CHRISTIAN BHAKTI

Bhakti is devotion to a deity, who was traditionally a Hindu god. Some forms of bhakti stress the obligation to honour caste affiliations; others are more egalitarian and emphasise the genuineness of the devotees’ emotions. The latter encourage love for and surrender to a deity and reliance on grace rather than on rituals and austerities as a path to spiritual fulfilment. This egalitarian understanding has been embraced by the poor and Dalits and has inspired bhakti cults.

However, bhakti is not a “Hindu Protestantism”, giving rise to dissenting sects outside mainstream Hinduism. Rather, it permeates all forms of Hinduism. Worshippers of Vishnu express their devotion by worshipping him as their child, parent, friend, master or beloved.

The concept of bhakti is also very important in monotheistic Sikhism.

In Hindu bhakti traditions, the divine is understood as one God manifested in the various deities of sacred myths. Christians, however, worship the Trinitarian God of the Bible, who manifests his power in creation, in the OT history of Israel, in the saving, redeeming and peace-loving acts of Jesus Christ, and through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Hindu bhakti involves the use of images, which are regarded as receptacles in which the spirit of the deity is invited to rest. Thus, an image is both a representation and a manifestation of the deity, and gazing upon it symbolises the meeting of the deity and the devotee.

By contrast, Christians believe that God is an invisible Spirit and that no images should be made of him (Exod 20:3-6; Acts 17:29). The only image of God that Christians have is the living Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 18; 14:8; Col 1:15; 2:9; Heb 1:3). He is the focus of Christian devotion.

Both Hindus and Christians recognise that humans are unworthy to offer worship to God. In Hinduism the priest or the chief worshipper acts as a mediator, presenting offerings and returning parts of the offering to the devotees as symbols of the deity’s grace and power. For Christians, Jesus is the high priest. Because he is holy and is himself God, he is the perfect mediator between the invisible holy God and sinful humanity. He presents the perfect offering (himself) to God on our behalf and, in return, offers us God’s Spirit and his grace.

Hindu devotees honour a deity by bathing, dressing appropriately and removing footwear before approaching its image, and by presenting themselves at appropriate times with appropriate offerings.

They acknowledge their sinfulness and request forgiveness. By adoring the image of the deity and receiving the part of their offering that is returned to them, they notionally receive grace from the deity.

Christians, too, recognise that they are sinful, but they know that they have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, who died, was raised and is now seated on the throne. Christians acknowledge their sinfulness and seek forgiveness by offering themselves in worship and service to the Lord.

The rituals of bhakti worship include prostrations before the deity and surrender to the deity, praising the deity’s name, and treating the image of the deity to the hospitality due to a royal guest. In Christian worship, believers offer themselves to Christ’s service through singing praises, listening to the reading of the Bible and its exposition by preachers, praying, giving offerings, and absolute obedience to God.

In some parts of India, Christian devotees are trying to adopt elements of bhakti ritual in Christian worship. For example, in their singing they draw on the classical Hindu tradition of devotional songs with simple tunes and repetitive words that create almost meditative chanting. In the practice of offertory in church, there is also partial Christian adaptation of the Hindu practice of presenting a vegetable or fruit offering that is cut, pinched or broken by the priest to signify that the devotee is dying to self and living for the deity. The offering is seen as redeeming the devotee. Christians bring no such offering, for Christ’s death is the perfect offering on our behalf (2 Cor 5:19; 1 Tim 2:5-6). But we do acknowledge that in accepting Jesus Christ as our offering or sacrifice to God, we die to ourselves and live for God (Col 1:21-22).

The Hindu practice of returning part of the offering to the devotee as a symbol of divine grace offers parallels to the role of the bread and wine in Christian worship.

The appropriation of bhakti by South Asian Christians often reflects their background prior to their conversion to Christian faith.

Those who were Brahmins like Bishop A.J. Appasamy draw on the understanding of bhakti in Hindu philosophical schools. Dalits are attracted to bhakti in its simplest, egalitarian form and are in the process of developing their own theology and forms of worship.