Buddhism and Christianity - comparison

Buddhism & Christianity

Buddhism is a philosophy of life, based on the teachings of Lord Buddha. The concept of Buddhism evolved around 563 BCE, much before the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity.

For two millennia after their emergence in the east and west of the Indus Valley, both Buddhism & Christianity witnessed several alterations and additions. The first and most noticeable was the fact that both were expanding and establishing their roots in the nations of the far east and western hemisphere respectively, while quietly got wiped out from the places of their origin. It is also significant that both Buddhism and Christianity are majorly followed by the population belonging to a race and linguistic group different from those of their founders. Also to mention is, both the religions had numerous developments in their religious theories and principles, long after their founders had left this materialistic world.

Considered to be the two great distinctive religions of the world, both Buddhism & Christianity today covers a large section of the world population with numerous similarities and differences.


Similarity Between Buddhism And Christianity
Golden rule

Buddhism : Lord Buddha based His ethics on the 'golden rule', which was for the welfare of the human beings.


Christianity : Jesus Christ also preached His ethics as per the 'golden rule', which was for the welfare of His people and easily approachable.

Asceticism

Buddhism : Buddha, the founder of Buddhism rejected extreme asceticism and gave an emphasis on self-liberation through knowledge.


Christianity : Jesus Christ also rejected extreme asceticism.

Forms Of Worship

Buddhism : The worship in Buddhism includes monasticism, ringing of bells, bowing, use of incense and rosary, erection of towers or stupas, prayers and meditation.


Christianity : Similarly, the Christians also follow almost same form of worship - Monasticism, Confession, the cult of images, ringing of bells, use of rosary and incense and the erection of towers.

Love And Compassion

Buddhism : The Buddhist doctrine gives an emphasis on love for the entire mankind and every other beings as well, no matter whether the being is a friend or an enemy!


Christianity : The Christian doctrine is also based on the principle of 'Love thy neighbour like unto yourself', which means that love should be showered upon not only your friends, but the entire beings.

Difference Between Buddhism And Christianity

God

Buddhism :The original Buddhist doctrine does not entail any Godly figures. However, the later Buddhist sects introduced some godly figures.


Christianity : There is only one God, Jesus, who is loving and approachable.

Salvation

Buddhism : According to the Buddhist concept, one has to work for one's own salvation, and therefore, cannot blame or depend on others for salvation.


Christianity : Salvation is not based on one's work, but instead, is a free gift to all those who would accept Jesus Christ as their savior.

Eternal Life

Buddhism : According to the Buddhist doctrine, there is an eternal life, which depends on the karma of one's present life.


Christianity : There is an eternal life in Heaven, which has nothing to do with karma and comes as a free gift of salvation.

Love And Compassion

Buddhism : The concept of Buddhism does not mention a God who showers love and takes care of His people.


Christianity : Bible, the holy book of the Christians, mentions the God's love for His folks or devotees.

The Concept of World

Buddhism : Buddhism neither deals with the beginning nor a definite end of the world.


Christianity : According to the Christian doctrine, the God has created the world from nothing, and rules it according to His own definite plan.

Spiritual Texts

Buddhism : The Buddhist canons includes only those insights which the Buddha won by His own strength and will after comprehending the nature of truth.


Christianity : The Bible, holy text fort the Christians, is regarded as the 'Words of God' and includes those realities, which are unknown to the mankind.

[i] With regard to concepts, realities and the doctrine of 'self-improvement', I sure know which one I run with! [/b]

-m.

Originally posted by mikelom
It is also significant that both Buddhism and Christianity are majorly followed by the population belonging to a race and linguistic group different from those of their founders. Also to mention is, both the religions had numerous developments in their religious theories and principles, long after their founders had left this materialistic world.

Surely neither point is 'significant' but is rather a trivial necessity for any large religion?

Originally posted by mikelom
[b]Buddhism & Christianity

Buddhism is a philosophy of life, based on the teachings of Lord Buddha. The concept of Buddhism evolved around 563 BCE, much before the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity.

For two millennia after their emergence in the east and west of the Indus Valley, both Buddhism & Christianity witnessed severa ...[text shortened]... ctrine of 'self-improvement', I sure know which one I run with! [/b]

-m.[/b]

perhaps something missed here (though I think the comparison is fairly apt) is that the teachings of Jesus represent his interpretation of the true meaning of the Old Testament, therefore the teachings of christianity predate Buddhism. I do concede that the Hindu basis for Buddhism was developed near the same time in history as Judaism. There is some debate as to which originated first, but the actual written text of the ancient Hebrews is older.

Is Buddhism a religion?

And, if so, don't they target different problems through different paths?

The problem for Buddhists is suffering, and their solution is to stop
suffering by seeing the world as it is.

The problem for Christians is sin, and their solution is salvation through
Jesus Christ.

Originally posted by mikelom
[b]Buddhism & Christianity

Buddhism is a philosophy of life, based on the teachings of Lord Buddha. The concept of Buddhism evolved around 563 BCE, much before the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity.

For two millennia after their emergence in the east and west of the Indus Valley, both Buddhism & Christianity witnessed severa ...[text shortened]... ctrine of 'self-improvement', I sure know which one I run with! [/b]

-m.[/b]

The most significant difference is the fact that Buddha is dead and Jesus lives.

Buddhist follow the teachings of a dead man.

Christians worship a living saviour, and have as their guild the living Word of God.

Can't beat that!

Originally posted by Doward
perhaps something missed here (though I think the comparison is fairly apt) is that the teachings of Jesus represent his interpretation of the true meaning of the Old Testament, therefore the teachings of christianity predate Buddhism. I do concede that the Hindu basis for Buddhism was developed near the same time in history as Judaism. There is some debate as to which originated first, but the actual written text of the ancient Hebrews is older.

Hinduism was not the basis for Buddhism - they share a common ancestor in the Vedic scriptures which date back an uncertain time but in the order of 2000 years. The Buddha did not challenge the cosmological beliefs of his times - if that is what we mean by religious beliefs - he challenged the religious practices which he considered incapable of achieving their stated goals - relief from suffering, escape from the endless cycle of rebirth. By the same token, his Middle Way and most of his teachings do not require either accepting or rejecting the Vedic cosmology, so that Buddhism is acceptable for example in Japanese culture and among Western atheists.

Jesus remained securely within the Jewish tradition. This developed ("unfolded" ) over perhaps 1500 years, starting out as a tribal or local deity in terms not unlike the adjacent pagan beliefs and reaching a monotheist expression in the last few centuries before Jesus. Paul invented Christianity as a religious breach with the Jewish tradition, expressed in the Old Testament.

Christian teaching - specifically ideas of the Resurrection, and the sacrifice of the Son of God to redeem sinful humanity (celebrated as a blood sacrifice) - does not predate Paul but has common themes with Pagan beliefs and practices of that time, so it is not so much novel in its content as it is in the way it synthesizes existing concepts into a new religious belief system. The famous Golden Rule predates Jesus by centuries even in the Jewish tradition.

The geographical distance from the Indus Valley to the Middle East is pretty small and there was certainly an exchange of ideas throughout human history. The gap was obviously minimised by the conquests of Alexander the Great, bringing both areas under Hellenic influences, which certainly shaped Jewish and Christian teaching thereafter. It would be surprising not to find common interests.

Originally posted by josephw
The most significant difference is the fact that Buddha is dead and Jesus lives.

Buddhist follow the teachings of a dead man.

Christians worship a living saviour, and have as their guild the living Word of God.

Can't beat that!

What a load of crap.

God

Buddhism :The original Buddhist doctrine does not entail any Godly figures. However, the later Buddhist sects introduced some godly figures.


Christianity : There is only one God, Jesus, who is loving and approachable.

This is an errant view of the Christian God. It discounts a trinity and a triune understanding of God, as well as the existence and role of the Holy Spirit.

Christianity : Salvation is not based on one's work, but instead, is a free gift to all those who would accept Jesus Christ as their savior.

No, this isn't quite it. Salvation is different, as is evident from the teachings of Jesus in the NT.

Christianity : There is an eternal life in Heaven, which has nothing to do with karma and comes as a free gift of salvation.

Almost. Close enough that I'll give a pass for this, and understand that it's not a Christian belief as much as a fundamentalist belief.

Christianity : According to the Christian doctrine, the God has created the world from nothing, and rules it according to His own definite plan.

No. Either the Christian believes that man rules the world or Satan does. It's more than that, but that's the thrust in a nutshell.

Hey, nice try. Shows your misunderstanding of Christianity, but nice try.

Originally posted by Seitse
Is Buddhism a religion?

And, if so, don't they target different problems through different paths?

The problem for Buddhists is suffering, and their solution is to stop
suffering by seeing the world as it is.

The problem for Christians is sin, and their solution is salvation through
Jesus Christ.

As we know, and I started with, Buddhism is indeed a philosophy.

As a result, the paths and aims must be different.

I have to disagree that the problem for Buddhists is their suffering. The ultimate aim for a Buddhist, in his meeting the requirements of Dhamma, Karma and Meditative improvements are to improve 'oneself', in order not to cause this suffering to fellow man, in changing the way we live to achieve greater things for our bretheren, and not in 'seeing' or 'sight', but by action.

In effect, self-salvation and not looking for it through a created idea or path, but by experience.

-m.

Originally posted by mikelom
[b]Buddhism & Christianity

Buddhism is a philosophy of life, based on the teachings of Lord Buddha. The concept of Buddhism evolved around 563 BCE, much before the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity.

For two millennia after their emergence in the east and west of the Indus Valley, both Buddhism & Christianity witnessed severa ...[text shortened]... ctrine of 'self-improvement', I sure know which one I run with! [/b]

-m.[/b]

Maybe you can clarify something for me. I was taught that the lay followers of Mahāyāna branch of Buddhism considered the Buddha to be a divine figure, to be venerated as a god, while the Hīnayāna branch did not do this, and it was not the Buddha's intention. Is this the case? There seems to be disagreement as to whether the Mahāyāna branch actually fostered or encouraged treating the Buddha as divine.

Originally posted by JS357
Maybe you can clarify something for me. I was taught that the lay followers of Mahāyāna branch of Buddhism considered the Buddha to be a divine figure, to be venerated as a god, while the Hīnayāna branch did not do this, and it was not the Buddha's intention. Is this the case? There seems to be disagreement as to whether the Mahāyāna branch actually fostered or encouraged treating the Buddha as divine.

Edit: RHP does not like accent marks. It is Mahayana and Hinayana.

Originally posted by JS357
Maybe you can clarify something for me. I was taught that the lay followers of Mahāyāna branch of Buddhism considered the Buddha to be a divine figure, to be venerated as a god, while the Hīnayāna branch did not do this, and it was not the Buddha's intention. Is this the case? There seems to be disagreement as to whether the Mahāyāna branch actually fostered or encouraged treating the Buddha as divine.

The Mahayana Buddhism( a much later day development- about the start of Christian era - says that Goutam Buddha was an Adibuddha (Proto- Buddha) who dwells in heaven and is described as the self created father of the universe.
Hinayana Buddhism sticks to the original teaching of Goutam Buddha i.e. there no Universal Soul nor individual soul and no God.
Buddha had declared to his followers that he was not to be deified nor was any Religion was to be named after him .He said that he was born a Hindu and was dying as a Hindu.

Originally posted by rvsakhadeo
The Mahayana Buddhism( a much later day development- about the start of Christian era - says that Goutam Buddha was an Adibuddha (Proto- Buddha) who dwells in heaven and is described as the self created father of the universe.
Hinayana Buddhism sticks to the original teaching of Goutam Buddha i.e. there no Universal Soul nor individual soul and no God.
...[text shortened]... y Religion was to be named after him .He said that he was born a Hindu and was dying as a Hindu.

A split on recognition of the founder as divine is then a similarity between Christianity and Buddhism although any organized, close Christian parallel to Hinayana Buddhism is essentially extinct.

Originally posted by josephw
The most significant difference is the fact that Buddha is dead and Jesus lives.

Buddhist follow the teachings of a dead man.

Christians worship a living saviour, and have as their guild the living Word of God.

Can't beat that!

your information on Buddhism is shallow and your ignorance profound

Originally posted by mikelom
I have to disagree that the problem for Buddhists is their suffering. The ultimate aim for a Buddhist, in his meeting the requirements of Dhamma, Karma and Meditative improvements are to improve 'oneself', in order not to cause this suffering to fellow man, in changing the way we live to achieve greater things for our bretheren, and not in 'seeing' or 'sight', but by action.

Sorry, I was just quoting Prothero.

But your assertion is correct. I think you misunderstood
my phrasing. I meant: Buddhists aim at eliminating suffering,
for they see suffering as the burden of life.

Originally posted by finnegan
Hinduism was not the basis for Buddhism - they share a common ancestor in the Vedic scriptures which date back an uncertain time but in the order of 2000 years. The Buddha did not challenge the cosmological beliefs of his times - if that is what we mean by religious beliefs - he challenged the religious practices which he considered incapable of achieving t ...[text shortened]... ewish and Christian teaching thereafter. It would be surprising not to find common interests.

Hinduism was not the basis for Buddhism


you're splitting hairs and your information is not entirely accurate