The Comparison of Christianity
Question Description: Compare the following 3 excerpts from world religions that were founded in the second half of our course: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. While modern Western Christianity has developed different beliefs and practices, what did this early Christian text have in common with the texts from Buddhist teachings and Islamic belief? Also, what were their greatest differences based on the short excerpts below? In a 1 ½ double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font, paper (using the 3 primary documents you have been given as cited below) explain how these religious texts relate to each other. You must have a thesis statement and footnote citations.
“The Buddha: Basic Teachings,” from: Buddha, the Word. Edited by Nyanatiloka. Electronically
Enhanced Text (C) Copyright 1991, World Library, Inc. http://web.archive.org/web/
“The Gospel of Thomas” excerpt, translated by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
The Holy Qur’an, excerpt from “The Holy Qur’an” translated by M.H. Shakir at CMU.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.
Answer preview
Looking at the differences, Christianity and Islam believe in one Supreme being, God, referred to as Allah by the Muslims. Hence, these two religions are monotheistic, but Buddhism rejects the belief of there being a Supreme God, thus polytheistic. This is evident in the Gospel of Thomas (Patterson & Meyer, Chapter 96), which talks of the Father’s kingdom, which is like a woman who took some yeast and put it in the dough to make loaves of bread. The kingdom of heaven has hidden treasures that only the wise can understand. Hence, this signifies that being close to the Supreme being, the heavenly Father in the kingdom enhances one’s wisdom and understanding of the kingdom’s value. Islam also acknowledges the existence of a Supreme God as stated in the Quran (Shakir, Index 35), which states that Allah is the Beneficent,
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The Comparison of Christianity
