There are countless religions worldwide, many of which have distinct to slight

differences. Each of these faiths can also contain various practices that distinguish it from others,

creating subgroups of these faiths. Some of these faiths have adopted practices from other faiths

to incorporate into the worship of their deity. Since each religion contains its own truths, they

also contain views of other religions’ deities that they may see as faulty or lacking in truth. Some

religions believe there cannot be any human form of God or that God cannot come down in a

human body because all humans are imperfect. For example, the Indian religion of Hinduism has

a significant influence on Indian culture which includes things like health, ethics, and social

welfare. Hinduism shares a wide range of practices that make it one of the major religions of

India. Many connection points within the Hindu faith and practices create points of engaging

conversation with those who practice Christianity. The Hindu religion has many views or

opinions of Christianity, even views and opinions of Christianity’s deity, Jesus. Interestingly,

during His ministry with the people He encountered, He often asked them, ' Who do you say I

am?’ With Christianity being one of the most believed faiths in the world, Hinduism has much to

say about Jesus. Some of these views that will be analyzed may or may not align with the truth of

who Jesus is, but this paper will analyze and give an apologetic response to the Hindu

perceptions and views of who Jesus Christ is. This paper will engage with some Hindu opinions

of whom they see Jesus as and engage with those views, comparing and contrasting them with

the Christian scriptures. To be effective at evangelizing to other people of different faith beliefs,

one must understand other perceptions, then create reasoning dialogue from those perceptions

based on scripture in the Bible.

Jesus As Teacher
 According to Hindu believers, the question of who Jesus is can have many answers. One

of the ways in which Hindu believers perceive Jesus is as an excellent teacher of ethical norms

and morals. According to Gregory A. Barker in the book Jesus in the World’s Faith, the earliest

Hindu view of Jesus is that of Raja Ram Mohun Roy, who believed Jesus was a great if not

exemplary, preceptor of ethical norms; He was an ideal human being.1 He is viewed by Hinduists

as a regular human being with God inside of Him instead of being God in the flesh. In

Christianity, part of this view is asserted because the Christian scriptures say He was a Great

Teacher, and many pointed to His reputation as a “Master.” The account in the Bible where Jesus

is referred to as Teacher is of the rich young ruler which can be referenced in the Gospel of Luke

(Luke 18:18-30). The rich young ruler asked Jesus what He must do to gain eternal life. Jesus

went on to tell him about the commandments. He then told Jesus that he kept them, but Jesus told

him he lacked one thing, so he did not keep them perfectly. Jesus taught many in His ministry,

not only about the Mosaic Law but about the will of God for humanity since He was the

fulfillment of the Law. When He taught about the Law, it was about the complete intent of the

Law which was supposed to make man righteous. So, this is one of many accounts of Jesus being

referred to as a Teacher. Hinduism is not wrong in this view of Jesus being a great Teacher and

ideal human being; however, this belief only contains partial truth about the totality of who Jesus

was.

According to Wayne G Johnson in the book Judging Jesus: World Religions’ Answers to

Who Do People Say That I Am?, “A number of Hindu voices were generally positive toward the

figure of Jesus as a teacher, but they rejected the Christian message about him.”2 That Christian

message about Him is that He came from Heaven to Earth to save humanity from their sins by

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living a sin-free life on our behalf. This is the other part of the truth of Jesus’ deity that Hinduists

cannot accept. Johnson spoke about a Hindu man by the name of Dayananda Saraswati who

denied the truth of His virgin birth and miracles He performed, saying that people who believed

in these things were “ignorant and credulous.”3 However, the miracles and the virgin birth the

Bible speaks of further solidify the truth about His deity and that He was God in human flesh. If

a person is to understand or be convinced of another person’s god, they must be willing to

consider the other person’s story of their faith. They have to be willing to consider the other

person’s truth accounting. After the person listens to the other person’s story in full, they can then

draw their own conclusion.

Since Hinduism has a variety of practices and is not considered a monotheistic religion, it

is logical how Hinduists can perceive Jesus as just a great Teacher. According to Mary Pat Fisher

in Living Religions, included in Hindu worship practices is the worship of images representing a

multiplicity of deities. 4 Fisher says that according to tradition, there are 330 million deities in

India. In the Hindu faith alone, there are many gods that Hindu people worship, serving many

different purposes. Some examples of these are Indra, who is the god of thunder and rains; Agni,

who is the god of fire; and Ushas, who is the goddess of dawn.5 As we can see in these examples

of many gods, this is Hinduism's philosophy and approach to who God is. With this view of the

possibility of more than one god, in their perspective, Jesus can be viewed as just one of the

many gods Christians choose to worship. If a person is to hold that God is One, then He cannot

consist of many deities, especially to do His will on Earth.

Jesus as Living Sacrifice

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 Another way Hindu people perceive Jesus is as a nobleman who was all about living His

life to sacrifice for others. In Jesus in the World’s Faiths, Barker talks about the view of Jesus,

developed by Mahatma Gandhi, that Jesus was an embodiment of sacrifice, and his

personification of love and commitment to truth were made evident.6 Like the first Hindu view

of Jesus referenced in this paper, the idea that Jesus embodies sacrifice is true to Christian

scriptures. Jesus was always selfless and moved in selfless love toward those He encountered

and ministered to. For example, when Jesus met the woman at the well, He broke down the wall

of cultural separation to speak into the woman’s life. He was a Jew, and she was a Samaritan –

they were not allowed to interact with one another according to the Law. Jesus said that if she

knew who He was, she would give her living water (John 4:10). When the woman asked Him for

living water, He told her to go to her husband and return to Him. She revealed to Him that she

had no husband, and then He told her that she had had five and the man she had at the time was

not her husband. This word of knowledge He gave broke down the barrier of separation between

Jews and Samaritans so that they could receive the message of salvation from Him. So, we see

here that Jesus made the sacrifice socially to give this woman the water that would give her life

so she would not die spiritually. Her body was thirsting, but more importantly, her soul was

thirsting for God and for truth. Jesus sacrificed to speak into the Samaritan woman’s life,

knowing the law against it.

Although the Hindu view of Jesus being the embodiment of sacrifice through his actions

of love and commitment to others is accurate, that is not the full scope of His sacrifice. Jesus

showed His sacrifice in His actions toward others and in taking on punishment that He did not

deserve. Baker says, "The Christian significance of Christ as the one who took on the sins of

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humanity in the eyes of a just God simply has no meaning or role in Hindu thinking.”7 Suppose a

person is to talk about the extent of Jesus being the embodiment of sacrifice through His

personification of love and commitment. In that case, they cannot omit the dialogue of Him

dying on the cross for humanity’s sin or speak about His death allegorically. This was the

ultimate and once for all sacrifice that Jesus gave for humanity. The Christian faith is based on

death, burial, and resurrection.

What drove Jesus to such love and commitment is that He saw value in God’s creation,

especially human beings. Jesus’ very nature was love which caused Him to care for others and go

out of His way to honor those who stood out from their society because of marginalization.

According to David J. Neumann in the article “Christ as Yogi,” “Jesus saw intrinsic value in

‘every man and woman, whether Jew or Gentile, whether rich or poor, whether saint or sinner.’”8

We can see the embodiment of love and commitment in the same example used earlier with the

rich young ruler. Neumann also says about this account that Jesus’ “secret to his great vision was

his spiritual outlook: he had ‘no faith in this evanescent world all its belongings.’”9 In His

conversation with the rich young ruler, Jesus was not interested in what the rich young ruler

could do for Him; He was interested in what God had already done for the rich young ruler. As

Hindu people see Jesus as a great Teacher, as mentioned earlier, even in His teaching, He

embodied love and commitment to others by telling them how they could inherit eternal life.

When He told the rich young ruler how he could gain eternal life, the rich young ruler walked

away sad because He was not willing to do what Jesus recommended: sell His things or

distribute them to the poor. Despite the ruler’s reaction to what He said, Jesus still had to speak

the truth to this young man. He did so because of His love and commitment to people.
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 So while there is truth in viewing Jesus as the embodiment of love and commitment is

correct, if Hindu people truly believe that He was the full embodiment of love and commitment,

they have to consider the purpose of His ministry, the reason He interacted with the way He did

with the people He encountered and ministered to, and the ultimate sacrifice He made in dying

on the cross to save humanity for their sins.

Jesus as Divine

In Hinduism today, there is a belief that Jesus has a divine nature. In Jesus in the World’s

Faiths, Barker says that the aspect of earlier Hindu views of Jesus that retains influence now is

the recognition of Jesus as unquestionably divine in some way.10 It is accurate to recognize Jesus

as divine, but recognizing Him as such is only partially true. In Christianity, the belief is that God

is One and that there shall be no gods before Him (Exodus 20:3). By definition of Christianity,

God can only be One, and there is only one God. He is the Creator God, and no other gods assist

Him in managing creation. Barker also says that “For many, many Hindus, Jesus becomes just

such a manifestation of the divine, to be approached as the divine, but within the background of

the tacit belief that the divine is approachable in many forms.”11 Hinduism believes in many

different gods and goddesses, and these gods and goddesses hold many qualities and attributes.

According to Tennent in Christianity at the Roundtable, these attributes from the other gods and

goddesses are referred to as Brahman.12 In Hinduism, Brahman is the totality of qualities found

in all the gods. Hindu people claim to believe in a Supreme Absolute in two ways – they present

two levels of it or two levels of reality. Timothy C. Tennent says, “The highest level is known as

nirguna Brahman. The lower level of reality is known as saguna Brahman.”13 One level of

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Brahman is formless, and the other is without form. They believe that all of the qualities found in

all the gods and goddesses make up Brahman, which is the oneness of God. Here, Hinduism

claims a monotheistic God, but by definition, they ultimately hold a polytheistic belief. With this

wide-ranging view of gods that Hindu people believe in, they view Jesus as one of the many

gods. So, in the Hindu view, Jesus is just one of those many forms of God. Since Jesus is seen as

unquestionably divine in some way, this is still insufficient to capture a Hindu person’s

conviction that Jesus is the One True God. In fact, according to Varughese John in the article A

Sense of History and Apologetics in a Hindu Context, “the association of historical rigor with

Christian beliefs is often met with genuine indifference in a Hindu context.”14 With such a view

that the Supreme Absolute God contains all the attributes of all the gods and goddesses, it will be

impossible for a person to know who the One True God is. This indifference has caused Hindu

people not to see the full scope of who Jesus is.

Not only do people see Jesus as one of the many manifestations of the divine, they see

His teachings and messages as a part of the inclusive nature of their beliefs. With Hinduism

believing in divinity in many forms, they see Jesus as one of the most powerful manifestations of

divinity. In the book Jesus in World’s Faiths, Barker says Hindu people see Jesus in terms of Him

being “the most spiritually apt and emotionally satisfying and ethically fulfilling manifestation of

divinity.”15 It is understandable how Hindu people can see Jesus in this way because of the love

that he showed all of the people he encountered while he was on earth, and the way that he

sacrificed for those who were considered outcasts of society. He not only showed love for people

and moved in charitable acts towards others, but he died in place of sinful human beings. These

and other actions that Jesus took during his ministry on earth were not just emotionally satisfying

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and ethically fulfilling manifestations of his divinity; they were motivated and inspired by the

will of God through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, a part of the Trinity, moved Jesus to do

what he did and fulfill the will of God while he was here on earth. Jesus, in his humanity,

certainly had a choice to disobey his father, but he and his father were One. Jesus performing his

ultimate sacrifice in dying on the cross for the sins of humanity requires a person to consider His

divinity as the One true and living God.

Gregory A. Barker, in the book Jesus Beyond Christianity: The Classic Texts,, “Hinduism

can be seen as an inclusive, pluralistic faith…”16 With Hinduism not considering theological

concepts of who God is, they have a loose view of what true divinity is. Hinduism is inclusive in

that, according to the Hindu faith, they can see anyone in history as a god just because they

exhibited godly character while they lived here on Earth. The problem with believing in the deity

of many gods is that not all deities may lead a person to the same values. A person cannot truly

have faith in a deity if their devotion is to multiple other gods. The philosophy of being an all-

inclusive faith sounds good, but part of faith is anchoring trust in a solid deity or belief. There is

a belief that in being an all-inclusive religion, the godly aspect of this philosophy is showing

tolerance of world views. Andrew J. Nicholson, in the book Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and

Identity in Indian Intellectual History, says, “This tendency to absorb philosophical, theological,

and cultic diversity as a part of a larger whole is substantially different from ‘toleration’

sometimes cited as one of Hinduism’s essential features.”17 The potential issue with tolerance of

other world views is that one can compromise in their faith, not standing on their truth. The

purpose of having faith in their belief system is to hold it true and the ultimate truth. Without

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having an ultimate truth to stand on, the person cannot have true faith in whatever they say they

believe.

Hindu people do not understand that Jesus had a mission and that what He did while on

Earth aligned with Him being the One God sent to save humanity. They need to understand what

caused Him to exhibit the divinity He had. He had the very nature of God, and He was not just

“unquestionably divine.” In Jesus in the World’s Faiths, Barker says, "Hinduism is accepted as a

lesser and partial realization of the divine fully manifested only in Christianity.” 18 When Hindu

people do not acknowledge the uniqueness of His mission, God the Father, and His workings of

miracles and healing, they do not understand how he was not different from a god or someone to

be looked at as noble or of good character.

In speaking of how Hindu people view Jesus’ divinity, Matej Karasek says that Jesus is

considered a person who teaches Hindu believers to the depth of their hearts.19 Christianity

includes the belief in a triune God, and the Holy Spirit is one person of that Trinity. This aspect

of God living on the inside of a believer through the Holy Spirit aligns with the divinity of Jesus

because through the Holy Trinity, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father are One. Even

though Hindus believe Jesus can exist as an inner guru teaching about the depths of the heart,

this still views Jesus in a mythological way because He is only being viewed abstractly. The term

guru carries meaning in the Hindu faith. According to Ithamar Theodore and Yudit Kornberg

Greenberg in Dharma and Halacha: Comparative Studies in Hindu-Jewish Philosophy and

Religion, the meaning of a guru is a teacher. 20 As mentioned earlier, one of Hinduism’s views

is that they see Jesus as a great Teacher. This Hindu view of seeing Jesus as just a great

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Teacher prohibits Hindu people from seeing Jesus as God. If He is to be viewed by Hinduism

as entirely divine, then He cannot be thought of in abstract ways. Anyone of the historical people

that Hindus see as a god can be said to live on the inside of a person. The Hindu view of divinity

is very broad and loose and does not go in-depth as to what it holds as theologically true about

God or the nature of who God is. According to Gregory A. Barker in the book Jesus in the

World’s Faiths, one Hindu thought of Christianity is that Jesus Christ is not God come down

as human as much as a human manifesting God. 21 Hindu belief is that God can inhabit an

individual, but God cannot be an incarnate human being because humans cannot be perfect in

Hindu thought.

Describing Jesus

Another perspective of Jesus within Hindu thought is that He is unknowable and

essentially incomprehensible. Hindu people believe that human language is insufficient to

describe God. Timothy C Tennent talks about the view of Hindu theologian Sankara saying

that theology does not permit divine revelation that can be spoken of with assurance and

confidence.22 According to the Hindu view, human words and descriptions are not enough to

describe the supreme God. This view goes in line with the Hindu thought that the qualities and

attributes of God can be found in many gods. Since they believe that various attributes and

qualities are found in many gods, it is impossible for them to know the one, true God.

However, if a person can have a relationship with God, he has to be somewhat

knowledgeable. In Advaitism, a branch of Hinduism, tenant speaks of some car saying that a

Hindu or any person who talks about God descriptively cannot be assured that he or she
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speaks accurately and meaningfully. 23 If Hindu people believe in one God made up of many

qualities and attributes from all gods and goddesses, then is it possible that they can believe in

a God with whom people can have a relationship? In the article Tripersonalising the Hindu

God of Advaita Vedanta- Parabrahman, Bryan Lobo adds commentary to Sankara’s view of

God by saying, “Sankara cannot accept the Parabrahman as a person Being because the very

idea of person would signify necessary relation and necessary relation would be seen as a

limitation because it involves a dependence on another.” If there is no way for a human being

to describe God or communicate with him, then there is no way for them to have a

relationship with him. If a human cannot have a relationship with God, then is that God truly

God? So, the assumption with Christianity as it relates to Hinduism is that when a Christian

describes their God or the scriptures describe their God, these would be deemed insufficient

descriptions.

In speaking of the human ability to describe God and his characteristics or attributes,

Tennent Talks about Sankara’s perspective of what the word “just” means when a person uses

it to describe God. He states that Sankara sees the word “just” when used to describe God,

containing the reference point of referring to judges in a human court. 24 Sankara thinks that

when a person uses the word “just,” they have no other reference point when they use the

word. No matter how upright or honest this human judge may be, one cannot use it to

understand God’s justice or God as a judge. 25 However, while human language is imperfect

and cannot perfectly describe the attributes of God, God, the Creator of language, can still use

flawed human descriptions to help humanity understand who He is and all the attributes and

qualities that make Him who He is. One example of God using perfect human beings and their
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language is through the authors of the Bible. Human beings wrote the biblical scriptures, and

God inspired the words in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). God is greater than any language

barrier and can work beyond them to communicate His message. When God speaks to us, He

uses our imperfect English language for us to have a relationship with Him. Despite the

limitations of human language, we can still speak meaningfully about God. Speaking

meaningfully about God does not imply that we be perfect in doing so. For someone to speak

meaningfully about him, they just need to speak from their heart.

Another way of viewing the limitation of human language is that words are not as

important as actions. Tennent says, “Evangelicals have been accused of putting so much

emphasis upon defending the written words of scripture that we have forgotten the Christian

faith is not about words written in any book (including the Bible), but about the historical

intervention of God in human history, culminating in Christ himself.” 26 Just as our actions

speak more effectively than our words can communicate, God's actions speak more effectively

than His words. Knowing that God lives and moves amongst us is enough for us to believe in

him. There are many ways that God speaks to us, and language is not the only way that he can

speak or interact with us. There are times when God has spoken through signs to his people.

For instance, in the Bible, the Angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, telling them a

savior would be born to them. The sign the Lord gave them is that they will find a baby

wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Luke 2:9-12). We can see in this

example that the language the people spoke at the time did not matter because the sign that the

Angel of the Lord told the shepherds that God would provide for them was sufficient. So, this

is why, even though words are not perfect and cannot perfectly describe an infinite and perfect

God, human language does not have to be perfect to describe a perfect God.
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Jesus as Part of Brahman in Creation

Since Hindu people view God as the totality of all of creation, they view Jesus as a

part of a thing called maya. Tennent states that maya is the key concept around Brahman’s

entire system. All embodied expressions of God, including Jesus, are a part of maya. 27 In this

Hindu view, since Jesus is seen as only a part of maya, he has no power or real existence

within the universe. The aspect of maya in Hinduism is about magic or illusion. According to

Britannica Encyclopedia, “Maya originally denoted the magic power with which a god Hindu

people do not view Jesus as the Supreme God, so they see him as just another part of illusory

part of creation. Hinduism's ultimate view is that Brahman is the cause of everything. Hindu

belief sees God as just some idea of creation instead of an actual deity. As mentioned earlier,

the idea of Brahman will not allow a person to see God as a supernatural being. The

inconsistency in this view is that God cannot be created, and Jesus, who was born of his

Father, being given deity in his human form, cannot be seen as just another part of the sum

total of creation. During his time on earth, Jesus worked miracles in people's lives through the

power provided by his Father in Heaven. Tennent also says that Hindu people believe that

Brahman equals the universe. 28 They seem to view God in essence with all of creation instead

of God being God by himself. If God is the sum total of all things on earth, then a person

cannot have a relationship with him.

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