Respect Christ But Don’t Accept His Philosophy

“Regarding your question about Lord Jesus Christ, we accept him as saktyavesa avatara. Lord Buddha is in the same category also. Lord Buddha is mentioned specifically in Srimad-Bhagavatam as an incarnation of Godhead, and yet Vaisnavas do not accept his philosophy, which is classified as atheism. Similarly, even if we accept Lord Jesus Christ as saktyavesa avatara, it doesn’t mean that we have to accept his philosophy. But we have all respects for him without fail. Regarding books like Aquarian Gospel or even the Testaments, we cannot accept them as authorities because sometimes it is learned that the words are not actually spoken by Christ, but they are so set up by the devotees. For example, in the Ten Commandments it is clearly stated “Thou shalt not kill,” but some Bishop in Boston has changed it to “Thou shalt do no murder.” This means the Bishop wants to keep hold for animal slaughter. So don’t bother about all this literature. We have all respect for these great preachers, but we do not require to study books save and except for some reference. We must push on our philosophy of how to love God. Our process is simple. We have got volumes of books also, so it is better for us to mind our own business than to divert our attention in the studies of other books. This was definitely forbidden by Lord Caitanya.”
———————————
From Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Hansadutta — Tittenhurst 2 November, 1969

Share:

Follow us

Padmanayana Krsna Dasa

View Comments

  • Such an important point brought out by the article on Christ. Devotees constantly express confusion about this.

    They conflate accepting of someone as a saktyavesa avatar with the purity of his message. That is Mayavada.

Recent Posts

Join the International Diploma in Deity Worship at Mayapur Academy

Dear Devotees,We hope you are well and progressing in your spiritual journey. We areexcited to…

2 months ago

ISKCON India Governing Council (Bureau) Letter on passing of HH Gopal Krishna Goswami

Dear devotees, Namonamaha. Jaya Srila Prabhupada! Gopal Krishna Maharaj ki jaya! The ISKCON India Governing…

6 months ago

The Law of Disciplic Succession, Part 1

IISB members Basu Ghosh Das (ACBSP) and Krishna Kirti Das (Convenor, IISB) discuss Srila Prabhupada’s…

7 months ago

DECEPTION Essential URL’s

The proof of how dishonest the Poison allegations are is those who endorse this horrible…

7 months ago

Vaishnava Seva Savadhana

Vaishnava-Seva-Savadhana2-2Download

7 months ago

Initial Response to SAC’s Paper ‘Brahma-gayatri mantra in ISKCON’

Abstract In Kṛṣṇa’s Vedic civilization, upanayana — the investiture with the sacred thread and brahma-gāyatrī…

7 months ago