Source: James Bishop

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Jesus is often compared with Buddha and exist parallels between their morality, but their teachings are vastly different. This article explores nine major differences between them and asserts Jesus’ Divinity.

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1. The purpose and meaning of their lives

The historicity of Buddha has never been an issue for Buddhism: “Buddhism’s doctrine is eternal and independent from Buddha’s historicity.

The historicity of Jesus is intrinsic to the Christianity. The apostle Paul emphasized it in his letter to the Corinthians. He states if Jesus was not raised from the dead then the Christian Faith is futile and useless, and we are still in sin (1 Corinthians 15:14–19).

The pinnacle of Christianity is Jesus’ atoning death on the cross for the salvation of mankind, and this of course means that Jesus had to be a historical figure that died on a cross and resurrected.

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2. Their historicity

Jesus’ historical sources far surpass Buddha’s, so we can sketch a reliable portrait of the historical Jesus because about 12 authors wrote about 27 books within 60 years of Jesus’ life. Our early apostolic church fathers knew Jesus and independently corroborated Jesus’ events in his life, whereas Buddha’s historical sources are far removed from his existence.

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3. Their self-concept

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Buddha insisted he was not divine, and his problem with life was suffering of people and even animals. He taught that in order to eliminate suffering from one’s life, people had to let go desire and live a life of moderation and personal control.

Jesus claimed to be equal with God, and his mission was to come and save his people by getting them to repent of their sins, and to turn to Him as the only means of salvation. A major aspect of His ministry was on the emphasis of evil. Jesus’ solution is to repent, love God and other humans, believe on Him as the Savior, and keep the Ten Commandments.

Jesus claimed to be the only path to God, but Buddha did not.

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4. Their concept of God

Buddha rejected the existence of God and deemed it irrelevant to suffering. Buddha made no claim to special inspiration or revelation from any divine source.

Jesus was a monotheist and accepted the Old Testament understanding and authoritative. He also claimed equal status with the one true God and convinced many people via His miracles and his authority via his teachings, and most noticeably in his resurrection from the dead.

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5. Their miracle working

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Jesus was known to be a miracle worker by followers, foes and people in surrounding villages.

Jesus went to his gory, bloody, and excruciating painful death by crucifixion because of His ministry. Jesus, with great historical certainty, really did perform wonders of healing and exorcisms. That is indisputable on historical grounds and is widely supported by modern scholarship.

Buddha once responded to a request for miracles by saying, “I dislike, reject and despise them,” and then refused to comply with the request.

Miracle accounts surrounding Buddha are late developments, hence probably unhistorical, whereas due to their earliness, abundance and multiple attestation the miracles of Jesus in the Gospel accounts surpass those ascribed to the Buddha.

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6. Their Answer to the Human Predicament

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Buddha taught to eliminate suffering by suppressing their desires. However, Jesus came into the world to bridge the chasm sin caused between God and man. Buddha taught a philosophy, and Jesus came as our savior and brought a philosophy.

According to Jesus the problem intrinsic to mankind is more significant than just the suppression of desires. For Jesus sin is at the center of the human predicament particularly because sin is the deliberate rejection of God’s righteous ways.

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7. Salvation vs Liberation

According to the pedagogics of early Buddhism we are responsible for attaining our liberation, such is antithetical to the view of Jesus. According to Jesus, we cannot save ourselves because of the divide that separates man from God.

According to Jesus we are helpless and hopeless without his atoning death on the cross by the grace of God. Jesus was an exclusivist throughout our gospel sources, and especially in his claim,  as alleged in John’s gospel, to be the only way to God (14:6), and equal with God (10:30). According to the Bible only in Jesus can we find salvation.

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8. A Matter of an Empty Tomb

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Buddha and Jesus died, Buddha was cremated, and Jesus was crucified. However, Jesus’ tomb was found empty, and this is affirmed by the majority of scholars. This is evidently well established within early Christianity and was a historical fact to Jesus’ closest disciples.

Jesus’ alleged resurrection sets him apart from Buddha and puts the Christian faith in a different category from Buddhism and other Eastern religions.

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9. The religion of Christianity is different from Buddhism in every way

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Jesus taught the single most important thing to do was to believe in Him.  To believe on Him is the ultimate will of God (John 6:29).  Jesus was the sacrifice for human sin (Mark 10:45) and only faith in Him can reconcile us to God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Jesus taught about a Kingdom of Heaven and a place of eternal torment called Hell where the wicked will be punished (Matthew 14:41-42).  Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons from people, and was resurrected from the dead.

He taught He had the authority to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6), we need to be born again in Him (John 3:3), we should be water baptized, and we will be rewarded in the afterlife according to our works for His Kingdom on judgment day (Matthew 16:27).

Jesus taught he was the way, the truth, and the life, and nobody will go unto the Father except through Him (John 14:6).  Salvation comes through Him alone and those who are not born again in Him and don’t repent of their unbelief and sinful nature will not inherit eternal life (John 3:18).

Jesus offers us a different solution to our problem of sin.  It was not to reflect more, overcome desire, or meditate but to believe on Him as the only means of reconciliation back to God.

Jesus’ ministry and resurrection make Him a Savior, Lord, and God, while Buddha was just a man with an opinion of the human condition.

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