But I do find it interesting that not a single Bible believing Christian has responded to this question. The answer should be easily found in the Bible according to what I've been told.
If I were a Christian, my approach would be to say something like, ‘I believe in one God, the Father; and I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ his Son. Further, I believe the gospel: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.’ Those are the statements that I would be able to directly point to in the New Testament. Those would be the most important beliefs. Everything else that I would believe were I a Christian would be ‘additional details.’ The rest of my spiritual life would be based on the teachings of Jesus in the four canonical Gospels to the best of my ability with God’s fatherly help. My Christianity would not so much be a religion about Jesus but rather a religion of Jesus (not saying Judaism would be my religion).
I, myself, am a believer in the Gospel, a.k.a. The Way, and have been told over and over the Bible is God's direct word as written by His prophets. So, if "it is written. . ." can be the answer by Christians here in life to so many questions others ask, would Jesus back that same answer at judgement?
The very idea of that encounter might make one less dogmatic about what one believes. How an individual today or even 1,000 years ago understands the Bible might not be anywhere near the way that Jesus might.
And, "dharma" I understand and I believe he would say "Well done, my brother."
The
sāmānya dharma or common dharma is basically virtues such as non-injury, truthfulness, cleanliness, control of the senses, control over evil propensities, compassion, charity, patience/forgiveness, and the like. These virtues seem aligned with the teachings of Jesus.
For "bhakti" which I had to look up, I believe he would say "I'm so glad you recognized the Father by the sound of another of His voices."
Looking at the life of Jesus, his spirituality and its influence on his life suggest to me that he was a
bhakta, a devotee.
There are some similarities between the God of Christianity and Śiva. Both have a voice like thunder, both have the pillar of fire symbolism, and both have something to do with a mountain. Moreover, Śiva has the names Devadeva (God of Gods) and Tāraka (Savior), which have their Hebrew equivalents in the Bible. Lastly, there is a story in which Śiva has a son named Nandīśvara, who lives on earth and is then brought up to Śiva’s world in order to be crowned ‘Lord of Lords’ and made leader of celestial troops. The similarities are apparent.
My apologies for getting way off topic in your thread. I am sorry about that.
