Confessing the Christian Creed

Confessing the Christian Creed

There are two sets of Christian Creeds, one among Evangelicals and another in the Catholic Church. The former’s creed is: There is no salvation except through Muktinath. The latter is the famous Catholic declaration: Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus = There is no salvation outside the church. Even for their own Catholic God[s]. As one Saiva devotee insisted on giving Siva Deeksha even to Siva to become a Saivite,¹ even the Catholic God[s] have to go through their Catholic church to gain their status as exclusive Catholic God[s].

Of course, Christianity is not the only religion to claim such exclusivism. But except for Islam, none of them can claim that their God is the only one and there exist no other Gods and salvation is only through Him or Her or It or They. And their God is only True God.  Even their own Scripture won’t endorse such exclusivism. 

At the same time, their God is the only God for their religion or sect, like the Sun is the only Sun for this solar system. But outside it, in other solar systems, they have their own Sun or Suns. And this is true in religions also.

Pluralism is the reality in life—everywhere. But such religious exclusivism could be true for Western Christian civilization for a long time, not now, but not in other parts of the world, where pluralism in life is a normal fact, even to the Christians there. And it is not surprising that such exclusivism was introduced by Western scholars and Evangelicals in other parts of the world with their White Man’s burden. I know more about it because I asked ChatGPT for correct information about exclusivism like monotheism in Christianity. And I got this information:

The term “monotheism” was first coined by the English philosopher Henry More in the 17th century. Henry More, a member of the Cambridge Platonists, used the term in his work to describe the belief in a single, all-powerful deity, in contrast to polytheism, which is the belief in multiple gods.

In Christianity, the concept of monotheism is fundamental, as it emphasizes the belief in one God. This belief is rooted in the biblical tradition, particularly in the Jewish Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4), which states, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Christian monotheism centers on the belief in one God who exists in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit, known as the Holy Trinity. This Trinitarian concept distinguishes Christian monotheism from other forms of monotheism that do not encompass a triune deity.

Here, even this Deuteronomy claim about ‘The Lord is One’ is true to them, but it never said that ‘The Lord is the Only One and there exists none other than Him’.

So naturally, when one’s own allegiance to a particular sect is doubted, the votary of that Sampradaya has to confess such a Creed that there exists no other God, other than…. Even Sri Velukkudi Krishnan, in one of his discourses, said the same: that there exists no other God other than Narayana and Sri Ramanuja is His Acharya.²

So when I listened to such a confession from a Christian girl after performing Bharata Natiyam for her Christian audience, I was not surprised in the video [https://youtu.be/ohqLBjIl_4A?si=xZRQzj1x6gqV7m7e] . This is what one of the two girls said:

Our parents are here. We want to say to them that we belong to them, we belong to the community, we belong to our people, but for us, God is One and that is Jesus and He is the True God, He is the Way, the Truth, and Life.

She received an ovation for this statement, and not at the end of her performance but when the first girl said that they performed this art form only to worship Jesus, followed by the second girl affirming it with the above statement.

It seemed necessary for her performance before a Christian audience, as any Hindu or Indian art form expressing devotion to the Lord is often deemed unacceptable by Evangelicals. This is due to their belief that anything associated with Hinduism is demonic. Despite this, their Christian community recognize the aspirations of the younger generation to express themselves through various art forms, whether secular or spiritual. Thus, to avoid offending their ‘Weak Brothers and Sisters’ in the Lord [who were fourth and fifth generation Christian, still happy to remain weak in their faith and understanding of not only about other religions but even about their own Scripture] and to ‘neutralize’ their toxic performance had to confess such Creed to make sure that they didn’t backslide and remain faithful to their denominational creed and evangelical confession.

A similar incident occurred in the past when I attended an All India Evangelical Conference in Chennai about 25 years ago. A young girl was scheduled to perform Bharatanatyam as an expression of worship in the Indian/Hindu art form. As expected, nearly 90% of the audience left even before her performance began. Despite this, she courageously continued with her performance, and I was one of the few who stayed to watch. Unfortunately, she was unable to make such a confession by these two girls and she failed to persuade the fanatic Evangelicals who had left before she started.

In contrast, the girl who confessed the Evangelical Creed showed wisdom in her approach. Her confession seemed more like a plea to avoid misunderstandings rather than a bold assertion that she considered this beautiful art form a gift from God. She openly declared her exclusivism to defend her performance and appease her audience.

Exclusivism is inherent in the creed of every religion and various sampradayas within Hinduism. While Hinduism embraces pluralistic inclusivism, Evangelicals, rooted in their Scriptures and traditions, often maintain an exclusive stance, believing their denominational expression to be the only correct and purely Biblical form. They often cite passages from the Bible such as Acts 4:2 and John 14:6 in support of their exclusivist views, without fully considering the context in which these verses were written.³

As I have discussed in another article (see “Unknown God: Primitive Pantheism” https://dayanandbharati.in/unknown-god-primitive-pantheism/ ), it is only Islam that explicitly claims such a rigid monotheism, distinct from Jewish or Christian faiths. Scholars have pointed out that early Jewish traditions leaned towards henotheism rather than strict monotheism. Early Christian missionaries, in their competition with Islam and other Abrahamic faiths, employed the term “monotheism” to criticize Hindu pantheism and polytheism. Despite their attempts to demonstrate the superiority of their faith over Hinduism, many Hindus still perceive Christians as worshipping three main gods (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) plus Mother Mary, along with numerous secondary deities and saints revered by Catholics.

My intention here is not to criticize these two girls or offend anyone. Rather, I aim to highlight the pressures that religious traditions impose on their followers to conform and maintain their identity through such confessions. These two girls, in addition to mastering Bharatanatyam, have also mastered the art of navigating these complexities. Congratulations and best wishes to them.

Gurukulam 

15-6-2024

Notes

Shiva becomes a Shaiva

A Shaiva saint was a great proselytizer. He converted those of this world by any means whatever—love, money, brute force.  One day Shiva came down in disguise to test him, but the devotee did not recognize Shiva and proceeded to convert him, forcing holy ash on the reluctant-seeming god. When his zeal became too oppressive, Shiva tried to tell him who he was, but the baptism of ash was still forced on him.  Even Shiva had to become a Shaiva. [Ramanujan, “The Myths of Bhakti,” 307]¹¹³— Wendy Doniger, The Hindus An Alternative History, New Delhi, Penguin/Viking. 2009, p. 369

113. A. K. Ramanujan, “The Myths of Bhakti,” In The Collected Essays of A. K. Ramanujan, ed. Vinay Dharwadkar. Delhi: Oxfored University Press, 1999. 293-308.

2 April 8, 2007, in Podigai TV, Tamil

3 Much the same must be said of another Johannine text, which is frequently put to exclusivist use: ‘Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father but by me”’ (14.6).  The context here is Thomas’s question about how the disciples can know where Jesus is going, and therefore, how they can know the way.  The answer is that he is going to the Father, and since they know him, they have no need to ask further.  With Philip, ‘Show us the Father’: to have seen Jesus is to have seen the Father (14.1-11).  The point the evangelist is making, to use an earlier distinction, is that Jesus as the Christ is totus Deus: the Father is perfectly reflected in him, he is God ‘all through’.  There is no suggestion in the context that he is claiming to be totum Dei, that outside him there is no truth or life to be found.  The assurance is that in him truth and life are to be found; therefore, there is no cause for anxious fears.— John A.T. Robinson,TRUTH IS TWO EYED , SCM Press Ltd.,  p. 105

Also see https://dayanandbharati.in/unknown-god-primitive-pantheism/

And similar articles in the blog.