Posted on 11/11/2012 12:59:52 PM PST by NYer
Catholic ping!
Buddhism is nothing like Christianity - it is cultural. Christianity is a personal relationship.
Religion is man’s attempt to reach God. Christianity is a personal relationship with God. So, in a way, one can say that all religions are more or less equal. Christianity is a whole new ball game!
That’s simply not true. Even a cursory glance of Zen Buddhism, the 4 noble truths and the noble eightfold path noble will tell you that.
Though I will admit that there is corrupt Buddhism. Any Buddhist that worships the Buddha or say an individual such as the Dali Lama, simply doesn’t get it.
“If you meet the Buddha on the road, Kill him”.
Is a simple message that means if you adhere to the Buddha as an icon, you won’t attain enlightenment.
>>That’s simply not true. Even a cursory glance of Zen Buddhism, the 4 noble truths and the noble eightfold path noble will tell you that.
Even with Zen Buddhism there is no relationship with God and no salvation. Zazen might bring you closer to “enlightenment,” but in that case what is “enlightenment” without God? Furthermore, much of Zazen is reflection on humanity, and not humanities relation to God.
I think that Zazen too is probably the least corrupt of Buddhist sects - Sokka Gakkai being the worst - but it doesn’t hold a candle to Christ and his sacrifice. Even my wife converted from Buddhism to Christianity because there is, as she said, “nothing really spiritual about it.”
Sure, there are differences ~ for funerals they may be bridged over ~ although some specific traditions can be quite different.
**By Catholic standards, the religions of the world can be ranked by how much truth they teach.
Catholicism is first, with Orthodoxy equal except for the one issue of papal authority.**
ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, APOSTOLIC
Christianity is a literal and competitive religion. It has strict methods, competes for others to participate, and relegates those that do not — that is the corruption of man. It is Christ, his parables, his life and his death we are to contemplate on, not worship the church. I often contemplate the life of Christ as one on the noble eightfold path.
Buddhism doesn’t compete, isn’t literal and doesn’t relegate, but it too gets corrupted by man in that there is too much focus on the Buddha and the Monks. When the focus is supposed to be on the individual and the noble eightfold path. To live in a corrupted world without ourselves being corrupted.
Salvation and Enlightenment are the same to me. Salvation deals with the here and now and this life. Enlightenment deals with complete cycle of lives we live and the final transcendence of our entire being to God’s end.
The only conflict is the corruption of one vs the corruption of the other.
Kreeft. Thought so. Excellent article.
On #4
If all roads lead to Heaven, then we must have a sadistic God who allowed his only begotten Son to be born in a stable, condemned to death, flogged, and crucified as just yet another additional path to eternal salvation. But since the Son and the Father with the Holy Spirit are one and the same God, surely the Life of Christ as taught by one Church does not comport with this “sadistic” assumption. It was a suffering freely endured for the salvation of all humanity with belief in one God and his One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic faith. Everything else is heresy.
On #4
If all roads lead to Heaven, then we must have a sadistic God who allowed his only begotten Son to be born in a stable, condemned to death, flogged, and crucified as just yet another additional path to eternal salvation. But since the Son and the Father with the Holy Spirit are one and the same God, surely the Life of Christ as taught by one Church does not comport with this “sadistic” assumption. It was a suffering freely endured for the salvation of all humanity with belief in one God and his One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic faith. Everything else is heresy.
Reason dictates that if any one of these men actually came from God, the least thing that God could do to support His claim would be to pre-announce His coming. Automobile manufacturers tell their customers when to expect a new model. If God sent anyone from Himself, or if He came Himself with a vitally important message for all men, it would seem reasonable that He would first let men know when His messenger was coming, where He would be born, where He would live, the doctrine He would teach, the enemies He would make, the program He would adopt for the future, and the manner of His death. By the extent to which the messenger conformed with these announcements, one could judge the validity of his claims.
Reason further assures us that if God did not do this, then there would be nothing to prevent any impostor from appearing in history and saying, "I come from God," or "An angel appeared to me in the desert and game me this message." In such cases there would be no objective, historical way of testing the messenger. We would have only his word for it, and of course he could be wrong.
If a visitor came from a foreign country to Washington and said he was a diplomat, the government would ask him for his passport and other documents testifying that he represented a certain government. His papers would have to antedate his coming. If such proofs of identity are asked from delegates of other countries, reason certainly ought to do so with messengers who claim to have come from God. To each claimant reason says, "What record was there before you were born that you were coming?"
With this test one can evaluate the claimants. Socrates had no one to foretell his birth. Buddha had no one to pre-announce him and his message or tell the day when he would sit under the tree. Confucius did not have the name of his mother and his birthplace recorded, nor were they given to men centuries before he arrived so that when he did come, men would know he was a messenger from God. But, with Christ, it was different. Because of the OT prophecies, His coming was not unexpected. There were no predictions about Buddha, Confucius, Lao-tze, Mohammed , or anyone else; but there were predictions about Christ. Others just came and said, "Here I am, believe me". Christ alone stepped out of that line saying, "Search the writings of the Jewish people and the related history of the Babylonians, Persians, and Romans." Even the pagan, Tacitus, speaking for the ancient Romans, says, "People were generally persuaded in the faith of the ancient prophecies, that the East was to prevail, and that from Judea was to come the Master and Ruler of the world." China had the same expectations, as did the Greeks.
The story of every human life begins with birth and ends with death. In the Person of Christ, however, it was His death that was first and His life that was last. It was not so much that His birth cast a shadow on His life and thus led to His death; it was rather that the Cross was first, and cast its shadow back to His birth. His has been the only life in the world that was ever lived backward.
As the flower in the wall tells the poet of nature, and as the atom in the miniature of the solar system, so too, Christ's birth tells the mystery of the cross. He went from the known to the known, from the reason of His coming manifested by His name "Jesus" or "Savior" to the fulfillment of His coming, namely, His death on the cross.
Bishop Fulton Sheen
No. Father Feeny was excommunicated by the Catholic Church for teaching that “outside the Church, no salvation” meant outside the visible Church. God does not punish pagans unjustly. He does not punish them for not believing in a Jesus they never heard of, through no fault of their own (invincible ignorance)."
May check with John Paul (in his paperback interview). Of course the RCC teaches all outside are lost. And the rest of this comment is pure gibberish, sliding down the slippery slope of a "rewards religion"...which is just like all other religions. Read Rom. 9. God decided to hate Esau and love Jacob, before they were born, before they had done anything good or evil, so that the choice could His. Now, there is the Gospel. Rome has it wrong, again.
>>One of life’s easier tasks is writing up an appropriate funeral service where there are Buddhists and Christians together. You can start with either side of the aisle in fact.
True, but the hard part about Buddhism are the memorial services.
The doctrine that "Outside the Church there is no salvation" is one that is constantly misinterpreted by those who won't submit to the Magisterium of the Church. Read more
>>Christianity is a literal and competitive religion. It has strict methods, competes for others to participate, and relegates those that do not — that is the corruption of man. It is Christ, his parables, his life and his death we are to contemplate on, not worship the church. I often contemplate the life of Christ as one on the noble eightfold path.
Not true at all. Christianity is a life long devotion, the same as zazen monks. Christianity, in fact, tells us to dwell upon Christ in every way, but the church is his bride. I am Protestant so perhaps I’m a bit different in my beliefs. Church starts with reading the Bible and devoting oneself to Christ.
>>Salvation and Enlightenment are the same to me. Salvation deals with the here and now and this life. Enlightenment deals with complete cycle of lives we live and the final transcendence of our entire being to God’s end.
And therein lies our difference: Hebrews 9:27, 28 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
And every little group has a different cycle ~ cross sect marriages are undoubtedly hard on the family calendar.
>>And every little group has a different cycle ~ cross sect marriages are undoubtedly hard on the family calendar.
You know it. After 5 years living in Japan and marrying into a family of Buddhist statue carvers, I’ve seen it all. The worst though are Soka Gakkai - those people are relentless and creepier than even PL or Tenri.
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