Comparing Buddhism and Christianity

Comparison of Buddhism & Christianity


Three-fourths of the world’s population are members of seven major world religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam. The two religions I chose to compare are Buddhism and Christianity. I am going to give an overview of the two religions and compare beliefs shared and not shared. First, I would like to give you the actual definition of religion: a) belief in a divine or superhuman power or powers to be obeyed and worshipped as the creator and ruler of the universe. b) expression of such belief in conduct and ritual. c) any specific system of belief and worship, often involving a code of ethics and a philosophy d) any object of conscientious regard and pursuit.   Now, here is the definition of a supernatural belief: A belief that transcends the observable, natural world. This term is more neutral. There are natural things in the universe and supernatural things, beyond or outside of the natural. There are things and events that can be explained, tested, and demonstrated, and there are also things that cannot.
Religions teach belief and worship in a deity and ethnical behavior toward other people.
Why people develop belief systems
Belief systems explain the unexplainable, as it is best put in our book. “They give us explanations of what happens, why things happen, why we are on earth, where we came from, and what happens after we die.” The two useful categories for the analysis of the functions of belief are social and psychological. The social functions describe how a society functions and interacts. The psychological functions focus on the outsider’s look at what the belief system provides.
For centuries, Buddhism has been the dominant religion of the Eastern world. With the rise of the Asian population in the United States, Buddhism has had a tremendous impact on this country as well. Presently, there are an estimated 300 million Buddhists in the world and 500 thousand in...