Christianity...What Is It?

There are some official ISKCON representatives who, with great pathos, propagate the oneness of religions and the importance of interreligious dialogues with representatives of various religious groups, better to say sects, all forgetting to ask the very basic question: what is actually real religion?
Srila Prabhupada offered a clear answer to this question: Real religion can be defined only by God. “God is God” in His own right; He is not to be claimed by any of the religious groups as their property, claiming superiority over the others. No wonder Kṛṣṇa recommends to Arjuna by the end of His Bhagavad-gītā to “give up all religions and simply surrender unto Me.”
Thanks to Srila Prabhupada, we can offer humanity the ultimate picture of true religion, which defines the ultimate constitutional position of the soul being an eternal part of the Supreme Soul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
It is for this reason that Srila Prabhupada insisted that his movement will not be called the International Society for God Consciousness, but the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He must have been aware that the followers of Kṛṣṇa will be defined by other sects as just another sect. He didn't care, trusting the final explanation given in the revealed scriptures, which define Kṛṣṇa as being the origin of all religious paths if such paths are followed rigidly. In this way, Srila Prabhupada respected and even encouraged those who were not able to take up the path of bhakti-yoga to follow their religious path... if it was authorised by the scripture and followed by the representative of that Holy Scripture. Even the Bible and the Qur'an cannot be accepted as absolutely authorised, as they were written down and interpreted by an unknown number of commentators who had every chance to implement their own opinion into what was then accepted as being absolute. The Bible alone was written a hundred years after the departure of Jesus.
We can see how many attempts were made in the fifty-year history of ISKCON alone to change and falsely interpret Srila Prabhupada's teachings. So what can be said about those who interpreted the words of Jesus so long after his departure?
Christianity is full of mysteries. Nobody knows what even Jesus looked like, and his life is leaving questions open that were not answered until today. The mysteriously undocumented portion of his life where he suddenly disappeared is claimed to be documented by those coming from India, where even the grave of Jesus can be found along with the documentation of his family. Was he able to survive his crucifixion? Why not? Any qualified yogi in India can do that. Who was he actually?
The church institution has its own version of his existence, and many documents proving not to be fitting the official church doctrine disappeared.
The same may be attempted to be done with documentation of Srila Prabhupada's words, but it's more difficult as Srila Prabhupada is the most documented ācārya in the history of Vaiṣṇavism. He taught us on the basis of authorised scriptures who God really is, what His name is, and what His activities and opulences are; as a matter of fact, he told us everything we need to know to return to God. The final return to God is a message we will find in all revealed scriptures. God has His messengers, and Jesus certainly was one of them. Was he the ONLY son of God? Srila Prabhupada commented humorously that an ordinary person can have a few sons, and God has only one. He must be truly an impotent being, according to the official Christian version.
Srila Prabhupada demonstrated his respect and devotion to Jesus many times. Once, when being accommodated in a congregational family, he was brought to a room for the night. When his servant came in, he was shocked to see Srila Prabhupada staring at the wall where a crucifix was hanging. Srila Prabhupada cried and said silently, “Please take it away immediately. Look what they have done to him.”
Indeed, to worship one spiritual guide nailed and dead on a piece of wood is a rather morbid idea. When in a ritualistic way the body of the one who saved his disciples is eaten and his blood is drunk, as done by any good Christian every Sunday in the church, any follower of Kṛṣṇa can only turn in disgust away. Who would eat the body of one's guru and drink his blood?
During a morning walk, Srila Prabhupada engaged in a playful but profound roleplay, embodying a devout Christian:
- Srila Prabhupada: “Here we are walking early in the morning. Where are all these Christians?”
- Devotee: “Srila Prabhupada, they are sleeping.”
- Another devotee: “Yeah, they are in maya!”
- Srila Prabhupada: “What do you mean, I am in maya?”
- Devotee: “Christians don’t even serve God.”
- Srila Prabhupada: “What do you mean, I don’t serve God? I am praying every day and going to church every Sunday!”
Finally, another devotee interjected, “But you don’t even follow your own Bible!”
Srila Prabhupada responded, “Yes, that’s where Christianity went wrong—they don’t even follow their own scripture. After all, 'Thou shalt not kill,' yet they violate the very first commandment by killing innocent animals.”
A letter addressing the Pope as a leader of the "great sect," Srila Prabhupada's, was never answered by the Vatican. When Srila Prabhupada found out that devotees tried to arrange an audience with the Pope for him in the Vatican but could offer him only an ordinary place in a queue, standing for daily blessings, Srila Prabhupada abstained from such ceremonial by giving a simple example:
Once a heron was approached by a tiger. The tiger asked the heron to use his long beak to pull out a bone that got stuck in the tiger's throat when he devoured another animal. The heron objected, pointing out that sticking his head into the tiger's mouth could result in his own death. The tiger pacified him that he would not eat him; after all, he needs his help. And besides that, he will give him a blessing. So the heron took out the bone from the tiger's throat, and when standing still there, the tiger looked angrily at him, saying, "What else do you want?" The heron fearfully reminded him that, after all, he still wanted to give him a blessing. “I already did give you a blessing,” said the tiger. “I didn't eat you!”
So this kind of blessing Srila Prabhupada indicated we can get when we approach the big tigers. They may leave us alone and not eat us. This is a reminder for the sometimes anxiously bowing down to the feet of various celebrity members of our PR department.
So, what questions might Christians struggle to answer?
- Who is God? (Father and supplier. That could be said about any responsible householder.)
- What is He doing?‘ Giving bread and punishing sinners. That could be said about any baker and any policeman.
- Where does he live? (In heaven, “up there”).
- Well, then all Christians don't go to the spiritual world; they go to heavenly planets... if following the commands... said Srila Prabhupada by quoting the Christians themselves.
- Can a devout Christian achieve love of God?
It's difficult to love somebody we don't know, but it's possible if we stop killing other living entities. So many got killed in the past by those who “loved Jesus.” As a matter of fact, Christians are historically proven to be experts in killing, surpassed only by fanatical rulers of the Muslim community.
Standing once on the street, distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, I was approached by an angry Christian. I smiled at him, reminding him that the basic code of Christianity is love and forgiveness. He yelled at me even more: “Yes, we want love, but it's going to be Christian love!”
Indeed, any sect member thinks like this. Because of claiming superiority of their "love," various religious cults have been killing each other for thousands of years.
And so, welcoming all true Christians, we can cooperate with any member of any religion as long as the basic understanding of God is established. Srila Prabhupada said it was a question of degree. The Bible was spoken to fishermen; hence, there is no philosophy, just analogies to be understood by the simplest kind of men.
The Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to the highest member of Vedic society, a member of the royal class, following all the codes of human life as established in the Vedas. Hence, we find philosophy, science, and religion in a wonderfully united form, without any fanatical prejudice to any other path. Not all paths lead back to God, only the established and authorised ones. Any serious Christian, and we found a few on the way, will be automatically interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, finding in it a deeper way to follow the path Jesus indicated, the path of purification while rising finally to the highest goal of life, the return back home to God. As Srila Prabhupada said, “We didn't come to stop you from being a Christian; we can teach you how to be a better Christian."
Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is not for fanatics. Perverted religions are.