Incomplete Bible? (Buddhism and Christianity etc)

Tellyontellyon

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I came across a documentary from the BBC about Jesus being a Buddhist monk...


Is it possible that these stories, or other important stories are left out of the Bible...?

I think at the end of John's gospel he talks about there being many many stories about Jesus that were not included in the Bible.. so is the Bible itself telling us that it is not complete..?

It might solve a lot of disputes in Christianity if it were true that the Bible is not complete....
... (even if you don't go do far as to think he was a Buddhist too)
 
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Tolworth John

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might solve a lot of disputes in Christianity if it were true that the Bible is not complete...

Have you ever thought why a people group who are unique in that they believe in only one God, should produce a belief in a trinity?

Historically the Jews have borrowed from he nations around them and worshipped them. There is no evidence of Buddhism being known in Israel, so Jesus was not a Buddhism monk because it was unknown and because unlike Buddha Jesus claimed to be God.
 
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com7fy8

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From what I have heard about Buddhism, no. There are a few things like compassion that one could say is like what Jesus says.

But you can look in the New Testament and see how much this is a match with Buddhism.

How about ? >

"for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

Christianity includes God being so personal that in us He is working our willing and doing for whatsoever He really desires to share with us.

I have not heard anything about Buddhism being so personal with God and dependent on God being the One alone able to get us to do what He desires.

Even a number of Bible claiming people do not consider God to be the One who in us personally gets us to will and do what He wants. Ones think it's up to them to get themselves to choose and do what they can understand that God wants.

So > @Tellyontellyon > maybe we can talk about specifics - - one at a time, even . . . about something you understand is Buddhist, and we can compare this with Jesus and Christianity and the Bible.

What is the main item that you consider to be Buddhist, and you find this to be what Jesus is about?
 
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angelsaroundme

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Buddhism might be the most misrepresented of all religions. It's packaging in a secular form is misleading. Here are some quotes regarding Buddhist doctrines. I am not a Buddhist but I feel that we should have a clearer picture of Buddhism to understand it and the cultures influenced by it.

"Buddhism is famous in the West as an 'atheistic religion,' in the sense that, unlike the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, it does not recognize a single creator deity. However, one should not assume from this that Buddhism has no gods. It has not one, but many."

"In his penultimate lifetime, the Buddha-to-be was a god, abiding, where all future buddhas abide, in the Tushita heaven."

"The most powerful of the gods, Brahma, descended from his heaven to implore the Buddha to teach, arguing that although many might not be able to understand, there were some with 'little dust in their eyes' who would. This is an important moment because it makes clear that the Buddha knew something that the gods did not, and that the gods had been waiting for a new buddha to appear in the world to teach them the path to freedom from rebirth, even from rebirth in heaven. For this reason, one of the epithets of the Buddha is devatideva—'god above the gods.'"

"Did he create the universe? No. Is he omniscient? Yes. Is he omnipotent? It depends on what you mean. Is he eternal? Sort of. Is he God? You decide." - Was Buddha God or Human?
 
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Dave G.

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Jesus Christ is exactly who the bible says He is and was in the earthly sense God ( God in the second person) made manifest on earth. In the spiritual sense He always was, is and always will be. The Father ( God in the first person) gave Him all authority over creation and the means to eternal salvation. Before He/Jesus left He said of those who will believe in Him that He sends another, that other is the Holy Spirit ( Got in the third person) who comes when we believe and indwells us, He seals us unto the day of redemption. We are secure, a transaction was made in heaven legally turning us from following the spirit of darkness to that of light. Ownership was changed, prior to which Satan had legal claim on us.

What's written in scripture is what God decided we needed to know to come to this understanding and to learn of the position we were in,changed to that which we are now in. No other god defeated the grave or lives today. God knows vastly more than we could ever handle or to put in a book but we have what we need to navigate this life through the book and teaching left to us, if we believe.
 
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Basil the Great

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Some have claimed that Christianity was influenced by Zoroastrianism, especially in regards to the importance placed upon the Devil, something not really found in Judaism. Some have wondered if perhaps Jesus traveled to the East during the years not covered by the Bible. Such is possible. However, there seems to be not much of a connection between Jesus' teachings and that of Buddha. Yes, they both preached about loving others. However, Jesus talked very much about God and Buddha did not. Hence, while the original poster's question is an interesting one, I would say that such a connection is most unlikely.
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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...Jesus claimed to be God.
I don't think he ever did. He spoke of being "one with the Father" and prayed that we all would share that unity. Belief in his divinity was early church.
 
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St_Worm2

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Hello @Tellyontellyon, the Dalai Lama was part of an ecumenical gathering of world religions a few years back. The main point of the conference was to find common ground between the various faiths (which I believe to be laudable endeavor, to a point anyway).

The problem for the Dalai Lama at this particular conference (who, from the get-go, was making it sound like the differences between Buddhism and Christianity are FAR less extensive and profound than their similarities are) was a pesky Christian reporter who kept following him and pressing him with questions concerning the foundational teachings of both religions, to the point that he (the Dalai Lama) was reluctantly forced to admit that Buddhism and Christianity are NOT harmonizable.

--David
 
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St_Worm2

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I don't think he ever did. He spoke of being "one with the Father" and prayed that we all would share that unity. Belief in his divinity was early church.
Hello Akita, I'm curious, if the Bible is not the basis for the early church's belief in the triune Godhead and the Deity of Christ, then what is?

Thanks!

--David
 
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Tellyontellyon

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Hello Akita, I'm curious, if the Bible is not the basis for the early church's belief in the triune Godhead and the Deity of Christ, then what is?
I'm guessing that the early church existed for quite some time before the scriptures that make up the current Bible were written and selected from all the various scriptures that were circulating during those first centuries... I also suspect that there was more than one 'early church', or that those who were following 'the way' had a range of views over which there was some dispute.. well, until Constantine was able to put his Imperial stamp on things.
 
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St_Worm2

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Hello again @Tellyontellyon, all of the Books and Epistles of the New Testament were written before the end of the 1st Century. There were various churches in various towns, of course, but along with the Old Testament, they all shared the New Testament Gospels/Letters as soon as they were written (some of it, the NT, being written just 15 years or so after the Lord's crucifixion).

So, while there were many local churches in the various towns, the Apostles, who established and watched over those churches and their theology, made sure that each church knew, understood and taught the same fundamental beliefs about the Christian faith (making corrections whenever it became necessary to do so). Many of the Epistles were originally written to a specific group of people (Hebrews and James come quickly to mind) or a specific church, to address, at least in part, these needed corrections (like the Apostle Paul's letters to the church at Corinth, to the church at Rome, to the churches at Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica, etc.).

--David
 
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HTacianas

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I came across a documentary from the BBC about Jesus being a Buddhist monk...


Is it possible that these stories, or other important stories are left out of the Bible...?

I think at the end of John's gospel he talks about there being many many stories about Jesus that were not included in the Bible.. so is the Bible itself telling us that it is not complete..?

It might solve a lot of disputes in Christianity if it were true that the Bible is not complete....
... (even if you don't go do far as to think he was a Buddhist too)

Jesus was not a Buddhist monk. Jesus was a Jewish rabbi, in all likelihood from the sect of the Essenes. That many stories of his life were not included on the gospels simply means that the writer chose not to include some of them for the sake of brevity, and not that Jesus was of some entirely different religion.
 
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Tolworth John

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I don't think he ever did. He spoke of being "one with the Father" and prayed that we all would share that unity. Belief in his divinity was early church.

By his actions in forgiving sins, accepting titles like good teacher and in identifying with God, using the ' I Am ' finally confirming at his trial that he was the Messiah he showed that he claimed and was God.
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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Hello Akita, I'm curious, if the Bible is not the basis for the early church's belief in the triune Godhead and the Deity of Christ, then what is?

Thanks!

--David
The Holy Spirit guiding their reflections on the meaning of his life, teachings, death and resurrection.
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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By his actions in forgiving sins, accepting titles like good teacher and in identifying with God, using the ' I Am ' finally confirming at his trial that he was the Messiah he showed that he claimed and was God.
That is all interpretation, not explicit statement.
 
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com7fy8

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I think at the end of John's gospel he talks about there being many many stories about Jesus that were not included in the Bible.. so is the Bible itself telling us that it is not complete..?
Possibly, you are talking about John 21:25 > here is what John says >

"And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen." (John 21:25)

This does not say there are many other "stories told", but many other
"things that Jesus did".

Jesus specialized in reaching the Jews who were in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel and around there . . . I understand.

[FONT=system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Noto Sans, sans-serif, Arial]Now, if Buddha was born about 500 years before Jesus and if Jesus had been Buddhist, Jesus would have known about Buddha and would have said Buddha was who Buddhists say he is. But Jesus says >
[/FONT]
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (in John 14:6)

He does not acknowledge Buddha as part of the way, or the way.

[FONT=system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Noto Sans, sans-serif, Arial]
Again, how about if you present one or more of your major ways and beliefs, so we can compare them with Christianity.

Of course, you may have a Buddhist way of relating, in which you do not answer to questions, especially if you find you are being attacked. Well, this is not how Jesus did things, or our Apostle Paul > Jesus did answer to people and He does stand up for Himself and things He has presented and did; plus so does Paul.

[/FONT]

 
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Akita Suggagaki

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I think he was more of a stoic think a Buddhist. The thing is, Jesus was brilliant, creative and holy. He was fully capable of synthesizing a new way of being and thinking from earlier philosophies even as he drew upon his unique relationship with the Father and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When I think of Buddhism I think of living in the present moment and being mindful of it with compassion. Nothing antithetical to Christ in that.
 
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Lukaris

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As Christians we cannot accept alternative versions of who Jesus Christ is outside of what is professed in the Nicene Creed according to what is revealed by God in the Bible. We can study the virtues that exist within other beliefs like Buddhism ( like the 4 noble truths) in line with the Lord’s commandments (Matthew 22:36-40, Luke 6:31-37 etc.). We can filter out what is sound to our faith ( Philippians 4:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:21) & pray for those who the Lord will call to Him, but we do not know ( Romans 2, John 3:16-21, John 5:22-30 etc.).
 
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com7fy8

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When I think of Buddhism I think of living in the present moment and being mindful of it with compassion. Nothing antithetical to Christ in that.
Thank you for giving a specific about how you understand Buddhism.

Yes, we need to live in the present, including how Jesus says not to worry about tomorrow.

And Jesus is about compassion, versus how Pharisees were so about their conceit.

But I think we could have an issue-discussion about how to get "here".

Does living in our compassionate present moment depend on ourselves understanding how to get here and getting ourselves here? Or, do we do well to fully depend on God in us to produce this?

In Christian groups there is variation about how much God wants us to do things ourselves, versus totally depending on Him. So, in case ones believe in a more of a do-it-yourself approach . . . and in case there is Buddhism which invites you to get yourself changed . . . such ones could have something in common. Certain Christianity claiming people could indeed have this in common with Buddhists who are into self-effort, and not even know this.

But I personally find how the Bible has verses which indicate that our success is not self-produced. God works in us > Philippians 2:13; our Apostle Paul labored according to how God in Him was working him to minister > Colossians 1:28-29; and Paul says God's word worked in the Thessalonians >

"For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

And God and His word accomplish so much better than our trying can . . . right? :)

So, whether we are comparing Christianity with Buddhism or with ones claiming to be Christians . . . I think this is a major distinction to be aware of > if we are personally submitting to God and how He is able, and His word is able, in us, or are we self-producing, self-dependent?
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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So, whether we are comparing Christianity with Buddhism or with ones claiming to be Christians . . . I think this is a major distinction to be aware of > if we are personally submitting to God and how He is able, and His word is able, in us, or are we self-producing, self-dependent?
Yes, I think that is a key distinction. And while some Buddhists might pray to the Buddha to help them or work in them, the heart of the Buddha's teaching was do it yourself albeit with the sangha, community.
 
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