Buddha and Jesus: A Comparison

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"...nothing now remains for the honest man to do but acknowledge the truth, which is that the history of Jesus of Nazareth[,] as related in the books of the New Testament, is simply a copy of that of Buddha, with a mixture of mythology borrowed from other nations."

~T. W. Doane, (Warren)

Is it true? Could it be that the founder of the world's largest religion, a major prophet of another major religion, and self-proclaimed Son of God is nothing more than a Jewified compendium of stories about a man from India? Why would anyone think so? This paper is an attempt to point out the similarities and differences of the two religions, which are at first glance but mirror reflections of each other, set in different societies. The stories and examples here are those of the mainstream religious groups, not those of scrolls buried in the desert or those of ignorance on the internet, but those that are accepted by the millions of followers who have entrusted their soul to these philosophers for guidance.

Both the Perfect One and the Nazarene began their journey to greatness before their birth. The birth of Jesus was revealed to his mother, Mary, by the angel Gabriel, who prophesized, "The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:32-33). Similarly, Queen Maya, the mother of the Buddha, had a vision in which she was carried by the gods to a sacred place and Buddha entered her womb. This same vision showed that "Good omens were made manifest: the blind received their sight, as if from a yearning to behold the glory of the Great Being; the deaf heard the sound; the dumb uttered...