Encounter Between Hinduism and Christianity

Abstract

Encounters between one religion and another have been constant phenomenon in India for centuries, at first among Indian religions themselves and later between Indian and other religions. However, today, the meeting of religions is a more common feature, as the world is gradually growing smaller and smaller, and every man is becoming the neighbour of everyone else. All the same, one cannot minimize the need for encounters among religions, as all of them are obliged, one way or other, to meet the challenge posed by a growing secularism, materialism and atheism. Scholars like Raymond Panikkar and others are of the opinion that religions are moving towards an encounter not merely on account of the present irreligious wave, but also because of their inner dynamism, both intellectual and existential; intellectually, because no religion can claim to have deciphered fully the mystery of man and God; existentially, because man himself suffers more and more the attraction as well as the repulsion of other religions. The meeting of religions is a vital religious problem. A missionary zeal without knowledge and love, would lead to disastrous consequences. A proud isolation without regard for others would be impious selfishness and cause the ruin of one's own religion.