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6 pages/≈1650 words
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Style:
APA
Subject:
Religion & Theology
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Essay
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Key Beliefs in Hinduism and Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity

Essay Instructions:

Write an essay of 1,500 words that analyzes key beliefs in Hinduism by addressing the following concepts:
Describe the three most important Hindu deities in the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva), their history of development, and their functions in the kalpic cycle of life
Briefly describe the caste system of the Dalits. Make an analysis of how the caste system might function in the life of a particular Hindu individual within one of those castes.
Select one ancient or modern Christian community living or serving in a Hindu context from the list below. Compare the principles and practices of this Christian community with the four key Hindu beliefs and practices (all pervasive divinity, karma, reincarnation, and dharma):
St. Thomas Church of South India
Anglicans of South India
Baptist churches started by William Carey
Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity
Baptists of Nagaland
In light of Hindu beliefs, what barriers would a Hindu face when seeking to understand the gospel?
Take into consideration the similarities and differences between the four key Hindu beliefs and Christian doctrines. Using the questions below, how would a Christian engage a follower of Hinduism with the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Who is God?
What is the fall of Adam?
Who is Jesus, and how does he bring forgiveness and salvation?

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Hinduism
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Hinduism
A similarity between Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other Abrahamic religions is that their emergence can be placed within time and space by examining historical accounts. Time in the sense that we can estimate when they began and space to pinpoint where they started and the subsequent. However, this is different for Hinduism. According to Merryman (2018), there is no definitive starting point, no founder, and no single text in the history of Hinduism. Interestingly, even the term Hinduism, as it is known today, was an attempt by colonial Britain to group all the indigenous Indian religions into a single tradition, which would be easier to shape and control (Heath, 2012). While the current paper does not provide a definitive explanation on the origin of Hinduism, it investigates some of the critical elements that make it unique from other religions and strives to place it in time and history along with historical developments.
Hindu Deities
The best place to start in an attempt to understand Hinduism is to interrogate their central beliefs. The culture, traditions, customs, beliefs, values, worldviews, and attitudes are shaped from these central beliefs. Like the other mentioned three religions, Hindus recognize one God, the Brahman, the cause of and foundation of existence. India is a diverse society with over 461 tribal communities spread across India's vast expanse. Each of these tribes may have its divinities for worship. However, these are just different approaches to the ultimate power (Evans & Sahgal, 2021). Ultimately, there are three most important deities in the Indian religion in the Trimurti: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. To this end, it is clear that Hinduism deviates from Islam in terms of deities and appears to show similarities in which Christians have God (the father), the Son, and the Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Trinity. In Hinduism, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva form the Triumvirate (Trimurti) responsible for creation and knowledge.
Brahma
The depiction of Brahma is often a golden or red complexioned and bearded man. The man has four faces and hands holding a book, a bowl of alms, prayer beads, and a bow. Each of these items has a special meaning. For instance, the prayer beads (or rosary) symbolize times, the bowl of alms symbolizes the potential for creation, and the book (the Vedas) represents the idea that Brahma makes all knowledge possible (BBC, 2021). Additionally, the four faces and hands are symbolic of a complex four-square capacity described in the four Vedas, yugas, varnas, direction, and stages of life. Veda (knowledge in Sanskrit) is a collection of hymns or poems composed in the 2nd millennium by Indo-European-speaking people in Northwest India (Tatavarthy & Sastry, 2019). The Veda formed a liturgical structure that grew around rituals and sacrifices through chanting. The four Vedas include the Rigveda (knowledge of the verses), Yajurveda (sacred formulas), Samaveda (melodies and chants), and Atharvaveda (incantations). In his depiction, Brahma is seated on a lotus, and a goose is his mount. Some accounts of the Brahma suggest that the Goddess Saraswat...
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