Introduction
Religion remains a multifaceted concept with all of its aspects not clearly defined. This articulated discourse is comparative research between Christianity and Jainism. On this accord, the comparison will be hinged on certain defining elements of religion such as belief in supernatural being or deity, belief regarding life after death, religious texts, historical development and belief about proper behavior or practices.
Belief in Supernatural Being
Christianity is the world’s largest religion, with approximately 2.1 billion followers globally (BBC, 2009). It is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as the savior of humankind. On this accord, Christians believe in a supernatural deity called God. This deity or God has been given unmatched attributes that transcend all concepts, ideation, and images. For instance, the Christians believe and have characterized God as a supernatural deity that transcends all human thoughts and experiences, but at the same time, mirrors them.
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Further, regardless of the religious subdivision of Christianity as well as the language, all Christians believe that God is holy and is untainted by human reasoning or humanistic flaws called sin. He is also characterized as the creator, merciful and full of grace. Ultimately, he is believed to be a jealous God who transcends and hates all other forms of worshipped deities or gods –for he is believed to be the one true God.
On the other hand, Jainism is an ancient religion from India whose teachings are based or hinged on harmlessness and renunciation as ways to liberation and bliss. The purpose of this religion is to attain or achieve the liberation of the soul. In other words, the religious goal of Jainism is to attain complete perfection and purification of the soul, Dundas, Shah, & Strohl, 2017). As such, since the religion is self-centered or based on self-help, Jainism does not believe in a supernatural deity, or a God like Christians do. Reiterating these sentiments is BBC (2009) which ascertains that Jainism believes in no gods or spiritual beings that can help human beings –only humans can help themselves and their souls.
Belief about Life after Death
Christians believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that one day, true believers will resurrect and ascend into heaven to dwell with Jesus and God for eternity. On this accord, Christians believe in the immortality of the soul as opposed to the body. They also believe in the judgement day –which is the day of the rapture, a time when God comes to judge the holy and unholy or true believers and nonbelievers on account of their actions on earth. The holy are promised heaven while the unholy or nonbelievers hell. As such, Christianity indeed believes in life after death, and therefore, heaven and hell. However, these two places (Heaven and Hell), though believed to be real, they are spiritual concepts meaning that only the soul rather than the body can go to these places, but the experiences will be perceived as though one is in the bodily form.
Comparatively, Jainism also believes in the immortality of the soul. However, because Jainism does not believe in a supernatural being, they as well do not believe in heaven and hell or their conceptions. Instead, after the death of the body, as opposed to Christianity, the soul ( Jiva ) is reborn into a different body to live another life, what Jains refer to as reincarnation –an opposite equivalent of Christianity’s resurrection. In essence, this cycle of birth, death, and rebirth continues until the soul achieves eternal liberation, where the soul lives forever in the state of bliss.
Belief about Proper Practices and Behavior
Proper behavior and practices in this vein refer to guiding ethical and moral practices or actions attributed to each religion under discussion. Christians believe in the sanctity of life in all life forms, including plants and animals as part of God’s creation, and because God made humans the stewards of his creation, this mandate is paramount. On this accord, Christianity is opposed to abortion as a grave contradiction to the moral law –some go as far as considering it to be murder. Further, since according to the Christian story of creation in Genesis, God made man and woman for companionship and procreation; Christians are against same-sex marriage and all similar behaviors and practices pertinent to homosexuality in general. Also, all forms of sexual practices outside the ordained Christian marriage such as adultery, incest, contraception, fornication, etc. are considered immoral and unethical. Christians also believe in living a truthful and honest life as per the commanded will of God. The Christian Bible ascertains that God hates a lying tongue, and as such, Christians believe in walking in the truth as a way of following God’s law. Overall, Christian behaviors and practices are proffered and kept in check by the Ten Commandments which specify ethical behavior and practices for Christians. However, other moral teachings and practices such as circumcision and baptism can be found in the Bible.
Comparatively, the Three Jewels in Jainism encompass knowledge, faith, and practice which must be cultivated concurrently by the believer because they are all dependent of each other and none can exist in the absence of the other. In essence, these jewels constitute the Jain doctrinal and ethical stance (Dundas, Shah, & Strohl, 2017). Thus, Jainism similar to Christianity believes in kindness and detachment of material things. Jainism further propagates for calmness and tranquility, the renunciation of the pride of birth, prowess, the beauty of form, wealth, fame, and scholarship as ways of achieving Right Faith. Jainism as well believes in nonviolence in the same manner that Christians are against wars and violence. According to Jainism belief, thoughts often result in action and as such, violent thoughts result in violent behaviors. Thus, Jainism emphasizes avoidance of all forms of injury, whether physical, mental or spoken. To this end, Jains believe that nonviolence is the highest form of religious practice.
Religious texts and Rituals
Christianity’s most recognized and holy text is the Bible. Christians believe the text to be a complete guide to life because it addresses all aspects of humanity and how God wills Christians to address these aspects. In essence, this text divided into sections (the Old and New Testaments) contains literature on Christian teachings and a complete library of songs, poetry, history, and letters. The most exciting book of the 66-book text is Revelation, which describes and narrates the end times. Another key text of the religion is Didache, which describes the process of Gentiles’ conversion to Jews and thereby Christianity.
Additionally, Christianity subscribes to certain identifying rituals such as baptism which is a ritual of conversion to Christianity and receiving salvation in Jesus Christ. Other rituals include circumcision which traces its roots back to Abraham, the “father of Christianity.” Other rituals include marriage between man and woman, worshipping in churches, synagogues, temples, etc., fasting, celebrating the Eucharist, and taking the sacrament in Catholic Christianity.
In comparison, Jains’ holy text that contains the faith’s teachings Mahavira is called Agamas . The text is considered to include canonical literature connoted as the scriptures of Svetambara Jainism memorized in categories referred to as sutras equivalent to biblical chapters. However, while the teachings are referred to as texts, they are not written in hardcover as in the Bible and the Didache. Part of the Jainism ritual is the vow of non-acquisition by monks which prohibited them from possessing religious books or writing. Thus, the Svetambara Jainism texts were to be memorized by monks and passed down to future generations. Some of the monks such as the Digambara who are full-fledged remain naked as part of Jain ritual while low-ranking monks cover themselves with small clothing. Similar to fasting, Jain monks also take part in Sallekhana , ritual starvation meant to empower the soul by letting go of the body.
Historical Development
According to Stefon et al. (2019), Christianity began as a movement within Judaism during a period when foreign powers had culturally and politically conquered the Jews. When foreign rulers such as Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 168 to 165 BCE tried to impose the Greek culture in Palestine, it provoked revamped resistance among the Jews culminating in the Judas Maccabeus revolt against them. However, some of the Jews accepted the Greek culture and began to take in Greek converts without circumcision. This was the first contamination of the Jewish particularity and exclusiveness. Soon afterwards, zealot and Pharisee revolutions shook Jewish Christianity in the toil between Christianity as per Mosaic Law and the salvation of Jesus Christ. Thus different subdivisions emerged and each faith with its affiliates soon becoming a world religion at the cost of Jewish exclusiveness and particularity. Thus, Judea was lost, while both the Roman and Greek cultures influenced separation and rise of different Christian movements which led to the Jewish revolution against the Romans in 66-70 and 132-135 BCE. Thus Christianity emerged as a fragmented religion while the authentic traditions and practices from Judaism were lost with only a few affiliations to Jewish Christianity –most of the subdivisions of Christianity sought to distance themselves from the confining nature of particularity and exclusiveness of Jewish Christianity.
Comparatively, Jainism has no specific founder, and as such, its roots cannot be pinpointed to a particular time in history. Additionally, the founding monks referred to as “teachers who make a ford” memorized all the texts and passed down the knowledge to future generations (BBC, 2009). Another connotation of historical foundations is linked to Tirthankaras . Although these are not considered as founders of Jainism, they are widely accepted supreme and omniscient teachers that existed through different times in history and taught the way to moksha or liberation.
However, the closest connotation to the founder of the religion is Mahavira (the last Tirthankara ) who is considered as the man who gave Jainism its present form. However, scholars generally believe that Jainism originated in the seventh century BCE in the Ganges basin of Eastern India. The Brahmanic tradition of ritualistic sacrifices inspired the general culture around the time. As such, religions such as Jainism and Buddhism developed as opposition or denunciation of the Brahmanic traditions by promoting asceticism. Certain sects such as Digambara engaged in politics which allowed Jainism to prosper throughout India, especially in Karnataka and Deccan.
Nonetheless, despite renunciation of its practices, Jainism through the Digambara laity adopted the Brahmanic caste system where there were ranking monks and lower-order monks with women or nuns considered to be incapable of achieving liberation. After wandering as ascetics during their patronage in the medieval period, modern Jain monks began settling in permanent temples and monasteries. Similar to the lost particularity and exclusiveness of Judaism in Christianity, Jainism also lost its ritual of assuming a life of nakedness for the high-ranking monks and instead, wore differently colored robes to differentiate rank as seen in the contemporary world.
Conclusion
Despite the two religions conflicting on concepts such a supernatural deities and life after death, they proffer similarities which indicate the not-so-different nature of the two. Furthermore, as religions, the two play a vital role in the contemporary world by speaking against violence and promoting kindness and spiritual illumination, which are central aspects to a cohesive society despite differential belief systems. On this accord, whether a Christian or Jain, being affiliated to either side does not mean superiority or inferiority as both are equally important –and, there is no generally research-based justification for preferring one over the other except for personal belief.
References
BBC. (2009). Christianity. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/
BBC. (2009). Jainism. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/
Dundas, P., Shah, U., & Strohl, G. (2017). Jainism. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc . Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jainism
Stefon, M., Crow, P. A., Chadwick, H., Marty, M. E. … & Benz, E. W. (2019). Christianity. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc . Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity/The-history-of-Christianity
