Differences and Similarities between Christianity and Buddhism

2012222785 Yoojin Bae

If you are religious in Korea, you know how religions govern everything in
religious peoples life. Korean people are fairly religious and have different life styles
based their religious beliefs. There are two main religions in Korea. One is
Christianity (most Korean Christians are Protestant) and the other is Buddhism.
Have you ever heard about religious conflicts in Korea? Some Christian made
religious activities which cause offense to Buddhist such as worshiping and praying
which are in a Christian way in the famous temple. Some Buddhists are likewise
aggressive against Christian people. They oppose Christian politicians simply
because they have a different religion. Christianity and Buddhism in Korea look
completely different. Even though, as the case of the conflicts, it can be hard to
achieve peace between them. However, it is pretty easy to see their commonalities.
It is possible to make religious peace when people have balanced facts. There are
different points which are invisible or visible and similarities: a history, a religious
activity, and a financial system.
To begin with, both have their own ideas, which are invisible, on God, a view
of death, and a way to reach the goal which they pursue respectively. The thing
which makes two religions most different is an idea on God. Christian people believe
God is the only one, while Buddhist people think everyone can be a God after
reaching the state of nirvana. What is more, Christians believe that after death, there
is heaven and hell for spirits. In contrast, Buddhists are taught that all living beings
are trapped in the eternal reincarnation. Moreover, people who are Christian believe

Jesus is the path to salvation. On the other hand, people who are Buddhist think they
can enter nirvana when they keep aloof from the world. For these reasons,
Christians and Buddhists have different values for their life.
Next, the two religions have visible differences such as how they locate their
religious practices, style of religious buildings, and characteristics of their leader.
There is no constraint on location for church since church doesnt need to occupy
much room. People can find church easily everywhere in Korea. Otherwise,
Buddhism basically seeks unworldly mind. That is why most of temples are located
in deep in the mountains, which is far from the world. Besides, there is no specific
style of church building. People can find various kinds of church buildings from just
one floor in certain building to gorgeous tall building. Meanwhile, almost every
temple has similar style of architecture. The type of architecture is a traditional
oriental style. In addition, pastors can get married with someone whenever they want
and choose their dress as they like. Whereas Buddhist monks have to be celibate,
take the tonsure and dress monks habit. Because of these reasons two religions
look entirely different.
Lastly, unlike both religions some traits which look opposite to each other,
they also share plenty of common things as a history, a religious activity and a
financial backing. Christianity is from the west and Buddhism is from the east. The
first practitioners were persecuted in Korea. The fate of each religion was decided
depending on the governments decisions. Furthermore, people who believe in
Christianity or Buddhism in Korea pray together for important events for a long
period. For instance, the college scholastic ability test is a big event for Korean
people for which churches and temples arrange a special prayer time for about 30

days or 100 days. And then according to Korean law, politics must be separated from
religion. The government is unwilling to interfere in religions for this reason. Both
religions require offerings or an admission fees for famous temples because they do
not have enough funding from the government. As the result, there is a gap between
the rich churches or temples from poor ones. As a group they have a similar history.
To sum up, the world is a place where a large number of different people are
living. The role of the religion is to make peoples life more peaceful by teaching
them the spiritual world. They should realize their differences and accept what they
have in common. As this essay shows, Christianity and Buddhism are different in a
various way both visible and invisible. Above all, they are similar historically, in
religious life, and financial backing. We all have our own views of the world. When
both religions recognize that differences are just differences, which are not wrong,
they can practice the peace in common in both religions.