The religions of Buddhism and Christianity have much in common though they remain quite distinct from one another. Perhaps the easiest way to understand the similarities and the differences of Buddhism and Christianity is to look at various issues and discuss how each religion views the particular issue, say abortion or suicide. However, we will first look at some basics of each religion before launching into a discussion of the similarities and differences through an issue analysis.
The religion known as Buddhism was established in the sixth century BC by Siddhartha Gautama who was given the title Buddha. Buddhism’s original doctrines were based on the Four Noble Truths, and we can discern many of the concepts of modern Buddhism from a review of these truths at its core:
The cause of suffering is “birth sin” or craving and desire.
Suffering can be ended only by Nirvana, the extinguishment of desire.
This can be accomplished by the Eightfold Path to righteousness: right views, right intentions, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation.
The practice of Buddhism spread from India to China by merchants. Buddhism offered new concepts to the Chinese, like karma, rebirth, hell and purgatory. The Chinese were used to Confucianism which offered a focus on social harmony and family, but concepts in Buddhism like individual salvation and monasticism were in contrast to them. As we can see from concepts like purgatory, hell, and salvation, there are core similarities between Buddhism and Christianity. In fact, some theologians argue that there is actually no difference at all between the two religions at their deepest level, “If you think differences exist, they exist. If you think there are no differences, there are none. The sources is the same; but people are always trying to set up categories. When you look at them from the outside they’re complete...