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Most scholars believe there is no historical evidence of any influence by Buddhism on Christianity, [verification needed] Leslie Houlden states that although modern parallels between the teachings of Jesus and Buddha have been drawn, these comparisons emerged after missionary contacts in the 19th century and there is no historically reliable evidence of contacts between Buddhism and Jesus. [28]
The idea of a Greek influence on the development of Buddhism has been particularly advocated by Étienne Lamotte [62] and Thomas McEvilley, who has speculated that “like the Gandharan art style, the Gandharan Buddhist style must have had a prominent Hellenic factor”, [63] although he does not employ the term "Greco-Buddhism" for this ...
[11] [38] Buddhist scholar Masao Abe pointed out that while "the event of the Cross" is central to Christianity, it is not possible for Buddhism to accept its importance. [38] Buddhist philosopher D. T. Suzuki stated that every time he saw a crucifixion scene it reminded him of the "gap that lies deep" between Christianity and Buddhism. [39]
It was not until the fusion of Platonic and Aristotelian theology with Christianity that the concepts of strict omnipotence, omniscience, or benevolence became commonplace. The Platonic Theory of Forms had an enormous influence on Hellenic Christian views of God. In those philosophies, Forms were the ideals of every object in the physical world ...
A statue of Siddartha Gautama preaching. Since the arrival of Christian missionaries in India in the 1st century (traces of Christians in Kerala from 1st-century Saint Thomas Christians), followed by the arrival of Buddhism in Western Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries, similarities have been perceived between the practices of Buddhism and Christianity.
The widespread attempts to reconcile Hellenistic cultural outlets with Christianity were however often questioned and repelled in an outwardly devoutly Christian-dominated culture. The case of Byzantine monk and Hellenistic revivalist Michael Psellos raised serious questions concerning his religious beliefs and the suggestion of their ...
These influences were inherited by Zen Buddhism when Chan Buddhism arrived in Japan and adapted as Zen Buddhism. Despite being too far from each other to have had any influence, some have historically noted similarities between traditional Chinese religious beliefs and Christianity.
In the 19th century, some scholars began to perceive similarities between Buddhist and Christian practices. For example, in 1878, T.W. Rhys Davids wrote that the earliest missionaries to Tibet observed that similarities have been seen in Christianity and Buddhism since the first known contact was made between adherents of the two religions. [5]