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To: CarrotAndStick

I do appreciate the passages you have post, and your work in highlighting certain passages (while noting there does seem to be a hand towards syncretism in the translation).

But for the record, again, I will say to you, you do not need to impress me of the nature of Indians, if that is what you are attempting; I was won over for many many years.

The passages quoted in the Song of Bhagavan is quite remarkable. Early Christians (although some Protestant sects deny this and try to make all pre-Christian thoughts out to be purely demonic) believed that all the nations of the earth had impulses of God expressed within them. Plato, for instance was called "Prophet to the Gentiles" (bearing in mind that the Gentiles referred to the Hellenic culture). The ancient Christian issue with non-Christian religions is not that there is no beauty, wisdom, or grace to be found within, but that there is a lack of full awareness of Christ, and a taint of evil which contradicts the wise and beautiful impulses.

And while you'd never know it from the self-styled "traditionalist" Catholics on this site, the Catholic Church has long maintained that those who have not known Christ in name, but having discerned him in creation and yearned for him and his Way of Love can be granted the eternal bliss of the beatific vision. The charity of Christianization is in providing souls with the tools to preserve and grow that grace.


208 posted on 04/12/2006 10:02:13 PM PDT by dangus (Church: "The road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops." Me: "US gets new HOV lane.")
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To: dangus; Cronos

I agree with you mostly, Dangus, and I've also mentioned that large portions of Chutch audience in India comprise of Hindus (devout Hindus at that). This is one unique thing about Christianity and Hinduism/Sikhism in India. This is not reflected in Hindu-Islam relations or even Islam-Christian relations. Quite a number of Indian Christians on this forum, and on this very post, can attest to that.

There are exceptions, though, in Sufi Islamic places- Sufi Islam being a toned-down, Hinduism-influenced version of Islam, which was primely responsible for most of the Islamic conversions in India, and the subsequent birth of the Sikh faith.


213 posted on 04/12/2006 10:18:04 PM PDT by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: dangus; sniper22; Raj13008; The Lion Roars
And while you'd never know it from the self-styled "traditionalist" Catholics on this site, the Catholic Church has long maintained that those who have not known Christ in name, but having discerned him in creation and yearned for him and his Way of Love can be granted the eternal bliss of the beatific vision. The charity of Christianization is in providing souls with the tools to preserve and grow that grace.

Quite true.
241 posted on 04/12/2006 11:36:23 PM PDT by Cronos (Remember 9/11. Restore Hagia Sophia! Sola Scriptura leads to solo scriptura.)
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