Eric Reece
Not long after coming to our beautiful town of Robbinsville, I logged online to get directions for a journey.
When I typed in Robbinsville to wherever I was going, it sent me by way of Robbinsville, N.J., 734 miles away.
Curious, the first thing I did was search to see if there was a United Methodist Church. I thought maybe we could split a T-shirt order. To my surprise, while there are many churches in the area there was not a United Methodist congregation.
There are some similarities between the two Robbinsville’s. Both were named after men, with one being named for Congressman George Robbins and our town possibly named for N.C. State Senator James Robinson of Franklin (1838-87).
They are known for their champion baseball teams; we are known for our champion football teams. They have two great pizza restaurants and so do we.
Recently, Robbinsville, N.J., made news. After 12 years and millions of volunteer hours, the largest Hindu temple in America – and the second largest in the world, after Angkor Wat – was dedicated in Robbinsville, N.J., on Oct. 8. The Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple complex covers 180 acres. Two million cubic feet of stone was used in construction. The marble for the building was quarried in Europe, shipped to India and decoratively carved by artisans depicting stories from the Hindu scriptures. Once carved and numbered, the marble was shipped to Robbinsville to be assembled. The sacred architecture was designed according to Hindu scriptures.The spire on the mandir tower is 191 feet into the sky.
The campus hosts 10,000 statues, one 49 feet tall. Some are of Hindu deities and many show dance forms.
During his mission to Athens (Acts 17), the Apostle Paul was deeply distressed by so many idols in the city. He met with the philosophers on Mars Hill and noted they erected an altar with an inscription to the unknown god just to cover their bases.
Paul said, “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
A modern day Apostle, Dr. E. Stanly Jones spent a lifetime in India preaching the Gospel among the Hindu. In his book, “The Christ of the Indian Road,” he wrote, “The Indian is making an amazing discovery, namely that Christianity and Jesus are not the same - that they may have Jesus without the system that has been built up around Him in the West.”
As the religious landscape in America continues to change, we may see more temples of different faiths on the horizon.
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.