Christianity and Buddhism

Paper Summary:

This paper identifies the basic differences between Christianity and Buddhism and goes on to explore the issues of completion for these religions. After examining the differences, the paper concludes that . there is no doubt that Christians and Buddhists can live and work with each other, recognizing that no matter what the inspiration and background they work for a common good.

From the Paper:

"Each of the religions has various sects. Among the Christian religions are the Protestants, a sect which arose in Europe, specifically in Germany under the purveyorship of Martin Luther. From there, Protestantism spread through England and Europe. It is very interesting to note that Protestantism first came to England because King Henry the Eighth espoused it so that he could marry Anne Boleyn and divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon--the Catholic Church having not allowed divorce. Christianity, before Protestantism came along, was synonymous with Roman Catholicism or the followers of the Pope. There are several Protestants sects today: the Baptists, Methodists, the Lutherans, the Presbyterians, etc. Mormonism and Jehovah's witnesses are also Christians, though their beliefs vary from each other and other Christian sects. Even though Buddhism has perhaps one of the smaller followings, it has several sects with different sets of variances in their beliefs. These are Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism and a modern variant."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bernstein, Alan E. The Formation of Hell : Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993.
• Bowker, John Westerdale. The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
• Easwaran, Eknath. The Dhammapada. Petaluma, Calif.: Nilgiri Press, 1986.
• Meeks, Wayne A. The Origins of Christian Morality : The First Two Centuries. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
• Raatnam, Ram Kumar. Dukkha: Suffering in Early Buddhism. Ed. Digumarti Bhaskara rao. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House, 2003.

More papers on Christianity and Buddhism:

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• Essay # 5397 : "War and Peace in Christianity and Buddhism"

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