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**JainChrs (2/16/93) ****
  By : Ravi Mehta, Jain Center of Central Florida
***************************************************************


                    JAINISM VS. CHRISTIANITY


      Jainism was originally established by 1st Tirthankar Aadi Nath
      (Rishabhav Dev) and modified by 24th Tirthankar Mahavira.Mahavira
      was born in 599 B.C.  at Kundalpuri in the vicinity of Vaishali
      Nagari (a city in Northeast India).  He was born into the royal
      family of Kshatriyas (Hindu warrior class).  His father was King
      Siddhartha, his mother Queen Trishala Devi and his older brother
      was Nandivardhaman.

      Jainism spread it's influence into Indian States, starting from
      Bihar, Orrisa, Utterpradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and many
      others.  Now it has spread to the entire world by Jains migrating
      to other countries.

      Queen Trishala after conception saw 14 beautiful and auspicious
      dreams at midnight.  She narrated her dreams to King Siddharth.
      The King called the soothsayers for the interpretation of dreams
      and they unanimously said, "Sir, Her Highness will be blessed with
      a noble son.  The dreams augur the vast spiritual realm, the child
      shall command and Her Highness will become the Universal Mother."
      After nine months and fourteen days, Queen Trishala delivered a
      baby boy.  The boy was named Vardhaman meaning "ever expanding".

      At the age of 30, after his parents death, he renounced his kingdom
      and all his worldly riches.  He became an ascetic and spent twelve
      years practicing various penances and austerities.  One day, when
      he was seated on the bank of the Rijukala River, near Jrimbika
      village, he plunged into deep meditation.  He was suddenly showered
      with omniscience of absolute knowledge (Kavlya Gyana) which has no
      limitation of time or space.

      Jesus Christ was born by immaculate conception to Mary and Joseph,
      direct descendants of King David, in the city of Bethlehem where
      they had gone to pay taxes.  Before conception, an angel appeared
      at different times to Mary, Joseph, and Elizabeth (Mary's cousin)
      to tell them that Mary would conceive a son by the Holy Spirit, and
      his name would be Jesus, which means "Wonderful, Counselor, Prince
      of Peace".  Jesus and his brothers worked with Joseph.

      At the age of 12, during a visit to Jerusalem, Jesus was separated
      from his parents.  They found him in the Temple teaching and
      answering questions of the high priests.  This was his first
      acknowledgement of "going about my father's (God's) business."  At
      about age 30, Jesus began his ministry by spending 40 days in the
      desert, after which he came to his cousin, John the Baptist (who
      had been preaching the coming of God's son, the Savior) and was
      baptized in the Jordan River.  From that point, until his
      crucifixion 3 years later, he ministered by healing, spreading the
      gospel (salvation by grace), teaching his 12 disciples to carry on
      his messages, and preparing for his death.

      After Jesus was crucified, Christianity has spread from the middle
      east to Italy and other European countries by the disciplesand
      early members of the "church" spreading the message of salvation
      through Christ.  From there, others have carried the message to the
      world.

      Jainism has two major scriptures, MAHAVIR VANI and JAIN SUTRAS.
      Jainism is based on the major principles of human evolution
      (8,400,000 births required to have a human birth), Karmic Law (laws
      of cause and effect), Reincarnation, non- violence, and live & let
      live.  These two scriptures are scientific and technical.  More
      than 7 million people in India are Jains, and 25,000 in North
      America.

      Jainism has two major branches, Swetambar and Digambar.  Swetambar
      is further divided into Deravasi and Sthanakvasi.  Deravasi worship
      an idol of Mahavir in Derasar, while in Sthanakvasi there is no
      idol in the worship place called Upashraya.

      Christianity has one book of scriptures- THE HOLY BIBLE-, which
      teaches history, guides for living, heaven (where God is) & hell
      (place of eternal punishment for sins), and salvation through the
      death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Christians maintain that
      this book is the holy word of God, written in scrolls by many men
      through thousands of years.  King James of England had scholars
      from all over to translate the original scrolls from Greek/Hebrew,
      then they compared the translations and wrote the KING JAMES BIBLE.
      In the 20th century, many scholars have translated the scriptures
      into modern English from the original Greek.

      Christianity is divided into 2 groups, Catholic and Protestants.
      The Catholic believe that Mary was also without sin like Christ and
      is an intermediary to him through prayers, and that you must do
      penance and works to be forgiven for sin.  Protestants believe Mary
      was totally human (with sin) and that personal salvation comes
      through Christ's death and resurrection for all mankind.
      Protestants also feel that they can pray directly to Jesus.
      Catholic use the Crucifixion in their churches, while Protestants
      use only the cross.  Protestants are subdivided into various groups
      such as Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc.  with slight
      differences in dogma.

      As Christians, the work has always been spread the news of
      salvation through Jesus' death and resurrection to the ends of the
      earth.  Through personal profession of faith, Christianity is the
      largest religion in the world, more than 1.5 billion people and
      growing.

      Jains celebrate 2 major events, MAHAVIR JAYANTI (birthday of
      Mahavir) and PARYUSHAN (to stay near to God/Godess/all that is)
      DAYS OF JAIN FESTIVAL.

      Christians also celebrate 2 major events, CHRISTMAS (birth of Jesus
      Christ) and EASTER (celebration of Jesus' resurrection from the
      dead).

      By:  Ravi Mehta
      Jain Center of Central Florida
      C/o Rajendra Mehta
      1689 Grange Circle
      Longwood, FL  32750
      (407) 260-6459

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