Term Paper on "Buddhism and Christianity"

Term Paper 18 pages (7214 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Buddhism and Christianity

It is a fact that in the past twenty years or so, women historians have been entering the field of research and have found out the truth that women in Christianity have been placed in a role that is not really completely true. In other words, more and more women have been delving into the past to come up with new theories on the important role that women in ancient times have played in Christianity, and certain ancient chronicles and texts have been dug up to substantiate the fact uncovered by them. In essence, women historians have rediscovered certain facts like, for example, the truth that only a few women were recognized, women like Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene, the woman who had the misfortune of witnessing first hand the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and a few others like them. Today, it is now certain that women did play a more important role than they have been given credit for, and there have been women who have contributed a great deal to Christianity and even before. (Women in Ancient Christianity, the new Discoveries)

The general opinion of Christians is that if Christ had never been born, what would have happened to human civilization is that there would not have been any type of elevation of the common man, there would have been no type of 'mass education, there would have been no enlightenment or the uplifting of the lower classes, modern science would not have been able to develop as it has, hospitals would not have been built, there would have been no capitalism, there would have been no modern Universities of Education, the world would have been at a virtual standstill, with all sorts of bizarre and strange cultures dominating the world, and people at each other's throats all the time in the fight for supremacy. In fact, it is even said that because of the fact of the Birth of Jesus, the way in which the world generally measures time was also changed forever, and even today, the whole world counts time as 'Before Christ', and 'Anno Domini'. (Reviews: What if Jesus Had Never Been Born)

In those early days, that is, before the Birth of Christ, life was what is termed 'cheap'. Infanticide was rampant, and only half of all the children born were able to survive beyond the age of eight or more, and infanticide has been traced back to the days of the Canaanites before the Jewish conquest of the Promised Land had happened. With the advent of the 'Early Church', the phenomenon of 'abortion' disappeared, and so did infanticide, as well as abandonment, and the main reason for this may be the fact that there was a place for the children, and this was the church, and the cry was that the abandoned children be brought to the Church. This was what led to the founding of orphanages and Foundling Homes, and Jesus had effectively changed the very 'value of Human Life', according to the Book by Dr. D James Kennedy, and Jerry Newcombe, entitled 'What if Jesus had never been born?'

Furthermore, since it was widely believed that every single person in the world has been made 'in the image of God', it goes without saying that everybody in the world must be treated with respect, and this trend was exemplified by Jesus Christ, who did treat women with the greatest respect possible. It is a fact that people do tend to assume that women are being treated with respect and deference anywhere and everywhere they go, but it is a sad fact that women are nothing but the mere 'possessions' of men, in most parts of the world. For example, the Christian Missionaries who happened to visit India in ancient times, were quite shocked to find that in India, when a husband died, his wife would have to be burnt at his funeral pyre, whether she wanted it or not. Cannibalism was also another aspect of human civilization that saw betterment or an improvement, in that it was abolished with the advent of Christianity. (Reviews: What if Jesus Had Never Been Born)

Before Christianity, education was something that was only meant for the elite, and many of the numerous languages of the world were set to writing by Christian missionaries in a language that everyone in the world could understand to a certain extent, at least, and the Bible was written in a simple enough language, known as Cyrillic. St. Cyril developed this language in order to translate the Bible and the liturgy into the Slavic language. After this was achieved, Luther started the Reformation by writing the Bible in German, and others too followed suit. John Calvin, also known as the 'Father of Modern Education', believed that all children must be taught about God, and to revere Him, and to know Him, so that they would be able to glorify Him. This was why Theology was such an important subject and was in fact taught at all the various Universities of the time, 1200.

Another individual, the Pastor of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, states that there would not have been an 'America', if in fact Christ had not been born at all, and Robert Oppenheimer, the famous nuclear physicist who was responsible for the creation of the world's first atom bomb, stated that Christianity is the literal 'Mother of Science', and this is because of the fact that Christianity did indeed provide a sense of rationality and level-headedness to the Birth of Christ and the belief in a religion, in this case, Christianity. This sort of rationale is not seen elsewhere; for example, in Islam, the primary belief is that everything that happens in the course of life is predetermined, and fatalistically so, in Hinduism, the primary belief is that the only reality to believe and lay your trust in lies in the very soul of the individual, and according to the beliefs of Jews, the world is one reason more to Praise God. (Reviews: What if Jesus Had Never Been Born)

This is the role that the women of the ancient times, that is, during the days of the Old Testament, played. The Church would be able to critically appraise the role of women in connection with the later role of feminism that they played in later and in the Modern Era. As far as the role of women before the 'Fall' is concerned, two creation accounts, that is, the Genesis 1:1-2:3, and 2:4-2:5, represent God's real design for both men and for women, and for husbands and for wives. This very charter of humanity is in fact treated as the covenant of the human race, although some concessions are allowed because of the fact that the human heart is a hard one, according to Matthew 19:8. This particular idea of creation is at the background of the order of Redemption, which in turn is represented in the rest of the Scriptures. One example that demonstrates this fact is the story of the evolution of the Sabbath. It is said that, according to the Fourth Commandment, Exodus 20:8-11, the reason for individuals to refrain from working on that day is based on the assumption that this was the day that God ceased His own work, and this meant that humans could also cease to work on the Sabbath. In the same manner, the Seventh Commandment, Exodus 20:14, that condemns adultery, was actually founded on the institution of the marriage that took place in the Garden of Eden, according to Genesis 2:18-25. (the Role of Women in Worship in the Old Testament)

The Sixth Commandment, that of protecting life, Exodus 20:15, is because of the fact that all life has been created in the image of God, as seen in the Genesis 1:26-28; 5:1-3; 9:6. Therefore, it can be said that the Bible is in fact a story of Paradise that was lots in the First Adam, and then regained in the Second Adam. This also conveys the meaning that the Garden of Eden is symbolically representative of the ideal culture that had been forever and irretrievably lost, and also the fact that Moses restored in the old Israel by using the law that was revealed to him at Sinai, and that Christ restores in a much better and perfect manner in the new Israel because of the law that was written in His very heart. In addition, what must be remembered is that all the other historically conditioned texts in the rest of the Old Testament cannot be condemned as not being the usual and normal practices of the Church during that period; in fact, there are three reasons given for this. These are: God was responsible for ordaining the culture of Israel, and this is the culture, in which He became incarnate, and therefore, the godly roles that women played in those times were actually because of the designs… READ MORE

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