The bible teaches us that he that is spiritual judges all things, and Jesus himself tells us to judge righteous judgement(Joh 7:24, 1 Cor 2:15, ). Today we will be covering the origins of the religion known as Jainism and then cover what their distinguishing beliefs are in order to refute them biblically.
This religion was believed to be founded by a man named Mahavira (599-527) in Eastern India sometime around the 7th-5th centuries B.C. Today it is estimated that there is around 4 million adherents to Jainism, most of which are located in India. While this religion does have some good virtues such as non-stealing, self-denial, and being faithful to your spouse, there are several other beliefs and practices of Jainism that are contrary to the teachings of scripture. Those are the one's I plan on addressing today.
So what do they believe about the origin of the universe? Jains believe that the universe is eternal and un-created. The bible tells us that the universe isn't eternal and was created (Gen 1:1). The overwhelming amount of scientific evidence rules in favor of the bible because it now supports the idea that the universe had a beginning. According to Jainism there are 7 levels of heaven, and at the top is the realm of the Jinas (liberated souls) which is above the realm of the gods. They also teach that there are multiple layers of hell and they get progressively colder or painful as you go down. This is the opposite teaching of scripture, which has hell containing fire (Luk 16:24).
Jainism teaches polytheism, that is the belief in many gods. This includes Ambika who is known as the mother goddess of material wealth, childbirth, and the protection of women. The bible however teaches monotheism, which is the belief in only One God
(Isa 45:5). Jains also think that humans can attain divinity which is obtained by ridding oneself of karma, this belief also contradicts the bible as the saved will be as the angels, not God (Mat 22:30, Mar 12:25). Like Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism teaches that the dead will be reincarnated into other creatures. The bible however teaches that is is appointed to man to die once, and that he will not be raised until the heavens be no more (Heb 9:27, Job 14:12).
Jainism teaches that not only humans but animals, insects, plants, and even things such as sand, wind, and rain contain Jiva's (a soul). This is worth noting because the Jain teaching of Ahimsa (non-violence) applies to all Jiva's. This can lead to some rather odd behaviors, such as sweeping the ground where they walk, not eating after dark, wearing cloth over their mouths, and boiling water so they don't accidentally ingest living things (wouldn't boiling the water kill the microbes?).
Like Catholic priest, Jain monks are forbidden from sexual intercourse and are required to be vegetarians (see Catholic lent), since they command to abstain from meat/forbid to marry it shows that they have given heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils (1Ti 4:1-5). Jainism even teaches that in addition to abstaining from meat, the laymen are even forbidden from eating certain types, if not all fruits and roots as well.
Jainism includes a group of monks known as the Digambara, some of which take the vow of non-possession to the extreme and go around naked. I suppose they don't care about modesty (1 Tim 2:9). Another practice of Jainism is Idol veneration where adherents bath, decorate, and make offerings to the idols. This behavior is strictly forbidden in scripture as well (Exo 20:4 -5). The Jains view the Sallekhana which is a ritual where one starves them-self to death as the ultimate act of self control, though thankfully this practice isn't as common today. The bible calls those who fold their hands together and eat their own flesh, fools Ecc 4:5). While fasting is good, your not supposed to starve yourself to death.
In conclusion Jainism is just another spin-off of Hinduism where men worship the work of their hands (graven images) and try to earn salvation by works (Karma). The bible teaches that we cannot earn salvation because in is a free gift and it is by God's grace, not works (Rom 5:15-18, Eph 2:8-9). While abstaining from violence to our fellow man is moral (Pro 28:17), we are permitted to hunt animals for food(Gen 9:2-3).
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