Buddhism and Christianity are the world’s fourth-largest and largest religions, with approximately 510 million and 2.3 billion followers, respectively. There were links between Buddhism and the pre-Christian Mediterranean world, with Buddhist missionaries sent by Emperor Ashoka of India to Syria, Egypt and Greece from 250 BC. Significant differences between the two religions include monotheism in Christianity and Buddhism's orientation towards nontheism (the lack of relevancy of the existence of a Creator Deity) which runs counter to teachings about God in Christianity, and grace in Christianity against the rejection of interference with karma in Theravada Buddhism on.
Some early Christians were aware of Buddhism which was practiced in both the Greek and Roman Empires in the pre-Christian period. The majority of modern Christian scholarship rejects any historical basis for the travels of Jesus to India or Tibet and has seen the attempts at parallel symbolism as cases of parallelomania which exaggerate resemblances.The Historical Jesus in Recent Research edited by James D. G. Dunn and Scot McKnight 2006 page 303Gerald O'Collins, "The Hidden Story of Jesus" New Blackfriars Volume 89, Issue 1024, pages 710–714, November 2008 However, in the East, syncretism between Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism was widespread along the Silk Road in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and was especially pronounced in the medieval Church of the East in China, as evidenced by the Jesus Sutras.In the 13th century, international travelers, such as Giovanni de Piano Carpini and William of Ruysbroeck, sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted the similarities with Nestorian Christian communities. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160
Origins and early contacts
The history of Buddhism goes back to what is now Lumbini, Nepal almost six centuries before Christianity, making it one of the oldest religions still being practiced.Jesus: The Complete Guide by J. L. Houlden (Feb 8, 2006) pages 140-144 The origins of Christianity go back to Roman Judea in the early first century. The four canonical gospels date from around 70–90 AD, the Pauline epistles having been written before them around 50–60 AD.
Starting in the 1930s, authors such as Will Durant suggested that Greco-Buddhist representatives of Ashoka the Great who traveled to ancient Syria, Egypt and Greece may have helped prepare the ground for Christian teaching.Will Durant, The Story of Civilization Part One (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935), vol. 1, p. 449. Buddhism was prominent in the eastern Greek world and became the official religion of the eastern Greek successor kingdoms to Alexander the Great's empire (Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250 BC – 125 BC) and Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BC – 10 AD)). Several prominent Greek Buddhist missionaries are known (Mahadharmaraksita and Dharmaraksita) and the Indo-Greek king Menander I converted to Buddhism, and is regarded as one of the great patrons of Buddhism. (See Milinda Panha.) Some modern historians have suggested that the pre-Christian monastic order in Egypt of the Therapeutae is possibly a deformation of the Pāli word "Theravāda",According to the linguist Zacharias P. Thundy a form of Buddhism, and the movement may have "almost entirely drawn (its) inspiration from the teaching and practices of Buddhist asceticism".Living Zen by Robert Linssen (Grove Press New York, 1958) They may even have been descendants of Asoka's emissaries to the West."The Original Jesus" (Element Books, Shaftesbury, 1995), Elmar R Gruber, Holger Kersten
Buddhist gravestones from the Ptolemaic period have been found in Alexandria in Egypt decorated with depictions of the dharma wheel, showing that Buddhists were living in Hellenistic Egypt at the time Christianity began.The Greeks in Bactria and India, W.W. Tarn, South Asia Books, The presence of Buddhists in Alexandria has led one author to note: "It was later in this very place that some of the most active centers of Christianity were established." Nevertheless, modern Christian scholars generally hold that there is no direct evidence of any influence of Buddhism on Christianity, and several scholarly theological works do not support these suggestions. However, some historians such as Jerry H. Bentley suggest that there is a real possibility that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity.
It is known that prominent early Christians were aware of Buddha and some Buddhist stories. Saint Jerome (4th century AD) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin." The early church father Clement of Alexandria (died 215 AD) was also aware of Buddha, writing in his Stromata (Bk I, Ch XV): "The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sarmanæ and others Brahmins. And those of the Sarmanæ who are called 'Hylobii' neither inhabit cities, nor have roofs over them, but are clothed in the bark of trees, feed on nuts, and drink water in their hands. Like those called Encratites in the present day, they know not marriage nor begetting of children. Some, too, of the Indians obey the precepts of Buddha (Βούττα) whom, on account of his extraordinary sanctity, they have raised to divine honours."Clement of Alexandria Stromata. BkI, Ch XV http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iv.i.xv.html (Accessed 19 Dec 2012)
In the Middle Ages there was no trace of Buddhism in the West.Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes by Hajime Nakamura (Apr 11, 2007) page 95 In the 13th century, international travelers, such as Giovanni de Piano Carpini and William of Ruysbroeck, sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted some similarities with Nestorian Christian communities.Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160 Indeed, syncretism in the East between Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism existed along the Silk Road throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and was especially pronounced in the medieval Church of the East in China, as evidenced by the Jesus Sutras.
When European Christians made more direct contact with Buddhism in the early 16th century, Catholic missionaries such as St. Francis Xavier sent back accounts of Buddhist practices. With the arrival of Sanskrit studies in European universities in the late 18th century, and the subsequent availability of Buddhist texts, a discussion began of a proper encounter with Buddhism. In time, Buddhism gathered Western followers and at the end of the 19th century the first Westerners (e.g. Sir Edwin Arnold and Henry Olcott) converted to Buddhism. In the beginning of the 20th century the first westerners (e.g. Ananda Metteyya and Nyanatiloka) entered the Buddhist monastic life.
Similarities and differences
There are significant similarities and differences between the two religions, related to their view of ethics, God, and prayer.
Similarities In the 19th century, some scholars began to perceive similarities between Buddhist and Christian practices. In 1878, T.W. Rhys Davids wrote that the earliest missionaries to Tibet observed that similarities have been seen since the first known contact.Encyclopædia Britannica, 8 edition, article Buddhism by T.W. Rhys Davids In 1880, Ernest De Bunsen made similar observations in that with the exception of the death of Jesus on the cross, and of the Christian doctrine of atonement, the most ancient Buddhist records had similarities with the Christian traditions.
Late in the 20th century, historian Jerry H. Bentley also wrote of similarities and stated that it is possible "that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity" and suggested "attention to many parallels concerning the births, lives, doctrines, and deaths of the Buddha and Jesus". Some high level Buddhists have drawn analogies between Jesus and Buddhism, e.g. in 2001 the Dalai Lama stated that "Jesus Christ also lived previous lives", and added that "So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Bodhisattva, or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice or something like that."Beverley, James A., "Hollywood's Idol", Christianity Today June 11 2001, Vol. 45, No. 8. Retrieved April 20, 2007. Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh affirmed core Christian beliefs such as the trinity, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in his book Living Buddha, Living Christ. Bokin Kim, similarly, sees Christ as the Buddha Dharmakaya, and Jesus as similar to Gautama who was just a historical manifestation of the transhistorical Buddha.Kim, Bokin. "Christ as the Truth, the Light, the Life, but a Way?" Buddhist-Christian Studies, vol. 19, 1999, pp. 76-80. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/bcs.1999.0023 In The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity, Lama Tsomo and Matthew Fox discuss the interconnections between Buddhism and Christianity. In it, Fox relates the Buddha-nature to what scholars John Dominic Crossan and Bruce Chilton call Paul's original "cosmic" or "metacosmic" view of Christ.
Differences
There are inherent and fundamental differences between Buddhism and Christianity, one significant element being that while Christianity is at its core monotheistic and relies on a God as a Creator, Buddhism is generally non-theistic and rejects the notion of a Creator which provides divine values for the world.The Boundaries of Knowledge in Buddhism, Christianity, and Science by Paul D Numrich (Dec 31, 2008) page 10
The Nicene Creed, currently the most widely used Christian creed, states that "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible".International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Mar 1982) pages 515-516 However, the notion of theistic creation is generally foreign to Buddhist thought, and the question of the existence of God is perhaps one of the most fundamental barriers between the teachings of Christianity and Buddhism.Communicating Christ in the Buddhist World by Paul De Neui and David Lim (Jan 1, 2006) page 34 Although Mahayana Buddhism expresses belief in the saint-like state of a Bodhisattva, this is very different from the notion of Creator God in Christianity. While some variations of Buddhism believe in an impersonal eternal Buddha or trikaya, in general Buddhism sees empty space as eternal and without a starting point of creation.Guang Xing, The Concept of the Buddha, RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2005, p. 89 According to the Dalai Lama, belief in a Creator could be associated with the understanding of emptiness, but "once a certain degree of realization has been reached, a choice between the two paths will become necessary."
According to the Oxford Handbook of Eschatology, there are inherent differences in the Christian and Buddhist beliefs regarding the End Times and eschatology.The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology by Jerry L. Walls (Apr 16, 2010) page 552 Jan Nattier states that while Buddhism has a notion of "relative eschatology" that refers to specific cycles of life, the term "Buddhist eschatology" does not relate to any "final things", or that the world will end one day – Buddhist scripture routinely referring to the "beginningless Saṃsāra" as a never ending cycle of birth and death with no starting point.The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology by Jerry L. Walls (Apr 16, 2010) page 151 However, Christian eschatology directly involves the concept of "end to all creation" at the Last Judgement when the world will reach its conclusion.The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought by Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason and Hugh Pyper (Dec 21, 2000) page 206