World Religions, Jainism and the Bible

This post was written by Pete

By Pete M Robertson

After speaking with a friend the other day I went to my computer to do some research and refresh myself on their religion of Jainism. I was fascinated by what they were saying about what they do and the standards that they hold themselves accountable to. It made me want to know more, so I studied and refreshed my knowledge to see what all the excitement was about. As I was researching the history of my friends religion I started asking myself many questions regarding my purpose, why am I here on this earth, how did I get here, where do I go when I die, is their many Gods or just one God? Is there even a God?

Now as you already know I am firmly planted in my faith but I was not always like that. Upon doing research of Jainism it brought me back to when I was in college studying the religions of the world. I made an attempt to try and prove all religions of the world wrong, and I soon discovered there were many similarities with all religions that I could not prove wrong. In Jainism there are many principles that you live by that are in most religions. It made me wonder if there ever was an origin or a beginning religion, that at some point in time everyone used as a foundation to form their very own religion.

So that brought me to research further and try to discover if that hypotheses were true, and what I discovered might fascinate you.

Here is what I discovered and what has shaped me to be the person I am today. When I dug deeper into religions as a whole, I discovered that each religion had a founder, someone who had a dream or a vision, a way of life, a circumstance, something that happen to them or a thought that they had to make their life have a purpose or meaning. Let’s take Jainism for instance, although there is some dispute who founded Jainism, it is from my understanding that Rishabha, was the first Tirthankara, although some say Parshva might be, with LORD MAHAVIRA being the last, either way there was a beginning and history dates back to a person or a founder.

So why is it that significant that each religion has a founder?Well the first thing I have to ask myself is, which religion is true and which do I put my trust in? The second thing I ask myself is, are all religions basically the same and do they all lead me to heaven or some sort of nirvana? Because from my studies most religions are for the good of people, they are designed to help people make the most of their lives, to find a purpose and a meaning. So I guess I can conclude that all religions are basically good and help people cope with the everyday tasks of life.

But, I wanted more to dig deeper. That still left me feeling not fulfilled in my thoughts and understanding of it. I would ask, “Why are there so many rules in religions? Why can I not eat certain things? Why is it wrong for me to kill a bee if it stings me? I know my first thought was because it helps me to be a better person and that it keeps me out of trouble. It also helps me to be in favor with God so that I can get into heaven or to be liberated and become like god. But, why do I have to do these things to be liberated or to get into heaven? Why can I not just live my life the way I want to and do the things I feel is right? The common sense answer to this is because we all live by a standard. We all have our opinions on what is best. Sometime in our lives, we seek other people that have the same views that we have and most of the time that is why we associate with certain religions.

Ok, so once again, religions bring meaning to my life, ok I get it! But there has to be more! More questions came flying through my mind like “How did I get here, who made me, is there more than one God, what is absolute Truth, and what is my purpose? These were hard questions to ask myself and as I went searching for meaning to them, I finally discovered what absolute Truth was.

I am positive if you were to ask the same questions that I have asked and do the same study that I have done, that you will come to the same conclusion that I have.

What I discovered is that all religions were made by humans but one religion. Religions were created as man’s attempt to find God, to find purpose and meaning. The one religion that I found that was not made by man, but by God himself, is the God of the Bible. With the God of the Bible, there is no founder or person that can be traced back to as claiming to have the answers other than to God himself. In fact, the people that God gave all his information to so that it can be written down, to give us answers to life’s questions, have virtually been a perfect translation from generations to generations. For example, I have read that the Smithsonian Institute will not use any other religious book as a main source for discovery of historical significance other than the Bible.

Why is that? It’s because there have been countless manuscripts that have been discovered over the last century, which have been virtually an identical copy of the translation we use to this very day. No other historical books can claim the same. Also, each and every fact in the Bible has been proven to be correct and they have found its historical value flawless. Most religions of the world today cannot claim this fact and most have had instances where much of their original translations have been lost. Like Jainism for instances, many of the original teachings of Mahavira have been lost. As the centuries have passed some of the texts were forgotten, and others were misremembered. Monks were required to memorize the teachings but, then there came a particular disruption around 350 BCE when a famine killed off many of the Jain monks, and with them the memory of many of the Jain texts. The Bible’s historical flawlessness and that God is its founder, has made me believe that it is to be trusted more than a person that had a vision or thought.

I have found that the God of the Bible shows us that it was God that came to earth to save us and that He is the one that chooses us and we do not choose Him. Let me explain through my questions how I came to this conclusion.

So the first question is How did I get here?
In the Bible in the first book of Genesis 1 it says,

“ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.3 And God said, “Let there be light,??? and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.???

From my research, there is no other religion that can affirmatively confirm how we came into existence. So for me that was an important question I wanted answered and other religions had me found wanting with no absolutes. So my first question has been answered according to the Bible.

Without going into an expansive explanation, Jain beliefs postulate that the universe was never created, nor will it ever cease to exist. It is independent and self-sufficient, and it does not require any superior power to govern it . This explanation although I can choose to except still does not complete my greater thought. I know that many Jains will say “If God created the world, where was he before creation???? If you say He was transcendent then, and needed no support, where is He now? And my answer to this is He is here now and I experience him every day of my life.(I will explain this more later) Another question is that Jains ask is “that no single being had the skill to make this world — For how can an immaterial god create that which is material???? My answer to this is “How did anything come into existence in the first place? The second law of thermodynamics states, that everything has a beginning and an end, eventually we will die along with everything else.??? So all material or matter had to begin somewhere and based off of my study of the Bible and how it explains, that in the beginning God created all and that’s simple enough for me.

My Second Question – Who Made Me? It states in Genesis 1:26-27 26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.???27 So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them

Once again, from my studies, I have only found a handful of religions that specifically stated who made me. Islam, Mormon, etc. both of whom follow the logic of the Bible according to creation. Now there are many who believe that we evolved over millions of years to become human. I’m sorry, but for me that is way too sketchy for me to believe. I feel I would need more faith to believe that, then to simply believe that there is a God and that He loved me enough to make me. Karma is another belief that we evolve according to karma and that we exist based off of how we live our life that we are given today. This still doesn’t answer my question of who made me from the beginning.

My Third Question- Is there more than one God? This question is one I really wrestled with when trying to figure out why there are so many different religions and which one is right. When I finally discovered that the Bible was the only religion that was not made by man but God and that He came to earth to save me(I will explain this more later) I wanted to know what the Bible said about the many Gods. Well, come to find out, that the Bible talks about it and states that there is only one God and it is mentioned everywhere throughout the Bible.

Let’s take for example this scripture: Isaiah 46:9 for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ 11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.

Ok, so if I am to believe that the Bible is true and it was not made by man but from God, then I have to believe that there is only one God and that is the God of the Bible. Now this study alone is fascinating because, I find God declaring that He is the only TRUE God everywhere. Something in which I cannot find anywhere in most scriptures other than Islam etc, which are the ones that base their religion off of the Bible concept of One God. Remember, Islam was created by Muhammad and Mormonism was created by Joseph Smith.

My fourth question – What is absolute truth? According to Jains doctrine Anekantavada, It refers to the principles of pluralism and multiplicity of viewpoints, and to the notion that truth and reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view, no single one of which is complete.[30][31]Jains contrast all attempts to proclaim absolute truth with this theory, which can be illustrated through the parable of the blind men and an elephant. In this story, each blind man feels a different part of an elephant: its trunk, leg, ear, and so on. All of them claim to understand and explain the true appearance of the elephant but, due to their limited perspectives, can only partly succeed.[32] This principle is more formally stated by observing that objects are infinite in their qualities and modes of existence, so they cannot be completely grasped in all aspects and manifestations by finite human perception. Only Kevalis—omniscient beings—can comprehend objects in all aspects and manifestations; others are only capable of partial knowledge.[33] Accordingly, no single, specific, human view can claim to represent absolute truth.[30] Now I know that Jains do believe and live by a truth that leads them, as well as values or better called the three jewls, right faith, right knowledge and right conduct. But that still doesn’t answer my question of what is absolute truth.

By reading this amongst other religions viewpoints on absolute truth, I am found wanting and wondering how can I live my life without an understanding of what is right and what is wrong? From my simple mind, truth, should point me in a direction that I firmly believe will lead me to my greater purpose. So, I want to find something or someone that can help me understand what that might be. Religions that are made by man only point me to the truth of their logic, revelation and understanding. I can choose to accept their understanding and I might be fine with it for a while, but that still does not answer my question about absolute truth. Where does that come from and does it even exist?

Well, from my research of the bible, I came across a scripture in John 14:6 that said “ I am the way (meaning Jesus), the truth and the life and no man can get to God but through me(God).??? The truth, ok, so God is claiming to be Truth. So, if He is claiming to be truth and says that I am to believe in Him as truth and that His truth will lead me to salvation and to God. That makes sense to me, now I have something that I am certain of and I can have meaning to my question of what is absolute truth. This is where we are to do everything that Jesus did and to follow him and His ways. No other religion ever had someone claim to be THE absolute truth. Jesus basically said that everything he says and represents is truth. Now there is a lot of theology that I can explain here but for time’s sake I will make this short.

My Last question was- What is my purpose? Ok, this one got me searching all over the place. From my discovery all religions have a purpose and the notion to trust God and with Jains religion that of the Tirthankara’s teachings. So once again, I had to find my core understanding and that is if religions were made by man in an attempt to find God, can I trust what man is telling me to believe. Now granted most people that started religions and movements are not bad people, but people that honestly were seeking the greater good of meaning, they were searching for hope and their purpose. The Bible says that God is Holy and that He can have no part with sin, meaning everything that is evil and hurts other. For instance, like rape, an alcoholic, being hooked on drugs or porn, murdering others etc. The definition of Holy according to the Bible is God, perfect and we being created by God are not perfect. So for me, as you guys know is so true, I for stupid reasons screw up more than anybody so it seems. But back to my purpose and God being Holy and if God being Holy and cannot have any part with sin; how in the world am I going to be able to come to God and especially how am I going to have purpose and get into heaven?So now that I have asked those questions, obviously I now want answers. Here is what I discovered: When you study all the religions of the world other than the God of the Bible, you will find One major Common denominator, which is in order to be liberated or achieve a certain level of heaven, Nirvana or acceptance from god, will always depend on how one lives their life on earth. All religions are set up with a standard that their followers must live by in order to have a positive experience within their religion. Let’s take Jain religion for example, Jains aim to live in such a way that their jiva (soul) doesn’t get any more karma, and so that the karma it already has, is either eliminated or helped to decay. They do this by following a disciplined life path.

The path or Dharma (truth, teaching) that Mahavira advocated was one of strict asceticism, renunciation and moral cultivation. He instructed his followers to cultivate the three jewels of:

Right belief • Right knowledge • Right conduct

Emerging from these three jewels and relating it to right conduct are the five abstinence’s, which are the vows of:

Ahimsa (non-violence)

Satya (truthfulness)

Asteya (not stealing)

Aparigraha (non-acquisition)

Brahmacarya (chaste living)

There are two forms of the five vows:

Mahavrata: the 5 great vows followed by Jain monks and nuns

Anuvrata: the lesser vows followed by Jain lay people. These are less strict version of the great vows is it by my works

So, for Jains to achieve liberation over multiple life spans they must follow these vows. Now, as I have stated before, there is nothing wrong with these vows in of themselves. Religions are set up so that people can achieve a purpose in their life and Jainism’s principles are no doubt with a pure motive. This is not my point, my point is that all religions have a standard they have to live by in order to achieve something within their religion and this is what I call a works based doctrine. A works based doctrine is exactly what is sounds like. People of religion must work or do their duty in order to achieve their purpose and status. All religions that are man-made have this as their common denominator. Like I said to you before, if you study all the religions of the world as I have, you will find this to be true as well.

So how is the Bible different? The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So this says that our salvation is a gift of God and that it is by His grace that we are saved and that it has nothing to do with us or our works, lets any one should boast. We are created as his workmanship in order that we bring Him Glory. So to break it down even simpler, there is nothing we can do to achieve heaven. The Bible says that Jesus chose us before we were even born and that all we have to do is to believe in Him as our savior, to confess our sins to Him, and to love Him. As I said before, the Bible is the only religion that claims God chose us and was created by God and not what man came up with.

People ask “What about all the prophets in the Bible and all the different books that were written by different people????2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.Once again, God is the one that directed all and we do good work not because we have to, but because God has saved us and we love Him. For example, if I were to come home and treat my wife with disrespect every day, over time she will stop loving me, but if I treat her with total respect and love her the way Christ loves His people, she will freely love me in return. That’s the same way with Jesus, He has done all the work, all we are supposed to do is to love Him and worship Him. We do this because of His great love to us. Now once again, there is so much here that if you’re interested I can go on for hours on this subject alone, but for the case of time I will keep it brief.

One last question – What is the significance of Jesus? I keep mentioning that He has paid it all for us. Well remember when I said that God is a HOLY God and that He can have no part with sin? Well, it’s true, He created us to worship Him in spirit and in truth and for us too as it says in 1 Peter 1:16 Be Holy for I am Holy.Well, I am sure you are like me and sin all the time without even knowing that you are sinning. In my case, I do know I am sinning many times, so with that said, it raises the question of then How can I ever be made Holy? In all religions of the world, I would have to work or do something to be made Holy, but the Bible says that in order to be made Holy, I am to except His (Gods) free gift of salvation, by believing in Jesus and it has nothing to do with my works because He chose us first.

So what am I saying, I am saying that Jesus is the only God in all religions that chose to come down from heaven to live as a perfect being, and be tempted as we are tempted and never sin. The bible also says that there must be a sacrifice for sin, there must be blood spilled, since life is in the blood in order for there to be forgiveness of sins. Remember the stories of the Israelites, they used to sacrifice perfect bulls and lambs at their temple to cleanse themselves of sin. Well in the case of Jesus, He became that perfect lamb for us. He lived a perfect life while being tempted and going through all of life’s issues that we still go through. He did this so that we did not have to. He basically died for all the sins of the world and rose again from the grave three days later. This is what makes Him God, otherwise he would be just like every other man.

Once again, this is what makes the God of the Bible so different from all the other religions of the world. Because the other religions of the world were made by men, every person that started the religion is no longer alive. In the case of Jainism, I understand that once you become liberated you become spirit and live forever which is what your founders teach. Ultimately the founders of Jainism are dead, so how can we have verifiable proof that what they have taught is true. But in the case of the Bible, there is ample historical documents that showed that Jesus is alive after He died and that he ascended into Heaven in front of a multitude of eye witnesses (Acts 1:9-12) . Also, in 1 Corinthians 15:6 it shows that He appeared to about five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now. As well as there are numerous writings from others, that have claimed to have seen him. It’s like me saying, “What if I said Ghandi had never existed, you would say, no, I know someone that knew him or saw him. You could even state I’ve read our history books and it talks all about him and so forth.??? The reason being was that there was eye witnesses to his existence, that is the same thing with Jesus. There is no one in history that can say he did not exist after he rose from the grave. There are way too many eyewitnesses for this not to be true.

So I leave you with this writing by C.S Lewis “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said, would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg–or he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.???

Jesus could only have been one of four things: a legend, a liar, a lunatic–or Lord and God. There is so much historical and archeological evidence to support His existence that every reputable historian agrees He was not just a legend. If Jesus were a liar, why would he die for his claim, when he could easily have avoided such a cruel death with a few choice words? And, if he were a lunatic, how did he engage in intelligent debates with his opponents or handle the stress of his betrayal and crucifixion while continuing to show a deep love for his antagonists? Christ said he was Lord and God. The evidence supports that claim.

I can go on and write about this for ever and would love to, but I hope that this has enlightened you. I have done so much study in trying to find absolute truth; it has brought me on a journey in my life that now I can finally say that I have found it. My life has complete peace in knowing that Jesus is the one that controls my life, He is the one that protects me, guides me and provides for me. All I want to do is love Him because he has done it all and given me the free gift of salvation.

One last question to ask yourself – Do I have the Right belief, am I understanding the right knowledge and what absolute truth is guiding my right conduct?

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