Buddhism And Buddhism : The Differences Between Christianity And Christianity

Jesus’ death and resurrection redefined humanity by breaking the death grip of sin and allowing his believers to be heirs with him. Jesus says in John 8:34, “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin’”. Since all has sinned and fallen short to the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and the wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23), humanity was destined to be enslaved to sin and die in it since the fall of man. It is impossible, in the past and the present, for a human to live without sin. And because God is fair, and the wages of sin is death, there had to be some sort of sacrifice for the sins of the world because if there was not, the whole earth would perish. As mentioned earlier, Jesus was the only man capable to live

The suffering of the Savior accomplished many things. Jesus was sacrificed in our place to make us righteous before God (Substitution - 2nd Cor. 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24, Galatians 3:13; Isaiah 53:6). Also, God Himself paid as a ransom the price of human sin and purchased sinners to Himself through the death of Christ (Redemption - 1 Peter 1:18-19). Furthermore, God satisfied His own righteousness and His own wrath in Jesus’ sacrifice (Propitiation - Romans 3:25 - 26; 1 John 2:2 and 4:10). Jesus also positioned men back on friendly terms with God and now “we are no longer under the supervision of the law” (Reconciliation -

According to our text, Huston Smith believed that all religions were essentially the same, whereas Stephen Prothero believes that they are all fundamentally different. These two differing opinions can be looked at further by comparing two of the world religions: Christianity and Buddhism. I believe that all religions are a mixture of both; religions are essentially the same and are also fundamentally different. Christianity and Buddhism both have similar aspects within them, and they have different aspects as well. In order to make sense of the world, one needs to have knowledge of religion and the implications it has on society (Prothero).

We can define rituals as repeated actions that provides us with meaning and significance. Symbols are a small unit of a ritual. Both rituals and symbols play an active role in religion. According to Clifford Geertz, religion can be defined as “a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long lasting moods and motivations in both men and women by formulating conceptions of general order of existence”. Every religion has some assembly of rituals and/or symbols that help form and shape its practices. However, do some religions have more rituals and symbols than others? When comparing Buddhism to my own religion, Christianity, Buddhism appears to have more rituals and symbols that shape their religion.

“’Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group,’ said a new comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.” (Harper). Within the top five most popular religions, Christianity was found to be at the top with Buddhism ranked number four. There are millions of human beings participating in these religions and humans might wonder how they compare. When a human being explores Buddhism and Christianity, they will find that the importance of a spiritual master, shared values, and the follower strive to be enlighten. Buddhism and Christianity have an abundance of similarities within the religions, the fundamental differences in the view of God, salvation, and reincarnation ultimately outweigh their likeness.

Jesus is God and therefore is able to pay the price for all the sins of humanity. His ability comes in His sinlessness and infinity, “he took on himself all the debt that sinners ought to pay, and this when he himself owed no nothing, so that he could pay the debt for the others who owed it and could not pay.” Jesus owed nothing to God, for He is God and He is sinless. Yet, God’s loving nature gives Him His ability. His infinity pays back humanity’s

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all my

He died for our sins. He did no wrong but still suffered. Earley also stated,

Prior to reading The Christ of the Covenants, I was unaware of the emphasis placed on the covenants, likely due to my un-Reformed background. After reading this book, I feel that it fully demonstrates the relationship between five covenants God instigated with Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, and David in the Old Testament, and how they are reflected in Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection in the New Testament. In answering four basic questions, I discovered this main idea to be true time and time again. This book forced me to think critically on how God’s five covenants relate to the entire message presented in Scripture, unity and diversity, covenant theology vs. dispensational theology, and strengths and weaknesses in the entirety of the book. Robertson exhibits his vast knowledge of the subject with a concisely structured index outlining one clear point for the entire novel: the relationship between the old and new covenants.

It affirms that God attributed the sins and guilt of humankind to Jesus, Who in place of man, received that punishment that humanity would have otherwise deserved. Jesus’ actions signified the payment of the sins of humankind, which settled both the righteousness and wrath of God so that sinners could be forgiven without God Himself compromising His holy standard. In essence, according to the penal substitution theory of the reformers, Jesus died in place of man, in the process accounting for the sins of man and bearing them. The act of Jesus taking the sins of man indicates that Jesus carried the cross of every believer, setting him free and safe from all the penal demands of God’s law. In this context, the holiness of God and the righteousness of His law are accounted for by the substitution. Notably, in modern theology, the penal aspect has been a stumbling block despite being regarded as one of the dominant atonement in the bible. According to the model, Jesus paid man’s ransom on his crucifixion. However, this view only works because Christ was paying man’s penalty. Therefore, Christians should be inspired by the self-sacrifice acts of Jesus on the cross. In addition, Jesus’ death and resurrection implied significant victories over death, hell, and sin in our union with him and God. Lastly, God accomplished his mission to reconcile the world with Him despite various trespasses by

The Christ of the Covenants demonstrates the relationship between five covenants God instigated with Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, and David in the Old Testament, and how they are reflected in Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection in the New Testament. In answering four basic questions, I discovered this main idea to be true time and time again. Robertson exhibits his vast knowledge of the subject with a concisely structured index outlining one clear point for the entire novel.

One similarity that exists in all major world religions is the importance placed on sexual intercourse and/or the lack of such actions. Some religions stress the procreative powers of sex as a symbol of its holiness, while others see sex as a method by which religious people channel the mystic powers of spiritual deities. Two religions, Christianity and Buddhism, both historically champion asceticism, and specifically celibacy, as the most enlightened and holy state of being. They do this, however, in two very different ways. Celibacy is revered in Christianity because of a long-standing anxiety of impurity and a great power imbued in sexual action, while Buddhism exalts celibacy’s unconditional departure from all finite attachments.

23: 34). God sacrificing His only son’s life for people proves that God loves His people. In relation to Jesus’ statement in John 15:12-13; the greatest love, the crucifixion of Jesus shows that Jesus loves human beings and regard them as friends. The crucifixion is significant in that it represents the importance of forgiveness and second chances. By having Jesus die on the cross, God offered humanity a second chance to live a holy life. Living a holy life means forgiving those who transgress against us just as God forgave us. Therefore, through crucifixion, God led by example by doing what He requires from

Moreover, each of these covenants has “it’s own character and scope; and each prepares for and provides the found for, the next”. Alexander and Baker hold fast in agreement and proceed to say, “ Yet the faith and varied responses of the ancestors and Israelites are best grasped in relation to covenant making, covenant breaking and renewals of covenant”. The narrative of the Pentateuch has a progressive nature, as do the covenants made between people and God.

Compassion is basically considered to be one of the most virtues in almost all religious traditions such as Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism and Christianity are two different religions but both of them are interrelated. Both religions have hope of life after death, hope of reincarnation of Buddhists, eternal life of Christians, but live consciously. Both Buddhism and Christianity were founded by spiritual leaders and masters who tried to prove a way of salvation. Based on religious writings, this paper explores the way Buddhism and Christianity are different and in what ways they similar from the point of salvation, life after death, and love.