Defense of Essential Christian Doctrine in the Religious Pluralistic Context of Nepal

By Mumsher Khadka

Introduction

Essential doctrines of the Christian faith play a significant role in Christianity. Many people have lost their faith when they are asked about some core doctrine of Christianity by the people who oppose Christianity. Because our church has not thoroughly taught about essential doctrines of Christian faith they fail to encounter heresies and come to a conclusion thinking that they are believing in something that is not true. Many people in social media directly criticize the Christian faith and churches are not ready to answer their confusion as churches themselves are not sure about these doctrines. Here in this paper, I have elaborated on the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. I have addressed human depravity and sinlessness of Jesus, about humanity and divinity of Jesus, and lastly about his death and resurrection. I have also try to deal with some current issues faced by Christians when they are opposed by other religious people in the context of Nepal. Everything in this paper is written from the view of apologetics or evangelistic manner and every scripture is taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) and if not they are cited.

1. Human Depravity

If one thinks that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of humanity then we must be able to defend why we think it so. Biblical Christianity fully agrees that all human beings are born with sinful nature (Rom. 3:23, c.f. Ps.51:5). Though some people do good in some way in others they fail. But one must understand God didn’t create humans in this way. Adam and Eve who were the first human being created by God were perfect without sin (Gen.1:27-31). Chafer has put it in this way, “It fulfilled not only His purpose completely, but was a supreme satisfaction to HIM. Wherein moral issues were involved-as in the case of man-there could be no exception. Perfect holiness found no fault with that which He had wrought.”[1] They were created by God in His image and likeness (Gen.1:27). So, as God is perfect and the first humans were created in His image and likeness they were perfect. But when they disobeyed God they fall short of His glory and were prohibited to be in the Garden of Eden (Gen.3:23). While explaining about Rom.5:12 Grudem writes, “The context shows that Paul is not talking about actual sins that people commit every day of their lives, for the entire paragraph (Rom.5:12-21) is taken up with the comparison between Adam and Christ. And when Paul says ‘so [Gk. hutos, ‘thus, in this way’-that is, through Adam’s sin] death spread to all men because all men sinned,’ he is saying that through the sin of Adam ‘all men sinned’.”[2] This theory of original sin was coined up by Augustine of Hippo. “When Pelagius, whoever, pushed further the logic of free will and all but denied any effects of Adam’s fall (for him, men and women were born in the state of Adam prior to his fall, were free from his guilt and the pollution of his sin, only exposed to bad influence of his examples), Augustine took up the cudgels against him and for the first strong doctrine of sin.”[3] HippoHAs human being all came through Adam and Eve we inherited the sin of our ancestor.

But this view of creation and sin in Hinduism differs. According to book “Death an inside Story” by Sadhguru from the New York Times bestselling author conveys:[4]

Body is a composition of five sheaths which are Annamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha, Vignanamaya Kosha, and Anandamaya Kosha. Here Annamaya Kosha means food body, Manomaya Kosha here comprises your thoughts, emotions and all the mental processes, both conscious and unconscious. Pranamaya Kosha refers to life energy which powers and drives th Annamaya and Manomaya Kosha. Fourth layer of the self Vignanamaya Kosha means extraordinary knowledge. Last is Anandamaya Kosha means bliss body which is beyond physical nature.

These are just components that human beings are made up of. About the concept of origin of human, “It was not a story of creation but an emanation from Brahma. In the Puranas, we have this story, “Brahma’s first human creations were saints, who, immediately upon being created fell into deep meditation, finding no interest in the things of the world. Thus, through them, Brahma saw no possibility of propagation of their species. While he was meditating upon what course he should pursue, his own form divided itself, one half became man and the other half became woman.”[5] Again if we look into the Law of Manu, Brahma is a creator but also a created being by self-existence Lord. Patrick Olivelle writes, “As he focused his thought with the desire of bringing forth diverse creatures from his own body, it was the waters[6] that he first brought forth; and into them he poured his semen. That became a golden egg, as bright as the sun; and in it he himself took birth as Brahma, the grandfather of all the worlds.”[7] And again we look deep in other religious book of Hindus Puranas gives us different explanation about creation. In this account, “when the time for creation comes a lotus sprouts from Vishnu’s navel and opens to reveal the god Brahma, who begins the process of creation.”[8] There is actual no clear vision and trustable account of creation. It differs from person to person. And mostly, it is unknown to majority of Hindu. People follow their inherited culture, and religion without any question.

Another most arguable matter is caste system in Hinduism and judgement of sin is determined by one’s social place and rank. “A Brahmin committing a crime, for instance will not be punished in any way as strictly as a Sudra (person of the servant class) would be for the same crime.”[9] They are punished by their act. Why people sin is answered in the Law of Manu. “As they are brought forth again and again, each creature follows on its own the very activity assigned to it in the beginning by the Lord. Violence or non-violence, gentleness or cruelty, righteousness (dharma) or unrighteousness (adharma), truthfulness or untruthfulness- whichever he assigned to each at the time of creation, it stuck automatically to that creature.”[10] So there is no proper account for sin coming in humanity or about its source but humans were created in that way. Again there is a concept of rebirth according to their deeds and punishment too. Even gods are not in unity in Hinduism and lust is seen clearly. “According to an ancient Saivite myth, he (Brahma) was born with five heads, when he became interested in Parvati[11] (wife of Siva), Siva consort, the latter chopped one of the Brahma’s heads off.”[12] There is no truth in the gods of Hinduism. Many are found lying, lusting cheating, and many more.[13] So, one must understand that there is no proper doctrine and sources that can be trusted. It has many sources that paradox each other in core value. Whereas Christianity is clear in their doctrine about creation and sin entering humanity and there is truth in God and is perfect in unity.

2. Sinlessness of Jesus

Another significant essence of Christianity is the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. Many people in Nepal take Jesus as another god among many gods. As I was Hindu too I knew about the concept of incarnation in Hinduism which differs vastly from Christianity. People in Nepal accept Jesus as god-like other gods of Hindu but as only God or only way to the Father is resisted strictly. Incarnation (Avatara) is mostly done by Visnu. As Lochtefeld explained it this way, “Hindu draws a distinction between full avatars, which have the complete have the complete power of the deity, and partial incarnations, or anshavatras.”[14] Full deity in Hinduism doesn’t come to earth but his/her part that comes having his/their attributes in it. The Bhagavadgita explains that the Supreme One comes down to earth whenever dharma is in danger, to save the good and to destroy the wicked.[15] This core teaching differs in Christianity where Jesus came to save the lost because sick needs doctor not healthy people (Lk.19:10 c.f. Mk.2:17). We must understand this sin in Hinduism and Christianity though differs in some extent but are same. Lying, pride, ignorance, lusting, murder and so on are considered by both as sin and violation to God. So if that the case then we must understand we need saviour who came to save not to destroy the wicked because we all some who have one of these sin in us. Jesus is a perfect saviour of humanity as His character and essence fits perfectly to save the one who are lost.

2.1 Virgin Birth of Jesus

As predicted in Old Testament about virgin birth of Jesus (Isa.7:14), New Testament Christian paid with their life as they preferred to die then to forsake their faith in Jesus. This is very strong and one must critically evaluate that a people doesn’t give their lives if everything told by Jesus as written New Testament were false. Virgin birth which sounds awkward to the listener to this age was the same in New Testament time also. He was blamed to be an illegitimate child. Two gospel affirms us clearly about the account of the virgin birth (Matt.1:18-25; Lk.1:34-35; cf.3:23). According to Grudem, there three critical doctrinal implication of the virgin birth:[16]

It shows that salvation ultimately must come from the Lord.

The virgin birth made possible the uniting of full deity and full humanity in one person.

The virgin birth also makes possible Christ’s true humanity without inherited sin.

These characteristics made Jesus perfect for the sacrificial lamb who lived a life that was worthy of praise. Though the concept of virgin birth sounds awkward, still the writer of the gospels dared to write it because it is true.

2.2 Jesus Lived a Life without Sin

Jesus was born without the inherited sin as he was born from Virgin Mary but he also lived a life that no contemporary authorities were able to find any fault in Him (Lk.23:4; cf. Matt.27:1-2,11-26). Though he was tempted by Devil he didn’t commit any kind of sin in His lifetime (1Pet.2:22; 1Jn.3:5; 2Cor.5:21). Krishna as compared many times with Jesus had 16,108 wives with him in his palace and used to visit them taking 16,108 forms once at a time.[17] About the comparison between the two one can’t randomly claim Jesus to be an incarnation Krishna as claimed by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, founder of Rama Krishna Mission. He said, “Wherever I look I see men quarreling in the name of religion…but they never reflect that he who is Krishna is also called Siva, and bears the name of Primitive Energy, Jesus and Allah as well- the same Rama with a thousand names.”[18] This is claim is alleging because of Jesus’ statement to be the only way, the truth, and the life (Jn16:6). His claims are outstanding that no one before and after claimed to be so. Jesus lived a life that one can read and scripture doesn’t contradict each other like in other religions. He lived a blameless life while he was on this earth.

3. Humanity and Divinity of Jesus

The combo of humanity and the divinity of Jesus makes him a unique savior. He was and is 100% man and 100%God. Humanity and divinity of Christ are seen in the account of the gospels and even in other NT books or epistles. Disciples witness his humanity as they lived with him while he was on this earth.

3.1 Humanity of Jesus

Jesus was born of a woman (Gal.4:4). He grew like any other human being (Lk.2:16; Matt.2:11; Lk.2:42-50). He had brothers and sisters and even relatives (Mk.6:3; Jn7:5; Lk.1:36). He had human emotions (Jn.11:35; cf.Heb.5:7). He felt hungry, thirsty, and everything that a simple man faces. Apostle John writes in his epistle, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life”(1 Jn.1:1). There is no doubt that Christ was human fully and his divinity is claimed by him and also by his followers prominently.

3.2 Divinity of Jesus

The divinity of Jesus is claimed by Him in the gospels account and proclaimed fearlessly by his followers. Personally, for me, two verses are very crucial and significantly portray Jesus to be God. First is in the gospel according to John where He asserted, “Before Abraham was, I AM” which is the first revelation of God’s personal name to Moses in Exodus 3:14 as YHWH. YHWH is only with constant and later Jewish added and made Yahweh. Jesus was killed as He claimed to be the Son of God for which Jewish crucified Him. Jewish knew what He was claiming and Jesus was not making a statement as we make as children of God. His claim was equal to God or God himself as the second person in Godhead. Second is the confession of Thomas the doubter in John20:28 where he says, “oh my Lord, oh my God.” In the original text, it’s “ho Kurios mou, kai ho theos mou”.[19] It is peculiar because he doubted the very deity of Christ. He knew Jesus is dead. When he touched the wound that Jesus had, he now knew He is the same Jesus who died on the cross and gave this profound statement. Again in many other accounts, Jesus accepted worship which only was given to God (Matt.8:2), He forgave the sin of paralytic man and rigid His claim by healing him (Mk.2:1-12). Lastly, as we see the martyrdom of Disciples of Christ, they paid with their life as they knew He is God. Justin Martyr said, “You can kill us, but cannot do us any real harm.”[20] They knew that they will be killed but still they didn’t forsake Christ and didn’t accept Caesar to be their Lord. Apostle Peter and Paul were killed during the reign of Nero.[21] They died as they knew that Jesus is God. It is well said by Foster while writing about Confessors and Martyrs, “Behind the use of these two words is the idea that the most convincing way of saying, ‘I believe in Jesus Christ’, is by being ready to die for Him.”[22] They gave up their life for the sake of Gospel and they were not lunatics to do so.

As Jesus is God-man He is perfect saviour who died for us as sinless human paying propitiation to God the Father. He being man is able to reach man and being God is able to reach God. And his attributes and claims are not seen or claimed by any other religious leaders’ world views.

4. Death and Resurrection of Jesus

Death and resurrection of Jesus are very significant in Christendom. If he didn’t die or stayed dead then the faith of Christian is futile. The death of Jesus was not man-made as we have enough pieces of evidence that are the primary source to prove the authenticity of this matter. And not only Christians claim this but this event was also recorded by other secular historians.

4.1 Prove of the Death of Jesus

The crucifixion of Jesus is central to Christian doctrine or theology. There is evidence of eyewitnesses that testify about the event of the crucifixion. Lockyer writes, “One-third of Matthew, one-third of Mark, and one-fourth of Luke are devoted to the account of His death, and one-half of John’s gospel to the last twenty-four hours of Christ’s life. One-third of the material in the four gospels has to do with the events of the last weeks of His life.”[23] All the Gospels and all the Epistles either state or assume the fact of Jesus’ death (cf. Matt.27:32-66; Mk.15:21-47; Lk.23:25-55; Jn.19:16-42; Rom.5:6; I Cor.15:3; II Cor.5:15; Rev.5:9). There are some extra-Biblical sources also that prove that Jesus was crucified. “Christus…suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate,” says Cornelius Tacitus.[24] The Jewish historian Josephus of the time of Christ, Julius Africanus (ca.22), Greek writer Lucian, The Letter of Mara Bar-Serapion (ca. AD 73), Roman writer Philegon and many more also wrote about it.[25] He was the Roman Historian not even a Christian but writes about the fact that Christ died. The death that Jesus died was very torturous. Brown writes about it saying, “Death came slowly after extraordinary agony, probably through exhaustion or suffocation. The body could be left on the scaffold to rot or provide food for predatory animals and carrion-crows. There is evidence that the body was occasionally given to relatives or acquaintances.”[26] So Jesus did die on the cross and it was with great agony.

4.2 Reasons for the Death of Jesus Christ

One must understand that the death of Jesus is not mythology created by His disciples but a fact that is supported by solid data written by both Christian and secular historians and writers of the New Testament. So if he died on the altar of the cross then we must raise a question, why he did so? To understand this clearly, we must know about the depraved condition of humanity which I have already dealt with, and about the attributes of God. Grudem while writing about the cause of the Atonement writes, “And here Scripture points to two things: the love and justice of God. The love of God as a cause of the atonement is seen as God gave His one and only Son (Jn. 3:16). But the justice of God also required that God find a way that penalty due to us for our sins would be paid. Paul explains that this way why God sent Christ to be ‘propitiation’ (Rom.3:25 NASB): it was to show God’s righteousness because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.”[27] Death of Jesus completes or fills the need of both sides.

As we have seen in Human depravity that all human beings are sinful and this brings consequences of both physical and spiritual death. God being perfect in holiness and a person with sin is not able to reach to God. Again God didn’t forgive the sin of Adam and Eve because it would have defiled His justice. So God in perfect time sends His Son who was without sin to die for sinful people like us which in vice allow us to come to God again and His justice is also not defiled.

4.3 The resurrection of Jesus Christ

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is very prominent because if He was not raised from the dead then Christianity could not have been unique in its account because there were and are many who claim to be God or came from God. There were and are many peopling who deny the resurrection of Christ. But there are many evidences that prove the physical resurrection of Jesus. They are as follows:

4.3.1 Eye Witness Account about the Resurrection of Christ

The Gospel contains abundant testimony to the resurrection of Christ (cf. Matt.28:1-20; Mk.16:1-8; Lk.24:1-53; Jn.20:1-21:25). Apostle Paul in his letter to Corinthians writes about the resurrection of Christ whom He died, raised, and appeared to many people (1 Cor.15:3-6). Paul was a person who tried to erase the very existence of Christianity who claimed that Jesus was raised from the dead. But when He encountered the glorified Christ on the way to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9) he started to preach it (Acts 9:1-9) and died for it. There were many people back then too who rejected the resurrection of Christ, like Apostle Thomas who doubted until he saw Him with wounds that were given to Him on the cross then accept Him as my Lord and my God (Jn.20:24-28). The resurrection of Christ has unambiguous evidence as we have the testimony of eye witness account as they doubted, examined, and they believed the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

4.3.2 Empty Tomb Tradition

All four gospel gives us an account of the tomb that was found empty (Matt.28:1-10; Mk.16:1-8; Lk.24:1-12; Jn.20:1-10). Quoting to Anderson, McDowell and Sterrett write:[28]

The empty tomb stands, a veritable rock, as an essential element in the evidence for the resurrection. To suggest that it was not in fact empty at all, as some have done, seems to me ridiculous. It is a matter of history that the apostles from the very beginning made many converts in Jerusalem, hostile as it was, by proclaiming the glad news that Christ had risen from the grave—and they did it within a short walk from the sepulchre. Anyone of their hearers could have visited the tomb and come back again between lunch and whatever may have been the equivalent of afternoon tea. Is it conceivable, then, that the apostles would have had this success if the body of the one they proclaimed as risen Lord was all the time decomposing in Joseph’s tomb? Would a great company of the priests and many hard-headed Pharisees have been impressed with the proclamation of a resurrection which was in fact no resurrection at all, but a mere message of spiritual survival couched in the misleading terms of a literal rising from the grave?

As Anderson said anyone could have visited the tomb of Jesus to counter-check the statement preached about the risen Christ. But many skeptics claim that body of Jesus was stolen by His disciples which are surely ridiculous because of the following reasons:

In all four Gospels, we read that Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb cut into a sock, and a large stone was rolled against the entrance.

Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea prepared Christ’s body for burial which if not dead they would have known (Jn.19:38-42).

In process of burial, the corpse was clothed in grave vestments made of white linen. This might weigh between 117 and 120 pounds. Josh and Sean McDowell quote John Chrysostom of fourth century AD, “myrrh used was a drug which adheres so closely to the body that the grave clothes could not easily be removed.”[29]

The tomb was guarded as Jewish Chief priests and Pharisees were panicked because Jesus claimed that He will rise again. They thought that disciples might steal Jesus’ body and claim that. So they requested Pilate and secured the tomb of Jesus (Matt.27:62-66).

The tomb was sealed (Matt.27:66). Josh and Sean quote A. T. Robertson, “the stone could be sealed only in the presence of the Roman guards who were left in charge. The purpose of this procedure was to prevent anyone from tampering with the grave’s contents”. After the guard inspected the tomb and rolled the stone in place, a cord was stretched across the rock and fastened at either end with sealing clay. Finally, the clay packs were stamped with the official signet of the Roman governor.[30]

There was no attempt or chance to do so because of the reason mentioned above. The tomb was indeed empty. Philosopher Stephen Davis observes, “Early Christian proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem would have been psychologically and apologetically impossible without safe evidence of an empty tomb . . . in other words, without safe and agreed-upon evidence of an empty tomb, the apostles’ claims would have been subject to massive falsification by the simple presentation of the body.”[31] Disciples preached about the resurrected Christ without fear as they knew it to be true. And even there were many letters written to oppose the heretical teaching that Christ didn’t rise. Paul writes if Christ has not risen then our faith is futile (1 Cor.15:17).

Christianity claims about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ have very solid evidence. He died for us as we by ourselves are unable to reach to God as He is holy (Lev.19:2). God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that nobody will perish but have everlasting life (Jn.3:16). Christianity is peculiar as in all other religions, we have to work for salvation and there is Karmic Tendency which we can’t overlap. Humans have to reach to gods. Jesus is the only one who is God but came to earth to human beings. He can save the sinner but others who claimed to be gods came to destroy the wicked. Jesus’ claims are proven by His acts. He said when He was on the earth it is fulfilled which were supposed to be fulfilled till now. His claim to be the only Way is true because of all the above-mentioned reasons.

5. Dealing with some question raised to Christian in Nepal

Is not Jesus the same as other gods?

As Nepalese people believe in polytheism, Jesus is just another god for them. People are influenced by movements like Ramakrishna who convey that every way leads to heaven. But this claim is not true because every religion in their fundamental teaching differs from each other. From an Islamic point of view, Allah is the only true God and all others are false. In Buddhism, there is no God. Even in Hinduism, though they say that every religion is the same, still they are against Islam and other religion strongly. And even Jesus claims to be the only way to Father. So one can’t say that Jesus is the same as other gods as they differ in core value to each other. Jesus’ claim to only way to Father is valid because His words match His life. He was born of virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for the sinner, got resurrected on the third day which was witnessed by five hundred plus people, and had ascension to heaven. And all these were prophesized before He was born. No one else in religion history has these peculiarities, so Jesus’ claim to be God is unique and true and He is not like other so-called gods.

Isn’t the Bible written by human beings?

Many people in Nepal tells Christian that the Bible is also like other religious books which are written by human beings. Yes, the Bible is also written by human beings but it was inspired by God which is the significant claim that only Christianity makes. There are 66 books, 40 authors, overs 1500 years of period, and 3 continents where it was written but still, it has only one follow and theme. No other religious books are so interrelated to reach others though they are just a single book. About the reliability of the Bible historically, there are nearly 5,700 known partial and complete Greek Manuscript copies of the New Testament and are very ancient. If one adds into the mix over 10,000 Latin Vulgate manuscripts and at least 9,300 other early version-including Syriac, Ethiopic, Slavic, Gothic, Armenian, and other versions-the total approximate 25,000 manuscripts that cite portions of the New Testament. This far exceeds the number of manuscripts available of other ancient documents, which, in most cases number less than ten copies. Bible is reliable and fully trustworthy, human written but inspired by God.

Some Christians or pastors do wrong and the whole of Christianity is blamed.

Many times people blame whole Christianity when they see some Christians or pastors doing wrong. They point to those people and say look if Christianity was true then they shouldn’t have done this. This is very sad of people that they blame the whole Christianity of some peoples act. One can’t say that family is bad if a son or father or a member of the family does wrong. We can’t judge anything from outside. When I confront these kinds of people I simply ask for forgiveness because it is true that many Christian and even pastor are wicked but still Christianity is true. Christians do agree that some Christians have defiled themselves but Jesus is perfect in every way. Bible never claims that Christians will be perfect. It writes to forgive each other when some sins and help them to come near to God again. There is the concept of forgiveness in Christianity which is significant. Yes, we do find some Christian who have lost their characteristics that Jesus demands but that doesn’t apply Christianity to be false. We don’t preach about Christians or pastor but about Jesus Christ. He was born with sin and lived a life without sin who was crucified for our sin and was raised from dead witnessed by many. He is the only savior of humanity and no one before Him or after Him is like Him.

Jesus was crucified because he was rebellious.

Abhishek Joshi is one of the lead opponents of Christian in Nepal. He posts many videos on YouTube[32] that opposes Christianity. He says that Jesus was crucified because He was a rebel. Joshi also says that Jesus misinterpreted OT saying that He is Savoir and God of OT and even His disciples did the same. And the Bible is written in the 4th Century AD. Finally, close it up by criticizing Christian misinterpret Bhagavad Gita[33] claiming that Jesus is found there also.

Joshi doesn’t deny the crucifixion of Jesus. He right when he says crucifixion was meant for wrongdoers. Criticize Jesus for misinterpreting OT scripture is wrong. As Joshi quotes from Mark14:16 onwards where it seems like Jesus rebelled against Jews but we must not forget that Jesus also knew that they will kill Him for that sake. We won’t die for what we are not. Jewish priests of that time thought that Jesus is a hypocrite. Many disciples like Thomas thought that Jesus was just a prophet or man from God until he saw resurrected Jesus. Apostle Thomas was the person who came to India and preached about a Savior who died for our sin and got resurrected and there is no one like Him and died for that sake. All the disciples we tortured and were killed as they preached about resurrected Christ who is the only way to the Father. So, what about those disciples who died for the sake of the Gospel. They were not lunatic to do so. And about the reliability of NT, sources are very near to Jesus’ time. There is no doubt that He was crucified and the reason was that Jews Priest thought He was misinterpreting Scripture but the truth is that He died for our sin and He was raised which was witnessed by 500 plus people. Finally about misinterpreting Bhagavad Gita Christian should do that because we say it’s human written and again we try to prove Hindu scripture also show Jesus which contradicts our views.

Conclusion

Humans are depraved which is seen even in kids as they are jealous, lie, etc though Hinduism denial it. According to Hinduism, we are created in that way. Some chose to do wrong and some do right. Salvation or Nirvana for them and Buddhism is by doing good works and it’s not sure whether we will achieve it or not. Gods of Hinduism came to wipe wicked from the earth (only their part comes to earth) and save righteous people. But it is the opposite in Christianity. In Christianity, we are sinful people who are not able to work out for our salvation and can’t reach to God who is Holy. We needed a savior who is sinless and lived a life without sin. Savior who is 100% man so that He can reach to man and 100% God who can reach to God. Old Testament prophesied about His birth, the life He lived and death He encountered. God. Though many before Jesus and still claim to be God or came from God they are no equal to Jesus. He was crucified for our sin as written and was resurrected which was witnessed by many and we have evidence like empty tomb tradition. His claims are all true. Though people criticize Christianity about the validity or reliability of the Bible we have sources that are valid and reliable that support that the Bible is trustworthy. We have many ancient manuscripts that dated to the 1st century. We have the historical evidence that supports the life and crucifixion of Jesus Christ as written in the Bible and by other non-christian writers. All these things supports the claim of Jesus and He alone claimed these things and He is who He claims to be.

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Notes

[1] Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1993), 136.

[2] Wayne A Grudem, Bible Doctrine: Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2014), 307, accessed October 18, 2020, http://rbdigital.rbdigital.com.

[3] Martin Davie, New Dictionary of Theology: Historical and Systematic (Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 2016), 328.

[4] Jaggi Vasudev, Death: An inside Story : A Book for All Those Who Shall Die (Haryana: Penguin Random House, 2020), 49–51.

[5] Urbano L Pardillo, “Christianity and Hinduism on Human Existence,” accessed October 18, 2020, https://www.academia.edu/9022229/CHRISTIANITY_AND_HINDUISM_ON_HUMAN_EXISTENCE.

[6] Water is Nara here who is god Narayana in Hinduism.

[7] Manu, Patrick Olivelle, and Suman Olivelle, Manu’s Code of Law: A Critical Edition and Translation of the Manava-Dharmasastra, South Asia research (Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 87.

[8] James G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, 1st ed. (New York: Rosen, 2002), 157.

[9] Constance Jones and James D. Ryan, Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Encyclopedia of world religions (New York: Facts On File, 2007), 323.

[10] Manu, Olivelle, and Olivelle, Manu’s Code of Law, 88.

[11] Parvati was also daughter of Brahma.

[12] Klaus K. Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism, 3rd ed. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2007), 170.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, 102.

[15] Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism, 294.

[16] Grudem, Bible Doctrine, 329.

[17] Ravi Zacharias, New Birth or Rebirth? Jesus Talks with Krishna, 1st ed. (Colorado Springs, Colo: Multnomah Books, 2008), 49.

[18] David A. Brown, A Guide to Religion (Delhi: ISPCK, 2018), 74–75.

[19] “John 20:28 Interlinear: And Thomas Answered and Said to Him, ‘My Lord and My God;,’” accessed October 21, 2020, https://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/20-28.htm.

[20] Kenneth A. Curtis, Stephen J. Lang, and Randy Petersen, The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History (Hyderabad: Authentic, 2012), 19.

[21] F. F Bruce, Paul, Apostle of the Free Spirit (U.K.: Paternoster Digital Library, 2005), 435.

[22] John Foster, The First Advance Church History AD 29-500 (Delhi: ISPCK, 2018), 49.

[23] Herbert Lockyer, All the Doctrines of the Bible (Hyderabad: Authentic, 2012), 50.

[24] Ben Witherington, New Testament History: A Narrative Account (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic [u.a.], 2001), 156.

[25] Norman L Geisler, The Big Book of Christian Apologetics: An A to Z Guide (Grand Rapids, MI: Bakers Book, 2015), 109.

[26] Colin Brown, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (v. 1) (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1975), I–393.

[27] Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England : Grand Rapids, Mich: Inter-Varsity Press ; Zondervan Pub. House, 1994), 492.

[28] Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett, Did the Resurrection Happen– Really? A Dialogue on Life, Death, and Hope, Coffee house chronicles 3 (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2011), 66.

[29] Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, Evidence for the Resurrection: What It Means for Your Relationship with God (Ventura, Calif: Regal Books, 2009), 167.

[30] Ibid., 175.

[31] Ibid., 180.

[32] Abishek Joshi, Reasons of Jesus Christ Crucified, 2019, accessed November 2, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-mCC3BWvL4&ab_channel=GohiraTV.

[33] Hindus scared book

Mumsher Khadka is a Nepali student. He is working on his Bachelor in Theology. He is passionate about studying theology and all things apologetics.

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