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Unlock This CourseThe lesson Reasons to Believe: First Cause, Design and Experience gave the general reasons why people believe in God. For many Hindus, belief begins long before any argument. It begins with nurture, above all in family life.
Key terms:
Family life shapes belief in several ways:
Not every Hindu family is the same. Some perform puja every day. Others worship mainly at festivals or at the mandir (temple). Many Hindus say nurture is a starting point: each person must still seek God for themselves.
Remember, the appeal to religious authority means believing because of a trusted source, such as a holy book or a teacher. For Hindus two sources matter most.
The Vedas are the oldest Hindu scriptures. Hindus call them shruti. They believe the Vedas were not written by human authors. The rishis 'heard' these eternal truths in deep meditation, and the words were passed on by memory for centuries. So many Hindus trust what the Vedas say about Brahman as the highest authority. Their words are chanted in puja and at weddings.
The Bhagavad Gita is not one of the Vedas, but it is the best loved and most widely read Hindu scripture. Hindus who worship Krishna believe it contains the words of God himself. In chapter 16 Krishna tells Arjuna to let scripture be his guide on what should and should not be done. In chapter 11 Arjuna is given a vision of Krishna's universal form. It fills him with awe, and shows Hindus how powerful a religious experience can be.
Authority also comes through people. In chapter 4 of the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna to go to those who have seen the truth, to ask them questions and to serve them. Many Hindus have a guru, a spiritual teacher, who explains the scriptures.
Hindus differ here. Some accept the scriptures simply because they are revealed. Others say scripture is like a map: you trust it at first, then test it in your own experience.
Hindus believe people can experience God directly, through four yogas. Swami Vivekananda taught that the four suit four kinds of people, and that it is best to combine them. You will meet these paths again in Moksha and the Three Margas. Here, notice how each one helps belief to grow.
Studying the scriptures with a teacher and thinking deeply about who you really are. Hindus say it leads from believing in Brahman to knowing Brahman.
Training the body, the breath and the mind to become still. Hindus believe that in deep meditation a person can become aware of the atman within.
Doing your duty and serving others without wanting a reward, as an offering to God. Hindus say this weakens selfishness, so a person starts to see God in everyone they help.
Loving a personal God through puja, prayer and singing. In chapter 9 of the Gita, Krishna says he accepts even a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with love. This is the most widely followed path.
The yogas make faith personal. A Hindu who feels the closeness of God during puja no longer believes only because their parents did.
The lesson Agnosticism and Atheism: Reasons for Doubt and Unbelief set out why some people doubt or do not believe. Hindus respond to each reason.
Hinduism also has a long history of questioning. Remember the Rig Veda hymn that asks who really knows how creation began, and the Charvakas, who said only matter is real. So some Hindus see honest questions as part of the search for God. Others see lasting doubt as a danger: in chapter 4 of the Gita, Krishna warns that a person who is full of doubt finds no happiness.
Do not write that the Gita is one of the Vedas: it is a separate scripture. Do not describe yoga here as exercise: the four yogas are paths to God. Do not write that all Hindu families worship in the same way, or that Hindus believe only because of how they were raised: many say experience makes faith their own.
Paper 1 style. (a) and (b) test AO1; (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three factors that may lead a person to believe in God. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two ways in which family life may encourage belief in God in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why scripture is an important reason for belief in God in this religion. [6 marks]
(d) 'People only believe in God because of the way they were brought up.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
(a) 1. A religious upbringing (1). 2. The appeal to religious authority, such as scripture (1). 3. A religious experience (1).
(b) Hinduism. Many Hindu homes have a shrine with murtis of the deities (1), so a child grows up with God as part of everyday home life (1). Families celebrate festivals such as Diwali together (1), where children hear stories such as Rama and Sita, which teach that God cares for the world (1).
(c) Hinduism. Hindus believe the Vedas are shruti, 'what is heard'. They were not made up by people but revealed to the rishis in meditation. This means that what the Vedas say about Brahman can be trusted as the highest authority.
The Bhagavad Gita is important because Hindus who worship Krishna believe it contains God's own words. In it Krishna tells Arjuna to let scripture be his guide.
Scripture is also part of daily life. The Vedas are chanted in puja and at weddings, and a guru explains their meaning, so belief keeps being built up.
(d) Plan. For: Hindu nurture is powerful: the home shrine, daily puja, festivals and the example of parents shape a child before they can question; most believers follow the religion of their family; atheists may say this shows belief is a habit that is passed on, not a discovery.
Against: Hindus say nurture is only the start: through the four yogas, such as meditation or bhakti, a person experiences God for themselves; others believe because they trust the Vedas and the Gita, or because of arguments such as the world needing a maker; some people come to believe with no religious upbringing, and some raised in religious homes stop believing, so upbringing does not decide everything.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I disagree. Upbringing explains where many people's belief starts, but not why they keep it as adults. Notice the word 'only': one other real reason for belief is enough to challenge the statement.
In part (b) the question asks for ways family life encourages belief, so each point must be something that happens in the family, such as the home shrine or festivals, not the Vedas or the yogas.