Accepting Krishna instead of Christ

[that wierd kid]

Why can't you simply accept Jesus as your personal savior if you're going to treat Krisshana exactly like Jesus and follow all the doctrines of Christianity?

 

[Whitestone]

I am curious about the answer to the last question as well, what is so appealing about Krisshana?

 

[hartlandcat]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

But otherwise, would you hold to the regular tenants of Christianity?

Depending on exactly how the regular tenants of Christianity are defined, I suppose yes.

They also bath and dress idols of Krishna in their temples.

Why is this relevant? Just for the record, I've been into Christian churches in Greece (Orthodox) where people were bowing down before and kissing images of Christ.

Why can't you simply accept Jesus as your personal savior if you're going to treat Krisshana exactly like Jesus and follow all the doctrines of Christianity?

I'm not going to accept Krishna -- I thought I answered this before. This is a hypothetical situation. Basically, I was wondering if you thought that God just wanted people to admit that they're sinners and seek forgiveness, or whether it was completely important to accept Jesus specifically.

 

[heron]

"damned to hell for this mistake, or would I be allowed to go to heaven?"

I've seen this question many times on the forum in the last few weeks. It's a basic human concern, that we all want to see justice done, and are not content to let go of it.

Rather than spend our time confronting each other about the unfairness of certain beliefs, let's divert our energies to talking God about it, and asking that He provide ways for justice, that he rescue people who might be "on the lost list."

We tend to think of prayer requests as only the little personal ones, but people used to ask God for changes for a whole country.

God said things like "come, let us reason together." Isaiah 1:18-20

The prophets negotiated with God about how many people God would rescue.

God doesn't change who he is, but he does condsider our requests.


In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
Matthew 18:14



And having seen the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, that they were faint and cast aside, as sheep not having a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36



5 "Suppose there is a righteous man
who does what is just and right.

6 He does not eat at the mountain shrines
or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor's wife
or lie with a woman during her period.

7 He does not oppress anyone,
but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
but gives his food to the hungry
and provides clothing for the naked.

8 He does not lend at usury
or take excessive interest.
He withholds his hand from doing wrong
and judges fairly between man and man.

9 He follows my decrees
and faithfully keeps my laws.
That man is righteous;
he will surely live,
declares the Sovereign LORD.

27 But if a wicked man...considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die. Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

30 "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent. Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live.

Ezekiel 18

 

[hartlandcat]

heron -- if I understand you correctly, are you suggesting that someone who had accepted Krishna in this way would be led to Christ by God? That would certainly make sense.

 

[Christian_Victor]

I say that if that's your belief, then go for it.

I don't care what other Christians say. God will forgive you and/or show the right way if you truly wanted to serve the true God.

 

[Christian_Victor]

They also bath and dress idols of Krishna in their temples.

Deuteronomy 5:8 (KJV): Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,

This reason is invalid. In our churches, we have many idols of Jesus, but nobody says anything about them. Therefore, according to your scripture, these idols in the church of Jesus is also wrong. If you say they aren't wrong, then the reason i quoted is then invalid.

 

[Quijote]

Depending on exactly how the regular tenants of Christianity are defined, I suppose yes.

I was going to ask another question...but then I see what you wrote below:

Why is this relevant? Just for the record, I've been into Christian churches in Greece (Orthodox) where people were bowing down before and kissing images of Christ.

cheers

 

[Quijote]

Depending on exactly how the regular tenants of Christianity are defined, I suppose yes.

Well, suppossing that you accept the tenants of Christianity as they are defined by the Catholic Church (This assumption is to help me since I know more about Catholicisim than any other Christian denomination) then calling JEsus "Krishna" in and of itself is not bad, people around you in church might think you're a bit "kooky" , but not bad.

I guess it would be hard to remain faithful to the tenants of Chrisitanity (as defined by Catholicism) and at the same time hold that Jesus (aka Krishna) lived 2000 yrs. before he really did and in a place some 2000 miles away (more less).

Cheers

 

[New_Found_Faith]

In reply to the original post- Krishna and Jesus are completely different. They preached different ideas that may sound similar to some, but the goal behind they were [often] completely different.

Also, accepting Christ "as your personal saviour" is only the first step on the road to salvation. If someone asks you what religion you are and reply : 'Christian,' you are not saved so easily. The door to salvation is opened to us by our faith, but faith without works is dead. You must strive to live in Christ's image and repent from your sins. So "acccepting Krishna as your personal saviour" is by no means going to get you into heaven.

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

This reason is invalid. In our churches, we have many idols of Jesus, but nobody says anything about them. Therefore, according to your scripture, these idols in the church of Jesus is also wrong. If you say they aren't wrong, then the reason i quoted is then invalid.

Nowhere in the Bible does God say do not worship idols unless of me. I believe any idol whether saints,Christ, Mary or God is just that. You should not be worshiping to them or treating them as if filled with spirit.The object should not be more important than God.

 

[New_Found_Faith]

Nowhere in the Bible does God say do not worship idols unless of me. I believe any idol whether saints,Christ, Mary or God is just that. You should not be worshiping to them or treating them as if filled with spirit.The object should not be more important than God.

No one in the Catholic Church puts the Saints or the Virgin Mary anywhere close to or above God in any way, shape, or form. If they do, they are not true Catholics.

 

[hartlandcat]

Nowhere in the Bible does God say do not worship idols unless of me. I believe any idol whether saints,Christ, Mary or God is just that. You should not be worshiping to them or treating them as if filled with spirit.The object should not be more important than God.

Even so, the idea of idolatry is not a valid reason in response to the question which I posed, which I think is what Christian_Victor was saying.

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

Even so, the idea of idolatry is not a valid reason in response to the question which I posed, which I think is what Christian_Victor was saying.

Ok.

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

When Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden God killed an animal and showed them how to make clothes. He also told them to sacrifice animals for their sin. Krishna's believe they can be reborn as animals and that some animals have a higher status than being human. This is in total rejection of Christian theology and cannot be justified by the Bible.

 

[Quijote]

You know, I was thinking about his a little bit more this weekend and this is what I came up with:

Though it would be OK to call Jesus "Krishna" if you wanted to, it would be impossible to follow his teachings (Christianity) as he taught them if you wanted to believe that Jesus ("Krishna") lived in INdia 2000yrs before he actually did. Chrisitans believe that the Bible is the word of God and it is inerrant (contains no errors). It would be pretty hard to reconcile the Gospels and the letters of the apostles if Jesus ("Krishna") had not lived with them but 2000yrs earlier in a different country. Most importantly, Christians believe that the Crucifixion of Jesus ("Krishna") is what saves us. Under your assumption, it could not have happened if HE lived 2000yrs ago, 2000miles away.

Makes sense?

cheers

 

[hartlandcat]

Chrisitans believe that the Bible is the word of God and it is inerrant (contains no errors). It would be pretty hard to reconcile the Gospels and the letters of the apostles if Jesus ("Krishna") had not lived with them but 2000yrs earlier in a different country.

It does make sense... but are you saying that you believe that it's necessary to believe in inerrancy of the Bible in order to be saved?

 

[Quijote]

It does make sense... but are you saying that you believe that it's necessary to believe in inerrancy of the Bible in order to be saved?

No. I was trying to say that it would be difficult to believe anything about the Bible (NT in particular) if there is a 2000yr/2000mile difference between the apostles and Jesus ("Krishna").

I believe that the Bible is inerrant. Is it necessary that I believe so in order to be saved? I don't know. I don't think so. Though it might make it more difficult to accept what it teaches/says if I did not believe so.

cheers

 

[Ewe]

I am sorry this turned out so long... If anyone would be patient enough to read my theory and offer some feedback, I'd be very grateful.

Jesus called himself ‘the Son of Man’. I take this to mean that Jesus is the part of God that we can share in down here – the part that displays unselfishness towards others. If you believe in this, you believe in the part of Jesus that saves people. Exactly who does believe this is again impossible for us to call:
‘ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out many demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers! ’’ (Matthew 7 v.21)

This surely backs up the case for not judging others - we can’t do it accurately, because we don’t know how. If you judge someone, you’ll treat them differently, even if subconsciously. It’s not worth the risk of punishing innocents. By assuming that we can know for sure who will go to heaven and who won’t according to what religion they adhere to, isn’t it impossible to be not also be judging them? If you think someone will go to hell, aren’t you suggesting they must deserve to go to hell? Either that, or you think they didn’t necessarily deserve hell but were sent there anyway, in which case, what does that say about your opinion of God’s justice?

Apologies if it appears that I’ve digressed, but that last point is this: Why would Jesus want us to think that anyone who doesn’t believe that he came to us in the form that Christians believe that he did, will deserve hell, when he explicitly told us to not to judge anyone? (E.g. Matthew 7 v.1-5)

However, I agree with others that you would be missing out on the benefit of Jesus’ teachings by disbelieving that he did in fact come in the form of the man Christians believe in. In his human self, he demonstrated a perfect, unselfish life; and set out guidelines for those who want to benefit others, but don’t know how due to moral dilemmas that come from our ignorance about… everything. There are certain issues that we can’t call for sure ourselves because we never know the consequences of our decisions. By accepting Jesus you could trust in what he said as the rules for doing the most good in the world because his words came straight from God, who knows everything and every possible consequence, even though He doesn’t explain the reason behind all of these. ‘No-one has ever seen God, but the Only Begotten Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.’ (John 1 v.18)

This would affect your ability to make the right decisions in the world, but it wouldn’t alter whether or not your soul is fundamentally good. No human can tell you that.

Hope that all made sense

 

[MidnightBlue]

In your view, would God prefer that I accept Lord Krishna as my personal savour as outlined above, or would God prefer that I be an atheist?

In my view, God might prefer that you work toward a more authentic Christian spirituality than imagining that anyone at all is your "personal savior." Neither the scriptures nor Christian tradition mention anything at all about a personal savior, much less "accepting" a personal savior; the concept seems to be less than two hundred years old. It seems, like so many other odd teachings, to belong primarily to those who are the spiritual heirs of John Darby.