurrection of Christ are outside the province of rational thought.... Christians are schizophrenic….”^[24]

Radhasoami/Radhaswami/Radha Soami(Charan Singh; Sawan Singh Ji): “Actually there is no statement in the New Testament, except possibly one or two interpolations, in which Jesus makes any claim to an exclusive divine sonship. This idea was not incorporated into the Christian religion until long after his death.”^[25]

Rajneesh Foundation International(Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh): “To tell you the truth, Jesus is a mental case…. He is a fanatic. He carries the same kind of mind as Adolf Hitler. He is a fascist. He thinks that only those who follow him will be saved.”^[26]

Rosicrucianism(AMORC) (H. Spencer Lewis): “Nowhere in the teachings and practices of Jesus can we find the least intimation that His great system was intended to bring salvation to the physical body of man. Even the salvation of the soul was not taught by Jesus, and all references in the Christian Bible to the salvation of the soul constitute a misinterpretation, a misunderstanding, of the secret [Rosicrucianism] principle that Jesus taught.”^[27]

Rudrananda Foundation(Swami Rudrananda; Rudi): In Spiritual Cannibalism Jesus is described as “a god,” a “realized” man, like Buddha and other teachers.^[28]

Ruhani Satsang(Kirpal Singh): “Everyone is under the impression that Jesus Christ remains forever. The Christ Power remains forever [not Jesus]; but they [Christians] identify Christ with Jesus, the [solely] human pole, which is not right.”^[29]

Sai Baba Society(Sathya Sai Baba): “The inner mystery of the Incarnation [is] God incarnating in all. All are One; the One is All.”^[30]

Science of Mind(Ernest Holmes): “Jesus is the name of a man. Christ means the Universal Principle of Divine Sonship….”^[31]

Self-Realization Fellowship (Paramahansa Yogananda): “In Christian Scriptures it [Christ] is called the ‘only begotten son’…. It is the universal consciousness, oneness with God, manifested by Jesus, Krishna, and other avatars.”^[32]

3HO (Happy, Healthy, Holy) Sikhism(Yogi Bhajan): Jesus was a man of God only, who had to become qualified for his spiritual role. He didn’t know if Joseph was his father, and his mother created “her son to really be a Christ,” but not a savior.^[33]

Sri Chinmoy Centers(Sri Chinmoy): “to say that Christ is the Savior and the only way to salvation is a mistake.... He laughs when His followers say He is the only Savior….”^[34]

Tibetan Buddhism(Chogyam Trungpa): “Any kind of savior notion will not function a hundred percent….” Worshipping a “deity of any kind” is “the wrong way” and taking refuge in a Father God “is truly self-defeating.”^[35]

Theosophy(H. P. Blavatsky): “Nowhere throughout the New Testament is Jesus found calling himself God, or anything higher than ‘a son of God,’ the son of a ‘Father,’ common to all.”^[36]

Transcendental Meditation(Maharishi Mahesh Yogi): “[When] Christ said, ‘Be still and know that I am God,’ [he also meant] ‘Be still and know that you are God.’” And, “I don’t think Christ ever suffered [on the cross].... Those who count upon the suffering, it is a wrong interpretation of the life of Christ and the message of Christ. It is wrong.”^[37]

The Unification Church(Sun Myung Moon): “It is a great error to think Jesus was God Himself. Jesus is no different from other men.”^[38]

Unitarian/Universalism: Unitarian Universalist minister Waldemar Argow states: “They [Unitarian/Universalists] do not regard him as a supernatural creature, the literal son of God who was miraculously sent to earth as part of an involved plan for the salvation of human souls.”^[39]

Unity School of Christianity(Charles Fillmore): “Most of our religious beliefs are based on the [erroneous] idea that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God….”^[40]

Vedanta: Swami Prabhavananda alleges we “cannot accept Christ as the only Son of God. Those who insist on regarding the life and teachings of Jesus as unique are bound to have great difficulty in understanding them.”^[41]

The Walk(John Robert Stevens and the Church of the Living Word): “…The Lord puts you through a process that will bring you into sonship, into deity…. God becoming man means nothing unless we become God, unless we become lost in Him.”^[42]

The Way International(Victor Paul Wierwille): “Trinitarian dogma placing Jesus Christ on God’s level degrades God and leaves man UNREDEEMED!” (advertisement for Wierwille’s book, Jesus Christ Is Not God) and “Our very redemption... is dependent on Jesus Christ’s being a man and not God.”^[43]

The Yoga Fellowship(Swami Kriyananda): “What is Christ? St. Simeon the new theologian wrote, ‘I move my hand, and Christ moves, who is my hand.’”^[44]

Zen Buddhism: The Gospel According to Zen quotes Meister Eckhart: “Who is Jesus? He has no name” and “Jesus” declares, “Split wood: I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”^[45]

Almost all of the above groups actually claim they accept and honor Jesus Christ. But in light of what we have just read, this is impossible. In fact, such groups (and there are hundreds more) completely disregard the biblical Jesus and only reinvent Christ to make Him support their own beliefs. This is hardly being fair to Christianity, let alone Jesus.

Endnotes

1. The Koran Interpreted, A. J. Arberry, Trans. (NY: Macmillan, 1976), Sura 4:155,169; 5:19.↑
2. Rudolf Steiner, From Jesus to Christ (London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1973), pp. 51-52.↑
3. Association for Research and Enlightenment, Edgar Cayce, reading #900-10 from Circulating File: Jesus the Pattern and You (Virginia Beach, VA: A.R.E. Press, 1971), p. 53 (F).↑
4. Earlyne Chaney, Reincarnation (booklet) (Upland, CA: Astara, 1967), pp. 6-7; Robert Chaney, Mysticism: The Journey Within (Upland, CA: Astara, 1979), pp. 117, 163-73.↑
5. The Christadelphian Messenger, No. 46, “The Word Made Flesh,” p. 3.↑
6. Roy Eugene Davis, The Hidden Teachings of Jesus Revealed (Lakemont, GA: CSA Press, 1968), p. 9, emphasis added.↑
7. Emanuel Swedenborg, The True Christian Religion, Vol. I (NY: Swedenborg Foundation, Inc., 1972), pp. 32-33.↑
8. The Ascended Masters, dictated to Mark and Elizabeth Prophet, Pearls of Wisdom, Sept. 16, 1979 (Vol. 22, No. 37), pp. 279-280.↑
9. Swami Satchidananda, Satchidananda Speaks (IL: Integral Yoga Ecumenical Retreat), June 17, 1975, pp. 47-48.↑
10. Agnes Lawson, Hints to Bible Study (Denver, CO: Divine Science Federation International, 1973), pp. 199-200.↑
11. Paul Twitchell, The Tiger’s Fang (San Diego, CA: Illuminated Way Press, 1975), pp. 170-71.↑
12. Roy Masters (tape), “The Mystery of Golgotha.”↑
13. Da Free John (Franklin Jones), Scientific Proof of the Existence of God Will Soon Be Announced at the White House (Clearlake Highlands, CA: The Dawn Horse Press, 1980), p. 218.↑
14. C. S. Nott, Teachings of Gurdjieff A Pupil’s Journal (NY: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1978), p. 103.↑
15. Ram Dass, Be Here Now (Park Avenue, NY: Crown Publishing, 1971), Section Two, p. 99.↑
16. Himalayan International Institute, Meditation in Christianity (Prospect Heights, IL: Himalayan International Institute, 1973), p. 63.↑
17. Discipleship Newsletter (Cheyenne, WY: Holy Order of Mans Discipleship Movement) p. 7.↑
18. Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, A Practical Guide to Integral Yoga (Compiled by Manibhai, Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1973), p. 50.↑
19. Back to Godhead (periodical), Vol. 12, no. 12, pp. 11-12.↑
20. David Berg, The Mo Letters, Vol. 4 (Hong Kong, China: Golden Lion Publishers, 1978), p. 4016, “More on Feedin’ the Fish,” May, 1976, Disciples Only No. 549:47-48.↑
21. Alice Bailey, From Bethlehem to Calvary (NY: Lucis, 1976), p. 7.↑
22. Godfre Ray King, The “I AM” Discourses (Santa Fe, NM: Saint Germain Press, 1940), p. 222.↑
23. New Thought (periodical), Autumn 1978, p. 11.↑
24. Noah S. Brannen, Soka Gakkai, Japan’s Militant Buddhists (Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1968), pp. 98-99.↑
25. Joseph Leeming, Yoga and the Bible (Punjab, India: Shri S.L. Sondhi, Secretary, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1978), p. 3.↑
26. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, The Rajneesh Bible, Vol. 1 (Rajneeshpuram: OR: Rajneesh Foundation International, 1985), pp. 9-10.↑
27. Spencer Lewis, The Secret Doctrine of Jesus (San Jose, CA: Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC), pp. 186-87, 189-91.↑
28. Rudi (Swami Rudrananda), Spiritual Cannibalism (Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press, 1978), p. 95.↑
29. Kirpal Singh, Heart to Heart Talks, Vol. 2 (India: A.R. Manocha, Secretary, Ruhani Satsang, 1976), p. 54.↑
30. N. Kasturi, Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 8, 1st ed. (New Delhi, India, n.p., 1975), p. 144.↑
31. Ernest Holmes and Alberta Smith, Questions and Answers on The Science of Mind (NY: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1953), p. 10.↑
32. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man’s Eternal Quest (Los Angeles, CA: Self Realization Fellowship, 1975), pp. 470-71; cf., Self Realization (Los Angeles, CA: Self Realization Fellowship), Winter, 1979, pp. 3-10.↑
33. Beads of Truth, Winter, March 1978, p. 20; Spring 1975, p. 13; Spring 1978, pp. 32, 39; Beads of Truth, no. 31, p. 15.↑
34. Sri Chinmoy, A Hundred Years from Now (Jamaica, NY: Agni Press, 1974), pp. 39-43.↑
35. Chogyam Trungpa, Garuda III (Berkeley, CA: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1973), pp. 25, 39; Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (Berkeley, CA: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1973), pp. 27, 37.↑
36. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine (India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1971), Vol. 5, p. 369n.↑
37. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (NY: Bantam, 1973), pp. 178, 123-24.↑
38. Young Oon Kim, Divine Principle and Its Application (HSA-UWC, 1968), p. 75.↑
39. Waldemar Argow, Unitarian Universalism—Some Questions Answered (pamphlet) (Boston, MA: Unitarian Universalism Assoc., n.d.), p. 6.↑
40. Unity (periodical), October, 1976, pp. 59-60.↑
41. Swami Prabhavananda, The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta (NY: New American Library, 1963), p. 47.↑
42. The Living Word This Week, January 16, 1977, pp. 12-15, 18.↑
43. The Way Magazine, January-February, 1978, p. 6; Victor Paul Wierwille, Jesus Christ is Not God (New Knoxville, OH, 1975), p. 7.↑
44. Swami Kriyananda, Eastern Thoughts, Western Thoughts (Nevada City, CA: Ananda Publications, 1975), pp. 67-68.↑
45. Robert Sohl and Audrey Carr (eds.), The Gospel According to Zen (NY: The New American Library, 1970), pp. 92, 72.↑