In the Introduction to The Second Coming of Christ by Paramahansa Yogananda, on page xxix of the hardcover version, there is a footnote that says:
“A wealth of evidence for the primacy of India’s spiritual culture in the ancient world is presented by George Feuerstein, Ph.D., Subhash Kak, Ph.D., and David Frawley, O.M.D., in In Search of the Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India (Wheaton, Ill.: Quest Books, 1995): “The old saying, ex oriente lux (“From the East, light’) is no platitude, for civilization’s torch, especially the core sacred tradition of perennial wisdom, has been handed down from the eastern hemisphere…. The Middle Eastern creations of Judaism and Christianity, which largely have given our civilization its present shape, were influenced by ideas stemming from countries farther east, especially India. Of all these Eastern traditions, by far the oldest continuous religious heritage is, without question, that of Hinduism….”
(The quote continues, but the point I want to make relates to the above text)
In the footnote above, we find the Self-Realization Fellowship publishers using once again source material from Hindu Nationalist or Hindu Nationalist sympathizing writers. The book In Search of the Cradle of Civilization‘s core arguments run counter to the scholarly consensus on many points. They argue for the “Out of India” theory, that proposes that Aryan / Vedic culture originated in India, whereas the scholarly consensus is that they migrated out of the Pontic-Caspian Steppe around 1800 BCE (https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/the-indo-aryan-migration-and-the-vedic-period/). They also try to equate Vedic culture with the earlier Harrapan culture, but there is no evidence to support this theory either. The Harrapan people were settled, urban merchants with no horses, whereas the Vedic people were semi-nomadic pastoralists who had horses and chariots.
The claim in the quote above that “The Middle Eastern creations of Judaism and Christianity… were influenced by ideas stemming from countries farther east, especially India” is also without basis. While there is evidence of trade of peacocks and monkeys dating back to 1000 BCE, there is no evidence of religious or philosophical trade or influence. The ancestry of Judaism can be traced within the levant from earlier west-semitic polytheism and Ugaritic texts. The period of Babylonian exile also influenced Judaism – the epic of Gilgamesh is thought to have had a strong influence on the book of Genesis.
The argument made above is entirely a fringe theory without basis in evidence. It’s worth noting that only one of the three authors (Feuerstein) have a degree in a subject relevant to the book’s content. Subhash Kak has a PH.D. in Electrical Engineering, while Frawley is mostly self taught, however he uses O.M.D to refer to his once taking “an online home study course in Oriental Medicine”.
Related Articles:
Misleading Footnote from Authors Known for Fraud – Read about another footnote in the Second Coming of Christ by authors known for faking archaeological evidence to support their viewpoints.
Did Jesus Travel to India? – Debunking Nicolas Notovitch’s claims about the missing years of Jesus.
Sources:
https://repository.up.ac.za/items/e3aabbb1-644e-429f-8533-986e7b906813
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=studiaantiqua
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_Judaism#Iron_Age_Yahwism
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