Gandhi & Christianity

He was married at the age of 13 (an arranged marriage) and at the age of 18 went to England to study law, against his mother's wishes. Gandhi studied law in London, and met leaders of the Theosophical Society who's beliefs were a blend of eastern and western ideas. It was under this influence that he read the ancient Hindu text Bhagavad Gita, a biography of Buddha, and the Christian bible. Gandhi found the truth threefold through the devotion of Krishna, compassion of Buddha, and the self-sacrificing love of Jesus. His conclusion was that truth was god, and that there is no god but the truth.

Gandhi's knowledge of god was transferred into a strategy called Satyagrah which means truth force. This was also a political plan to fight injustices, oppression, and colonial domination through nonviolent means. He developed Satyagrah while he was working in South Africa as a lawyer (he was always fighting for the rights of Indian immigrants in the country) when he realized how few rights Indians had there, and throughout the world Satyagrah was born. He was able to personally test it when he returned to India in 1914, and quickly became a leader of the community.

Following advice of his political mentor Gokhail , Gandhi took a year to travel around India and become more familiar with the people's struggles. He became active in many local issues during this time. His help in these local disputes earned him a reputation and allowed him to climb into other politics.

After spending a short time in prison for his politics , he was released due to poor health. He continued to lead the Indian people by teaching them nonviolent methods of making a stance. He taught that all of the religions support the divine truth. As for Christianity, it was the "Sermon on the Mount" that particularly spoke to him and attached him to Jesus. It was this part of the bible that he said, made him realize that nonviolent resistance was the way to go, and that the "Law of Love" was passive resistance.

Gandhi said that the truths he learned from the "Sermon on the Mount" were not exclusive to Christians. He believed that Jesus would probably be opposed to many of the things done in his name, but rather true Christianity existed where there was endless love and no thought of retaliation. He believed regardless of a persons religion they must embrace the good and not cooperate with the evil in order to live a good life.

The other example about Jesus that Gandhi really liked was his forgiveness and the way he would turn the other cheek instead of striking back against an abuser. He thought this truly showed the truth and love in man. He like Jesus gave his attention to the poor and oppressed people%u2026 the untouchables in India, who's status he worked to elevate. He was particularly impressed by Jesus' self sacrifice, for love . He said that if we did not learn about living our lives with the ultimate truth and love from his sacrifice then Jesus would have lived and died in vain. Jesus to him was a role model for truth and sacrificial love.

He did however reject one of the main Christian claims that Jesus' divinity was in some way unique. He said that, if God did have sons, than all men were the sons of god. He adapted a Hindu understanding to say that Jesus was one of the humans who had incarnated divinity, and was as near to perfection as a human could become. He recognized that Jesus's teachings, and the teachings of all religions could help a person realize the divinity of truth.

Gandhi could not have been called a Christian by any conventional means. He did not think that Christianity was the greatest or a perfect religion, he simply found truths within it that he used in his teachings. Although some Christians were opposed to his hybrid of religious beliefs, many people found inspiration in the way he wove the beliefs together, and taught of love and kindness, and truly represents the spirit of Christianity in action.

Personally I found his views on Christianity to be refreshing. I think he saw the principals behind it and didn't get caught up in the petty details that aren't what the religion is about. I think he acknowledged the good teachings, but left the pettiness behind. After all, I don't think how many times you do rosary really affects the type of person you are, but how much love and forgiveness you posses does

I also think that he was right to see good in all religions. I've always felt that at heart they are basically the same, telling people they need to be good, not harm others, basically just be a nice person. He was able to find those same truths in all the religions he studied, and able to recognize the best in them all, and unify their beliefs. I think a person would be stupid to blindly believe that their religion was perfect and all others were wrong, religious texts after all were all written by man.

I am not sure that his passive methods of dealing with things are always the best way to get things done. I think the problem is that the people causing oppression may not necessarily appreciate that nonaggression. I of course am not advocating violence, and see the goodness behind doing nothing. I do however think that a person has to stick up for what he or she thinks is right, and for themselves when needed, and perhaps sometimes nonviolence isn't the way where the least people get hurt.