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The difference between Buddhism and Christianity
WHAT IS BUDDISM?
Sakyamuni (Buddha) was born in the country of Shaka (Nepal today), and had a blessed life; he got married and had a child. He left home at the age of 29 to pursue to overcome human suffering such as aging, sickness and death.
He devoted his time to penances and other spiritual training; at the age of 35 he was awakened to the ultimate universal truth and became Buddha.
In Buddhism people are expected to become a Buddha.
Buddhism includes the teachings of Buddha and the teachings of how to become a Buddha. This is the main characteristic of Buddhism.
Reference
"Buddha" is an ancient Indian language Sanskrit which means a person who is awakened (to the truth) and it became a special terminology in Buddhism later.
-What is Christianity-
In Christianity, God is the Creator of the universe and there is only one God.
Christ is the only begotten Son of Father God and He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born on earth as a man.
His name is Jesus, which is a Greek translation of Joshua in Hebrew; it means "God saves."
"Christ" is also a Greek translation of "Messiah" in Hebrew, which means the anointed. Both "Jesus" and "Christ" mean "a Savior" or "a Deliverer".
Christ preached "the love of God" and "the kingdom of God."
The people welcomed Christ as Messiah (Savior), which stirred up a hostile, critical feeling of Jewish orthodox leaders. As a result, He was arrested in the middle of His three-and-a-half year ministry and was crucified.
However, Jesus rose again three days after His death as it had been prophesied; He overcame death and appeared to His disciples over a period of forty days to prove His resurrection. Lastly He ascended from the Mount of Olives while His disciples were watching Him.
If you wish to receive the love of God and the kingdom of God, you should acknowledge your own sin, repent of it and believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior; and then your sins are forgiven and you will be given eternal life and become a child of God; you will receive the love of God and His kingdom and will be saved from the world. This is the good news of Christianity.
Reference
- 1. In Christianity, sin is not acknowledging the only God who is the Creator and all the sins stem from it. People are all sinners, and there are no exceptions. If you commit sin, you are to be punished. The Crucifixion of Christ means atonement; He as the Savior took the punishment of all humanity. Therefore, those who believe Christ as their Savior will be forgiven their sins and will never be punished.
- 2. For more about salvation, see "Cartoon- What is salvation? How can I be saved?"
- 3. Gospel means good news for all mankind.
Conclusion
Buddhism requires people to make efforts to become a Buddha who is awakened to the truth.
Buddhism teaches people to aim toward the one who is awakened to the truth. However, a Buddha himself is a mere human and not God.
No matter how wonderful and respected a person may become by being awakened to the truth, he cannot be saved from the world and enter the kingdom of God.
In Christianity, on the premise that people are sinners and fools, they cannot help but to rely on God's love, mercy and grace. God prepared everything through Christ for a person to be saved from the world and enter the kingdom of God. A person will be saved, receive eternal life and enter the kingdom of God only by believing Jesus Christ, the Savior.