Dear Bhavita,
Amiable greetings to you. How is your health now? May the almighty
God our Lord Jesus streng then you to write your exams well. We have
been praying for your speedy recovery. May the lord bless you and help
you to write your exams.
I received your letter and the long hand written notes on Jainism.
Really you have taken much pain to write all the details of Jainism.
It is a very good, detailed study of the life and work of the unlighted
soul, the Mahavira and his Jainism. Since you have been studying religion
and philosopher you would have been knowing many thing in Christian
faith in general. As you have asked me to share openly about my faith
on the Lord Jesus and Bible. I am writing on that line. Ii is good news
to the disturbed person and certainly will bring a peace of mind to
the thirsty soul, may the lord almighty the creator of the whole universe
grand success.
1, according to Mahavira there is no supreme being but later his
follower made him also a God. And given him the designation as the 24th
Tirthankara the last and the greatest of the savior being.
If you look at Jesus Christ, before his
birth (1) in the testament, prophecies were made some hundreds of years
before (2) the New Testament is a historically reliable account of Jesus
life. (3) The New Testament records these predictions as being fulfilled
in his birth, resurrection and later so forth.
So the deity of the lord Jesus Christ is prouu by the scripture.
a)
His sinless life (mat 1:23; LK 1:31,35) a fulfillment of Gen
3:15 and Isa: 7:14 a long time before prediction in the O.T.
b)
His sinless life (Heb 7:26; 1 pet 2:22)
c)
His miracles (acts 2:22; 10:38; Mat 9:335 for told in Isa. 35:
5)
d)
His substitutionary work on the cross. (1 cor. 15:3; 2 cor. 5:21;
I.
Piercing his hands and feet (ps 22:16 of Lk. 23:33).
II.
Being crucified with thieves (Isa. 53:12 of Mat. 17:38)
III.
Praying for his persecutors (Isa 53:12 of Lk.23: 34.
IV.
Piercing of his side (Zech, 12:10 of John 19:34).
e)
His bodily resurrection from the dead. (Mat. 28:6Lk 24:39 1 cor
15:4).
I.
He will raise from the dead (Ps 2:7; 16:10 of Acts 2:31 and Mark
16:6)
f)
His exaltation to the right hand of God. (Acts 1:9,11,2:33; Phil
2:9-11; Heb 1:3)
I.
He will sirt in the right hand of God. (Ps 110: 1 more than all,
unlike worshiped by his followers. He himself quoted by his predisesar
John the Baptist as the Jn.1: 29 “the lamb of God, who takes away the
sin of the world.
In Jn.14:6; Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no
one comes to the father except through me.
In Mat. 11:28 he called all those who have problem to come to him.
“come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest.
In. Jn. 3:16, 17 it says for the purpose for which he was
sent to this world by the God the Father. “For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life.
Vs 17 for god did not send his son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him.
He said any one who has seen me has seen the father. (John 14:9),
He also received worship from people (Mat. 2:2,11, 14:33; 28:9) he exercised
divine authority by forgiving sins (Mat 2:1-12) his disciples recognized
him as the Son of God. (Mat. 16:16)
2) Mahavira secondly taught the importance of the casteless society.
The bible says in Gen.1: 27
“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule
over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the live stock….
So God created Man in his own image, in the image of god he created
him, male and female he created them.
3)
Mahavira did not teach the existence of God at all. Then to any
one who can think, how then all the world, the creations came in to
being. The bible starts with the creation. How God created every thing
and made man and woman and made them to rule everything Gen. 1:26.
4)
Self-Denial
Jainism is a religion of asceticism involving
rigid self-denial. But to the laymen a modified code was given.
In the bible we see Jesus praying to the father for all his disciples
in Jn 17:15f “my prayer is not that you take them out of the world
but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world.
Even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth.”
So we can understand unless god helps us our own efforts we cannot be
become holier.
5)
Non-violence.
The main practice of Jainism is non-violence or ahimsa. Ahiam means
“”This is the quintes sense of wisdom: not to kill anything.” but it
is impossible to practice fully since there is no way to avoid killing
millions of micro-organisms every time even a glass of water is drink.
In the bible Room.14: 21”it is better not to eat meat of drink wine
or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.” So it
is not the food is bad or should not we use, but we should be a stumbling
block to others. Because Rom 14:15 “if your brother is distressed because
of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do no your eating
destroy your brother for whom Christ died.
6)
The principles of Jainism:-
a.
The Jainism up holds 12 angas. That teach us the three ways of
committing sins, by action, by authorizing, and by approval.
But bible says there is no one without sin “all have sinned