Derived Religions?

Abstract

Christianity and Sikhism are clearly derivative of Judaism and Hinduism but neither is entirely happy with this statement and even now some Christians and Sikhs will deny it. The reasons for this attitude will be considered at this point as it is something which will recur in the following pages. Fundamentally, however, Christians and Sikhs wish to defend the belief that their religions are distinct revelations rather than developments or aspects of Judaism and Hinduism respectively. It is an issue to which anyone who is likely to work in the area of Sikh studies should be alerted. Behind the apparently fact-seeking question, ‘Was Guru Nanak a Hindu?’ lies the anxiety that yet again a westerner is going to diminish Sikh distinctiveness and threaten its identity by suggesting that it is merely one of the many forms which that religion has taken. Behind the Punjab crisis of the late twentieth century and the demand of some Sikhs for a homeland, an independent state of Khalistan, lurks the perennial fear of absorption into Hinduism. This is also a reason why Sikhs eagerly affirm the unity of the Panth and look anxiously at any movement within Sikhism which might seem to question the authority of the scripture and the importance of the outward symbols of uncut hair and turban. It is sometimes said of Judaism, the parent of Christianity, that it thrives best under persecution.