Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 4

Author(s): R P Poddar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 85

76
Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin No. 4
The ethical teachings of Hinduism and Christianity are related to their conceptions of salvation. In Hinduism, the various forms of conduct that are prescribed are thought of most usually as helping the Soul on its way to the attainment of deliverance. In Christianity on the other hand, the moral, life is just a matter of God's commandment. Jesus nowhere teaches that through the active doing of good works merit is acquired by which one may earn salvation on the other hand, Hinduism admits that ethics is the pathway to higher spiritual life.
Since the ethics of Christianity is entirely based on the commandments of God, it leaves no scope for freedom of will. The freedom of will is the greatest postulate of morality. Commandments clash will the freedom of will. Logically speaking it hardly leaves scope for ethics. Moreover, in the Christian drama of redemption, God's love as grace plays a dominant role. So the doctrine of grace implies a complete surrender. It too obliterates freedom of will and establishes omnipotence of God. It leaves no scope for self-effort. It blurrs the distinction between good and evil, Saint and Sinner because God's love will fall equally to both Sinner and the Saint. Human beings are treated as creature and God as creater. Man is a Sinner and God is redeemer. It thus breeds fatalism and negative attitude, complete dependence, it seems to me, is extremely painful thing in Christianity. God's love redeems very easily and there is no scope for struggle and upliftment. On the contrary, Hindu sm provides ample scope for moral struggle by which alone all character is formed.
I fail to understand now the ethics of love which is central to Christianity has been incorporated in the first two great Commandments of the New Testament. The great Commandment demands of everyone the total love of God and the love of one's neighbour according to the measure of man's natural self-affirmation. If love, however pure it may be, is emotion, how can it be demanded ? We cannot demand them of ourselves. If we try, something artificial is produced. Love, intentionally produced, shows indifference in perversion. This means, love as an emotion cannot be commanded. Either the ethics of love is misnomer or the great Commandment is meaningless.