View source for Lord Jesus Christ said that "The only way to God is through me; just believe in me or surrender to me," and Lord Caitanya taught that hari-nama is the only means of spiritual realization in this age. Is there any contradiction?

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{{terms|"The only way to God is through me. Just believe in me or surrender to me"|"and Lord Caitanya taught that hari-nama is the only means of spiritual realization in this age"|"is there any contradiction, because Lord Jesus Christ and Lord Caitanya both appeared in the Kali-yuga and Lord Jesus Christ said that"}}
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[[Category:Jesus]]
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[[Category:Only Way]]
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[[Category:Believe]]
[[Category:Surrender]]
[[Category:Caitanya]]
[[Category:Teaching]]
[[Category:Hari-nama]]
[[Category:Means Of]]
[[Category:Spiritual Realization]]
[[Category:In This Age]]
[[Category:Is There]]
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[[Category:Contradiction]]
[[Category:Questions asked to Srila Prabhupada]]
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="General_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="11" parent="Lectures" text="General Lectures"><h3>General Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureSeattleOctober21968_0" class="quote" parent="General_Lectures" book="Lec" index="20" link="Lecture -- Seattle, October 2, 1968" link_text="Lecture -- Seattle, October 2, 1968">
<div class="heading">So where do you find the difference? If Lord Jesus Christ says, "Through me," that means he's representative of God, and hari-nāma is God. So either through the representative of God or God, the same thing. God and God's representative, there is no difference. Even in these ordinary dealings, if I send some representative, if he signs something on my behalf, I have to accept that, because he is my representative. Similarly, God has to be approached through God or through His representative. The same thing. Only the difference may be of understanding. Because Lord Jesus Christ spoke to a society that was not very much advanced.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture -- Seattle, October 2, 1968|Lecture -- Seattle, October 2, 1968]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Mahāpuruṣa: Prabhupāda, is there any contradiction, because Lord Jesus Christ and Lord Caitanya both appeared in the Kali-yuga and Lord Jesus Christ said that "The only way to God is through me. Just believe in me or surrender to me," and Lord Caitanya taught that hari-nāma is the only means of spiritual realization in this age?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: So where do you find the difference? If Lord Jesus Christ says, "Through me," that means he's representative of God, and hari-nāma is God. So either through the representative of God or God, the same thing. God and God's representative, there is no difference. Even in these ordinary dealings, if I send some representative, if he signs something on my behalf, I have to accept that, because he is my representative. Similarly, God has to be approached through God or through His representative. The same thing. Only the difference may be of understanding. Because Lord Jesus Christ spoke to a society that was not very much advanced. You can understand that such a great personality, God conscious person, was crucified. Just see the condition of the society. In other words, they were low-grade society. So they were not able to understand the whole philosophy of God. That is sufficient. "God created. Just take it." They were not intelligent to understand how the creation took place. Had they been intelligent, they would not have crucified such a great personality like Jesus Christ. So we have to understand what is the condition of the society. Just like in the Koran it is said by Muhammad that "From this day you have no sex intercourse with your mother." Just find out the condition of the society. So we have to take account of the time, circumstances, society, and then preaching. So to society like that it is not possible to understand the high philosophical things as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. But the primary fact, the authority is God, that is accepted both in Bible and Bhagavad-gītā. Bible begins, "God is the supreme authority," and Bhagavad-gītā concludes, "You surrender." Where is the difference? Simply the description is according to the time, society, and place and people. That's all. They are not Arjuna. You see? So the things to be understood by Arjuna is not possible by the persons who had crucified Lord Jesus Christ. You have to study in that light. The same thing. A dictionary, a pocket dictionary, child's dictionary, and the dictionary, international dictionary, both of them dictionary, but the value is different. That dictionary is meant for a class of children, and that dictionary is meant for high scholars. But none of them you can say it is not dictionary. That you cannot say. Both of them are dictionaries. So we have to take consideration of the time, place, persons, everything. Just like Lord Buddha, he simply said that "Stop this nonsense animal killing." That was his propaganda. They were so low-grade people, simply taking pleasure in animal killing. So in order to elevate them, Lord Buddha wanted to stop this nonsense: "Please stop killing." So in every time a different representative of God or God comes to teach people at different circumstances. So according to the circumstances there may be some difference in explanation, but the primary factor remains the same. Lord Buddha said, "All right, there is no God, but you surrender to me." Then where is the difference? That means one has to accept the authority of God either this way or that way.</p>
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