Why Christianity especially? Throughout the Bible you see God calling his people out of the pagan nations surrounding Israel, and in the new testament you get the same thing in places like 1 Corinthians. At the least, Christianity was a reaction against shamanism, if not a restoration of true religion.
Discussion
Christianity especially because Jesus exemplifies several shamanistic archetypes:
- Healing of the sick
- Acting as a medium/conduit between spirit and the material
- Descent to the underworld and returning (1 Peter 4:6 | Ephesians 4:9)
- The use of sacrament as a tool and symbol to commune with the higher
- Sacrifice of the material world for the betterment of the tribe (people)
The same, and others, can be said for other messiahs, saviors, and gods of mythos.
But his claim goes far beyond that — he explicitly denies shamanism: "no one comes to the father except through me". In other words, according to the Bible the shamanic is a cheap imitation of the truth, which is embodied in the person of Jesus.
The etymology of the word Christ in Sanskrit and Greek is very interesting.
"When an Indian person calls on Krishna, he often says, Krsta. Krsta is a Sanskrit word meaning attraction. So when we address God as Christ, Krsta, or Krishna we indicate the same all-attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Jesus said, 'Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name', the name of God was Krsta or Krishna."
- AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
If one were to imagine Christ as something larger than an individual man (Jesus) an energy or a consciousness, is it therefore possible one may come to the Father through another vector of that same Christ energy? It may not look *physically* as Jesus did, or rather how we imagine him to have looked.
Sure, you could, but it's contrary to the entire biblical narrative, which points to the person of Christ as the locus of human salvation. Christianity's teachings are distinct from hinduism, syncretism notwithstanding.
Have you read the Bhagavad Gita, any of the Vedas, or other Upanishads?
No, I'd like to though, learning about hinduism has been at the bottom of my long todo list for a while now.
"If one were to imagine Christ as something larger than an individual man (Jesus) an energy or a consciousness"
This misrepresents this perspective as some new or unconventional alternative, where seeing Christ in this way is the standard Christian perspective ever since the first century CE.
"is it therefore possible one may come to the Father through another vector of that same Christ energy?"
We are discussing the Divinity here - there is only one Vector. How can the Divinity be both divided against himself and divine? On the other hand, you could consider each human experience as a vector, which may be what you mean. But still then, your question is asking something like "Is there some other option? I'm not sure I like the standard option". This is the wrong way of thinking about it. The question should be: "How can I align my experience, as a vector, with the Vector".
"It may not look *physically* as Jesus did, or rather how we imagine him to have looked."
Discussion of how the Vector physically appears is strange seeing as "there is none beside him". Figuratively speaking, you are talking about the appearance of pure blinding light that no one sees and lives to discuss. You do, however, also seem to be hinting that appearances are not so important, which is right on the money.
Please correct me if I misunderstand somewhere.
My closing points would be that if you truly seek to align yourself, then you will be pleasantly surprised how harmoniously the Vector manifests in your experience. However, you must not forget that the Vector manifested in the collective human experience as a man, and maintained perfect alignment surrounded by absolute misalignment, ultimately overcoming the greatest misalignment of all - death - by rising from the grave, thereby treading the impossible path that we can now follow.
We should not conflate paganism and shamanism. Also, the way the term paganism was used in Biblical times is different than how it is used today.