Difference Between Christianity and Buddhism

            Christianity and Buddhism are different religions, yet they compare and contrast greatly. Though founded at different periods of time, Christianity and Buddhism have shaped cultures and have had a great influence on people all around the world with origins, customs, and beliefs. This paper will show the difference in these two religions, the history, and the spread of both religions. .

             Conceived in Asia, Buddhism is an historic expression of a universal human ideal. It offers any individual or society a voluntary way of thought and conduct which is based upon an analysis of conditioned existence, and dependant upon supreme human effort. As a way of life, Buddhism has been variously understood, followed, and expounded by its adherents, and it has been variously studied, interpreted, and described by non-Buddhists. Ethnic traits and social customs, subjective interests and partial knowledge, and many other factors have influenced the development of Buddhist beliefs and practices and thus condition an understanding of the nature of Buddhism by all concerned. In its Historical development over twenty centuries its geographical expansion in over thirty Asian countries, and twenty-two Asian languages Buddhism has been designated in several ways(Gard 13).

             Buddhism began in Northern India six hundred years before the Christian era. As Buddhism spread, it adapted to these host cultures, and in each case, Buddhism was shaped and influenced in flavor and style by preexisting rituals and cosmologies. Buddhism is probably the most tolerant religion in the world, as its teaching can coexist with any other religion. Other religions, on the other hand, do not posses this characteristic and accommodate Buddhism at the same time. The Buddhist teaching of God is neither agnostic nor vague, but clear and logical(Rice 3).

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             Buddhist historical developments are so complex and ramified that it is difficult to view them comprehensively.

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