Issue of Idol Worship

How can Hinduism and the Bible agree, when God says do not make any carved images of anything? “Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God.

Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. Leviticus 19:4 “‘Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 4:16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, Deuteronomy 16:22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.  

Deuteronomy 27:15 “Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol–a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of the craftsman’s hands–and sets it up in secret.”  John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Issue of Re-Incarnation

The next distinction between Christianity and Hinduism are the beliefs of what happens once we die. While Christians believe in salvation of he soul and Hindu”s in “freedom” of the soul, the Hindu believes this is achieved through rebirth (re-incarnation). While most of us here in the west would say, “you only live once,” such a saying would be viewed as odd for a Hindu. If you mess up in this life, the Hindus believe you get another chance. You might be reborn to a lower form of life (a lower caste even), but at least your punishment is not eternal. Christianity is quite different. Only those who are “born again” will inherit eternal life through Jesus Christ. Those who are outside of God’s protection in Christ will be subject to an eternal destruction in a lake of fire. This may explain why the Hindu God(s) are more tolerant than the Christian God. If there is reincarnation and if there is no hell, Hindus can afford to be patient and to learn the long, hard way: by experience rather than by faith and revelation.  

Issue of Scripture

In Christianity, the Word of God comes from only one source – the Holy Bible. The Word of God has a strict code of morals and basic life for humans to follow, just as the Hindu Gods in the Hindu scriptures do. However, the Hindus rely on many written sources for their faith: the Vedas, the Puranas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad-Gita, and the Manu Smirti.