Buddhist vs Christian Views on Creation and the Origin of Life - Report Example

Buddhist vs Christian views on creation and the origin of life One thing that is common to Buddhist and Christian views isthe belief regarding the creation and the origin of life. These two religions do not eliminate the idea concerning the beginning and the proliferation of life in the universe. It is the man’s nature to know and understand his existence. For this reason, it is a point of interest to understand the essential principles and beliefs of each of these religions regarding on how everything, particularly the creation and the origin of life started in the universe. Like any other religion, Buddhism adheres to a certain belief or principle concerning the creation and the origin of life. This religion believes that life is an essential component of the human existence today and forever. However, Buddhist’s view on this aspect can be something that covers a fundamental component of what it takes to be engaged in a complex understanding of the beginning and the end, and the understanding of cause and effect, which substantially are two elements that flow in an endless loop. There is a ceaseless cycle of cause and effect according to the principle of Buddhism, which means that one cannot eventually pinpoint the absolute cause of something (Subramaniam 92). For Buddhists, the process of the creation of life is cyclic and continuous. Thus, this leads them to think of the thought that the inception of Phenomena should remain undiscoverable and the beginning of the human life that is hindered by ignorance and ignited by craving must remain unfounded. In other words, Buddhism is not clear about when was the exact beginning or creation of things, because such idea must remain a mystery and something that the human mind cannot substantially fathom or understand. According to the belief of the firm believer of Buddha, matter is indestructible, because a universe gives rise to the other through the constant renewal of residual energy (Wu 65). In other words, Buddhists believe the concept of eternity. This eternity is something of a complex matter that for them no one can understand or fathom by using the human minds. For this reason, Buddhists have conservative approach of knowing things in such a way that everything as part of the creation, at some point, there must something mysterious in it that not an ordinary mind can unravel. There is a great mystery in the human life and all the other life forms in this planet and the entire universe that Buddhists believe evolve in a constant loop. There is a cycle of death and rebirth going on, as constant renewal of residual energy continues to take place. For this reason, Buddhists view about the creation of life in the universe is something that is partly adhering to the scientific knowledge when it comes to understanding the things in this world or the entire universe. However, it is not only the Buddhists who have something to say about the creation or the origin of life. Christians have also other fundamental beliefs concerning the origin of life. Everything that the Christian views accept about life is written in the Scripture or the Holy Bible. The Bible started: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. This passage indicates that it was God who created everything, the heavens or the universe and the earth, which must encompass everything. Based on a Christian standpoint, God is the Alpha and the Omega, which means that it is only God who knows everything about the beginning and the end, as he himself is the beginning and the end. In the book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible, it is elaborately discussed how many days God created everything in the universe. It all started with the creation of the universe prior to the creation of the first man, whom God created in the last days of his work prior to taking a rest. It took six days for God to finish everything in the universe including all forms of life and heavenly bodies. The Christian view of the origin of life is therefore something that is not based on the cause and effect, but something that included the beginning. Life did not start as an accident, but somebody had made the design, making everything to come to order and life today. Everything happened for a reason and as planned. From the Christian standpoint, God created everything for a purpose and reason (Ford 13). Christians do not believe that something happens because of a mere chance and a significant accident in the galactic set up of the universe. What is visibly observed at present is something that has been planned and intelligently created. Christians believe that God created man in his own image and likeness as also stated in the Scripture. Although for Christians God is a Spirit, the very breath of life that is in the man is the very spirit that comes from God. Christians also believe that humans have souls and this makes them higher above the other creations of God. Christians believe that other life forms are not capable of experiencing the kind of emotion that humans have. For this reason, Christians do not believe that other animals and life forms have souls. They do not believe the idea concerning reincarnation, because above any other creation, it was only man who had been created by God in his own image and likeness. In fact, based on the Scripture it was only through God’s words that everything was created except for the man to whom God was able to use his hands and breathe through the man so that he may possess life. In other words, of all the creations of God, it was the first man who was special of all. This is also the reason why, as based on the book of Genesis, God commanded man to rule over his other creations, because he designed man to be above the other creations for this purpose. God wants to multiply the godly people to take dominion on earth. Thus, this implies that God is doing everything as planned and with purpose. It is clear that one thing that is of great similarity between the beliefs of Buddhists and Christians about the origin of life is the mere acceptance of the existence of life. This reveals the fundamental principle that humans have relevant awareness of the things that surround them. They use their reasons in order to find significant explanations pertaining to ideas or concepts that in reality remain a great mystery and that require a great deal of energy to unravel the truth. For this reason, it is important to consider that from either of the Buddhist or Christian perspective, there is a purpose and reason concerning the origin of life. Life is not just a mere coincidence or chance, but the two parties believe that life is something that has certain beginning and end, but for Buddhists, the end is just as good as the beginning. This is because the end for them is a vital component of a new beginning. For Christians, there is a similar concept to this, as they also believe in the existence of eternity. However, one will have to choose between eternal joy and eternal sadness by choosing to live the kind of life that is pleasing or not before the eyes of the Creator. Another important similarity between Buddhism and Christianism in their views about the origin of life is the concept of mystery, something that remains a significant question within the human mind, something that the logic cannot exactly reveal. In other words, mystery is something that the human mind cannot exactly fathom. For this reason, the two point of views discussed in the work at hand can be totally recognized in their views when it has to be based on how far they understand about the origin of life. For these two religions, it seems that they both agreed that life is a mystery and will always remain as such until eternity. However, there are also obvious differences between the point of view of the Buddhism and Christianism. One clear proof of difference in their views is the belief in the Christian perspective about the existence of Creator who created everything in the universe. Buddhists do not agree to this point of view, because for them, life is a product of a natural process that goes in a cycle from time to time. This cycle according to them will never stop, because it creates the balance between the beginning and the end. For Buddhists, the end is as good as the beginning, because it leads to another start that will ensure the continuance of the entire process of creation. Therefore, the creation of life from the perspective of Buddhism is a continuing natural process, but for Christians, everything was made within a certain period of time from the beginning by God. Therefore, this leads to another important concept that leads to a remarkable difference between the two religions’ point of view about the origin of life, time. The idea of time is the other important difference between the concept of creation that Buddhists and Christians believe as the truth. For Buddhists, creation is a natural continuing process and it happens every now and then. However, this is not how the Christians look at the origin of life. Life was created once and for all from the beginning. This means that as time goes by, life should also come to its end. Therefore, Christians believe the idea of the beginning and the end, and these are two elemental components of time from their point of views. In addition, another remarkable difference on the creation of life is the thought concerning the purpose of life. This concept is not quite clear in the case of the point of view of Buddhism. This is due to the point that Buddhists believe that as long as everything remains a mystery, then it is implied that the entire purpose must also remain a mystery. However, Christians believe that for as long as everything does not happen by chance, the Creator must have been designated a significant purpose of the creation and origin of life. In a nutshell, the work at hand just presented the important points revealing the beliefs and principles of Buddhism and Christianism relevant to the creation and origin of life. Furthermore, a clear understanding of the basic similarity and difference between their views are also taken into account. As found out, there remains a very important thought to consider more remarkable investigations for these two religions. Works Cited Ford, James. Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009. Print. Subramaniam, Arundhathi. The Book of Buddha. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2010. Print. Wu, Rujun. T’ien-t’ai Buddhism and Early M dhyamika. Honolulu:University of Hawaii Press, 1993. Print. Read More