In North America, we are pretty far removed from what life was like in biblical times. Everything from our customs, daily habits, and even mindset make it very hard to put ourselves in the cultural context of the Bible.
However, that’s not true everywhere. The majority of the world population and the majority of Christians come from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Many of those cultures are not as far removed from the biblical context as we are in North America.
As Westerners (including me), we can miss much of the richness of Jesus’ teachings by not understanding his cultural context. Many of my Hindu friends are surprised to discover that Jesus’ life and culture are more similar to theirs than mine. Both Westerners and Hindus can greatly benefit from a proper view of Jesus’s cultural life.
Jesus Wasn’t a Christian
Over the last several centuries, the term “Christian” has taken on a heavily cultural meaning aside from just describing someone who is following Christ. The term “Christian” in most of the world carries the connotation of a religion based in a white European/North American context.
But Jesus grew up in a first century, Roman-era Jewish community, and would likely feel very foreign stepping into the life of a typical “Christian” church. In fact, the daily life of Jesus likely is much closer to Modern India than North America. Here are a few examples of how Jesus’ culture is more similar to Hindu culture today.
Jesus’ family culture was communal, not independent.
Jesus cared about family greatly by re-emphasizing the teaching of honoring our father and mother and making sure his mother Mary was taken care of after his death. The way that families in biblical times made decisions together can be seen perhaps most clearly in the book of Acts where the vast majority of people came to faith in Jesus in groups, families, and communities. Examples include Pentecost (Acts 2), Samaritans (Acts 8), Cornelius (Acts 10), Lydia and the Philippian Jailer (Acts 16), Crispus (Acts 18), and more. These greatly outweigh the few instances of individuals making a decision on their own.
Modern India is very similar. Decisions are made based on what is best for the family and community. Joint-family living is common where many branches of the family tree share one roof. Choices like college degrees are often family decisions. Family is alway a top, if not the highest, priority for even young Indians. In spiritual matters, many Hindus will have a family or house god called an “Ishta Devata” that is revered by everyone in the family.
In North America, we value independence, individuality, and personal freedom over community. Nuclear families live in separate houses, often miles or states away from relatives. We let people, and even children, make their own decisions and don’t get in their way. While ordering food at a restaurant, everyone orders his/her own dish to eat while in India, ‘your’ food will likely be served to everyone at your table! Spirituality is more of a personal matter and individual beliefs within a family can vary greatly.
Jesus’ parents likely had an arranged marriage.
There is no reason to doubt that the marriage of Mary and Joseph was anything other than arranged by their families. Matthew 18:1 and Luke 1:27 describes young teenage Mary and Joseph to be betrothed or engaged referring to arranged marriage which was custom of that day. There was an extended period of being legally betrothed before the wedding ceremony and consummation. Joseph’s willingness to quietly break off the engagement was an effort to spare Mary’s family from shame after her pregnancy.
This is very similar to current Indian marriage traditions. Arranged marriages with someone from the same caste/community chosen by the parents is how the majority of people marry. Marriage is an agreement between families, not just individuals. Though inter-caste or inter-religious love marriages are on the rise in urban India, they are by no means normative for the country. Even young urban Indians trust their parents to find them a suitable partner who will bring them happiness in life.
In American culture, arranged marriages are practically extinct. Most people choose their own partner, with or without the approval of parents or other family members. Formal mutual consent by both families is rarely considered. Decisions are mostly up to the individual about whom they will marry, not the family.
Jesus’ people showed extreme hospitality.
Commands and examples of hospitality are found throughout the whole Bible. Much of Jesus’ ministry included enjoying hospitality in many different homes including Levi the tax collector (Luke 5), Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7), women who helped Jesus (Luke 8), Mary and Martha (Luke 10), and Zacchaeus (Luke 19) . A proper host would make sure a guests’ feet and hands were washed before a meal. Meals were usually enjoyed sitting on the ground and eating with your hand, and potentially long into the night.
India has a famous phrase “Atithi Devo Bhava” which means “the guest is equivalent to God”. You definitely experience that high level of treatment when you enter a Hindu’s home. If you came by unannounced, they will drop everything to serve and host you. Likely, you will receive a cup of water, some snacks, chai or a soft drink, and then maybe even a full meal. Aunties are never satisfied until you have eaten 3 plates of food and are stuffed to the brim.
Hospitality is much more informal and “help yourself” in North America. We don’t want to overstay our welcome or impose on others. We value self sufficiency and can be uncomfortable receiving help and hospitality from others. The meaning of washing a guests’ feet and washing hands before meals or worship in the Bible doesn’t have the significance in our North American culture compared to Indian culture.
Jesus participated in many life cycle rituals.
There were many important life cycle rituals in first century Judaism. In Luke 2, we see a special naming ceremony for John the Baptist and Jesus when they are 8 days old. Later as a child, Jesus was presented at the temple in Jerusalem for blessing and with a sacrificial offering as the firstborn son.
For Hindus these ceremonies are called Sanskars. Hindus will also have a Naamkaran (naming ceremony) where they will announce the baby’s name to the family sometime after the birth in grand fashion. Similarly there are many ceremonies for Hindus to commemorate things like a baby’s first time leaving the home, first solid food, first haircut, etc. A Hindu could experience dozens of sanskars throughout their life.
As North American culture has modernized, we have increasingly done away with most of these rituals outside of the marriage and death ceremonies. Aside from birthdays and graduations which are also common elsewhere, we lack other formal and spiritual opportunities to recognize and celebrate all the transitions we experience in life.
Much of Jesus’ calendar was set around festivals.
6 out of 7 of the Jewish Old Testament festivals were called feasts: The Feast of Passover, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), and the Feast of Tabernacles to name a few. When Israel celebrated these, small intimate communities would eat together on the holiest days. Festivals were multiple days long and took a lot of preparation. They were focused on the family getting together around a meal and remembering the great things God has done and commanded. You also read about the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem during festivals, where people came from all over to celebrate, shop, and worship as families. We see glimpses of Jesus and his disciples observing these seven festivals each year.
The Hindu calendar is completely peppered with festivals. It is said that every day there is a different festival being celebrated somewhere in India. During festivals like Diwali, Holi, or Sankranti there is an indescribable atmosphere of celebration and many extend for several days. Similar to the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, there is a big focus on family coming together, making special food and sweets, giving gifts, and celebrating different things like harvests or mythological stories.
Aside from Christmas and Easter, nearly all North American holidays are secular. Though some holidays are also heavily focused on family and food, they lack in the length, intricacy, and grandeur of the rituals and traditions as celebrated in the Jewish and Hindu festivals. Many holidays in America are just considered a day off from work, an opportunity for crafts and treats at school, or a reason to party together with friends. With the exception of Christmas, there are few if any major cultural holidays that are centered on bringing the family community together to feast and worship.
Hindu Culture Can Teach Us About the Life of Jesus
There are many other examples, but these make it clear that Jesus’ life and culture was much closer to modern Indian Hindu culture than North American Christian culture. Although Jesus is commonly portrayed as Caucasian with fair skin, he was Asian, living in an Eastern culture and became the God for all cultures, including Hindus.
As we come alongside our Hindu friends, it is very helpful to first recognize that they may have a lot to teach us about the culture that Jesus came from. And they may have deeper understanding into certain biblical stories than we could ever imagine.
How can we help our Hindu friends see that Jesus’ life was closer to their culture than ours?
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Coming from India, this article makes no sense. These days, in India, parents are ignored and they complain they are lonely, sick parents and widowed parents are (have always been ) abandoned, Indian parents these days bemoan that their children do not listen to their choices of careers and spousal choices.
Maybe a caucasian American is welcome these days into Hindu homes, but people are not hospitable -especially to a person belonging to a different caste or religion. Upper caste Hindus will not invite a lower-caste person. Is the author ignoring how Hindus are treating Christians and Muslims these days.
As an Indian Christian, I love the days of the 60s and 70s – that India is described (somewhat) in this article.
Honestly, this article should be DELETED. This article does have parallel to the life of Jesus to the culture in India. But to state that “Jesus life was more Hindu…” is sending the WRONG message. I am sorry to argue on this, but your article is sending the wrong message to lots of people. What should have been stated was that the eastern culture is very similar. The family structure, the general practices of Jewish is similar to Hindu culture because the way things done in the Middle east and in India were similar. Even now this is similar, which was 2000 years back. Rather than correlating with Hindus, the author should have correlated with the eastern culture. Any Biblical historian will agree to that, but saying “Jesus life was more Hindu…” No way!!! I can understand that the author of this article may find it fascinating a similarity in these Jewish and Indian cultures, but what the author has failed to understand is the implication of the title and message that it is giving to the Hindus, it may come out differently for a western christian. The Hindus already believe that Jesus was a good teacher and was NOT the ONLY god. They already believe that Jesus came to Himalayas to learn from the sages. Now your article is enough to create another myth and story that can create challenges for people like me who are working with these Hindus. Please stop writing such challenging articles, which will only create problems and misconceptions. Please talk to Christians who have actually lived in a culture of the Hindus, before you write articles like these.
Also if the Hindu culture could teach us, then we do not need the Bible. Such statements is simply validating their many false practices.
Honestly, this article should be deleted.
Thanks
Thanks for the comment, Stanley. It seems like we all agree with the obvious statement that Jesus’ culture was much closer to modern Indian culture than to modern North American culture.
To me, the main takeaway from this article is how far modern North American culture is from first century Judea. It helps those of us who grew up on this side of the world to have the humility to admit that those growing up in India might be able to interpret cultural elements in the Bible better than us, based on their upbringing.
It’s always a struggle to distinguish between the religious culture and the national culture. “Hindu” and “Indian” don’t mean the same thing, but are definitely related. However, in many places “Christian” also has a geographic/national meaning, closely related with European or North American culture.
By contrasting these cultural terms, the author is trying to correct this by saying that what many understand to be “Christian” (western culture) is not very biblical. So much so that even Hindu (or Indian) culture is much closer.
Your comment about white Americans being treated differently in India is valid, John – no doubt about it.
As much as there are elders in India who do (sometimes rightfully) complain, and as much as casteism is still alive, it still stands that there are more cultural similarities between modern Hindu culture and first century Judea than there are between modern North American culture and first century Judea.
My concern is that this title seems to be communicate a different message than what you are trying to say. Just as you said the culture of Jesus and India was similar that is a better title or something related. In my opinion, as American we need to be cautious what message we are sending to the Hindus too. Such titles are simply adding fuel to the already raging fire that Jesus was not god and that he was one of the 300 million hindu gods. Even if you don’t delete this article, i would suggest to change the title and messaging differently, which will be in line to the fact that most Biblical historians confirm too. But saying Jesus was more of a Hindu is simply an abomination to me and to all the Christians.
What next? Someone who explores the Inca civilization will write on how Jesus was more like an Inca than a Christian?
In the the name of being culturally contextual, we miss being Biblical.
The sad reality of our day is that we compromise being faithful to the text of Scripture. Forget North America or Europe or other Western nation’s view of India or the East. For followers of Christ, Jesus gave us the MESSAGE and also gave us the METHOD. The early apostles and followers used both – the message and the method. Most paid with their lives. For Heavens’s sake, please read your Bibles for message and method a hundred times over and digest it before recommending and writing articles like these. Yes, we all need cross cultural training but never un-faithfulness. God told Job’s friend “you have not spoken of me what is right”. Speak what is right Sir.
Andy Johnson author of the book “Missions” writes “If you carefully read Acts and the Epistles, you will notice that heresy, confusion, and syncretism most often occur at the edge of gospel expansion. Therefore, that is where we need our best-equipped people. Such work is not for every Christian who simply loves to share his or her faith”.
Followers of Christ are commanded to watch themselves, be alert and and pay closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away.
Over contextualization is harmful.
While we are given Christian liberty to be “all things” for the sake of the Gospel, we MUST be alert to where it leads us. If it leads down a slippery slope towards dishonoring God’s name, then discretion and restraint is the best way.
Any given day we don’t do better than Jesus who is the Head of the Church, who gave Himself for us and is still calling people to Himself. He alone is Sovereign and never sleeps (Psalm 121:4). He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
We are still weak, frail, easily broken, stumble and bumble. Yet, in our weakness, He displays His strength.
I plead with the authors of Marg to glory in weaknesses for the sake of Christ, obedience to His Word over strategy or desire for results and a passion for God’s glory over all else.
Two comments on this discussion. First, it is not at all clear that “heresy, confusion, and syncretism most often occur at the edge of gospel expansion.” The dominant heresy and confusion in the New Testament is unquestionably the Judaizing of the Jerusalem disciples of Jesus (they were not called “Christians,” a term from the edge of gospel expansion). “Home churches” are as much a problem as “pioneer fields,” and arguably more so. Second, we need to constantly rethink and challenge our assumptions and terminologies. Creative terminology can create confusion but also can open up new insights; I wish that those who dislike the terminology in this article would recognize the multiple meanings of “Hindu” and how confusion related to that term is pretty much unavoidable. Those who think there is a clear meaning to that term need to broaden their understanding (the same is true of the term “Christian,” which most certainly does not simply mean a disciple of Jesus).
1)The issue of Gentiles needing to be circumcised was addressed in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem council and is certainly a big one. However, there are several other big issues addressed as well – justification by works of the law – addressed in Galatians and Romans, divisions and immorality in the church – addressed in 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians, saying that the resurrection already had happened. Perhaps reading through the New Testament itself is most helpful.
2)The term “Christian” is a New Testament term used explicitly three times and also used many times by the early church fathers like Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, Barnabas and Didache. Other terms used for Christians were people of “The Way”, “sect of Nazarenes”.
Here are the three places “Christian” and it simply means a disciple of Christ or is implied at best without any ambiguity.
Acts 11:26 “And in the Antioch the disciples were first called CHRISTIANS”
Acts 26:28 “And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a CHRISTIAN?”
1 Peter 4:16 “Yet if anyone suffers as a CHRISTIAN, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name”
The book of Acts is dated between 60-90 (scholars disagree on the precise range)
The epistle of 1 Peter is dated around 64 AD.
The New Testament authors affirm this term.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Brilliant!! Thanks for stating and affirming this. The modern Christianity has taken marketing strategies into their fold and forgetting that over contextualization can be harmful.