Christianity And Buddhism Similarities

Christianity and Buddhism are two of the most widely practiced religions, with roughly 2.7 million followers all over the world. With Christianity ranking number one in the world with almost 32% of the worlds religious followers, and Buddhism ranking number five with around 7% of the worlds religious followers. If the followers of Christianity and Buddhism compared the two religions, a few striking similarities could be acknowledged: both religions are taught through parables, both religions have similar individual code, and both religions have strong belief in spiritual leaders. Although Buddhism and Christianity have some similarities, they are ultimately different because of the different views on salvation, God, and life after death.

The Christian religion follows the story of Jesus Christ’s life. Virgin Mary, Jesus’s mother, was given the son of God. Jesus lived his life spread word of God, what soon became known as Christianity. Some did not agree with Jesus’s teachings and his sinful life; therefore, he was crucified. Similar to Christianity, Buddhist followers believe in the story of the Buddha. The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama and became the Buddha after being awakened later in life. The story of Siddhartha’s birth is different than most. His mother Maya describes a white elephant entering her side in one of her dreams, and at this exact moment she was dreaming the conception of Siddhartha the future Buddha. (Molly 124-125). After being born, Siddhartha witnessed the Four Passing Sights that caused him to grow a passion for spiritual enlightenment. Jesus and Siddhartha lived similar lives while on Earth, traveling the world telling their story. “Both Jesus Christ and the Buddha sought to reform existing/religious practices which had denigrated into ritualistic forms with no spiritual meaning. Christ criticized the money lenders in the temple. Buddha criticized the caste system and hypocrisy of the Brahmans” (Pettinger). Jesus and the Buddha both received negative backlashing for their teachings because they were different than what everyone else

In Christianity the individual is born with a soul and have that single live to achieve salvation and be accepted into heaven. During this single life, “God expects humans to trust him, love him and live for him. And we fail… we fail to trust, love and live for God we are under his Holy judgement.” (“What must someone believe in in order to be saved?”). This quote, from an article by John Piper, explains that a human lives a single life of sin and having trust, love, and passion for God will grant you the golden ticket into heaven. In contrast to Christian beliefs, Buddhist followers believe that you are reincarnated into another life repeatedly until you reach nirvana. The actions of a Buddhist follower in his or her current life, will determine the rebirth in the next life. This concept is called Karma, “determines how one will be reborn… and is thought to accompany and affect the elements of personality that reappear in the future” (Molloy 136). Living with a focus and determination to reach nirvana will bring bring one good karma in their next life. Christianity and Buddhism share the thought of an afterlife but Christians only have one shot to make it to heaven. A Buddhist follower essentially has eternity to find personal