A Comparison Between Two Credos: Christian and Sikh

A Comparison Between Two Credos: Christian and Sikh

Rejoinder to Reverend Tony Zekveld’s

- Rawel Singh

Last year a paper by Reverend Zekveld was posted on the Sikhspectrum.com. It has come to my notice now and my response to it is given below from the Sikh viewpoint. Reverend has made it clear that his purpose is to “dismantle the Sikh view of God and their entire world view in accordance with the directive of the scripture (2 Corinthians)”. I propose to deal with the points he has raised in accordance with the Sikh teachings and the contents of the Bible.

The main issues he has raised are the Mool Mantar, Naam, Sikhism being a reform movement of Hinduism, God as he understands, creation as against evolution and the need for acceptance of Jesus as incarnation of God.

It appears that Reverend is possessed by two beliefs; first that God cannot be described except according to the dogmas believed by many Christians and secondly that the Sikh religion is modified form of Hinduism. These two issues have been discussed in detail below.

It is necessary, at the outset, to understand the background to the Christian beliefs and thinking. As is well known, human intellect and spiritual understanding have followed the level of education and development of science. The Biblical description of creation given in Genesis 1-2 is a good example of this. It shows creation of earth, water and sky but does not go beyond them and their inhabitants. That is all science knew at that time. At the time the Old Testament was written the practice of idol worship was still prevalent and continued (Exodus 31:8) despite it being forbidden in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3). The tribal system was in vogue and Israel was formed into twelve tribes (Exodus 21:28). God was supposed to be merciful but was described as a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers for four generations (Exodus 20:5). Fear was therefore the guiding factor. There is frequent mention of rituals and burnt offerings which involves killing of living creatures for the perceived benefit of those offering them, as in Leviticus 16:5.

This continued during the period of the New Testament. Jesus appointed twelve disciples and said that they would judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). The gospels concentrate on the miracles of Jesus, which is shown as the only achievement of Jesus when he tells men sent by John Baptist to ask him if Jesus was the Messiah, to go and tell John about the miracles they had seen and heard (Matthew 11:4-5). The scripture does not talk of any spiritual experience but bases the relevance of Christian beliefs on Jesus’ resurrection by saying “If Christ not be risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). The New Testament often talks of the Holy Ghost entering the bodies of persons (Acts 4:8). God has also been shown to change with time as in Acts 17:13 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent”.

The nomenclature “Biblical God,” which Reverend has used, shows that God is peculiar to that book. On reading the Bible one comes across a God who is far from the perfect Master one would have expected to find. He is described as an errant God because He repented for having created man (Genesis 6:6). He is described to belong to one nation Israel (Exodus 6:7) showing He is a partisan God. In the New Testament God does not belong to the universe or even the world but is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matthew 22:32). He does not have a sovereign status but is part of the Trinity comprising of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. In the New Testament there is only one statement which may be called God’s saying “And lo a voice came from heaven saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17) which is in glorification of Jesus. Unlike in the Old Testament where God plays a significant role God has no role in the New Testament; everything is said and done by Jesus. God’s status is further degraded by Jesus placing Him lower than the Holy Ghost when he says “All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men” (Matthew 12:31).

It is the contents of the Bible as sampled above which are responsible for the progressive decline of its acceptability in line with the development of human intellect and inquiry. Intellect cannot be satisfied with obscure ideas that cannot be verified or experienced. Throughout the Bible there is little talk of spiritual experience; instead the main theme in the New Testament is to enable acceptability of Jesus as the Messiah by talks like being born to a virgin, miracles and resurrection. Jesus’ ministry lasted only three years precluding the possibility of his being able to reach out to the people. It was therefore decided to spread the word about his supernatural powers. There is no solid foundation; little wonder then that Christianity has got divided into numerous denominations, which do not see eye to eye with one another on the issues of theology and practice. All denominations have powerful priestly classes.

As against the above, Sikh faith believes in an all-powerful God of the entire universe one who considers all creatures as His children. Guru Granth Sahib says

God is not the monopoly of a group or person,
Any one can receive His grace through love and devotion (page 658).

One Father, we are all His children; He is the Great preceptor (page 611).

The Sikh faith rejects dogmas, rituals and superstition. It does not have a priestly class.

Rev. Zekveld cannot therefore be blamed if he does not comprehend the simple childlike thinking about God as sampled above. The Reverend had earlier written a paper on the Biblical God giving references from the Bible. It may be pointed out, before proceeding further, that I would not have chosen to write this paper if the Reverend had not written the latest paper.

Mool Mantar

God taught by Guru Granth Sahib is the all-powerful sovereign God to whom no one else can be equated. He belongs to the whole universe. Such is the God described in the Mool Mantar. The Mool Mantar starts with the figure 1 in Gurmukhi the script of Guru Granth Sahib, and is pronounced Ik (or Ek) On-kar. Reverend says that the figure 1 has a metaphysical assumption. No assumption is necessary because the figure 1 has been used to emphasize the unity and indivisibility of God. Reverend’s remark seems to be the result of the Christian concept of divisibility of God although Christians talk of monotheism. Use of the figure 1 helps in not looking for any other meanings as would happen if letters were used to describe the number e.g. someone would try to give meanings to I (or E) and K if the two letters are used to describe 1.

The next part Onkar has attracted a lot of attention of Reverend Zekveld. It has two parts, “Om” and “Kar.” “Om” represents God and “Kar” means all pervasive. He has tried to link the first part to the “Om” or AUM of Hindu scriptures and said that it represents the Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Yes, it has Sanskrit origin but is commonly used in India for God, so nothing more needs to be read into it. The Sikh faith does not subscribe to this view of “Om” representing the Trinity. So, 1 Onkar is the One Supreme all pervasive Master. Guru Nanak says that the concept of trinity is born out of illusion and is not a reality.

Illusion is the mother of the trinity in Hinduism (page 7).

It may not be out of place here to point out that in its practices Christianity is akin to Hinduism. Hindus start with God but end up with the Trinity; so does Christianity. Hindus believe in incarnation of God into Avatars, Christianity believes Jesus is God incarnate, in fact God. Hindus believe in fasting, as do Christians. The Hindu system of ceremonial baths is not much different from the way John the Baptist baptized. Hindus and Christians both believe in dogmas; for example the sea opening up to let Israel get through is not much different from the army of Rama crossing the sea on floating stones to reach the present Sri Lanka. The Hindus and Christians have powerful priestly classes. The Hindu Yogis have twelve tribes and Jesus had twelve disciples. None of the above applies to the Sikhs. Sikhs are different both from Hindus and Christians.

The next part Sat Naam comprises of two parts namely Sat meaning eternal or universal truth and Naam meaning name, so Sat Naam means God is known as the Eternal Truth. Reverend has repeatedly tried to say a number of things on Naam. It is surprising that on the one hand he accepts Sat Naam as describing the eternal truth and then calls it abstract. Guru Granth Sahib has explained it thus:

O’ Lord, the tongue calls you by names based on your actions;

From time immemorial you have been known as the Eternal Truth (page 1082).

We always call a person by his name but God is not a person. He does not have a physical form. He is therefore known by His virtues. The practice of Naam in Sikh teaching involves remembering God by meditating on His virtues and then trying to understand and emulate them. This helps the devotee to become God- like and facilitates his merging back into God when the time comes. The Sikh therefore meditates on the Eternal Truth and tries to live it. Guru Granth Sahib says:

Truth is higher than everything else;

Higher still is truthful living (page 62).

Meditate on the One Lord in thought, word and deed (page 760).

Sikh faith emphasizes the importance of practice. This should remove all doubts about Sat Naam. No complicated concept or philosophy needs to be brought in to describe the Truth.

Reverend says rest of the Mool Mantar speaks of the functions of the deity. No Sir, there is no deity in the Sikh faith. The only one worthy of worship, if Reverend understands only that way, is the practice of Naam. The rest of the Mool Mantar describes further qualities which man is expected to emulate.

The next quality Karta Purakh describes the attribute of creation and activity. It is in understanding and emulation of this attribute that the Sikhs are one of the more creative and enterprising people in the world. Reverend is obviously not aware of a very important contribution of Guru Granth Sahib in the fields of creation and evolution. The scripture has given a realistic scientifically verified description of creation, which is as follows

It gives a detailed exposition on creation and being the most recent and modern scripture does so in the modern scientific context. What it says on the subject has been partly verified by science and the rest will follow. Creation forms a subject by itself but a brief, in fact cryptic, description of what is contained in the scripture is as follows:

(a) Before Creation

Before the creation took place God alone existed and there was

complete darkness for billions of years. There was no earth or sun.

There were neither days nor nights. God sat still in contemplation,

planning for the creation (page 1035).

(b) Time of creation

Guru Nanak asks “What time, date, season or month was it when

creation came into being”? And then answers “The priestly class has not

known this otherwise it would be there in their scriptures. ---The

Creator alone knows when He created the universe. Many will however

try to show their wisdom one trying to outdo the other (page 4).

The True Lord brought everything together and enclosed in a shell like

that of an egg. He then gave a command for the shell to break and let

every component of the universe to take its place space now forming the

universe (Page 839).

The creation came into existence by God’s command and all components

took their place in space without any physical support (Page 1036).

This is in response to the Hindu belief in which a bull supports the earth. The Greeks hold a similar view where Atlas provides the support. Guru Nanak’s views on evolution are as follows:

Creation came into being with a single command of God; from it evolved

millions of branches of different types (page 3).

This means evolution follows creation as discussed below.

There is one sun that creates many seasons and is the many sided

manifestation of the Creator (page 12).

This statement shows that the earth revolves round the sun thus different parts of it experiencing different seasons. That the earth revolves round the sun was confirmed by Galileo a century after Guru Nanak had given. This applies only to our solar system; there are more such solar systems:

There are numerous suns, moons and stars (page 1236).

(d) Sequence of creation

You first created the wherewithal and later the creatures. There is no other benefactor as great as You; no one even comes anywhere near You (page 130)

(e) Composition of the universe

The universe (including the bodies of living creatures) comprises of five

elements namely earth (clay and minerals), water, air (gases), fire (heat)

and space; if anyone can show a sixth element let him (page 736).

It would be noted that whereas the Bible talks only of the earth and the sky (Genesis1), Guru Granth Sahib details the total universe including other planets, which are placed at millions (page 4) and the cosmic laws that govern the planets. Guru Nanak gave this latter information a century before Galileo gave his theory. The Roman Catholic Church did not accept it and he was imprisoned. Another astronomer Bruno was burned. The Church realized its mistake and has pardoned Galileo only recently. Study of Big Bang theory would show it as a variation of what Guru Granth Sahib says about the shell being burst.

Reverend has said that the Sikh does not have difficulty with the scientific theories of evolution. As described above evolution is a reality. One sees it in almost all spheres in nature. However, it should also be clear that this phenomenon is not exclusive; it needs a starting point, which is not disputed by Charles Darwin the author of the Theory of Evolution. This starting point is a result of creation and hence evolution is supplementary to creation. As may be seen what Guru Nanak said centuries ago stands vindicated by science. Reverend’s statement is therefore well taken and he may consider seeing the reality and start believing in Sikh teachings. He has also said “Their opposition is not to the scientific theories of evolution per se but to a materialism which regards the universe as self explanatory and self existent.” He is right; as described above the Sikhs believe that the universe was created by God who also looks after it.

We are aware of the phenomena of fear and envy in interpersonal relations. These two problems arise mainly because of expectations and real or perceived competition. God has no equal and is therefore above these. The next two qualities in the Mool Mantar thus are Nirbhau meaning fearless and Nirvair meaning without enmity or envy.

Fear has drawn a strange comment from Reverend. He has said this statement must be understood in the context of Hindu mythology in which gods often feared each other and then asks the question “why does the Sikh fear doing bad”? The first part may be answered by saying that Reverend has a mistaken notion that Sikhs are Hindus. According to the Sikh faith the perception of gods and goddesses is a result of illusions and so are the Smritis and Shastras (page 129).

As far as the Sikh fearing doing bad; it is a reality because it is part of ethics and is taught by all religions. I would like to remind Reverend that all Semitic religions including Christianity believe in the Judgment Day. It is believed that on that day the souls will enter the bodies and they would be judged according to their deeds. So wouldn’t Reverend agree that everyone should fear doing bad? In addition there is so much talk of sin in Christianity; isn’t sin the same thing as doing bad? It appears that the Christian wants to believe that all that he has to do is to accept Jesus as the savior and then he need not be afraid of bad deeds.

As far as the Sikh religion is concerned, a Sikh is advised to “fear so that he is not afraid.” A Sikh becomes fearless by obeying the laws of nature, which is the other name for God’s commands and also to obey the laws of the land. One who obeys these laws he emulates the Divine virtue of fearlessness, as he has nothing to fear. Guru Granth Sahib is replete with exhortations to submit to the will of God and fear in the creative sense, which is fear of the highest authority God. With this all fear disappears. A few examples:

One who meditates on the Fearless God becomes fearless (page 11)

O unvigilant man be afraid of committing sin;

Seek refuge in the compassionate Lord who dispels all fear (page 220)

When one fears doing wrong, this gets imbedded in the mind and then there is no other fear;

What use is fear if one is still afraid? (page 151)

But whose fear?

Seek the sanctuary of the highest authority above whom there is none

(page 823-24).

The way to avoid fear at the work place is to identify with the objectives of the employer (Page 475).

And finally, fear of the Lord leads to love for Him (page 465).

Reverend has quoted a hymn about God cutting the head of the demon and attributed it to Guru Granth Sahib. There is no such hymn in the scripture. He is probably referring to a collection of writings supposedly attributed to the Tenth Guru, which have not been authenticated. It is best left there.

The next three attributes are (i) Timeless, (ii) one who does not incarnate and (iii) one who is Self Existent. Reverend has no problem with these except showing a fixation of Sikhs being a reform movement of Hinduism. This has been dealt with above.

The last part of the Mool Mantar is gur parsad meaning by the grace of the Guru, i.e. God whose virtues have been described in the Mool Mantar may be understood and reached through guidance of the Guru.

Reverend has tried to raise another controversy namely whether this guru is as commonly understood or is it God? In the Mool Mantar it refers to the teachings of the Guru. Satguru has been used in the Scripture for God as well. The reason for this is simple; it is through the teachings of the Guru that one can know God and hence knowing the guru is the way to know God. Accordingly

Know the Guru and Supreme Master as one (page 864).

As may be seen there is no guru cult involved here as Reverend thinks. The distinction and unity of God and Guru is made clear thus:

Kabir says both God and guru saint are deserving of service;

Guru leads us to Meditate on God and God grants salvation (page 1373).

This also rejects the contention of Reverend that Sikhism is a kind of guru cult. The worship here is of the Lord not any particular Guru. Guru Gobind Singh settled this controversy once for all when he anointed the scripture, the revealed word of God as the Guru, terminating the lineage of personal gurus. The Word is now the Guru.

Reverend has said that since Sikhism accepts expressions for God used by different religions, like the Hindu Ram, Muslim Allah and Christian God and these names are equally provisional. He thus concludes that there is no revealed Name in Sikhism. Is Reverend saying that the Christian concept of God is provisional? It would seem so from the way they treat God in the Bible as discussed above. But it is not so with Sikhism; the revealed Name is Sat Naam the eternal Truth.

Reverend says, “a Sikh may well agree with the Christian who proclaims that Jesus is the only way.” Let it be said that a Sikh will have no objection if the historical Jesus is described as the preceptor who led people to God at a point in history but he cannot be the only way and much less God.

Let us now address the points Reverend has raised under the following heads very briefly:

Critique of Sikh Credo
	Reverend’s View	Reply
1.	God is unknowable.	Physical form yes, God of attributes known through the Guru. Yes, He cannot be fully comprehended.
2.	Symbol 1 polluted by assumptions.	No assumptions.
3.	1 is abstract.	Only to Christian thinking; not in Sikhs’ who believe in unity of God.
4.	Sikhs say all should unite under Nanak’s God.	Nanak has no exclusive God. Let us unite under the One God of all.
5.	We look for contradictions in Sikh’s worldview and say that of Christians is reasonable.	The Bible only mentions Abraham’s family right till the end of the gospels and does not present any world view. The Sikh Scripture takes a view of the whole universe.
6.	Aim to dismantle Sikh view of God.	God is the ultimate authority; not the diluted God of the Bible. Eternal Truth cannot be demolished.
7.	Guru Granth talks of separateness of God from His creation.	Not true; please quote.

Christian Credo Vindicated
1.	Triune God in Christianity.	Dogma to glorify Jesus and Holy Ghost over God. Yet, still talk of God!
2.	Confusion in Sikh scripture.	Scripture is clear. Understand it without believing in dogmas.
3.	Names of God provisional.	Not surprising since God is subordinated to dogmas in the Bible.
4.	God’s name shines in the world and the Word.	Christians do not believe in it. John 1:14 says, Word became flesh. For the Sikhs, it shines.
5.	God’s almighty power, glory and wisdom (Romans 1:20).	God subordinated to dogmas.
6.	God as He reveals himself in the Scripture.	Where is it? It is Jesus all the way.
7.	Sat Naam is no less than Jesus Christ.	Sat Naam means Eternal Truth, but Jesus was forsaken by God, the only Eternal Truth. (Matthew 27:46).

Conclusion

Reverend has said, “Sat Naam is the name of the unknown God. Who is it? The Sikh does not know it, Christian does”. Pray, how does the Christian who does not believe in the Supremacy of God know Him? Trinity is three components, a dogma to glorify Jesus and the concept of the Holy Ghost. The Sikh experiences the Lord through His virtues and that is why His names are many according to what He does for the creation.

Reverend again says, “May God use our defense of the Christian faith for His glory.” But where is God’s glory in the New Testament. On glory Jesus tells God, “Father the hour is come; glorify thy son that the son may glorify thee” (John 17:1). So glorification of God is conditional to Jesus being glorified. Is that how God is glorified?

No sir, God is glorified by praising His virtues and trying to emulate them. The Sikh does that but the Christian cannot get beyond Jesus who was forsaken by God. It is sad that the only objective of the New Testament is to prove Jesus as the Messiah and glorify him. This and the dogmas are responsible for continuing turmoil in the Christian world.

I invite the Reverend to understand the unadulterated glorification of God and also enjoy the experience that one gets by practicing it in thought, word, and deed. This is what Guru Granth Sahib teaches us. The Sikh religion and its scripture are truly modern and forever. Let us sit together and experience the bliss.

God Bless!

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