part0005

Section Two of Buddhism’s Relation to Christianity discusses several sculptures of scenes from Buddha’s life that either predate the “Christian” era or come from centuries before any proven Christian influence. When discussing what is “pre-Christian,” it should be kept in mind that the “Christian” era did not suddenly begin with the alleged birth of Christ, at which point everyone in the world knew all about him and his doctrines.

In other words, what is the “Christian” era in a particular place depends on when Christianity is first spread in that area. For example, although much of Europe was Christianized in the first millennium of the religion’s existence, the nation of Lithuania staved off the faith until the 14th century; hence, the Christian era in Lithuania did not begin until that time. The same may be said of uncontacted aboriginal tribes in the Amazon and elsewhere: They remain in the pre-Christian era. Thus, a Buddhist artifact or scripture may date to several centuries into the common era and still be “pre-Christian” and completely uninfluenced by Christianity.

Furthermore, in many instances where the Buddhist artifact or tradition dates to a post-Christian period, the motif can be found in other religious and mythological traditions preceding the common era, often by centuries or millennia. Hence, the presence of these shared motifs within Buddhism could be attributable to those pre-Christian precedents, not necessarily to Christianity.

Various stories about “the Buddha” date to at least the sixth century BCE , and the sculptures provided by Lockwood represent scenes from his alleged life that are often based on texts dating to early Christian or pre-Christian times. Hence, it is impossible or unlikely for these Buddhist stories to have been copied from Christianity.

For example, the relief from Borobudur of the “Bodhisattva’s first day of school” (Lockwood, 33) dates from the eighth century AD/CE ; yet, the text in which this story appears, the Lalitavistara Sutra , dates to the third century AD/CE at the latest.

So-called Christian motifs found in Buddhist sculpture include Buddha’s miraculous conception and birth, through the side of Queen Maia, whom St. Jerome (Adv. Jov . 1.42) explicitly styled a “virgin”:

To come to the Gymnosophists of India, the opinion is authoritatively handed down that Budda, the founder of their religion, had his birth through the side of a virgin. 1

The debate as to whether or not Buddha’s mother was perceived by Buddhists as a “virgin” rages on, but Jerome’s contention—which implies the doctrine’s antiquity—would not be surprising, in consideration of the fact that the virgin-mother motif predates Christianity by millennia, as found in Egypt and in India, appearing several times in the Mahabharata, for example. 2

There exist also images of Buddha surrounded by 12 or so figures, comprising disciples and others. The general motif of the godman/supernatural savior preaching divine concepts to disciples is well represented in Buddhistic imagery, and some of these purported “biographical” details shared by the masters Buddha and Jesus appear to be archetypical templates, rather than actual episodes from the lives of “historical” personages.

It should be briefly noted that there are many instances in the Bible and ancient mythology of this mystical formula of “the Twelve” or the “12+1,” as the case may be. 3

Another notable episode in the life of Buddha illustrated abundantly in sculpture is that of the visit of the sage Asita to the baby Buddha, comparable to the visit of Simeon to the baby Jesus (Lk 2:25ff). (See Lockwood, 30-31)

Yet another “Christian” motif that appears within Buddhism is the temptation of the supernatural savior by the evil being. Discussing the temptation of Buddha by the “demon” Mara, Lockwood (37) remarks:

The Gospel of John makes no mention of the temptation of Jesus by the devil. In fact, this gospel rules this episode out as a possibility, as Jesus is said, in this account, to proceed immediately after his baptism, to enlisting five men as his first disciples, and then on to performing miracles and preaching. (The Buddha also had five disciples in the beginning of his preaching the Dharma.)

As we can see, not only are there important differences between the Christian gospels, indicating their fictional nature, but also the correspondences between Buddhism and Christianity are pronounced. In this instance, we read of two such parallel motifs: The temptation and the five initial disciples, both of which must have emanated from Buddhism to Christianity, in such a scenario of transference or “borrowing.”

Another motif well represented in Buddhist literature and artifacts such as a stone carving from Sanchi (1st cent. BCE ) depicts the godman or his disciple(s) walking on water (Lockwood, 40). Both Buddha and Jesus, along with chosen disciples, are portrayed as walking on water, but the Buddhist tale clearly predates the Christian one, by many decades if not centuries.

Obviously, we cannot accept scientifically these supernatural water-walking miracles as historical fact, and the motif’s inclusion in both the Buddhist and Christian narratives serves as a further indication of their fictional nature. Indeed, the miracle of walking on water may be found in other cultures as well, some of them clearly pre-Christian and often symbolizing solar entities or sun gods, as a reflection of the sun’s rays on the water.

In India, accounts of the paranormal ability of walking on water are as old as the ancient epic, Mahabharata —long before the time of the Buddha.

…To find this sort of most recondite handling of miraculous material at all in two separate bodies of religious literature should arouse suspicion, but to find it…attached to similar stories seems to me compelling testimony that the two stories are genetically connected. 4