If the Christian Trinity is "monotheism" then why is the Hindu Trinity "polytheism" ?

Question

CHRISTIAN TRINITY as the foundation of their Polytheistic Theology

God the Father = Judge/Punisher (in OT)
Jesus the Son = Creator/Saviour/Love
Holy Spirit = Preserver/Source of Miracles

HINDU TRINITY as the foundation of their Polytheistic Theology

Shiva = Punisher/destroyer
Brhama = Creator/Love
Vishnu = Preserver/Source of Miracles


Except Hindus believe God can come in millions of forms but even then he is One God…..

This is much like the Christian trinity of God as the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The trinity represents the Divine in its threefold nature and function. Each aspect of the trinity contains and includes the others.

God is multi-part but always considered as “one”.

http://www.hindunet.org/god/trinity/index.htm

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"The Trinity . . . It did not find a place formally in the theology of the church till the 4th century." -- The Illustrated Bible Dictionary

"The three-in-one/one-in-three mystery of Father, Son and Holy Ghost made tritheism official. The subsequent almost-deification of the Virgin Mary made it quatrotheism . . . Finally, cart-loads of saints raised to quarter-deification turned Christianity into plain old-fashioned polytheism.

By the time of the Crusades, it was the most polytheistic religion to ever have existed, with the possible exception of Hinduism. This untenable contradiction between the assertion of monotheism and the reality of polytheism was dealt with by accusing other religions of the Christian fault. The Church - Catholic and later Protestant - turned aggressively on the two most clearly monotheistic religions in view - Judaism and Islam - and persecuted them as heathen or pagan.

The external history of Christianity consists largely of accusations that other religions rely on the worship of more than one god and therefore not the true God. These pagans must therefore be converted, conquered and/or killed for their own good in order that they benefit from the singularity of the Holy Trinity, plus appendages." -- The Doubter's Companion (John Ralston Saul)





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Answer 1

never have i heard of the hindu trinity the hindus have many more than 3 gods my friend and my whole life i read about pagan gods and i cant find any that had a trinity so try again

Answer 2

The difference is that the Hindu God's are never come together as one. God the Father has established the aspects of His personality and they are just extensions of Himself. Humans are never the creator and cannot be. No matter how close we get to the reflection as Christians, we are still an image of the Godhead. We do not merge consciousness with Him. We could have the exact same mind, and still be separate because He was here first and is continuing to create beyond our understanding. He is eternal and is creating. We are only at the level of learning how to create. Christians believe that we are a very young creation and in the first steps of it. Many religions, including Hindi feel that it is close to a place where you can merge with God and become one with Him. In essence He created it all so in order to become one with Him you would have to go back to the very point of creation in the material realm and then instead of Him sending you out, you would have sent Him out. Since you are already sent, then He is the sender and you are the sent. You were made in the image of God. An image is an image for sure. But the reflection is over there in front of you, it ain't you. You must have a Godly mind to understand the things of the spirit. because God is Spirit. We were all designed to have that kind of mind, thus the Mind of Christ. Jesus came as a creative miracle, to bring us back to our rightful mind.

Answer 3

you are so wrong on so many levels. the christian trinity is monotheism, one God in three persons.
the hindu trinity is something altogether different. they are three "gods"...which by definitiion is polytheism.
seeing how you totally missed what the Illustrated Bible Dictionary ( a concise reference, not an exhaustive authority) tried to tell you, that the DEFINITION (trinity) didn't become official until the Arian heresy mandated it in the 4th century, why would we consider anything else you have spelled out in your absurd construction?
the trinitarian doctrine is firmly rooted in the Church before the ascention of Christ. Jesus' own words, as put forth in the scriptures, attest to that.
the doubters companion is a joke. a true reflection of its author, Mr. Saul. and you've taken it seriously. how sad.

runic is delusional.

Answer 4

Funny the the books of Moses are believed to be from 1500 BC. The book of Isaiah is 800 BC. The Gospels from 30 AD.
You are missing the point the prophets of Gods are all in agreement it is false prophets that do not know God that do not understand the docrine is about one God. God would at least understand the doctrine of the trinity Muahmamd proves his book is not God but based on his misunderstanding.

Answer 5

The Christian god is worshiped as a single deity, while numerous Hindu deities are worshiped individually. You never hear anyone praying to the Holy Ghost, just to all three, or just to god. Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma can each be invoked in their own right.

Answer 6

The Trinity is made up Persons, not gods. 'There are three Persons in the Godhead, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit'.

Malcolm, [e-mail]

Answer 7

Ray doesnt know what he's talking about. The trinity is an old pagan concept that found it's way into Christianity, yes thats true. A quick exsample would be the goddess in wicca and celt. The maiden, the mother, the crone

Answer 8

Mystics of Every Religion understand very well that the concept of Trinity is the same in Hinduism and Christianity. Just the "spiritual learders" of every Religion says their Religion to be the Right ones and others to be a mis-believing and so on. It is a matter of Economical Power. That's all. BE A MYSTIC ONE! Inner Light.

Answer 9

Christan is liek Landrover. Defender, Range Rover, Discovery, Freelander, All different all Landrover.
God the Dad, Spooky and JC is al God.


Shiva Brhama Vishnu is al seprate Gods.

Answer 10

Wow lots to think about - very interesting. I can only answer by my experiences as a born again Catholic. Without the heavenly father sending his son Jesus to give me hope, life and a place in His family and the Holy Spirit to guild me and empower me in my daily life I would be toast!