Expert: John of AllFaith - 7/23/2007

Question
I was having a conversation with my husband and I want to visit different countries while I am in college. I really want to go to India next summer and when I say go I want to experience the Indian culture as a whole. That means visiting a Buddhist temple ect. I don't want to practice anything however it is the experience I want. My husband begins to tell me that I am wrong and I shouldn't do it because it goes against what I believe and that I am opening myself up to different spirits.. I really want to know why would learning about another religion is so wrong..I can't find it anywhere in the bible where this would be wrong... Could you please help me...

Answer
Hi Nicole,
Thanks for your question.

I answer questions here under various topical categories and when I receive questions under the Baptist heading I answer from that perspective. This is an area where my own beliefs are at odds with standard Baptist understandings however. I would like to therefore offer my thoughts from both perspectives as each is valid in my opinion.

There are many kinds of Baptists as you know. Some are more conservative than others, some more liberal. From a conservative Baptist perspective, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Jains worship "another God." India, a country I love dearly, is the closest still surviving culture to that of biblical times. Consider your readings in the Hebrew Scriptures and the frequent condemnations of idols, Groves, pagan temples, gods like Baal etc. India is filled with idols, with Groves, with gods and goddesses of every description. By visiting their holy places, many Baptists will say, one can be polluted, tainted by evil. Consider for instance:

II Cor 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you;
18 And I will be a Father to you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Now, many Baptists will argue that by entering the mandirs and other religious places in India you would be bringing the temple of God (yourself) into the temple of an idol. From this perspective your husband's concerns are perfectly understandable. There is also the common belief among many Christians that Hindus temples "feel evil," that they are the habitations of demons and that by simply entering one can be possessed. As one who has traveled in India, visited countless temples and so on, I can assure this simply is not the case. There is at times power there, but I have never found it to be evil.

Understand as well that there are expected etiquettes in India, common courtesies, that some Christians equate with direct idol worship. For instance, it is common when entering a temple to offer a stick of incense to the local murti (the idol) and you may be offered incense to light and  leave before the image in much the same way that Catholics light candles at church.

When entering any temple one removes one's shoes as an acknowledgment that one is entering into a holy place (even as Moses did on the Mount you will doubtless recall). If you attend service a person will probably be walking around the room with a tray with fire on it. People will waft the smoke from the flame over their faces, receiving a blessing. If you appear uncertain, the priest may, as an act of kindness and respect to you, motion the smoke over you. Many things like this happen all the time in India.

Now if, as a Christian, one does not wish to lend credence to the belief that a Hindu or Buddhist temple or god is holy, removing the shoes, accepting the smoke etc. may pose a problem.

Likewise, many temples will offer guests prasadam (or maha prasad). This is vegetarian food that has been previously offered to the idol, who eats with his or her eyes it believed and blesses the faithful by allowing them to partake of the 'left overs'. The Law of Moses condemns eating food that has been sacrificed to idols. To refuse the food however could be considered an insult to your hosts. Should you be invited to someone home this can be especially problematic as in all likelihood the entire dinner will be prasadam. Likewise with many restaurants. In India religion is a much bigger part of daily life than it is here. Christians may go to church for an hour or two a week, but in India people are there daily and for hours. Many live in the temples.

In short, your husband's concerns are completely understandable and harmonious with basic Baptist beliefs.

However, there is another biblical way of looking at this.

Hear the words of Paul:
I Corinthians 8
1 Now as concerning things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
2 And if any man thinketh that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
3 But if any man loveth God, the same is known by him.
4 Therefore as concerning the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
5 For though there are that are called gods, whether in heaven or upon earth, (as there are gods many, and lords many)
6 Yet to us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
7 But there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol to this hour eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
8 But food commendeth us not to God: for neither if we eat, are we the better; neither if we eat not, are we the worse.
9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours should become a stumbling-block to them that are weak.
10 For if any man shall see thee, who hast knowledge, sit eating in the idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;
11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
12 But when ye thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
13 Wherefore, if food maketh my brother to fall into sin, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to fall into sin.

India is the oldest existing culture on earth and one of the most beautiful and religious. I encourage you to go and have fun, learn and experience the glory that is India.

Know in Whom you believe and don't worry about it. God knows your heart.

Romans 14:14: I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean by itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

The key then, in my opinion, is intention. If you remove your shoes to honor the gods worshiped in the temple this may be problematic to your faith. If however you remove your shoes out of respect for your hosts, this is Christian courtesy. If you eat the prasadam because thereby you hope to gain the  blessings of the god, this could be a problem. It you eat because you need food, to be polite to your host or simply because Indian food is some of the best on the planet, it isn't idol worship. Again, as Paul says, "...we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one." If you understand this, then respect the culture you will be visiting and conform to its social norms as a Christian.

If you have the opportunity to visit this glorious land I highly encourage it. The Indians are wonderful people and their country is the jewel of the planet.

Hope this helps,
Feel free to write again if you wish.

~John of AllFaith