Buddhism vs Christianity
Buddhism is centered upon the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, whereas Christianity is centered on the Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ. Buddhism is a polytheistic religion, however, it does not believe in Supreme Creator Being. Christianity is a monotheistic religion and believes that Christ Is the Son Of God.
Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism and is a Dharmic religion. Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism and is an Abrahamic religion.
Comparison chart
| Improve this chart | Buddhism | Christianity |
|---|---|---|
| Rites: | Sankharas | Sacraments |
| Human Nature: | Man's desire for material things leads to suffering. | Originally God created men and women in God's image. Humankind inherited "original sin" from Adam, meaning he is in rebellion against God and enslaved to sin. Once a person is "born again," they receive a new nature from the Holy Spirit. |
| Concept of Deity: | varies depending on which school of buddhism, there are hundreds of different schools using myriad teachings written over the course of a thousand years. anything from that there are no such thing as deities to there are innumerable deities. | Believe in the Trinity of God. Three persons in one Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit |
| Place of worship: | Temple, Pagoda Personal worship can be done in any place at any time. | Church, chapel, cathedral, any gathering, self. |
| Three Jewels: | The Buddha, The Dharma and The Sangha. | Christ, Grace and Virtue. |
| Life after death: | Buddhists strive towards liberation from the process of rebirth. Nirvana ("Nibbana" in the old Pali scriptures, the 'Tripitaka') is described as the "deathless state," and said to be beyond both life and death, neither existence nor non-existence. | Eternal Salvation in Heaven; Eternal Damnation in Hell; some believe in a temporal third state before Heaven, known as Purgatory. Some also believe in the doctrine of Universal Reconciliation, that everyone will be saved through Christ. |
| View of Abrahamic religions: | Dharmic; Not Abrahamic. Sees no contradiction in following more than one religion. | Christianity claims to be the continuation and fulfillment of Judaism. In their current forms; Islam and Judaism are considered to be false religions. |
| Population: | 230 million - 500 million (Wikipedia) | 1.8 Billion |
| Branches: | Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. | Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. |
| Geographical predominance: | Asia, North America. | Europe, North, Central, and South America, Australia and New Zealand. |
| Belief of God: | hindu gods are mortal, neither confirms nor denies any other god(s). also varies from school to school. | Most self-proclaimed sects of Christianity believe in the Nicaean Creed. |
| Holy days/Official Holidays: | Wesak, Buddhist New Year, Sangha Day, The Festival of the Tooth, Ancestor Day, Bodhi Day. | Sunday (The Lord's Day), Advent, Christmas and New Years, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost (Whitsun), Saints' Feast Days. |
| Promised Holy one.: | Maitreya. | The Lord Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah of Old Testament prophecy; He will come again at the end of time to fulfill Old and New Testament prophecy. |
| Day of worship: | varies, original buddhism has no worship, the buddha specified that he should not be worshiped in any way, however there are later offshoots who worship certain "buddhas" or the buddha, despite his protestation in the oldest scriptures. | Worship should be a continual process in the lives of Christians. Sunday(The Lord's Day) is usually considered the Sabbath Day and set apart for church services, but some denominations celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday. |
| Birth of Jesus: | N/A | Virgin Birth |
| Religious Law: | Most Buddhist teachers view the Dharma (Dhamma), the teaching, as an instruction manual rather than a rule book. Monastics in the Theravada tradition are bound by 227 rules of conduct; laypeople observe the Panca Silas (Five Precepts). | Christians no longer live under the law but under grace. |
| Confessing sins: | n/a | Protestants confess to the Trinity through prayer only. No man can save a person from their sins. Catholics & Orthodox confess to their priests, as Christ Gave His priests the Power to forgive sins (Gospel according to St. John, chapter 20). |
| Virtue in which religion is based upon: | compassion | Love. |
| Ressurection of Jesus: | N/A | Affirmed |
| Founder: | Siddhartha Gautama (gotama buddha) "Buddha" - meaning enlightened one | Jesus Christ |
| Practices: | Regularly visit temple to socialize and support monks and nuns. Buddhists develop the mind in order to gain the Ultimate knowledge of reality, or mind-versus-matter. Regular meditation is practiced also. | Baptism: New Birth in the New Covenant with God. Corporate worship. Public witness. Personal prayer and devotion are also entirely a matter of personal preference |
| Views on the afterlife: | Reincarnation; may spend thousands of years in Hell/blissful realms/earth, all of these existences are temporary and cyclic, escaping this is the goal: Nirvana | Eternal Heaven for the Saved; Eternal Hell for the Damned; many believe in temporal Purgatory for the Saved, albeit still needs to atone for venial sins. |
| Clothes: | Buddhist monks wear robes. also varies from school to school. | Encouraged to dress conservatively; Clergy usually dress in robes. |
| Scriptures: | The 'Tripitaka" ("Three Baskets") is the Theravada Pali-language canon; Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists may treasure other scriptural sources not found in the older Pali canon, such as the 'Lotus Sutra' and 'Diamond Sutra.' | DHoly Bible, a collection of 66 canonical books in two parts (the Old Testament and the New Testament), 39 in the old and 27 in the new testament. Protestant Bibles omit 7 books (Tobit, Judith, & others) found in Catholic and Orthodox Bible. |
| Prophet: | n/a | Moses, Abraham, John the Baptist, many others. |
| Status of Adam: | Creation stories from the Western theisms (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) were not generally known in Asia until around 1500 C.E., long after the establishment of the Dharma, hence no traditional opinion about the status of Adam. | Adam was the first man created by God. He fell into temptation and brought sin and death to the human race. |
| Geographical distribution and predominance: | Began in Northeastern India and widely popular today in Sri Lanka, all over South East Asia and East Asia. | Christianity has spread worldwide across all six settled continents. |
| Belief: | While there are a few beliefs that are helpful, belief not as important as the direct, experiential understanding of the Three Signs of Being (Impermanence, Suffering, No Self). Such knowledge leads to the liberation of Nirvana (Nibbana). | Believe in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior; and receiving Eternal Salvation from Him and His Church. |
| Time of origin: | 500 bc | While all Christian churches claim the same ultimate heritage, time of origin of each particular church varies depending upon the church. |
| Legislation: | Perogative of the Sangha (community) or the patriarchs of that particular tradition. In the Theravada tradition, much of the process is democratic, with the ordained Sangha voting on important issues affecting the community. | Perogative of the individual pastor of the church, or of the particular Church denomination |
| Means of salvation: | practicing meditaiton, following a non violent and sober life style (eight fold path), mindfulness and contemplation, and ultimately reaching enlightenment, freedom from suffering and rebirth. | Differs depending on which sect or denomination is followed. Some believe that salvation is secured through prayer and faith alone in Jesus Christ, others that baptism or other ordinances are necessary. |
| View of other Abrahamic religions: | Buddhism views worship of dieties and longing for eternal existence in a heaven-realm as understandable, but not conducive to the highest liberation, Nirvana. In particular, both eternalism and nihilsim are Wrong Views. | According to Christian doctrine, Judaism is a true religion, but with incomplete revelation (incomplete without the Messiah). Islam and Baha'i are false religions (wrong to believe in men that are greater than the Messiah). |
| Death of Jesus: | N/A | Death by Crucifixion followed by resurrection on the 3rd day. |
| Goal of religion: | To gain enlightenment. | To gain Eternal Salvation; to glorify God and enjoy him forever. |
| Resurrection of Jesus: | N/A | Affirmed |
| Use of statues and pictures: | As a symbolic reminder, which can be found in sculptures, arts, and architecture. | Crosses and pictures are acceptable in Christianity. Some protestants regard statues as idols while Catholics and Orthodox widely use them as depictions of Christ, Mary, and the Saints. Images of the Father are forbidden since He is a Spirit. |
| Definition: | Follower of the Buddha. | Follower of Christ. |
| Praying to Saints,Mary, and Angel: | n/a | Most Protestants do not believe that one needs to pray to Saints, Mary or Angels. Catholics and Orthodox Christians pray to Mary, the Saints, and Angels, requesting their intercession with God. |
| Status of women: | Women can become nuns. The Buddha allowed this and it continued after his death in most schools. There are some schools in which women are not allowed to be nuns, but most do allow it. | Variable. Conservatives & liberals differ greatly. Women can become nuns, pastors, and teachers in some congregations and may not hold any positions of authority in others. |
| God's role in salvation: | Be thy own refuge. | Salvation is a completely free gift from the Lord and comes by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ, but one must accept Jesus into their heart and be born again to receive salvation. See Eph 2:8-9 |
| Prophets: | n/a | Prophets are people chosen by the Holy Spirit to reveal God's message to humanity. |
| Angels: | n/a. | Angels are God's messengers. Angels are also demonic spirits. Not all angels are good. (1 John 4:1) |
| Principle: | we suffer because of our desires, become detached from our desires and we become free here and now and free from rebirth. | Because our first parents sinned, all human beings sin. So Christ came down from Heaven to save us from our sins. |
| View of other Dharmic religions: | varies depending on which school of buddhism but in general Buddhism sees no contradiction in following more than one path. | Christianity is an Abrahamic religion, not a Dharmic one. Christianity views all non-Abrahamic religions as pagan in worship. |
| Second coming of Jesus: | N/A | Affirmed |
| Place of origin: | border of Nepal and india | Palestine, Rome, and Greece, varies according to Demographics |
| Marriage: | in theravada buddhism (oldest version of buddhism) it is not specified. in vajrayana, only between one man and one woman (for those who follow the dalai lama, otherwise it varies), in mahayana it varies from school to school. | Monogamistic: . "and two shall become one." One man and one woman are united under God in the holy sacrament of Matrimony. In Heaven, marriage does not exist, except for Marriage between God and the soul. |
| View of God: | hindu gods are mortal, neither confirms nor denies any other god(s). | "3 in 1" Belief in Trinity. Father, Son and Holy Ghost. |
| Holy days: | Wesak, Buddhist New Year, Sangha Day, The Festival of the Tooth, Ancestor Day, Bodhi Day. | Sunday (The Lord's Day), Christmas, Holy Week and Easter, New Year, Pentecost, Saints' Feast Days |
| Clergy: | Lamas, Monks and nuns, varies amongst the different schools. | Varies widely according to denomination. All are supported by donations from church members. May include: Priests, monks, nuns, ministers, pastors, bishops, Elders, Deacons, Youth Ministers, Sunday School Teachers, prophets. |
| Abrahamic Lineage: | N/A | Isaac and Jacob. |
| Original Languages: | Pali, Sanskrit. | Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, and Latin (from which the King James Version of the Bible was adapted) |
| Literal Meaning: | Budh means to awaken. Buddha means the one who is awake. Buddhist means followers of the awakened way. | Christian" (Greek Χριστιανός Strong's G5546), meaning "belonging to Christ" or "partisan of Christ". Also referred to as "little Christs" |
| About: | Buddhism is a Dharmic religion centered on the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, believed to be the Enlightened One. | Christianity is an Abrahamic religion, which purports to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ as revealed through the Old & New Testaments. Interpretation is open to any man or woman as no definitive authority is found (except for Catholicism). |
| Belief of God: | hindu gods are mortal, no other god(s) are confirmed or denied. also varies from school to school. | |
| Views on other religion: | Sees no contradiction in following more than one religion as long as the other religion(s) is(are) non-violent. | |
| Use of statues: | Common | |
| Internal consistency of sacred texts: | pali canon: mostly consistent, chinese canon: not consistent, tibetan canon: not consistent. | |
| Texts used: | pali canon (original buddhist teachings attributed to mainly the historical buddha and his direct students), chinese canon, tibetan canon. | |
| View of Oriental religions: | Although Buddhism is a Dharmic religion, it is frequently practiced alongside Oriental religions. | |
| Concept of God: | Brahma was a being who thought he created the universe until Buddha proved him wrong. Believes in numerous non-creator deities who are mortal. does not directly confirm or deny any other god(s). | |
| Status of Braham: | mortal | |
| View of other Oriental religions: | open | |
| View of the Buddha: | teacher, example of how to live/practice. | |
| View of Animistic religions: | Buddhism sees no contradiction in following more than one religion. | |
| Status of Brahama: | A being who thought he was the creator but is actually mortal. | |
| Virtues in which religion is based upon: | Compassion | |
| Place and Time of origin: | India, approx. 500 B.C. | |
| Original Language: | Sanskrit,Pali | |
| Identity of Jesus: | The Son is consubstantial with the Father, which means that, in the Father and with the Father the Son is one and the same God. | |
| War between two churches: | Catholics and Protestants fight in Northern Ireland; Fundamentalist and Evangelical Protestants deny Catholics as Christians in the United States. | |
| Offshoot religions: | Rastafarianism, Universal Unitarianism, Deism. |
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