Free Essay Sample on Similarities Between Christianity and Buddhism

Christianity is a vast religion that includes mainly the roman and Greek Catholics, and protestants and other small Christian sects. Christians adherents account for approximately 31% of the world’s populace (Parboteeah, Paik & Cullen, 2009). Christianity stands out as the religion with the highest number of members in all the religions. It has the highest population in the USA. Christianity is closely followed by the Muslim religion which commands around 24% of the whole world’s population. Buddhism, on the other hand, accounts for only 7% of the world’s population.

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Historically, both Buddhism and Christianity did not originate on their own as it can be said of religions like Judaism. Christianity, for example is an offshoot of the Judaism religion. The congregation started after the era of Jesus Christ. Buddhism, on the other hand, deviated from Hinduism (Netland & Yandell, 2009). Buddhism started after the teachings of Siddhartha Guatana, who was later referred to as Buddha, which means the enlightened one (Netland & Yandell, 2009).

According to Schmidt-Leukel (2005), most of the religions tend to have similarities of some sought; however lean the similarities might be. Christianity and Buddhism being religions, they have some few differences accompanied by lots of similarities as will be discussed in this paper.

The first similarity can be easily identified from the name given to the religions in that they are all named after the founders (Schmidt-Leukel, 2005). Christians, for example, are named after Jesus Christ meaning people who behave like Jesus Christ and take part in his mission. Buddhism, on the other hand, is named after Buddha, which means the enlightened one. The followers of Buddha, therefore, strive towards reaching the state of enlightenment like their leader.

The second similarity is in their perception of the right ethical behaviors. All these religions teach similar principles such as honesty and the avoidance practices that attract evil, such as greed (Netland & Yandell, 2009). All the adherents in these religions work towards perfection of character by going according to the principles taught by the religion. By going according to the laid-out principles, all the believers in these religions believe to be closer to a divine being.

For Christians, the Christian will be considered closer to Jesus Christ by doing what Christ wants. Christ says in the Bible that if one does what he says, he makes an abode in him and the believer lives in him (Netland & Yandell, 2009). Every Christian, therefore, struggles to do what Christ asks of him to be like Christ. For a Buddhist believer, when a believer does precisely what is required of him (s), he is considered closer or even reached the state of enlightenment. Due to the said motivation, all devotees in each religion struggle towards perfecting their character.

The other factor that makes their good and bad similar is that they are tied to the beyond heaven realms (Schmidt-Leukel, 2005). Apart from Christians and Buddhists having a promise of a better place for those who do good, there is also a punishment for those who do not do what is required of them. The punishment is hell for Christians after death and “the hells” for Buddhists after reincarnation. On the other hand, those who do good have a promise of even a better place where only good flourishes.

The two religions especially share some of the principles that are very common in almost all the traditions. Some of these principles include the belief that killing is bad, sexual misconduct is wrong; stealing is bad, lying is not right and that doing evil is wrong (Schmidt-Leukel, 2005). These relations in morals gives a better understanding of humanity, especially the realization that both religions do not have any tangible connection in their roots. It is a clear indication of the human moral code hence a precise dimension of the general truths of humanity.

The third similarity is that both religions have someone directly responsible for the development of religions. Buddha is responsible for the development of Buddhism, while Christ is responsible for the start of the Christian movement (Schmidt-Leukel, 2005). All of the said characters are considered as saviors in both religions. Additionally, both of these leaders had some kind of charisma that always people to believe in them.

One interesting similarity is the events that occurred during the birth of both Buddha and Christ. According to the Bible, prophecies pointed to the coming of the messiah within the priestly lineage, and indeed Christ was born within the priestly lineage. Also, Buddha was born in a royal lineage as prophesied in Hinduism and his life as a babe was endangered just as the life of Jesus was jeopardized while a child (Schmidt-Leukel, 2005). The bible records that after Jesus was born, Herod tried to kill him by killing all the infants in Bethlehem. As opposed to Herod’s decision to kill all the infants to kill Christ, the state minister of Maghada after receiving news of an infant who could jeopardize the rulership of the then king, the minister informs the king, but the king refused to commit the crime. Such stories are prevalent in most religions, including the Hindu religion, where Krishana is said to have been sought to be persecuted by Madura, the tyrant while an infant.

The other similarity between Buddha and Christ is in the life they led. According to both religions, both Buddha and Christ led a humble life in lowly places. They all did not discriminate the people unto which they preached unto (Paz, Neto, & Mullet, 2007). They preached to both the poor and the rich about how to do good and shunning evil tendencies. Besides, their entire life was a life of service even from birth due to the proclamation by prophets and other supernatural beings and events. For instance, at the birth of Jesus Christ, there was a star from the east, which led the wise men to the born child- Jesus Christ. Other events also included the babes being blessed at their birth. In the case of Jesus, Mary went with the child to the temple, and Anna, the priest, dedicated the child. At the moment, Anna declared that the prophecy of the coming Messiah had been fulfilled. As for Buddha, it was a habit that born children were presented in the temple for them to bow before the statue- Yaksha. When the king took the child to the temple, the statue bowed to the child instead (Paz et al., 2007). The king exclaimed that the child must be the god of gods.

Canonical Books of the respective religions also record that the said leaders did not have any earthly possessions of their own for they believed themselves pilgrims on earth and their home and possessions were elsewhere- heaven (Paz et al., 2007). They, therefore, asked their followers also to shun earthly treasures and look forward to the reward for those who will be able to overcome evil. It is said that these leaders can be hailed as the best examples in both religions or as the ultimate perfection in either of the religions. The two personalities also show the mission of any believer in either religion, which is service to humanity while shunning self-interest (Paz et al., 2007).

The next similarity is that both Buddha and Jesus are reckoned as excellent teachers by their respective religions (Paz et al., 2007). These teachers were able to use simple examples in their teaching, making it easier for all their congregation to understand them. Jesus, for instance excelled in the use of parables in his teaching. By the use of parables, he was able to use daily activities and natural events to teach his congregation. By their excellence in teaching, they both had admirers in their respective religions, especially women (Paz et al., 2007). Women become more attracted to them because they were not discriminative as other teachers in the then civilization when women were not considered as people having equal chances as men. These women loved and cherished them even to their death. One of the best examples is Mary Magdalene. Mary was so much attached to Jesus Christ, even to his death and after death. The Bible records that even after his burial, Mary was among the women who went to the tomb to see that body of Jesus. It is at the moment that they realized that Jesus had risen

In the teachings of both legends, they had the idea of establishing a better kingdom on the earth (Netland & Yandell, 2009). It is not only what they preached but what they practiced. They were all concerned with human suffering, and they did all in their power to lessen human suffering (Netland & Yandell, 2009). Jesus, for instance, healed the sick and fed those who were hungry. They all had disciples, and they urged then to continue with the work of spreading the gospel even to the end of the world. In the Christian faith, the command came along with a promise of a helper in the proclamation of the teachings of Christ- the Holy Spirit. This was manifested when the disciples were gathered at Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit descended as burning tongues the disciples, and they started talking in different tongues.

Besides, both Buddhism and Christianity, their founders refused the use of miracles as the object of recognition (Yong, 2007). It is, however ironical that the two leaders hated the use of miracles when so many miracles are attributed to them in their respective religions. It is striking that most of the miracles that were performed by these legends were in most cases identical. This has always been a point of study in religion to ascertain the reason why the miracles were identical when no historical proof is available to show that the two religions have similar or at least related origins (Yong, 2007). Some of the common miracles include the miracle of turning water into wine in a wedding. All the two leaders are said to have supplied a wedding when there was a lack. The bible records that at Galilee, Jesus walked on water. Buddhists, on the other hand, have an allegory that Buddha was able to cross the stream of worldliness to the shore of heavenly rest after his death (Yong, 2007).

Other practices which were performed by both Buddha and Christ and are still being performed by their followers. One of those practices is fasting. All the canonical books of each of these religion record that their said leaders fasted and that believers are encouraged to do the same also. The striking similarity is primarily in the extent to which they fated. For instance, the bible records that Jesus fasted for 40 days. The other practice was meditation. The bible records that Jesus found rest mostly in the wilderness and on mountains alone for prayer and reflection. Buddhism also teaches meditation even as was started by their founder- Buddha (Gross & Muck, 2003).

Lastly, it is noteworthy that both religions have scriptures that are read by the followers as they are expected to follow for them to stay true to their faith. Also, they both have the clergy which is responsible for teaching the word and presiding over sacred activities in the temple for Buddhists and church for Christians (Netland & Yandell, 2009).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Buddhists and Christians have various similarities both in the origin, organization and even operation because they are all religious organization (King, 2013).

References

Gross, R. M., & Muck, T. C. (Eds.). (2003). Christians talk about Buddhist meditation, Buddhists talk about Christian prayer. A&C Black.

King, W. L. (2013). Buddhism and Christianity: Some bridges of understanding. Routledge.

Netland, H., & Yandell, K. (2009). Buddhism: a Christian exploration and appraisal. InterVarsity Press.