Comparing Christianity and Buddhism free essay sample

Compare and contrast Buddhism and Christianity What a similarities does Christianity and Buddhism share? Any Christian or a Buddhist will be able to tell the differences instantly but not the similarities between these two religions.Two of the most followed religions in the world today, Buddhism and Christianity both had an inspiring leader at different parts of the world at different time sharing similar teachings such as treating others and way of life, yet extremely different with Christianity and Buddhism having different belief systems such as afterlives, sacred texts and Christians believing in a supreme-God whereas Buddhists do not believe in a God being. Among few similarities that Buddhism and Christianity share, there is one major aspect from each religion that they share in common, which are the teachings taught by their leaders, Jesus and Buddha.For instance, out of the â€Å"Four noble Truths† from Buddhism, the second noble truth teaches that all suffering has a cause. Buddha had a strong belief that all humans were to suffer but there will be good outcomes. This is similar to Jesus’s teaching because humans are constantly suffering by temptations of Satan but in the end, God is just giving people trials in life to become tougher. Also Christians believe that God always had an amazing plan in life for each person. These are the similar teachings that the two religions share. Christianity and Buddhism both share different beliefs about their afterlives.Buddha accepted the Hindu reincarnation and karma. Also Buddha taught his people that the goal of the religious life is to escape the cycle of death and rebirth. Buddha believed that what keeps people bound to life is their desire for something left in the world such as . If one success to letting everything go without any regrets, then he reaches Nirvana, no longer have to come back to earth in another reincarnation. On contrary, Christianity believes that once someone dies, the person either enters Heaven or Hell. This judgement depends on whether or not the person has received Christ as the payment for their sins.Some churches teach that hellfire is for eternity and heaven is only for those who behaved well. Different teachings about afterlife is taught in Christianity and Buddhism. Another major difference in Christianity and Buddhism is that Christians believe in an almighty God, whereas God does not exist in Buddhism. Christians follow the Holy Bible which they believe it is written through the spirit of their supreme God. It is recorded in the Bible that God created the earth and mankind as well as being the sustainer of earth today.Christians believe that the Trinity which defines God as three persons. The Father (God), the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. The Father is the one who watches over humans, sustaining today’s earth, the Son (Jesus Christ) is humans’ savior who saved everyone from their sins and the Holy Spirit lives inside every person who accepted Christ as their savior. On the other hand, Buddhists do not believe the form of God. Buddha, just like modern sociologists and psychologists, believed that religious ideas such as Creator-God idea came from fear. Also Buddha did not hear any voices from God nor had any evidence to prove God’s existence. Buddha did not wish to teach anything he did not hold evidence of. Buddhists do not believe in a God-being whereas Christians believe in a supreme God. The Holy Book of Christianity is known as the Bible that all Christians study. However, Buddhism do not hold a Holy Book nor a sacred text. To be specific, the Bible is known as ‘words of God through people’ recorded first by Moses from when universe was first created by their God until the prophet that Jesus will come to earth again and a new earth will appear.Jesus’ teachings are recorded in this book as well as his journey and his salvation. On the other hand, Buddhism do not hold a Holy Book since they do not believe in a God. However, Buddhism has sutras which are recorded teachings of Buddha collected into canons known as the Tripitaka or the three baskets. These texts are not considered sacred but for centuries, these were passed down to believers. Another difference between Buddhism and Christianity is the origin and the spread throughout the world. Christianity developed out of Judaism in the 1st century C.E in Israel. Christianity has main branches which are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism. Jesus was born and raised in Israel and traveled within Israel teachings his Father’s words. After Jesus’ rise to heaven, his disciples and Paul traveled to different places such as East-Asia and Europe to preach the words. On the other hands, Buddhism spread mainly in Asia. Buddhism began in India, 480-400 B. C. E when Buddha had a deep spiritual awakening at 35 years old. After Buddha’s death, his teachings spread towards the east starting with China. Buddha had set up an organization with rules and his teachings to pass on, which the monks had spread to other countries. Two religions, Christianity and Buddhism both share similarities, yet extremely different from each other, where both of them had an inspiring leader at different parts of the world, with different belief system of afterlives, sacred texts and existence of God, but these two religions still exist today as the most followed religions for centuries. Ancient civilizations have contributed to the beginnings of these religions as well as sustaining it for centuries.