Critical Thinking Paper
Hinduism
APOL 104
October 5, 2015
“Hinduism is a collective term that many philosophical and religious traditions native to India.” (Patheos Library 2008-2015). To date, Hinduism does not have one specific founder, starting point in history, nor does it trace back to one specific person that can claim that they are person that originated the religion. No one is certain of when the movement of Hinduism began. As stated in, The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, the term Hinduism is defined to mean "to run" or "to flow like a river". Living under the religion Hinduism, one, learns to worship more than one God, and traditionally believes to have always existed, however, they realize that they all come from Atman (the heart of Hinduism).
In contrast, the origin of Christianity is set in the Roman providence of Judea and traces back to the creator of life and all living things, God the Father. Unlike Hinduism, Christians worship only one God, the true and living God.
Hindus believe that there is such thing called continuation of existence where a soul continues to live on by passing through multiple different lifeforms by way of reincarnation. Meaning Hinduism greatly values and respects all living things and have a true affection for everything in the environment. The religion Hinduism believes that all living things including plants, animals and insects have a soul and are a manifestation of God. Unlike in Christianity where a true Christian believe the God created us to have as stated in the (Amplified Bible Genesis 1:26) “authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beast, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.”
Hinduism believes that the meaning and purpose of life is four-fold: to achieve Dharma, Kama, Artha and Moksha. Firstly, dharma, means to act and live a righteous and virtuous life and act...