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Ever since the beginning of civilization, religion has remained one of the most prevalent topics. This topic roots in some of the fundamental questions that come into our minds. What is our origin? How do our surroundings are originated? How do things operate in this world? And what will happen to us after death? People throughout time and all around the globe have given various answers to these questions. Most of them have given religious justifications to provide evidence for their findings.
Religious groups are formed with thousands and thousands of people having a specific belief system. Sometimes, a single individual builds the foundation for a religion. Regardless of the size, religion is an organization where many people form certain perceptions and beliefs about life. Religion can be defined as a belief system in divinity and spiritual perceptions.
Buddhism and Christianity are two of the major world religions. These religious beliefs teach their own ideas, spiritual practices, sacred texts, and concepts of the almighty God. They give their own perceptions about spiritual and worldly things.
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Christianity v/s Buddhism
Christianity revolves around the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Bible describes God’s redeeming purposes for humans. These purposes were better explained by the actions of Jesus, church establishment, and Christianity as a whole religion. Christianity is the largest religion globally and one of the three Abrahamic religions. It is a monotheistic religion that believes in one God in three personalities; the father, the son, and the holy spirit.
The Christian religion, being an Abrahamic religion, propagates a personal god. God is the supreme creator of all living beings, a true God who has given us some basic rules to live by. Among the core beliefs in Christianity is that Jesus Christ came to this earth as a normal human being.
Buddhism, on the other hand, revolves around the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. He was later called Buddha. Buddha means the one who is awake, the enlightened one. Buddhists believe that their religion didn’t begin with Gautama Buddha. They think it existed eternally.
Buddha was the one who discovered and preached it. Buddhism is considered a nontheistic religion. Meaning it doesn’t believe in the existence of any supreme power or creator. They do not believe in the existence of a God. Buddhism originates from Hinduism and is a Dharmic religion.
Both Hinduism and Buddhism share a lot of concepts. You may find similarities in various things like self discipline, the purpose of life, and the concepts regarding the afterlife. The two religions have enough differences that make them have their individualistic identities.
Differences between Buddhism and Christianity
Christianity and Buddhism were initiated by two great Spiritual Masters. They offered their followers a path to salvation. Their terminologies differ a lot. Considering the difference in their incarnation, they preached different approaches and pathways to spirituality.
Neither Christ nor the Buddha recorded their teachings in the form of a book. Their instructions were jotted down after many years of their death. This is the reason many scholars believe that there has been a massive gap between their teachings and the written record. This means there is a huge potential for mistakes and misunderstandings of their religious teachings. Therefore, with the development of more religions, Christianity and Buddhism also evolved.
So, the main question is, how does Christianity differ from Buddhism? How does Christianity compare with and contrast Buddhism? Here are a few of the significant differences between Christianity and Buddhism:
1. God
Christianity proposes there is an existence of supreme power, God. He is the one who created the entire universe and every living being. Christians have this belief that God has all the sovereignty. And all his creation is answerable to Him.
Buddhists, on the contrary, don’t believe in the existence of God. They pray to Buddha and take his name while praying. This doesn’t mean they take Buddha as a divine superpower. Instead, a Buddhist believes that all nature and natural energy is God. Their God is impersonal. They take it like a universal principle or law rather than an actual being.
2. Idol Worship
Christianity strictly condemns the worshipping of idols. The first and most essential commands from God’s law are not to worship any idols. There’s no worshipping for any being or idol other than God himself. Like many religions, it is strictly prohibited not to make any carved images or bow down before anything. In Christianity, idol worshipping is one of the greatest and unforgivable sins. When it comes to worshipping God, Christianity puts great emphasis on praying.
On the other hand, worshipping idols is controversial. They have Buddhist temples and monasteries filled with carved images. They practice before shrines and temples, which looks like worship. But they claim that they simply pay respect to the images and idols. They don’t take it as worship. However, Buddhists do bow down to images and idols. Mindfulness and meditation are other forms of praying for Buddhists.
3. Salvation and liberation
The concept of salvation is fundamental in Christianity. It is believed that salvation comes through Jesus Christ. His acceptance is what matters the most to Christians. They also believe that all sins should be punished. Only the true believers of Christ, who put complete trust in him, get free from the punishment. They see Jesus as a savior. They strongly believe that the ones who will receive Jesus’s acceptance will be glorified. They will overcome death and will gain eternal life in heaven.
On the contrary, Buddhists deny any kind of salvation. They deny the existence of any supreme power over them. The concept of salvation is entirely different in their religion. They believe that they need to work on themselves to get personal liberation. This is often a process that takes place in many lifetimes. According to them, believing in Buddha is not enough to get salvation. They need to transform themselves and reach the stage of Nirvana.
They take salvation as a higher state of being. The highest rank among them is Nirvana. The state of Nirvana is almost impossible to achieve because it lies outside the world of rationality. It is reached by letting oneself be detached from worldly desires and attachments. Since attachments cause sufferings for an individual. Fewer desires will cause less suffering. The termination of suffering for an individual could let him reach the state of Nirvana. And follow the right pathway to enlightenment.
4. Life After Death
In Christianity, leaving the body is equal to meeting the divine power and being in his presence. True believers of Jesus Christ have this belief system that they will forever live in heaven after death. Non-believers will be punished according to their sins and live their afterlife in torment, away from Jesus.
Buddhists, on the other hand, have a different belief in an afterlife. They believe in a life cycle called samsara. According to them, death restarts the cycle of life. They will reincarnate at death which will be led by karma. This continuous cycle of life and death will end only when they reach the path of enlightenment. When the person will achieve Nirvana, this suffering will end.
Similarities Between Buddhism and Christianity
1. Both religions were founded by Spiritual Masters.
2. Simple stories were used to transfer the religious teachings.
3. Both religions were created to reform existing religious/social practices and belief systems. Christ condemned the money lenders in the temple. While Buddha criticized the Brahmins and the overall caste system.
4. Both Christ and Buddha were egalitarians. Christ accepted all the human races. And preached his religion without any discrimination. Whereas Buddha accepted all castes.
5. Christians and Buddhists have some shared values. Such as abstention from lying, stealing, killing, and sexual immorality.
6. Both religions emphasize love and compassion for all. According to Christ, Love your enemies. And according to Buddha, hatred cannot be overcome by hatred.
7. Both Buddhism and Christianity encourage giving charities to the poor.
8. Both religions aim to acquire spiritual perfection. They might have different approaches towards it, but their main goal is to reach the stage of spiritual perfection.
9. They don’t believe in a materialistic world. They believe true happiness is associated with spirituality. It can only be achieved by having spiritual consciousness.
Religion is an abstract subject matter. It is essential to explore it before concluding anything properly. We as a society have an essential role to play in this regard. We need to seek how this world works and be more knowledgeable about our life experiences.
There are fundamentals of each religion that should be studied. Only then will one be able to correlate multiple religions with each other. For instance, Christianity and Buddhism intertwine with each other on so many levels. Even when they are two separate religions. So, there’s a need to find common points between the religions. So that the world can live in peace.