Christianity vs. Buddhism: Comparing Beliefs and Practices Essay

This essay provides a comparative analysis of Christianity and Buddhism, exploring their core tenets, practices, and historical contexts. The essay highlights key differences, such as the concept of God, places of worship, and beliefs about the afterlife, including nirvana in Buddhism and heaven/hell in Christianity. It discusses the origins of both religions, the teachings of their founders, and the values they promote, such as peace, compassion, and spiritual perfection. The essay also examines the varying perspectives on marriage and religious celebrations. By comparing these two influential world religions, the essay underscores their similarities in promoting spiritual happiness and ethical living, while acknowledging their distinct approaches to achieving these goals. The essay concludes by emphasizing the common threads of peace, compassion, and spiritual happiness that run through all religions.

Running head: CHRISTIANITY V BUDDHISM
Christianity v Buddhism
Jonathan P. Logsdon
Professor Marek Suchocki
REL2300-World Religions-02932
31 January 2019

1CHRISTIANITY V BUDDHISM
The religions of Christianity and Buddhism are two of the most influential religions on
Earth. They have a wide reach among the people due to the fact that both of them promises
salvation to the people (3). They were founded by two extra ordinary people who had the ability
to influence the thought process of the individuals with their preaching about the different
aspects of life and how to manage themselves better. Although both the religions harp on the
need for peace and harmony amongst the different individuals, the teachings taught by them are
strikingly different and they adhere to different paths of life in order to achieve those aims. The
religion of Christianity is different from Buddhism on the aspect that Christianity believes in the
image of God while Buddhism does not believe in the image of God at all (1). Moreover,
Buddhism is a subsidiary religion, drawing its inspiration from the Dharmic religion and that of
Hinduism. Christianity on the other hand belongs to Judaism and the religion of Abraham.
Another point of difference between Christianity and Buddhism is that the Christians go to the
churches to worship their God, while the place of worship for those people who follow the
religion of Buddhism is known as temples and shrines. A unique belief within Buddhism is that
of nirvana. It is believed that people can break the perpetual cycle of birth, death and re-birth
with the help of nirvana (2). Nirvana is the only mechanism that can aid in the ending of
suffering for the people. The main objective of nirvana is to attain the ultimate phase of
enlightenment which will allow the people to forsake the cycle of birth and death. On the other
hand, Christians do not believe in life after that, instead choosing to believe in the temporal
worlds of Heaven and Hell where people go depending upon how they have led their lives.
Christians put their entire faith on the ‘word’ of God that is the preaching left behind by their
Savior, Jesus Christ. They are of the opinion that any diversion from this ‘Word’ of God will
lead them to commit sins (3). If they do end up commuting sins, they confess this to a priest of

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their religion who absolves them of such sins and asks them to seek the mercy of God. Buddhism
do not believe in such sins. The religion of Buddhism is found prominently in the Eastern
hemisphere of the world, primarily in the countries of Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China,
Korea, Cambodia, Bhutan, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong
Kong. Christianity, on the other hand, is more prominent in the Western world such as in the
countries of New Zealand, North America, Australia, Europe and South America. On the issue of
marriage, Christians consider marriages to be holy and the contract of marriage is considered to a
holy sacrament among the couples. Buddhism do not believe in this duty of marriage and as a
result, the Buddhist nuns and monks chose a life of celibate and remain unmarried (4). Another
point of difference between the two religions is that Christianity has a long list of days which
they celebrate such as that of Easter, Advent, Passover and Saints Day. Buddhism celebrates
only two days of the awakening, known as the Vesak Day and also the parinirvana of Buddha
(2).
The teachings of both Buddha and Jesus Christ were not written down by them
personally; they were written down by their followers after a long period of time of their death.
This time gap that exists between the two activities mean that there is a scope for error in what
was actually taught and their interpretation (3). Both Jesus Christ and Buddha sought to bring
about important changes in the society by the way of their teachings. For instance, Christ was
against the concept of money lending while Buddha was against the caste system as followed by
the Brahmans (2). Due to such similarity there is the belief that many teachings of Buddha would
be accepted by the Christians such as the five precepts of Buddhism. The points of similarity
between both the religions is that of the values of compassion and spiritual perfection that they

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teach (4). These religions preach to its followers to transcend the aspect of materialism and
instead try to find happiness in spiritual ethics.
In conclusion it is observed that religions may be different from each other in respect of
their names, their founders and the nature of their teachings. However, a closer analysis reveals
that all religions across the world are more or less similar in teachings. The teach people about
the importance of peace and compassion and the need for spiritual happiness.

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Works Cited
(1)
Title of the Book Being Referenced. City Name: Name of Publisher, Year. Type of Medium (e.g.
Print).
(2) Journal Tit Answers Ltd. “Christianity and Buddhism | Comparison.” UKEssays, UK Essays,
30 Jan. 2019, www.ukessays.com/essays/religion/contrast-of-christianity-and-buddhism-
from-christian-perspective-religion-essay.php.
(3) “Buddhism vs Christianity.” Mountain Bike vs Road Bike - Difference and Comparison |
Diffen, www.diffen.com/difference/Buddhism_vs_Christianity.
(4) “Buddhism vs Christianity similarities, Differences.” Sufi Mysticism, www.age-of-the-
sage.org/buddhism/buddhism_christianity.html.