A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in Interreligious Dialogue

201 Pages·0.766 MB·English

by  Peter Schmidt

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in Interreligious Dialogue
Dedicated to
Sabine
and
my parents,
Monika Schmidt
and Herbert Schmidt
Preface
Today, on the threshold of the third millennium, the discussion on the
teachings and life of Jesus takes place in a tense region between traditional
views and the results of historic critical Bible exegesis. Thus, if extra-
Christian views and attempts at interpretation are considered, a modern
scientific study can definitely provide new realizations.
Especially noteworthy among these largely unnoticed views are the efforts
of authoritative representatives of Hinduism, who have arrived at their own,
unorthodox conclusions about Christianity.
One of them, the Bengali Vaiṣṇava scholar A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
(1896–1977), has discussed in his philosophical reflections the person Jesus
as well as numerous other aspects of the Church’s history.
This has moved me to academically investigate the origins and content of
Bhaktivedanta Swami‘s views. By analyzing his “outsider” approach to
Christianity, I hope to gain new perspectives for the understanding and
formation of Christian reality, not least through interreligious dialogue with
non-Christian religious persuasions.
It is thanks to the inspiration and technical assistance of many persons that
this investigation could take place. Among them are Rev. Dr. John Munro,
World Mission of the Church of Scotland; Rev. Prof. Frank Whaling, Rev.
John Weir Cook‚ MA., BD. and Mrs. Jane Taylor (all from Edinburgh).
For their competent advice, let me thank especially Dr. Martin Midwede,
Heidelberg; Norbert Mattis, Freiburg in Breisgau; Gaurahari dasa (Francis
Kaderli), Luzern; and for supplying original texts by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
und Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, I thank Gaura-Nitāi dāsa (Wolfgang
Burtscher), Vorarlberg.
Above all, I want to give my heartfelt thanks to Prof. Dr. Edmund Weber,
Frankfurt. Without his ready support, both technical and moral, and his
abundant constructive advice I would not have been able to complete this
treatise.
Further I want to thank the editors of “THEION – Annual for Religious
Culture‚” Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Ludwig Federlin and Prof. Dr. Edmund Weber,
for including my paper in their series.
Finally, let me thank my life-partner, Sabine Roth, and my mother, Mrs.
Monika Schmidt, for their diverse and efficacious support during the
composition and publication of this treatise.
Autumn of 1998, Wiesbaden Peter Schmidt
Contents
Preface 7
I. Introduction 13
1. Preliminary Notes 13
2. Current State of Research 14
3. Aim and Structure of This Work 14
4. Limits of This Work 17
II. Bhaktivedanta Swami‘s Strategy of Interreligious Dialogue 18
1. Bhaktivedanta Swami and the Bible 18
1.1 Appreciative Statements on the Bible 18
1.2. Critical Statements on the Bible 18
1.2.1. Criticism of Sources 19
1.2.2. Comparison with Bhagavad-gītā 23
(including insertion: The Purpose of Schools of Faith
1.2.3. The Impotence of the Bible 31
1.3. Biblical Quotes in Context 33
1.3.1. Quotes from the OT 33
1.3.2. Quotes from the NT 39
1.4. Results 46
2. Jesus from Bhaktivedanta Swami‘s Perspective 48
2.1. Titles 48
2.2. The Character of Jesus 51
2.3. The Mission of Jesus 54
(including: The Term “Sin”)
2.4. Jesus as a Model 61
2.5. Criticism of Christian Dogma and Piety 64
2.5.1. The Death Atonement of Jesus as a Contract 64
2.5.2. Jesus – Dead or Alive? 68
2.5.3. Thou Shalt Not Kill 69
(including insertion: Conversation with French Cardinal Danielou)

2.5.4. The True Succession 80
2.6. The Enemies of Jesus and Future Prospects 85
2.7. Complementary Statements about Jesus 89
2.7.1. Jesus in India 89
2.7.2. “Kṛṣṇa” and “Christus” 91
2.8. Result 94
3. Bhaktivedanta Swami’s Views on Christian History 96
3.1. Protestantism 96
3.2. Christian Mysticism 99
3.3. Result 101
4. The Origin of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s Vision of Christianity 103
4.1. Autobiographical Notes 103
4.1.1. Childhood and Early Youth 103
4.1.2. Education at Scottish Churches College 109
(including insertion: Differences Between Man and Woman)

4.1.3. Childhood and Youth as Mirrored by the Official ISKCON
Biography 118
4.2. Rev. Dr. William Spence Urquhart 120
4.2.1. A Concise Biography 120
4.2.2. Rev. Urquhart‘s Theology 123
4.2.2.1 The Rating of Jesus Christ 123
4.2.2.2. God‘s Love 124
4.2.2.3. The Indian Thought of Reincarnation 125
4.2.2.4. Theological Consequences 126
4.2.2.5. Definition of His Theological Position 128
4.2.3. Bhaktivedanta Swami and Reverend Urquhart 131
4.2.3.1. Common Points in Their Views of Jesus 131
4.2.3.2. Differences in Their Views of Jesus 132
4.2.3.3. Further Peculiarities 133
4.3. The Vaiṣṇava Background 134
4.3.1. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura 134
4.3.1.1. A Concise Biography 134
4.3.1.2. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and Bhaktivedanta Swami 135
4.3.2. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī 139
4.3.2.1. A Concise Biography 139
4.3.2.2. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī and Bhaktivedanta Swami 142
4.4 Result 146
5. Bhaktivedanta Swami‘s Dialogue with Christianity 151
5.1. Basic Elements: The Concepts of Religion and God 151
5.2. Conclusions for Interreligious Custom (Practice?) 156
5.2.1. Viewpoints on the Bible 156
5.2.2. Reflections on Jesus 158
5.3. Practical Initiatives 161
5.3.1. The Dialogue with the Catholic Church 161
5.3.1.1. The Letter to the Pope 162
5.3.1.2. The Conversation with the Pontifical Secretary, Cardinal Pignedoli
164
5.3.2. Discourse with the Bible 166
5.3.3. Specification of Interreligious Cooperation 168
5.4. Result 170
I. Introduction
1. Preliminary Notes
In 1966, Bengali-born Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami, in
short Bhaktivedanta Swami (September 1, 1896 – November 14, 1977)1,
founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, in
the West known as the “Hare Krishna Movement”), in New York.
Technically speaking, Bhaktivedanta Swami’s movement belongs to
Hinduism. Within Hinduism, it is part of the theistic Saguṇa religions of the
Vaiṣṇavas, the followers of Vaiṣṇavism, who are Kṛṣṇa worshipers. And
within Vaiṣṇavism, it is a branch of the so-called Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava
tradition, which has originated in Bengal (Gauḍa-deśa is an old name for
Bengal). The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava movement was formed in the first half of
the 16th century by the religious ecstatic Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, whose
followers worshiped him as avatāra, an incarnation of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.
The religious practice of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas is centered around the
devotional worship (bhakti) of Kṛṣṇa and his eternal consort Rādhā.
Bhaktivedanta Swami belongs to a disciplic succession within that
Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition. Thus within Hindu society ISKCON is a fully
recognized religious group.
For the sake of completeness it should be mentioned in this
connection that ISKCON is not the only representative of Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇavism in the West. Among others, one of the spiritual relatives of
Bhaktivedanta Swami, i.e. another disciple of his spiritual master, has
become known as a spiritual preaching authority outside of India: Bhakti
Rakṣaka Śrīdhara, who also founded a religious organization for spreading
the teachings of Caitanya (with its headquarters in Navadvipa, India, the
same place where ISKCON has its headquarters).2
1 Later he was addressed with the honorary title Prabhupāda by his
followers. (Words in italics are explained in detail in the glossary.)
2 Since a few years there are even attempts to unify the different branches of
Vaiṣṇavism under one parent organization. On November 18, 1994,
nineteen Vaiṣṇava institutions (among them ISKCON and the Sri
Chaitanya Saraswat Matha of Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara as well as the Sri
Caitanya Bhakti Association in Berlin) have united as the “World
Vaiṣṇava Association.” One of the purposes of this organization is to
promote the mission in English language.
2. State of Research
Worldwide there is a good number of recent scientific publications about the
traditional and modern manifestations of the Vaiṣṇava religion.3
In those publications, however, Bhaktivedanta Swami’s extremely
tolerant position toward Christianity has been almost completely neglected,
or has been dealt with very insufficiently. To this date, a systematic research
of this subject has not been undertaken. In some works, this matter has been
touched upon, though not in the same connection.4 Considering the great
importance the dialogue with Christianity had within the thoughts and
dealings of the Swami and still has for the present relationship between
Vaiṣṇavism and Christinity, this is a real lack within religious science.
3 There is a voluminous compendium of the most important publications by
Edmund Weber (ed.) entitled Krishna im Westen, Studia Irenica vol. 30,
Frankfurt 1985.
4 Taking the viewpoint of a Christian religionist, Harvey Cox (ibid., pp. 10-
12) has investigated the question: “Has Kṛṣṇa consciousness something to
offer to Christianity in regards to theology?” A. L. Basham (ibid., pp.
145-48) has made a comparison of the Hare Krishna Movement and
various Christian monastic orders. Klaus Klostermaier (in Contemporary
Scholars Discuss the Gauḍīya Tradition, Steven Rosen (ed.), Delhi 1994,
p. 219 f.) has characterized the general view of Jesus by the Vaiṣṇavas.
Inge von Wedemeyer (Sri Krishna und Jesus Christus: eine Hinführung
zur Bhagavad-gītā und eine Zusammenschau mit Worten der Bibel) has
tried to compare Bhagavad-gītā with the Bible. However, Bhaktivedanta
Swami is only quoted through a short excerpt from his Bhagavad-gītā
translation. Edmund Weber (in THEION – Jahrbuch der Religionskultur,
vol. II, Interreligiöse Beziehungen, Konflikte und Konvergenzen, Hans
Christoph Stoodt / Edmund Weber (eds.), Frankfurt am Main 1993, pp.
155-67) has shown evidence for the religious affinity between Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Caitanya and Martin Luther, and thus between Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism and
the Protestant Christianity. In another study of the relationship between
Vaiṣṇavism and Christianity, Weber has reformulated the religion of
ISKCON and Bhaktivedanta Swami’s religious evaluation of Christianity
in terms of diacritical theology (The Religion of the ISKCON Vaishnavas
in the Perspectives of Diacritical Theology. In Journal für Religionskultur
11 / 1997 (Internet)).
3. Purpose and Structure of the Study
This study reconstructs Bhaktivedanta Swami’s view on Christianity and his
resulting strategy for interreligious dialogue. In the final part, the present
official view of ISKCON on this subject matter, as presented by Śubhānanda
dāsa, is depicted. It will be shown that a clear turning away from
Bhaktivedanta Swami’s views has taken place.
The complete works of Bhaktivedanta Swami in English language (his
published books, letters, magazines as well as transcriptions of recorded
lectures, discussions, conversations TV interwiews and other utterances) has
been published by the Bhaktivedanta Archives as a CD-Rom.5
5 The Bhaktivedanta VedaBASE, featuring the Complete Teachings of His
Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Version 2.01,
Sandy Ridge, North Carolina, U.S.A., 3 / 1995. The Bhaktivedanta
Archives are a department of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International,
the publishing arm of ISKCON.
In general one can observe an extremely equivocal relationship of
Bhaktivedanta Swami to the other world religions. This ambivalence has
also manifestsed in his way of describing or interpreting other religions:
(1) Buddhism deserves a special consideration. Due to Bhaktivedanta
Swami’s interest in this philosophy as opposing to his own, dualistically
shaped conceptions of the world and God, it is mentioned approximately as
much as Christianity (the name “Buddha” alone appears 619 times in his
complete works).6
6 In Der Hindu Buddha in der Theologie des bengalischen Vaiṣṇava ācārya
Bhaktivedanta Swami (in “Journal für Religionskultur”, 15/98 (Internet)),
Edmund Weber has described Bhaktivedanta Swami’s view on Buddhism
and has given evidence for the irenic nature of his strategy also in
relationship to the Buddhists.
(2) Islam appears to take a much less important role in Bhaktivedanta
Swami’s interreligious debate. For example, he refers to Mohammed (the
different ways of spelling already taken into consideration) a mere 37 times,
and the word “Islam” is mentioned only 42 times. Considering that the
majority of Bengal’s population are Muslims, this is a remarkable fact.
(3) Judaism, mentioned only 3 times, is an insignificant side issue for
Bhaktivedanta Swami.
These observations alone already confirm the special importance
Bhaktivedanta Swami gave to Christianity and the interreligious dialogue
with Christians.
The study will be conducted in the following steps: First, in part II,
Bhaktivedanta Swami’s expositions in regards to the Bible, Jesus and
Christian history, as found in the above-mentioned sources, will be
elaborated upon. In the first chapter, appreciative and critical statements
about the holy scripture of the Christians will be discussed separately.
Concerning Bhaktivedanta Swami’s comparison of Bible and
Bhagavad-gītā, an explanation of his conceptions of the general purpose of
religion is necessary.
The second chapter is a study of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s view of
Jesus. Due to the large amount of source material, this chapter is divided
into many sub-sections dealing with Jesus’s address, character, mission, and
exemplary function. In this connection, Bhaktivedanta Swami’s criticism of
Christian pietism and his concepts of Jesus’s enemies are also discussed.
Further insertions deal with Bhaktivedanta Swami’s concept of sin. In
this connection, his conversation with a French cardinal about the supposed
Christian neglect of the Fifth Commandment is taken into special
consideration. The subject of the last section is Bhaktivedanta Swami’s
rarely mentioned ideas of Jesus’s stay in India as well as his etymological
comparison of “Kṛṣṇa” and ”Christ.”
The third chapter concludes the view of source material with an
exhibition of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s knowledge and evaluation of the
history of Christianity, especially of Protestantism and Christian
mysticism. Next, in order to determine the origin of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s