http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/reincar/re-svm.htm
This goes along with my thinking on the two religions. This is just an excerpt from the whole article linked above.
This goes along with my thinking on the two religions. This is just an excerpt from the whole article linked above.
quote:
The provocative findings of a comparison like that of Dr. Howe can be seen by examining just one doctrinal difference between standard Christian theology and those philosophies accepting reincarnation: the origin and consequent nature of man. By exploring this subject, several implications involved in melding reincarnation with Christianity become apparent. Traditionally, the Christian conceives each man as composed of matter and a newly-created soul, both initially created out of nothing by God and set into a fixed natural order. Because of the unbridgeable gulf separating man and God, man can aspire to adoption into the Kingdom of Heaven only through God's grace, not through his individual efforts alone. However, in systems of thought incorporating reincarnation, such as the Platonist and the Hindu, divinity emanates the manifested world out of itself, making man's inner essence a spark from the divine. Each entity is likened to a ray from the sun -- not the sun itself, but one with it in intrinsic nature. Similarly, these philosophies see humanity as an integral part of a universe in a constant state of becoming. Having evolved through the lower kingdoms of nature, man has now unrolled from within himself sufficient of his divine qualities to manifest as a human being. According to this principle, after many life-experiences have given him time to learn how to fully perform his human duties and obligations, he will embody in a higher form which offers even greater opportunities for development of his latent qualities. Thus, creational and emanational world views provide profoundly differing options. These include an internal or an external God, an evolutionary or a fixed universe, and an active or a passive role for man in his own salvation.
The view of man as an emanation from God, rather than as a creation separate from Him, affects other fundamental Christian doctrines as well. For example, if man has an innate dignity and self-sufficiency founded on the divine possibilities within him, he can raise himself to a higher level of consciousness through application and self-discipline. In other words, he contains the path to salvation within himself, for God cannot exclude from the Kingdom of Heaven something that is a part of Himself. However, Dr. Howe maintains that such a program of self-devised, evolutionary salvation, which eliminates the possibility of eternal damnation, does not diminish the intermediary role of Christ as the only son of God. To him, Christ is a beacon, a sign of God's love for mankind sent to give men further incentive to raise themselves to the divine level. Such a stand raises questions about the relative weight the Christian should give to his own judgment and to orthodox authority. Although holding that each person must decide this for himself, Dr. Howe seems to believe that the essence of Christianity lies in individual self-improvement -- this to be achieved through the practice of a life based on the moral precepts found in the New Testament, rather than in the adherence to a traditional dogmatic theology. Since a belief in reimbodiment provides a motive for such individual strivings, this idea is naturally compatible with what he considers the essence of the Christian faith.
The theories of emanation and creation also diverge on their views of man's relationship to nature and to other men. The emanational framework holds that, since all manifestation contains at its heart a ray from the same divine sun, all life is essentially one rather than separate. Therefore, the difference between beings becomes one of degree rather than of nature, the more developed entities having evolved forth their inner potentials to a greater extent. The contrast with the traditional Christian belief, which separates God from His creation and all created things from each other, is marked. Indeed, many of the difficulties present in society today appear to be rooted in the widespread view of man and nature as essentially unrelated, and of nature as being created for man's benefit and exploitation rather than as a field for the expression by the divine of its innate qualities. Our treatment of other men also illustrates the failure to realize that all beings contain within themselves the identic potential of divinity. While every great religious philosophy contains ethical injunctions which promote human brotherhood, the systems accepting reincarnation offer a rationale for such precepts grounded in the very structure of reality. This stand universalizes the idea of brotherhood to include all of nature, and elevates brotherhood to the status of a fact, rather than only a sentimental ideal.