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How Christianity compares

Buddhism

The path taught by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, to end suffering.

Buddhism follows the teaching of the Buddha, who said that suffering comes from craving and can be ended by following the Eightfold Path to nirvana. It does not center on a Creator God. Christians and Buddhists share a serious concern with suffering but give very different answers to it.

Began
About 500 BC in northern India and Nepal, with Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha ('the awakened one')
Followers
About 324 million (Pew, 2020), mostly in East and Southeast Asia
Scriptures
The Pali Canon (Tripitaka) in Theravada Buddhism; the Mahayana sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra; the Tibetan canon
Main groups
Theravada (Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia), Mahayana (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, including Zen and Pure Land), and Vajrayana (Tibet and Mongolia)

Where it began and how it spread

The story

According to tradition, Siddhartha was a prince who left his palace after seeing old age, sickness, and death. After years of searching, he reached enlightenment while meditating under a tree at Bodh Gaya, and spent the rest of his life teaching.

The Indian emperor Ashoka (third century BC) helped spread Buddhism across Asia. It traveled the Silk Road to China, then to Korea and Japan, and later to Tibet, even as it faded in India itself. In recent times, meditation and mindfulness have made it popular in the West.

What they believe

The Four Noble Truths

Life involves suffering (dukkha); suffering is caused by craving; suffering can end; and the way to end it is the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path

Right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

God

Buddhism does not center on a Creator God. Gods may exist, but they too are caught in the cycle of rebirth.

The self

There is no permanent, unchanging self (anatta). Beings are reborn according to their karma.

The goal

Nirvana: the 'blowing out' of craving, and release from rebirth. In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhisattvas delay their own nirvana to help others; Pure Land Buddhists trust in the grace of Amida Buddha.

Practice

Taking refuge in the Three Jewels (the Buddha, his teaching, and the community), meditation, the five precepts (no killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, or intoxicants), and monastic life.

Side by side

BuddhismChristianity
GodNo Creator God at the center; the ultimate is the Buddha's teaching (Dharma) and nirvana.One God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: the eternal, holy, loving Creator.
JesusA wise or enlightened teacher, sometimes compared to a bodhisattva.God the Son, who became fully human, died for our sins, rose bodily from the dead, and is Lord and the only Savior.
The problemSuffering, caused by craving and ignorance.Sin, our rebellion against a holy God, separates us from him and corrupts everything.
The answerThe Eightfold Path, mostly by one's own effort, ending craving and reaching nirvana (Pure Land stresses grace).Grace: forgiveness and new life as a free gift, received by faith in Jesus's death and resurrection, not earned.
ScriptureThe Pali Canon and the Mahayana sutras.The Old and New Testaments (66 books), the inspired Word of God.
After deathRebirth according to karma, until nirvana.Judgment, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life with God for all who are in Christ, in a new heaven and new earth.

Common ground

  • Compassion, honesty, and self-control
  • Taking suffering seriously
  • Warnings about selfish desire and greed
  • Practices of quiet, reflection, and simplicity

Talking with a friend

  • Ask about their practice; many Westerners meditate without following the whole Buddhist system.
  • Talk honestly about suffering, and where hope can be found.
  • Pure Land Buddhism's trust in grace can open a conversation about God's grace in Christ.
  • Jesus's invitation, 'Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,' speaks to the longing for rest.

Key differences

Christianity begins with a personal God who created us in his image and loves us (Genesis 1:26–27), rather than with an impersonal law of cause and effect.

The Bible does not treat the self as an illusion to be dissolved, but as a person to be made new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Buddhism answers suffering by ending desire. Christianity answers it with a God who entered our suffering, died for us, and promises to wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:3–5).

Christians receive salvation as a gift of grace, not by their own effort, and hope for resurrection, not rebirth.

Read in the Bible

Sources