Buddism Versus Christianity - Essay Example

It is a monotheistic group of practices and beliefs founded on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament, highlighting the role of Jesus as the Savior. In Christianity, it is believed that Christ Jesus came to the world to die for the sins of mankind. This salvation is free to anyone who believes in Jesus and accepting all that He did on the cross. God’s Holiness, forgiveness of sin, propitiatory atonement, and the free gift of salvation that came through faith in Christ Jesus are the fundamental ideas that are involved in Christ’s saving role, are all foreign to Buddhism.

In Buddhist religion on the other hand, Karma and Karma doctrines are the cornerstones. Buddhism is a religion that believes in fate. Karma is defined as an important metaphysical perception that is concerned with action and its consequences. This law explains the problem of suffering, the predestination of some religions, the mystery of the fate and the clear inequality of all mankind. Karma essentially explains that one’s past genetic inheritance, the previous experiences, plus the current choice and experience explain where and what one is today.

According to Christianity, suffering is a reality that is comprehensible and it is because of sin and the fallen nature of man. Christians believe that suffering is not a mystery and most of these suffering are due to the mankind’s own injustices to one another. Christianity argues that instead of blaming the past, present and trusting the future for some mysterious Karma, God has wonderful plans for each and every person and knew us even before we were born. Buddhists do not accept the theory of transmigration of a permanent soul, whether it emanated from a heavenly essence or created by God.

Buddhists believe in loving kindness (maitre or metta in pali) and compassion (karuna) to all the living creatures including animals. Buddhists strictly forbids killing an animal or eating meat for any reason and they recommend vegetarian. Buddhism teaches that if a person behaves badly, they can be reborn as animals. They do not believe in the idea of sin or the origin of sin. People are taught that everyone is fundamentally good and if they try more, they might make it to nirvana. Christians on the other hand, believe that sin exist in the world and is in human nature.

They believe that the sin nature is due to the man’s rebellion towards God by being disobedient and this has been passed on through generations. Christians believe that the only way is through the salvation of Jesus Christ. Buddhism was founded by Gautama Buddha. Buddhism sees no problem in following more than one path. It is a dharmic religion and is usually practiced alongside other religions. They believe that the first central figure is Buddha. They do not believe in the supreme God. They believe in deities that are enlightened.

They are striving to stop the process of rebirth and believe that the soul is expected to lose all form, conscience and self in order to achieve Nirvana. Its branches are Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. Geographical distribution and predominance of Buddhists are Began in North eastern India. It is also very popular in Sri Lanka, many parts of East Asia and South East Asia. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion and views all non-Abrahamic religions as paganism. Christianity was founded by The Lord Jesus Christ It