Essay Comparing and Contrasting Christian and Buddhist Worldviews

This essay provides a comparative analysis of the Christian and Buddhist worldviews. It delves into how each religion defines core concepts such as God, the soul, redemption, and the afterlife. The essay highlights the Christian belief in an omnipotent God and the importance of a virtuous life for attaining oneness with Him, contrasting it with Buddhism's focus on compassion and the absence of a supreme being. The discussion extends to their differing views on the self, suffering, and the path to spiritual enlightenment, including rituals and the concept of karma. The essay concludes by acknowledging that despite their differences, both worldviews advocate for a life of virtue and selflessness, offering a comprehensive overview of their philosophical stances.

Running head: WORLDVIEW
Worldview
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Different religions have different approaches while defining the concept of God, soul,
redemption and afterlife and that precisely each of these approaches defines each worldview. The
purpose of the essay is to compare and contrast the elements of worldview of two religions-
Christianity, founded by Jesus Christ and Buddhism, founded by Gautama Buddha.
The Christian worldview believes in the existence of an Omnipotent and Omniscient
entity named God, often referred to as the “Father” who is the creator of the universe and
anything inhabiting in it. The Christian worldview strongly emphasizes the importance of
attaining oneness with God that can be accomplished through unconditional submission to God’s
will and by leading a virtuous life (Ford, 2016). On the other hand, Buddhism does not
acknowledge the presence of any external authority controlling the universe or influencing the
destiny of mankind. This worldview however resembles Christianity as it also emphasizes the
importance of compassion and empathy for fellow creatures. Although Buddhist worldview,
unlike Christianity does not claim that a man should become a virtuous follower of God to lead
a peaceful afterlife, it does state "Consider others as yourself (Turner, 2014)."
The Christian worldview defines the concept of a self as a son of the Almighty, referred
to as the Father. Although the body is mutable, the soul is imperishable and immortal which
shares a tender and intimate relation with the external God, and this defines the concept of the
self (Esqueda, 2014). The Buddhist worldview however does not rely on the concept of God for
defining the self, and rather explains it in the light of five attributes- physical form, feelings,
perceptions, intellectual activities such as volition, and consciousness. Since these components of
the soul undergo transformation with every stage of life, Buddha believes in a temporary and
ever-changing self, that just like the world is ever-changing (Park, 2017). The concept of an
immortal should is dismissed here. The concept of self is important in defining the concept of

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suffering in both the worldviews. The Christian worldview believes that a man should lead a
virtuous life as it will lead to Heaven and let him unify with the Heavenly Father. Anyone who
refuses to follow the virtuous life preached by Christ, will be subject to eternal damnation
(Ryken, 2013). However, the Buddhist worldview believes regardless of anything, man will be
subject to suffering and death, and the Four Noble Truths state that it is only through the
extinction of desire or attachment that one can achieve the cessation of sufferings (Thanissaro &
Kulupana, 2015). While he self is subordinated to God in case of Christianity, the self play the
ultimate role in attaining spiritual enlightenment and salvation in case of the Buddhist
worldview.
While Buddhism does not acknowledge the importance of adhering to any religious
ritual, Christian worldview strongly recommends Communion and Baptism (Friesen, 2015).
Buddha spoke of the Law of Karma where one’s action, good or bad, will always have
consequence that determine human destiny (Keown, 2016). The Christian worldview states that
any kind of sin is the violation of the divine law and hence the offender is punished by the
Almighty. While Buddhist worldview speaks of the cycle of birth and death, the Christian
worldview negates the possibility of reincarnation. However, despite the differences in approach,
both the worldviews recommend a selfless, virtuous life.

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Reference List:
Esqueda, O. J. (2014). Biblical worldview: The Christian higher education foundation for
learning. Christian Higher Education, 13(2), 91-100.
Ford, J. L. (2016). Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: the dialectic of myth-making in
contemporary cinema. Journal of Religion & Film, 4(2), 1.
Friesen, J. G. (2015). Neo-Calvinism and Christian Theosophy: Franz von Baader, Abraham
Kuyper, Herman Dooyeweerd.
Keown, D. (2016). Buddhism and bioethics. Springer.
Park, J. Y. (2017). Women and Buddhist Philosophy: Engaging Zen Master Kim Iryŏp.
University of Hawai'i Press.
Ryken, P. G. (2013). Christian worldview: A student's guide. Crossway.
Thanissaro, P. N., & Kulupana, S. (2015). Buddhist teen worldview: some normative
background for health professionals. Contemporary Buddhism, 16(1), 28-42.
Turner, A. (2014). Saving Buddhism: The impermanence of religion in colonial Burma.
University of Hawai'i Press.