Essay Apol 104 Critical Thinking

In the Christian/Biblical worldview the origin of life of everything that exists was a direct result of God, our Creator. Not only did God create the universe but he also is intimately involved with it, whereas, the Buddhist view states clearly that they do not believe in God nor that God created the universe, they believe in the religions founder, called Buddha and that the universe is a direct result of natural evolution.

Buddhism is one of the oldest and most prominent religions that have ever been established all throughout Asia. Gautama was born in 563 BCE in Lumbini, a temple in Nepal.

Buddhism is also a polytheistic religion similar to Hinduism. An Indian prince who founded Buddhism was called Siddhartha Gautama; he abdicated all his rights to become the enlightened one, Buddha. Like Hindus, Buddhists believe in reincarnation but instead of Moksha. They believe in Nirvana [the goal of the Buddhist path], both concepts are similar, understanding life and death and the cycle ending in reincarnation. Buddha reached enlightenment or wisdom, during that time, he found Four Noble Truths, which enabled people to achieve happiness so they could all stop suffering. People must give up all thought of achievement, desire living life in poverty. Buddhism has never had a caste system [division of social classes], therefore, the first

The founder of Buddhism was Buddha Shakyamuni. Buddhist traditions show that the Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end their suffering through the elimination of ignorance and craving. It’s believed that all our happiness and good fortune arise from peaceful and positive states of mind. This was based on the principle or the law of impermanence. Buddhism helps find balance between two extremes of self-indulgence and total abstinence. There are a couple types of Buddhism which include Mahayana and Theravada (East Asia) – Zen Buddhists (Hinduism, Confucianism, and

Christianity and Buddhism exist as two of the predominant religions throughout the world. While Buddhism ranks around fifth in number of followers of religions, it is the third most widespread religion behind Christianity and Islam. Buddhism and Christianity are arrantly distinct in their principle standpoints: Buddhism rejects the existence of a greater being and Christianity proudly professes the power of a universal God. However, despite this rigid dissimilarity, both religions developed and spread with akin practices and messages due to their analogous founders, mother religions with like social significance, and approachable and appealing doctrine.

Both Buddhism and Christianity have their own tenants that drive their beliefs. In Buddhism, it is the Four Noble Truths and the 8-Fold Paths. The Four Noble Truth is like talking to a doctor when you’re ill. It starts with the symptoms that we live is to suffer, then it moves on to find the cause of it; desire. Once it’s diagnosed we can plan to remove or overcome desire, the final truth being the prescription of 8

One of the main questions for every religion to answer is where it all began. The origins of life and mankind. Christianity and Buddhism are very different in this aspect. The view most Christians hold is that of the story of creation and God created the heavens, earth, and man. He created man by reaching down and making us from clay and then he breathed life into man. God then made a woman by putting Adam to sleep and forming a woman out of his rib.

Buddhists believe all of us will pass away eventually as a natural part of the world; birth old age and death. However, they believe death is not the end of life. It is said to be the end of the body that we inhabited in that life, but that our spirit will remain and seek out a new body and new life. Your new life would be based on your previous life’s karma. This is what is lead to the person being reborn in one of the six realms. These are heaven, human beings, hungry ghost, animal, Asura (lowest rank of demigods) or hell. Buddhists believe these realms are not permanent place and one does not remain in any place forever. So in Buddhism, life does not end, that the life we are in is impermanent. They believe we should not fear death, as it will lead to rebirth.

Buddhists believe that if you follow all the codes of living and live a morally correct life then there is a high possibility that you will be brought back into a better life, they believe if one has reached the best life and can’t go any further then they will achieve nirvana and live in a “paradise” for the rest of existence. Islam on the other hand believe that you live one life and that there will be a day of judgement. Muslims call this Judgement Day, they believe it is a day when every human will be divided everyone between heaven and hell. Muslims also believe the world will be destroyed and that Allah will raise all people from the dead and judge if they have followed the core values. Until judgement day the souls of the dead will remain in the grave awaiting the

The ability to take step-back and find likeness among two separate religions—one of which is not even considered a religion and doesn’t worship a deity, shows that there are much more commonalities than once perhaps perceived. Christianity and Buddhism are both religions that are rooted from their originators' disciples passing down their teachings morally. Additionally, Christianity and Buddhism both have their own hopeful ideals for the afterlife; communion with God in heaven, and Nirvana or the end of reincarnate suffering. Perhaps the most similar proposition between the religion is the belief in liberation. Christianity's liberation is deeply rooted in freeing through God, while liberation of Buddhism is focused on liberation through oneself, a more independent path.

The Question of Origin- For Buddhist, the question of Origin is one that cannot be answered. Buddhist believe that there is no beginning or end of the world. Buddhist do not have an answer for the question of Origin. They simply accept that everything came to be just because.

Buddhism, founded by Siddhartha Gautama, is one of the world’s oldest and influential religions that has spread throughout all of Asia. Siddhartha was born in 563 BCE in a place called Lumbini, which was near the Himalayan foothills. From here, just as Jesus did, he would create the religion that would be modeled off his life experiences to help the lives of those that believed in his teaching.

The Buddhism is one of the major religion in the world. Buddhism started in India and so many of its early symbols are related to ancient India and Hinduism as well though their original meaning were often changed. Buddhism has followers all over the world most of them from China, India, Sri Lanka, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and Thailand. The Buddhism religion is over 2500 years old. The name of Buddhism religion came from a person named Buddha. He was born Siddhartha Gautama of the Shaka. He was married and had a son. He was a teacher, but he didn’t think to be other than an ordinary human being. Other teachers were either God or directly inspired by God. The Buddha was a true human being, and he has no inspiration from any God. According to Buddhism the man is supreme, and he is his own master and there in no other higher power that judgment over his destiny.

The religion founded by Christ in where He is Central to over twenty-one billion people is known as Christianity. It is the teachings of life, death, and the resurrection of Christ originating from Jerusalem in present- day Israel. Buddhism is a spiritually sought religion that focus on the teachings of the Buddha. The number of Buddhist world-wide has been estimated to be around three-hundred and fifty million, which is about six percent of the world’s population. This religion is concentrated on the teachings of the Buddha and the perceived enlightenment of life. Siddhartha Gautama, became the founder in present-day Nepal, India during the fifth century.

The Buddhist philosophy is to eliminate mental suffering. Buddhist believe that after death a person is reborn. This is an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, which can only be broken by achieving Nirvana. When a person reaches Nirvana, they escape suffering eternally. The goal of Christianity is to love God and obey Him, while also having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Its second goal is to spread the Gospel so that others may be saved as well. The Christian