Buddha Photo and Quote

Comparing Religions: Christianity and Buddhism

Main Differences:

Buddhism's origin is Nepal, India and Christianity's origin is Judea.

Buddhists worship in monasteries, temples, nunneries and pagodas, Christians worship in church, chapel, and cathedral, home.

Buddhists follow the teachings of Buddha, Christians recite follow the story of Jesus Christ, told by the bible and gospels, they try to respect the values Jesus stood for, and they believe that he once walked the earth in the flesh.

The goal of Buddhism is to attain enlightenment and be released from the cycle of reincarnation, thus attaining Nirvana (or eternal bliss). Christian's goals of life are to love God and obey his commands while maintain a relationship with Jesus, whilst also spreading the gospel to others so that they too can be saved (preaching the gospels).

Jesus is irrelevant to Buddhists, but it is vital to CHRISTians, origin of the name of Christianity is based upon Christ’s name, and the religion is based upon his way of life, values, closeness with God and his teachings.

Buddhists don’t worship saints; they only have upright or mentioned people, Arhats or those who live exactly to Buddha’s teachings. Catholic and Orthodox Christians recognise very holy people as saints, most Protestants to not recognise saints.

Very few similarities:

Divine abilities: Some Buddhists and Christians agree on deity, but deity, transcendence and immanence were not originally taught, but Buddhists mainly in Japan (where Buddhism is merged with the Shinto religion), believe in a pantheon of supernatural beings.

Prayer: Christians mainly agree on prayer to God and Jesus being a core part of the religion, but some Buddhists also believe in the power of prayer, but some do not.

Religion Fact File: Christianity

Name of the religion: Christianity

Name for someone who follows it: Christian

Symbol: The cross, which symbolises the cross structure that Jesus Christ was crucified on.

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Name of holy book: the Bible

Approx. amount of followers: 2,039,000,000

Name(s) of founders of the religion: Christianity originates from  Judaism in the 1st century C.E. It is founded on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Religion Fact File: Buddhism

Name of the religion: Buddhism

Name for someone who follows it: Buddhist

Symbol: Buddhists have lots of different symbols, which they use for 

different occasions. a few of their symbols are:   

The wheel of life (The wheel of Dharma), commonly used to pray for those fighting for their lives, this symbol shows life, hope and is something to remind you of the light at the end of the tunnel when you are in a time of need.

• Buddha's eyes (wisdom eyes). this symbolises the omniscience of the buddah, and reminds buddhists that buddha sees everything. this symbol is on every surface available, and it is so prevalent and respected that it has become the honorary symbol of nepal.

• The parasol, buddhists believe that this symbol casts a shadow of protection, and as a normal parasol would protect its user from heat and sun, this parasol protects from the metaphorical heat of evil. this is a traditional symbol of protection and royalty

       

• The golden fish is a symbol of happiness and fertility. It is believed that the symbol of the  golden fish is from to the pre-Buddhist era, when the two fish represented the holy Indian rivers of Ganga and Yamuna.
  

Name of holy book: The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tipitaka. It is written in an old Indian language called Pali which is believed to be the closest dialect the language that the Buddha himself spoke. The Tripitaka is a very very long book. 

Approx. amount of followers: 376,000,000 

Name(s) of founders of the religion: Buddha Shakyamuni is the founder of Buddhism. he was born as a prince in 624 BC in Lumbini, which was originally in northern India but is now part of Nepal.