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[This article is part of the series "Various Views of Jesus"]
The Hindu Redefinition of Jesus
The Hindu gurus typically redefine Jesus after their own likeness. Jesus becomes a teacher of Hinduism, a guru of the past who has been greatly misunderstood by Christians. Thus the only Jesus the gurus praise is a Hindu Jesus. The biblical Jesus is either ignored or ridiculed—or even condemned as a false Christ. Rajneesh teaches:
“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.... And the fools are still believing that they will be saved if they follow Jesus. Even Jesus is not saved. And he knew it.[1]
“Now Jesus is just a salesman, saying, ‘Come follow me, because those who will follow me will find God, and will find heaven.’... Now, this man is not going to help anybody....”[2]
Swami Vivekananda asserts, “The Trinitarian Christ is elevated above us; the Unitarian Christ is merely a mortal man. Neither can help us.”[3] And, “Every worm is the brother of the Nazarene.... The range of idols is from wood and stone to Jesus and Buddha.”[4]
Da Free John emphasizes that the Jesus of Christian faith is a cultic “false idol” and “a perversion of the truth.”[5]
The Biblical Reality: Jesus as God Incarnate
But what Hinduism teaches about Jesus Christ is wrong. Jesus never taught He was a Hindu guru; He taught He was the promised Jewish Messiah[6] and the only incarnation of God ever to appear—the “one and only” Son of God (John 3:16-18; cf. John 5:18). Jesus claimed He was God (John 10:30; 14:9; 19:7) and proved it by rising from the dead. In all of history, no Hindu guru has ever risen from the dead. The entire New Testament emphasizes that Jesus Christ is God Himself: “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form...” (Colossians 2:9). Christians everywhere wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ...” (Titus 2:13).
Jesus is not some guru from the past, dead and gone. The Bible teaches that Jesus is alive now and exalted above everything. Because of His atoning death on the cross and resurrection—
“God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
And—
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Hindu gurus reject the biblical Jesus Christ when they deny His nature (the unique God-Man) and mission (atoning Savior).
Endnotes
- Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, The Rajneesh Bible, Vol. 1 (Rajneeshpuram, OR: Rajneesh Foundation international, 1985), pp. 9-10.↑
- Ibid., pp. 26-27.↑
- Swami Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, the Yogas and Other Works (New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center 1953), p. 511.↑
- Vivekananda in John Yale, ed., What Religion Is in the Words of Vivekananda (New York: The Julian Press, 1962), p. xii.↑
- Da Free John, Scientific Proof of the Existence of God Will Soon Be Announced at the White House (Clearlake Highlands, CA: The Dawnhorse Press, 1980), p. 212; cf. Da Free John, The Enlightenment of the Whole Body (Clearlake Highlands, CA: The Dawnhorse Press, 1978), p. 472.↑
- John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The Case for Jesus the Messiah and Do the Resurrection Accounts Conflict and What Proof is There Jesus Rose from the Dead? (Chattanooga, TN: Ankerberg Theological Research Institute, 1989 and 1990).↑
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