Divine Revelation in Hindu Religions versus Abrahamic Religions

[Dawnofhope]

Did Moses write the first five books of the Bible?

The Baha'i writings and the Quran affirm the Divine origins of both the Torah and the Gospels and they were Revelations from Moses and Jesus. Both sets of writings do not specify who wrote the books.

Scholars believe the Torah was first written down during the Babylonian exile and refer to multiple authors. They are in agreement that the Gospels were all initially written down within the first century of Christ's ministry but are unable to agree on the actual authors.

Did Jesus really say the things that the gospel writer say he did?

The Baha'i writings say we can not know if the Gospels record the exact words Jesus used. However the books are protected by God and convey all that God wished to. Scholars (even atheists) agree that Jesus was baptised and crucified.

Jesus and Moses are the ones that received the divine revelation. If they aren't the ones that wrote it down, then that how can we and why would we assume the information is correct?

The Quran and Baha'i writings are authentic.

We both have talked about the gospels being second or third hand information. Christians say that Matthew and John were eyewitnesses and Luke and Mark were with the apostles and heard the stories from them.

There is no agreement from scholars about the authorship of the gospels.

But there are even more hands involved in the transmission of the message, angels. How do we know that a spirit being appeared and told anybody anything? How do we know that such a being was authorized by God to pass on some information to a human, who then passed it on to the rest of us? Talking to angels can easily be faked and could be used to give some "supernatural" source for some spiritual ideas the person has. So what is "divine" revelation anyway? Can we trust the people that wrote that some other person, like a Jesus or a Moses, spoke with God or spoke with an angel?

There is no way of verifying whether or not Moses, Muhammad, Christ or Baha'u'llah had an experience with angels other than their testimony. The argument that whether each revelation is Divine or man made is at the heart of many of the debates on this forum.

People do put their trust in those things written. But then comes the problem of interpreting what it all means and how to put it into practice. So we have words that people trust as being the truth that tells them that they have accumulated bad karma and must do certain things to get rid of it to get out of the birth and rebirth cycle. We have other people that trust their words that tells them that the first humans sinned, and because of that sin, all humans are born with a sin nature, or even worse, they are tainted with "original" sin. Their religion tells them what to do to get right with God. Part of that is to accept that God sent his son to die for them to pay the penalty for that sin. That he was sinless and was a perfect sacrifice. And you know how that story ends up. That person was killed but was said to have come back to life and floated up into the sky to be with God.

So beyond whether or not each of these Abrahamic Faiths is Divinely inspired the next question is that of interpretation.

What we chose to believe and have faith in is one of the most important questions for each of us.

 

[RoaringSilence]

In Abrahamic Religions, it is believed that there are Messengers of God who have come with new covenant each time and each brought a set of teachings or commandments from divinity. Example of these Messengers are Noah, Abraham and Moses.
There are also other prophets such as the Jewish Prophets (Daniel, Ezekiel), who did not bring commandments, but according Bible, the saw visions and dreams, and prophesied about future events.

Now, regardless of the usage of the Terms 'prophet', and 'Messenger', how different is the idea of inspiration in Hinduism.
Essentially both Religions claim that a God or gods communicated to humanity.

 

[ajay0]

While some Buddhists (for example Tibetan Buddhists) believe in reincarnation as the transmigration of souls like the Hindus, many don't.

The Saṃsāra doctrine of Buddhism asserts that while beings undergo endless cycles of rebirth, there is no changeless soul that transmigrates from one lifetime to another - a view that distinguishes its Saṃsāra doctrine from that in Hinduism and Jainism.[23][24] This no-soul (no-self) doctrine is called the Anatta or Anatman in Buddhist texts.

Saṃsāra (Buddhism) - Wikipedia

The teaching of reincarnation is different in Hinduism/Jainism and Buddhism, where it is more appropriately stated as rebirth. A body of psychological impressions keep taking birth expressing as corresponding desires in the form of cravings and aversions till it is dissolved through spiritual practices.

Reincarnation/rebirth is now being extensively studied in western psychology and psychiatry due to the works of Dr. Brian Weiss, Dr. Ian Stevenson and Dr. Michael Newton.

You can find insightful references to past life case studies in this thread devoted to this theme...

Reincarnation/Past Lives

 

[Jainarayan]

Thanks for all your point of views. My question is more related to how God communicates to mankind.
So, in your view, in your religion of Himduism, does God communicate with human beings in a clear way? By clear way, I mean. Specifically tells them, I am God. If yes, does He do that only to some people or to all people, and equally? If No, why not?

I can only speak as a Vaishnava Hindu. In our stories... called the Puranas and Itihasas Vishnu has communicated directly to certain humans, and to other beings within the earthly realm, through his avatars. Sometimes in his original form. He has indeed, as Krishna in the Mahābhārata (Bhagavad Gita specifically) stated he is Brahman.

 

[Jainarayan]

How so?

The soteriology, ontology and even cosmology are completely different.

 

[Muffled]

In Abrahamic Religions, it is believed that there are Messengers of God who have come with new covenant each time and each brought a set of teachings or commandments from divinity. Example of these Messengers are Noah, Abraham and Moses.
There are also other prophets such as the Jewish Prophets (Daniel, Ezekiel), who did not bring commandments, but according Bible, the saw visions and dreams, and prophesied about future events.

Now, regardless of the usage of the Terms 'prophet', and 'Messenger', how different is the idea of inspiration in Hinduism.
Essentially both Religions claim that a God or gods communicated to humanity.

I believe I don't remember any of them saying they were inspired except for the originators of the Sikh religion.

 

[Muffled]

Not that different, if you look at both through that lens.
I guess the belief that Dharma is an eternal constant law might be what separates them?

I believe that might have some truth to it but without inspiration it sounds too much like guesswork to figure out if a person knows and understands such a law or not.

 

[Muffled]

With regard to scripture I read a quote just this morning.

"An Abrahamic religion may be a religion of the book, but Hinduism is a religion of the library."

I believe I have read some things written by gurus. There was a plethora of words but very little understanding. So for me a massive library just means there are more words.

 

[Vinayaka]

I believe I have read some things written by gurus. There was a plethora of words but very little understanding. So for me a massive library just means there are more words.

Yes that's true.

 

[SomeRandom]

I believe that might have some truth to it but without inspiration it sounds too much like guesswork to figure out if a person knows and understands such a law or not.

Inspiration?