Difference in religious teachings

The basic differences can be divided into: Insight that transcends duality and insight within duality.

Christian religion is inside of duality. The teachings affirm Ethical, sin and atonement, right and wrong. It started with a sin, in other words moving out of the mythological scene, the garden of paradise where there is no time and where men and women don’t even know that they are different from each other. The two are just creatures and God walks with them in the cool of the evening in the garden. Then they eat the apple, the knowledge of pairs of opposites. From then on man and woman cover their shame. Now God and man are different, man and women are different, nature is against man.

D. T. Suzuki, 1870 – 1966, a Zen philosopher in a lecture in Switzerland said:”God against man, man against God, man against nature, nature against man, nature against God, God against nature, very funny religion”.

In other mythologies, one puts oneself in accord with the world. If the world is a mixture of good and evil, you do not put yourself in accord with it. You identify with the good and you fight against the evil. This is a religious system that belongs to the near east.

When our nature is corrupt and sinful as taught in Christianity, and Islam, that creates a very dangerous paradigm for us, nature has to be corrected and not be yielded to.

Genesis 1:28 {E S V) “And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

There is a big difference when we take nature as being fallen, or whether it is part of Divinity and the Spirit being the revelation of the Divinity inherent in nature.

The distinction between God and the world causes nothing but problem and is not found in Hinduism, Yoga or Buddhism.

We all have to ask ourselves, do we need to acknowledge the beauty of nature and co- operate with nature?

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:

“Then he realized: 'I, indeed, am this creation; for I have poured it forth from myself.' In that way he became this creation. And verily, he who knows this becomes in this creation a creator.”

Human Nature

Question: "What is human nature? What does the Bible say about human nature?"

Human nature is that which makes us distinctly human. Our nature is distinct from that of the animals and the rest of creation in that we can think and feel. One of the chief distinctions between human beings and the rest of creation is our ability to reason. No other creature has this ability, and there’s no question that this is a unique gift bestowed by God. Our reason enables us to reflect on our own nature and the nature of God and to derive knowledge of God's will for His creation. No other part of God’s creation has a nature capable of reason.

The Bible teaches that God created human beings in His image. This means that He enables us to have some understanding of Him and of His vast and complex design. Our human nature reflects some of God’s attributes, although in a limited way.

We love because we are made in the image of the God who is love (1 John 4:16). Because we are created in His image, we can be compassionate, faithful, truthful, kind, patient, and just. In us, these attributes are distorted by sin, which also resides in our nature.

Originally, human nature was perfect by virtue of having been created so by God. The Bible teaches that human beings were created “very good” by a loving God (Genesis 1:31), but that goodness was marred by the sin of Adam and Eve. Subsequently, the entire human race fell victim to the sin nature. The good news is that at the moment a person trusts in Christ, he receives a new nature.

Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Sanctification is the process by which God develops our new nature, enabling us to grow into more holiness through time. This is a continuous process with many victories and defeats as the new nature battles with the “tent” (2 Corinthians 5:4) in which it resides—the old man, the old nature, the flesh. Not until we are glorified in heaven will our new nature be set free to live for eternity in the presence of the God in whose image we are created.

This paper is for information only and in no way indented to influence one’s thinking in either direction.