Christian Worldview Essay

A similarity that Buddhism and Christianity have are their forms of values. Buddhism follows a set of values, the five moral precepts, which command the common followers to abide by five rules to reach enlightenment. These include, “avoid killing, or harming any living thing; avoid stealing, or taking what is not yours; avoid sexual irresponsibility, avoid lying or any hurtful speech, and avoid alcohol and drugs which diminish clarity of consciousness” (Boeree). Buddhism also has sets of values including the Pancha Shila and the Paramita. These guidelines are found to be similar to the Christian Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the Christian moral code “written by God upon two tablets of stone and then given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The commandments include, thou shall not kill, thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not steal, and thou shalt

Another key difference between Buddhism and Christianity is the recognition of “sin”. Christianity teaches that, a “sinful nature” has been passed on to mankind, as a result of the fall of the first man Adam. This forms the basis for the need for redemption and reconciliation with God.

Siddhartha Gautama was the first person to discover Buddhism in the late 6th century B.C.E. He was originally known as a spiritual teacher when he began teaching followers about the religion. As time passed, he was then referred to as the Buddha and followers viewed him more as a savior than a teacher. A savior is identified as a religious figure who saves someone from danger, where as a spiritual teacher gives knowledge to a person with little understanding of spiritual facts. The same reason is given for Jesus as the messiah for those who practice Christianity. Both of these groups consider Jesus and Buddha, Saviors.

Many believe that Buddhism goes beyong religon and commonly refer to it as a ‘way of life’ (A Five Minuet Introduction, n.d.). Generally, a Buddhist path includes leading a moral lift, being mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and developing wisdom and understading (A Five Minute Intrdocutoion, n.d.). Poplular in western countries, Buddhism has answers to several problems in modern materialistic socities (Five Minute Introduction, n.d.). Furthermore, Buddhism involves a deep undersanding of the human hind in which prominent psychologists around the world have discovered to be both advanced and effective (Five Minute Introduction, n.d.). Overall, Buddhism is tolerant of all other religions and agrees with the moral teachings of other religions (Five Minute Introduction, n.d.).

Christianity and Buddhism are two different religions that developed and spread contemporaneously in during the Classical Period different territories. Both of them share some similarities as well as differences. Both of these religions were founded based upon different principles taught by different people; in Buddhism’s case Gautama Buddha a thinker and in Christianity’s it is Jesus Christ who is a prophet. These two universal doctrines spread in times of chaos, in which citizens of their own territories were looking forward to achieve salvation of any kind. Although alike these two doctrines didn’t have a

Buddha taught one how to end their sufferings by omitting desire form their lives resulting in Buddhists to live a simple life without asking for more than they have and need. This way of life is shown in the movie, Little Buddha, by the monks- including Lama Norbu. All the monks had their heads shaven and they only wore robes with belt. Clearly, all of the monks residing there have completely eliminated desire from their lives. Correspondingly, Jesus taught one that they should not ask for more than they have and that they should lead a balance between spiritual and materialistic essence of life. Hence, it is evident that Christianity and Buddhism are quite

God: God in Christianity is the eternal being who created and preserves all things. Christians believe God to be both wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe and involved in the world. Early Christian views of God were expressed in the Pauline Epistles and the early creeds, which proclaimed one God and the divinity of Jesus, almost in the same breath as in 1. Christian teachings of the immanence and involvement of God and his love for humanity exclude the belief that God is of the same substance as the created universe but accept that God's divine Nature was hypostatically united to human nature in the person of Jesus Christ, in an event known as the Incarnation. Buddhists seek to reach a state of nirvana, following the path of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who went on a quest for Enlightenment around the sixth century BC. There is no belief in a personal god. Buddhists believe that nothing is fixed or permanent and that change is always possible that is why they don’t believe in a God.

For this religion project I decided to look more closely into the religion of Buddhism. Buddhism is a religion that has around 300 million people world wide of all nationalities, race, sexuality and gender following and practicing its teachings. Buddhism is a path of spiritual development leading to the insight and understanding of the true nature of reality. Buddhist practice things like meditation because they feel it’s a means of changing yourself in order to develop the qualities of wisdom, kindness, and awareness. Buddhism does not believe in worshipping a creator, a god. They do not believe people should look to gods to save them or bring them enlightenment. All Buddhist live by and follow what they call the five moral precepts. By following the 5 precepts, Buddhist feel it ensure the safety and security of everyone, it allows people to be fully responsible for their lives and live a life of peace and happiness. The first precept is based on compassion and prohibits killing, hurting and torturing. The second forbids stealing and actions supporting stealing. The third is meant as a guide against perverse sexual actions and unfaithfulness in marriage life. The fourth emphasizes truthfulness and telling false-hoods and the breaking of promises. The fifth is to prevent indulgence in intoxicants. Therefor if Buddhists follow these 5

Traditional Christian beliefs include the belief in the one and only true God, who is one being and exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the belief that Jesus is the divine and human Messiah sent to the save the world. Most Christian denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge everybody, living and dead, and to grant eternal life to his followers. He is considered the model of a virtuous life. The basic teachings of the Buddha are contained in the Four Noble Truths, which are concerned with the realisation that our objective in life is the pursuit of happiness through the elimination of the factors that create suffering.

Hinduism and Buddhism are the religions who practice polytheism, while Christianity, Islam, and Judaism practice monotheism. Each religion has its own set of rules or teachings that the followers practice. In Christianity, there are the Ten Commandments. Christians believe in a loving God who has exposed himself and can be known in a personal way in this life. With Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the person's focus is not on religious rituals or performing good works, but on enjoying a relationship with God and growing to know him better. In Buddhism, the Buddhists have the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, never claimed to be divine, but rather he is viewed by Buddhists as having achieved what they are also striving to achieve, which is spiritual enlightenment. Most Buddhists believe a person has countless rebirths, which certainly include suffering. A Buddhist seeks to end these rebirths.

In general, Christianity outlines a much more personal relationship with the divine than Buddhism. According to Christian doctrine, God made the world of God’s own accord and by Godself. From this, people mostly interpret God as a personal deity, who gets involved with God’s creation

It is a common misconception in our Western society that Buddhism is more so of a philosophy than a religion, and that its founder Siddhartha Gautama was simply a person and not supernatural. If my mother were to take this stance on Buddhism and express this to me I would retort her argument with various points as learned in Relistud 2K03. I will seek to justify my stance that Buddhism is, in fact, a religion and that ( from the traditional account of the Buddha Biography) its founder is divine. In this paper, I will look at the ceremonies, practices, and beliefs within Buddhism that make it fall under the general definition of a religion and will analyze the life of the Buddha to gain insights into his supernatural qualities.

The pursuit of truths, roads to satisfaction, and the system of values are different goals that people want to aspire to achieve. Religions offer alternative routes to achieve these goals. While there is an abundance of knowledge one can inherit from dissimilar religious groups, it is erroneous for one to assume that separate religions contain the same implications for their followers, and this is certainly the case for Christianity and Buddhism. In fact, an interreligious practice within Christianity and Buddhism cannot be implemented logically, for it breaks fundamental laws from both religions, and therefore this practice is a paradox created by its own title, a “Christian-Buddhist”.

Buddhism is a way of practice and spiritual advancement, founded by Siddhartha Guatama, commonly known as Buddha. The pillars of Buddha’s teaching are “Four Noble Truths”, they are, “the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering” (Buddhaweb, 2016). There is no concept of an external God in Buddhism, all that exists in this universe is unconstrained emerging, when the right cause and conditions are met. The world is a temporary place and an illusion which is neither bad nor good. The human beings are not considered to

“A worldview comprises one’s collection of presuppositions, convictions, and values from which a person tries to understand and make sense out of the world and life.” (MacArthur,2006). A person’s worldview is developed by how he or she has lived, the family dynamics, his or her education, and interests. How does this view differ from a Christian worldview? How does the Christian worldview effect the Christian life? And, how does the Christian worldview influence counselling?