Swami Vivekananda (SV) delivered a speech at California on January 7, 1900. His topic was CHRIST ,THE MESSENGER. Though Swami Vivekananda had some grasp of some of the main ideas of Christianity, his presentation of Christ and his teachings is incomplete, erroneous and misleading. It is for this reason that a good critique to show his errors is needed.
1. “The voice of Asia is the voice of religion . The voice of Europe is the voice of politics. The voice of Europe is Greece…….. In Asia ,even today , birth or color or language never makes a race.That which makes a race is it’s religion…. We see therefore in the life of the messenger of life , the first watchword: Not this life but something higher; and, like the true son of the orient, he is practical in that.” -Swami Vivekananda.
Here Swami Vivekananda does a service to us by portraying Jesus as a true son of the orient. Many times the Hindus decry Christianity as foreign, but Swami Vivekananda doesn’t do that he actually finds common ground and looks at Jesus and the culture from which he came as something compatible, similar and familiar. But Swami Vivekananda doesn’t stop there . He attributes the spirituality of Jesus, the other worldly teaching of Jesus as coming because of his location in Asia. Swami Vivekananda concept is , “He is Asian , so he is religious”. Jesus’ teachings do not find their source in location or culture. John 7:15 The Jews were astonished and remarked, “How can this man be so educated when he has never gone to school?” John 7:16 Jesus replied to them, “My teaching is not mine but comes from the one who sent me. John 7:17 If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether this teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. God was the source of Jesus’ teachings and it was not his orientalism as Swami Vivekananda suggests in his writings.
Here Swami Vivekananda does a service to us by portraying Jesus as a true son of the orient. Many times the Hindus decry Christianity as foreign, but Swami Vivekananda doesn’t do that he actually finds common ground and looks at Jesus and the culture from which he came as something compatible, similar and familiar. But Swami Vivekananda doesn’t stop there . He attributes the spirituality of Jesus, the other worldly teaching of Jesus as coming because of his location in Asia. Swami Vivekananda concept is , “He is Asian , so he is religious”. Jesus’ teachings do not find their source in location or culture. John 7:15 The Jews were astonished and remarked, “How can this man be so educated when he has never gone to school?” John 7:16 Jesus replied to them, “My teaching is not mine but comes from the one who sent me. John 7:17 If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether this teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. God was the source of Jesus’ teachings and it was not his orientalism as Swami Vivekananda suggests in his writings.
2. “The best commentary on the life of a great teacher is his own life . ‘Foxes have holes , birds of the air have nests , but the son of man has no place to lay his head’.That is what Christ says as the only way to salvation; he lays down no other way. Let us confess in sackcloth and ashes that we cannot do that . We still have fondness for ‘me and mine’.We want property ,money and wealth. Woe unto us!” Swami Vivekananda
Again SV startles me with his grasp of the central concept which even many Christians have not learned. He rightly quotes Jesus , then he says something which Jesus did not say and then gives a good comparison with a humble confession that ,we are not like that. The problem is with the underlined part. Jesus did say “self denial” is the only way anyone can become his disciple and be saved but he said so much more which leaves SV providing incomplete information .
Again SV startles me with his grasp of the central concept which even many Christians have not learned. He rightly quotes Jesus , then he says something which Jesus did not say and then gives a good comparison with a humble confession that ,we are not like that. The problem is with the underlined part. Jesus did say “self denial” is the only way anyone can become his disciple and be saved but he said so much more which leaves SV providing incomplete information .
3.
What important things did Swami Vivekananda leave out about Jesus’ teaching on salvation? John 6:40 For this is my Father’s will, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the last day.”
John 6:28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” John 6:29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: to believe in the one whom he has sent.”
John 8:24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live. John 11:26 Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”
In all these passages the central teaching is very obvious.Jesus is asking people to believe in him as the messiah, to obtain eternal life.
What important things did Swami Vivekananda leave out about Jesus’ teaching on salvation? John 6:40 For this is my Father’s will, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the last day.”
John 6:28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” John 6:29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: to believe in the one whom he has sent.”
John 8:24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live. John 11:26 Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”
In all these passages the central teaching is very obvious.Jesus is asking people to believe in him as the messiah, to obtain eternal life.
Swami Vivekananda says in the same book , ‘Suppose Jesus of Nazareth was teaching, and a man came and told him,
“What you teach is beautiful. I believe that it is the way of perfection, and I am ready to follow it; but I do not care to worship you as the only begotten son of God.” What would be the answer of Jesus of Nazareth ? ‘Very well , brother, follow the ideal and advance in your own way’’. Swami Vivekananda clearly articulates things contrary to the teachings of Christ. Jesus very clearly preached himself as the messiah, the ‘Son of God’. He very clearly taught that believing him as the messiah is the first prerequisite for having eternal life.Now after believing that Jesus is messiah one should follow his other teachings also . But without accepting Christ as Lord and worshiping him no salvation is possible.
“What you teach is beautiful. I believe that it is the way of perfection, and I am ready to follow it; but I do not care to worship you as the only begotten son of God.” What would be the answer of Jesus of Nazareth ? ‘Very well , brother, follow the ideal and advance in your own way’’. Swami Vivekananda clearly articulates things contrary to the teachings of Christ. Jesus very clearly preached himself as the messiah, the ‘Son of God’. He very clearly taught that believing him as the messiah is the first prerequisite for having eternal life.Now after believing that Jesus is messiah one should follow his other teachings also . But without accepting Christ as Lord and worshiping him no salvation is possible.
Swami Vivekananda on the message and mission of Jesus Christ
“He had no other occupation in life , no other thought except that one, that he was a Spirit. He was a disembodied , unfettered, unbound spirit. And not only so, but he with his marvelous vision, had found that every man and woman, whether Jew and Gentile, whether rich or poor, whether saint or sinner, was the embodiment of the same spirit as himself. Therefore, he one work of his whole life showed was to call upon them to realize their own spiritual nature. Give up he says, these superstitious dreams that you are low and that you are trampled upon and tyrannized over as if you were slaves , for within you is something that never can be tyrannized over , never be trampled upon , never be troubled and never be killed. You are all Sons of God , immortal spirit. ‘Know’ , he declared , ‘the Kingdom of God is within you’. ‘I and my father are one’……………………………he wants to get rid of the whole world as it is a, give it a push and drive it forward and onwards until the whole world has reached to the effluent light of God, until everyone has realized his spiritual nature, until death is vanished and misery banished.”
Let me at the outset inform you that swamiji did something he should not have done. It is a big mistake and error to say that “but he with his marvellous vision , had found that every man and woman, whether Jew and Gentile , whether rich or poor , whether saint or sinner , was the embodiment of the same spirit as himself.” Swamiji by saying so has read advaitha, monism and vedanta into Jesus .What I mean is he has made Jesus say what Jesus did not say or mean. This is not the biblical Jesus, this Jesus is a product of Vivekananda’s mind and imagination.
If so then what did Jesus say that makes me make these conclusions.
John 8:23 He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world, but I am not of this world.
John 8:24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
Jesus says very clearly , he is from above , they are from below. He continues that they will die in their sins if they do not believe in him as their messiah.He does not say heand his hearers are in the same spiritual state or have the same spirit.He commands faith in him , which means , he is of different spiritual state which is higher than theirs.
John 8:33 They replied to him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves to anybody. So how can you say, ‘You will be set free’?”
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I tell you that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
John 8:35 The slave does not remain in the household forever, but the son does remain forever.
John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”
Jesus in the passage which continues and which is quoted above gives his diagnosis of humans. He says very clearly that 1.They are , “slaves of sin”. 2. They should become his disciples and be set free from their sinfulness .
This clearly shows Jesus’ teaching that he is the savior who will save them and us and Vivekananda from our sins. But Swami Vivekananda has missed his chance.
John 5:24 “Truly, truly I tell you, the one who hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Here Jesus very clearly teaches that anyone who believes in him as the messiah will not come under the judgement of God , will have eternal life.
So Jesus did not teach that the people have the same nature as himself. He very clearly and repeatedly taught that they are sinners and he is their and our only savior which is the exact opposite of what swamiji suggested.
“Therefore , the one work of his whole life showed was to call upon them to realize their own spiritual nature.” –S.Vivekananda
This is not what Jesus called people to do . The eyewitnesses very clearly record what Jesus called people to
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near! Repent, and keep believing in the gospel!” mark 1:15
Jesus never called people to realize their spiritual nature. Jesus always called them to repentance and faith. This goes in line with the biblical teaching that people are sinners. So Jesus never did what Swamiji claims he did .
Swamiji quotes bible verses to substantiate his teachings .
He quotes , “Know the kingdom of God is within you” and “I and the father are one”
It is very tragic that someone of the stature of swamiji has got it all wrong . But what is more tragic is more people will also get it wrong through him. Swamiji rips these two lines out of context from the bible to make Jesus look like an advaitin, preaching what Vivekanada and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa would preach i.e Vedanta.
Jesus said , “I and the father are one” but he never said , “You and the father are one”. Jesus never compared people with the father or himself. Here again Swamiji goes grossly wrong on an important theme.
The kingdom of God is within you means that God wants to make his rule, as a king in the hearts of the believers. This happens not by self realization as Swamiji suggested but by submission to God through obedience to his commands.
Swamiji’s depiction of Jesus is pathetically incomplete, grossly wrong and highly misleading. He should not put his philosophy into the mouth of Jesus . It is in no way correct or compatible. So Swamiji through these teachings has mislead millions away from the real Christ of history, who is the biblical Jesus, our only God and Savior.
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