Holy Trinity versus the Trimurti

Holy Trinity versus the Trimurti

1. Introduction

In the world, there are different denominations that people believe and follow. However, some religions are similar while others are distinct from each other. On the other hand, there are religions different from each other, but they contain some similar values. One outstanding example is Christianity and Hinduism. They do not believe in the same things since they are from a different historical background in the way they were formed. Therefore, they are extremely different religions, but they have similarities in some of their doctrines they believe. For this reason, the research is a comparative analysis of the concept of Holy Trinity in Christianity and the concept of Trimurti in Hinduism.

1. Background
2. The Concept of Holy Trinity

The Holy Trinity is one of the many sects of the Christian doctrine. In this sect, it is believed by the Christians that God is in three parts, these being the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit (Novak 114). It is worth noting there is one God who appears in these different forms. Additionally, each form is different from each other. This is because many individuals believed that Christianity is polytheism. Polytheism can be described as the belief or worshiping of many gods. In this case, there are Christian denominations that do not believe in the Holy Trinity thus separating themselves (Clark 55). However, Christian values dictate that a lone God exists and only He deserves adulation.

According to the history of the Holy Trinity, there is nowhere in the Bible that speaks about the bible. However, there are instances in the Bible where the components of the triune God are elucidated. It was believed that this doctrine was formulated within a span of less than five hundred years after creation. Several priests sat down and thought about this concept. After discussions, they eventually agreed that God communicates to man in the three forms. This meant that the Holy Trinity plays a prominent role in communication between God and the human beings.

At first, when the Holy Trinity was being developed there was confusion among the different priest. They separated amongst themselves in three distinctive groups. The first group was Adaptionism. This group had the conviction of the normalcy of Jesus Christ but who received transformation into the son of his heavenly father after his baptism. However, this theory was condemned because, according to the bible, Jesus was not a normal human being since his conception was not ordinary and did not involve another human being other than his mother. Additionally, the Holy Spirit, one of the forms of God facilitated the birth (Novak 77).

The other group believed in Sebellianism. This group believed that the components of the triune God were aspects of how human beings communicated or interacted with God. They believed that in the paternal responsibility of the Father, God was the main provider and the architect of the world in its entirety. For the responsibility allocated to the Son, God used to communicate the human beings face to face this is because He was in the form of the Flesh. To sum up the triune nature, the Holy Spirit was tasked with the responsibility of showing God’s actions on earth and the lives of the Christians. However, these beliefs were condemned as heresy and were thus rejected by the priests (Novak 77).

The third grouped believed in Arianism, where they had given a chronological account of events in that the Father had authority over the Son with the latter being separate with the Spirit. (Novak 78). After this, the priest came into a conclusion and figured out the connection between the three. This is where they came up with the evidence of God the Father is connected to the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit is connected to God the Son. This connection proved that God is one meaning that Christians to do not worship many gods, but they have one True God who is connect.

1. God as the Son

In this form, God communicates to the people in the flesh. He used Jesus Christ as His Son. Jesus Christ was the son of Mary who had not been sexually touched proving that He was not born like any other human being. On the other hand, He was using the human flesh. He followed all the values of Christianity that are followed by the Christians from childhood until He died. This shows that God used His only Son to communicate to the people because Jesus Christ was not born in the normal way, but he used the human. Therefore, Jesus Christ was the Son of God.

2. God as the Holy Spirit

In this form, God comes in miraculous ways for the purpose of help His people. This is where God is always on the watch for his people. For instance, when Virgin Mary was about to be pregnant she was visited by an Angel of God and she was told that she was going to have a Son through the Holy Spirit. In this case, it can be inferred that the aspect of the Holy Spirit is a representation of God. This is because Jesus Christ was being referred to as being God’s beloved young one. Additionally, when Jesus Christ was living His disciples, He told them that the Holy Spirit will always be there watching over them. Another argument that was brought in light by the priest was that when it is told that God could read anybody’s thoughts (Religion Facts 2011). The only way a person could do this is through their spirit. For this reason, God is in the form of Holy Spirit; thus, He can read peoples thoughts. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is a form of God where He watches over His people.

3. God the Father

In this case, God created the whole universe. For this fact, Christians refer to God as the Father of all the nations. Additionally, God has taken the roles of a Father. For instance, He is the protector. When Christians are praying, they ask to protect them from all harm, as a Father would do to his Son. He is also the provider of everything. Christians ask God to provide with the basics things since they know that He will. This is similar to a child who asks his or her Father to provide them with food. Lastly, Christians refer themselves to be the children of God. Therefore, Christians have the conviction that God is also in the form of the Father.

1. The concept of the Trimurti

The Hindus believe in one supreme god, the supreme spirit known as the Brahman who is symbolized by the symbol Om or Aum. Hindus believe that Braham contains everything thus giving rise to Trimurti. Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism, which has three deities. These deities are personified in the form of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer and Shiva the destroyer (Eckert 11). When they are kept collectively, they are known as Brahma-Vishnu-Mheshwara. They are depicted as three heads in one neck facing opposite directions or three faces in one head facing the opposite direction.

According to the history of Hinduism, the form of god in three was brought first into light in Rig Veda. It was in Padma Puranas that the three deities become one supreme god produced in the right side of Brahman. It is believed that Brahman brought Vishnu in his right to destroy and Shiva in the middle. The Trimurti was first recognized by the Hindus in the eight to ten century. At this time, it was meant to unify the Hindus spirits in order to reduce competition amongst themselves.

1. Brahma the creator

He is believed to be the architect of the whole world. The Hindus believe that Brahma created the universe together with the livings in the beginning of the universe. Apart from being the creator, Brahma has other functions such as he is the source of all knowledge and the intellect of the mind. He is depicted as an elderly male individual with a reddish skin and four bearded heads. He does not have a weapon like the other deities. His popularity has declined over the centuries because people believe that his work is done since he has already created the universe.

2. Vishnu the preserver

He is the preserver of the universe, and he represents compassion, kindness, mercy, protection and general goodness. He is blue in color, has four limbs and wears yellow clothing. He is shown either standing or resting on heads of thousands of snakes. He holds a conch that he uses to protect his worshipers, a mace and a discus. He is popular among the three deities, and the yellow clothing that he wears represents the earthly existence. Lastly, Vishnu is believed to be among the cosmic ocean that was in existence before the creation of the universe.

3. Shiva the destroyer

Shiva is responsible for the destruction of the universe. Often he is referred to as the god of darkness. Most of the time he is described to be an angry god. Most of his worshipers believe that he has both male and the female at once. He is seen as a compassionate and god. His work is to destroy the universe once it has finished its natural cycle. Additionally he destroys those things that affect the balance of nature thus giving them a second chance to grow and become better than before. He is depicted as a dark man with a blue through who wears a tiger skin garment and carries a trident as a weapon.

III. Comparative analysis

People have been arguing that Christianity and Hinduism are a bit similar despite them to be having distinct features. Additionally, Hindus are often to worship different gods, but in the real sense, they worship one god that is Brahman. This is similar to the Christians who also worship one true God. It is because of this reason that a comparative analysis of the two trinities that has to be done so that their similarities and differences can be established.

1. Similarities

The first notable similarity in the two concepts is the development of the two meanings. In the Christian concept, God is believed to appear in three forms that make up the triune God. In the past, there was no trinity concept where the Christian believed that God appeared in three forms. However, several priests sat down and so that God communicated to people in three forms (Religion Facts 2011). The Father is seen as the protector and the provider. The Son is seen to communicate to people in the form of the flesh. This means that God communicated to people face to face. The last is the Holy Spirit where God communicated to people to form a Spirit.

This is similar to the concept of Trimurti where the Hindus believe that, the supreme spirit and god Brahman is in three forms. At first, they did not have the concept of Trimurti but later they developed the concept. The three deities are Brahma who they believe created the universe, Vishnu who is the preserver of the universe and Shiva who they believe is the destroyer of the universe. They believed that these are the deities of the Brahman. He is believed to have brought them in order to balance the universe.

The other similarity between the two concepts is that they both have a creator. In Christianity, God the Father is believed to be the chief architect of the world. In the Bible, it is written that God formed the world in a period of six days, and on the next day, when he was done, he had his rest. In real life people believes that the Fathers are the creators of the children. Additionally, the notion that God created the universe gave Him the title the Father. For this fact, God has the form of the Father in the eyes of the Christians.

Similarly, Hindus have their on creator. One of the deities Brahma is referred to as the chief architect of the world. Hindus believe that Brahma created the whole of the universe in the beginning of the world. They believe that he created the living things together with the places the things that are used by the living things. However, there was the cosmic water, which was there before the creation of the universe. Lastly, he has lost popularity in Hinduism because they believe that his work is done. This is true because after creating the universe, there is no other work left for him to do.

The preserver is another similarity that the two concepts have. According to those who follow the doctrines of Christianity, the maintainer of these works is indeed the Holy Spirit. Believers also assert to the notion that this maintainer was kept on earth by God so that it can watch over and preserve the availability of God on earth. Additionally, the belief further notes that the Holy Spirit preserves them in the Christian form so that one cannot go astray. In this notion, the Holy Spirit preserves the people from committing wrong things (Religion Facts 2011). Therefore, the Holy Spirit is believed to be the preserver of the universe by the Christian community.

The Hindu community also has a preserver in their deities. Vishnu is believed to be the preserver of the community. Among the other deities, he is the most popular in Hinduism. This is because all the functions that he provides to his worshipers are still functional they are not over. Additionally, most of his functions are things that people need every day. Therefore, it can be clearly seen that the two communities have a preserver in the concept of the Holy Trinity and the concept of the Trimurti.

1. Differences

The two concepts are also different from each other. As discussed earlier, Christianity and Hinduism are two different religions. One of the differences is that in Christianity, no form of God has finished His work. For instance, God the Father is constantly provider for his people. He will continue providing because people need to be provided for everyday. God the Son that is Jesus Christ has his place on the right hand of his Father watching over his people so that nothing can happen to us. Lastly, the Holy Spirit will always be there on earth with the people communicating with them (Religion Facts 2011). This shows that all forms of God are in constant communication with people, and they have not completed their work.

On the contrary, the Hindus have the notion that the work of Brahma is done. This is because they believe that since the universe and the living things have been created, his work is done. It is because of this Brahma has lost popularity as compared to the other three deities in Hinduism. It is clear that the two concepts are different because in Christianity, no form of God has finished His work or has lost popularity among the Christians as compared to Hinduism where they believe that Brahma has finished his work thus losing popularity.

The other difference is that the way the different forms and deities appear. For instance, in Christianity, they do not appear or they are not seen as sculptures like Hinduism. In Christianity, God the Father is up in heaven watching over us. God the Son was being symbolized by the flesh of the when being because he was born from a normal family. Lastly, god the Holy Spirit is on earth and cannot be seen with the naked eyes but the Holy Spirit can be felt. This shows that all forms are in live form, and they are not sculptures.

On the other hand, in the Hindu trinity the deities are represented in the form of sculptures. For instance, they believe that the deities are represented by three heads that are attached to a single neck or they are three faces connected with one head but all of them are looking in different sides. There is nowhere shown that these deities were once alive or they are still alive. The only thing prove there is of the deities is the different sculptures that are there in the Hindu religions places. Therefore, this shows that the concepts are not similar at all because in Christianity, the forms of God are alive and they have been alive since inception, but in Hinduism, the only thing known is the sculptures.

According to the concepts, in Christianity, there is no form of God that is referred to as the destroyer and in Hinduism, there is no deity referred to as the Son. In Christianity, God is referred to as God the Son. This is because He appeared to the human beings in the form of Jesus Christ. It is written in the Bible that Jesus was conceived and brought into this world by a woman who was sexually pure, which is something that has never been done. All this showed that Jesus was indeed holy. As a result, God communicated to the human beings through God the Son or Jesus Christ through Jesus Christ.

In Hinduism, they do not have a deity in the Son, but they have one who is the destroyer. It is believed that Shiva is a deity of Brahman (Bruder 32). This is because Hindus believe that Shiva is here to balance the world. His functions are to destroy nature that has already completed the cycle. Additionally, he is also supposed to destroy the unnecessary nature causing an imbalance in the universe giving them another chance to balance the universe. It is clear that in the two concepts there is nowhere Christianity has the destroyer as a form of God, and there is nowhere in Hinduism there is a Son as a deity.

Another difference which is evident in the two concepts is that in Christianity, the forms of God are connected while the in Hinduism the deities are not connected at all. In Christianity, the Father gave the responsibility to the Spirit to go the world seeking Virgin Mary where she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit to give birth to God the Son to communicate to his people. This shows that the forms of God are all connected. If they were not connected, they will be performing the different functions on their own.

On the other hand, in Hinduism the deities are not connected at all. This is because they all have different functions and there is nowhere in Hinduism that we are told that these deities are connected. For instance, the work of the Brahma is to create. Among the remaining deities there is nowhere that it is shown that there is a connection with Brahma. Based on the evidence provided by the two religions, there is nowhere the concept of Trimurti shows that the deities have a connection. On the other hand, there is proof that there is a connection between the different forms of God.

Another difference in the two concepts is that the in Christianity, all forms of God are equal but in Hinduism it is defined whether the forms are equal and at some point, they seem not to be equal. This is because there is no prove to show that all the deities in Hinduism are equal. This has resulted into the issue being termed as a difference. In Christianity, all forms of God are equal (Nye 21). This is because they resemble God in general. Additionally, they are all one God.

On the contrary, in Hinduism, the deities are not equal. According to Hinduism, Brahma is treated as an inferior god because over the years he has been losing popularity while Vishnu is seen to be superior thus gaining a lot of popularity (Trimurti 12). This may not be enough proof, but it shows that the different deities are not equal. For this reason, it has been seen that according to the Bible, the different forms of God are equal since they are one God while in Hinduism they are not evidence to show that they are equal.

Since the two concepts were not there since inception, they were developed in different times. It is believed that the Holy Trinity was developed in the first to the fourth century when it started becoming applicable among the different Christian denomination. At first, in the development stages there were many arguments where the Christians were separated in three different groups. One group believed in Adoptionism where they had the conviction that Jesus was just another person until his baptism when he became the Son of God. The second group believed in Sebellianism where they believed that the aspects of the triune God are forms of how Humans interacted with God. The third group believed in Aranism where it gives the sequence in which the three forms followed each other.

On the other hand, Hinduism was developed between the eighth and the tenth centuries. It was believe to have first come into light in the period of Rig Veda. The Hindus believed that the three deities were initially in the right side of Brahman, but later Brahman decided to change them thus bringing Shiva on the left side and Vishnu in the middle (Sabapathy and mashadadi 7). The main purpose of doing this was to balance the universe since it appeared to be imbalanced. For this reason, it can be clearly seen that the time the two were developed is different from each other. Additionally, the story of how the two were created is contrary to the other.

1. Summary of the comparative analysis

According to the findings of the research, there are three main similarities between the concept of the Holy Trinity and the concept of the Trimurti. The first similarity is that the two concepts have the same kind of development. This is where in the Holy Trinity, there are three forms of God. This is Similar to the Trimurti where there are three deities of Brahman, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. The other two similarities are that the two parties have both the creator and the preserver. In Christianity, the Father has the responsibility of creating the world while the Spirit maintains it. Similarly, in Hinduism there is Brahma and Vishnu who are the creator and preserver respectively.

On the other hand, there are so many disadvantages between the two concepts.  The first one being the connectivity between the different deities and the forms of God. In Christianity, there is connectivity between the different forms of God, but in Hinduism, there is no connectivity. The other difference is that in the concept of Holy Trinity, only one God exists, but in Trimurti, it appears as if there are so many gods. Among the different deities, and forms of God in the Holy Trinity, there is no destroyer and in Trimurti, there is no Son. In addition, the two Trinities were formed at different times. For instance, the Holy Trinity was developed in the first to the fourth century while the Trimurti was developed in the eight to the tenth century.

The other difference is in the Holy Trinity there is no form of God that has finished working but in Trimurti Brahma appears to have finished all his work. This because they believe that the universe has already been created thus there is nothing to add. In Christianity, the forms of God are alive and kicking, but in Trimurti, the deities are symbolized by the use of sculptures. There is no proof of their physical being either in the past or in the present.

1. Conclusion

There have been so many rumors and heresy by different people in relation to the concept of the Holy Trinity and the concept of Trimurti. In the research, the necessary evidence between the two has been provided so that people should stop believing in rumors. For example, many people think that Christianity borrowed the concept of the Holy Trinity from the Hindu Trinity. This is not true because in accordance to the evidence, the Holy Trinity was developed four centuries before the Hindu Trinity. In fact, it might be the other way round. In this case, the researcher has conclusive information based on evidence.

 

References

Bruder, Helen P. Women Reading William Blake. Basingstoke [England: Palgrave Macmillian, 2007. Print.

Clark, Kenneth A. The Holy Trinity. Slacks Creek, Qld: Victorious Christian Ministries International, 2004. Print.

Eckert, Julia. The Trimurti of the State: State Violence and the Promises of Order and Destruction. Halle/Saale: Max Planck Inst. for Social Anthropology, 2005. Print.

Novak, Michael. “A Holy Trinity.” The Wilson Quarterly. 3.3 (1979): 74-84. Print.

Nye, Stephen. “Some Thoughts Upon Dr. Sherlock’s Vindication of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity: In a Letter.” Faith of One God. (1970). Print.

Religion Facts. The Doctrine of the Trinity. Religion Facts. November 8, 2011. Web. November 8, 2011.

Sabapathy, T K, and Ahmad Mashadi. Trimurti and Ten Years After. Singapore: Singapore Art Museum, 1998. Print.

Trimurti. Singapore: s.n, 1988.

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