Rosie Ferrer and Helen Crowder

In this presentation we will look at:

• Propositional and non propositional revelation concerning:

• The Judaic-Christian scripture, i.e. the bible• Buddhist scriptures • different interpretations of religious groups• authenticating religious scripture• How both the bible and Buddhist scriptures

compare with one another and whether sacred texts need to originate from a divine source or not.

The Bible

The Bible• The Protestant Bible Contains 39 books in the

Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament (totalling 66)

• the Catholic Bible contains 73 books; the Eastern Orthodox Bible contains 78 books ,The Hebrew Bible (the name of the OT by Jews) contains only 24 books.

• It has about 40 different human authors.• The oldest book is: Job (written by Moses around

1400 B.C)• The youngest book is: Revelation (written by

John in about 90 A.D. 60 years after Jesus’ death)

• Originally written in Hebrew (though some in Greek and Aramaic esp the New Testament) but has been translated into many different languages so that it is accessible to all. (unlike the Qur’an that is kept in its original Arabic so that it can never be tampered with or changed.)

• “Testament” mean “covenant” or “contract”

History of the Bible and its canonization

• The Hebrew Bible was originally divided into 3 sections:• The Law (Torah) – first 5 books of the Christian Old Testament.• The Prophets (Nevi im) – Joshua to Job• The Writings (Ketuvim) – psalms, proverbs and other poetic books.

• The Christian Bible arranged these books differently when creating the Old Testament, though the content remains the same.

• “the canonization of the New Testament began in the 2d century, probably with a collection of ten letters of Paul. Toward the end of that century, IRENAEUS argued for the unique authority of the portion of the Canon called the Gospels. Acceptance of the other books came gradually. The church in Egypt used more than the present 27 books, and the (Syrian?) speaking churches fewer. The question of an official canon became urgent during the 4th century. It was mainly through the influence of ATHANASIUS, bishop of Alexandria, and because JEROME included the 27 books in his Latin version of the Bible called the Vulgate, that the present canon came to be accepted.”

What Is Canon?• The term “canon” is derived

from the Hebrew word qaneh which means a reed used as a measuring stick. A canon refers to the body of writings which have been officially “measured” according to a special standard, and recognized as authoritative, i.e., divinely inspired, by a church or a religious community. The canon serves as the constitution of the group, and provides the source for understanding its faith.

An explanation of the canonization of the Bible

• Compared to the New Testament, there was very little controversy over the canon of the Old Testament. Hebrew believers recognized God’s messengers, and accepted their writings as inspired of God. There was undeniably some debate in regards to the Old Testament canon. However, by A.D. 250 there was nearly universal agreement on the canon of Hebrew Scripture. The only issue that remained was the Apocrypha…with some debate and discussion continuing today. The vast majority of Hebrew scholars considered the Apocrypha to be good historical and religious documents, but not on the same level as the Hebrew Scriptures.

http://www.gotquestions.org/canon-Bible.html

• For the New Testament, the process of the recognition and collection began in the first centuries of the Christian church. Very early on, some of the New Testament books were being recognized. Paul considered Luke’s writings to be as authoritative as the Old Testament (1 Timothy 5:18; see also Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7). Peter recognized Paul’s writings as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16). Some of the books of the New Testament were being circulated among the churches (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27). Clement of Rome mentioned at least eight New Testament books (A.D. 95). Ignatius of Antioch acknowledged about seven books (A.D. 115). Polycarp, a disciple of John the Apostle, acknowledged 15 books (A.D. 108). Later, Irenaeus mentioned 21 books (A.D. 185). Hippolytus recognized 22 books (A.D. 170-235). The New Testament books receiving the most controversy were Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, and 3 John. The first “canon” was the Muratorian Canon, which was compiled in A.D. 170. The Muratorian Canon included all of the New Testament books except Hebrews, James, and 3 John. In A.D. 363, the Council of Laodicea stated that only the Old Testament (along with the Apocrypha) and the 27 books of the New Testament were to be read in the churches. The Council of Hippo (A.D. 393) and the Council of Carthage (A.D. 397) also affirmed the same 27 books as authoritative.

http://www.gotquestions.org/canon-Bible.html

An explanation of the canonization of the Bible continued

• The councils followed something similar to the following principles to determine whether a New Testament book was truly inspired by the Holy Spirit:

• 1) Was the author an apostle or have a close connection with an apostle? • 2) Is the book being accepted by the Body of Christ at large?• 3) Did the book contain consistency of doctrine and orthodox teaching? • 4) Did the book bear evidence of high moral and spiritual values that would

reflect a work of the Holy Spirit?• “ Again, it is crucial to remember that the church did not determine the

canon. No early church council decided on the canon. It was God, and God alone, who determined which books belonged in the Bible. It was simply a matter of God convincing His followers of what He had already decided upon. The human process of collecting the books of the Bible was flawed, but God, in His sovereignty, despite our ignorance and stubbornness, brought the early church to the recognition of the books He had inspired.”

http://www.gotquestions.org/canon-Bible.html

An explanation of the canonization of the Bible continued

Over 50 different translations of the Bible?

• There are many different versions and translations of the Bible.

• “Each translation has its own strengths and weaknesses. The King James Version (KJV) is excellent, but you must use a dictionary as you read because it uses language typical of the time it was translated (1611). I recommend you purchase a more recent translation. The New American Standard Version (NASV) is believed by many to be one of the most accurate translations and is an excellent study Bible. The American Standard Version (ASV) is also excellent and highly accurate. The New King James Version (NKJV) is high on the recommended list. The New International Version (NIV) tries to make the text as easy to understand as possible and is an excellent reading Bible, but not a good study Bible. The New World Translation (1950, the Jehovah's Witnesses Bible) should be avoided because its is actually corrupt, being a sectarian paraphrase rather than a true translation of the Holy Scriptures. Although the exact choice of words or sentence structure is different in each translation, the meaning is identical. Take the words of Jesus in Mark 16:16 from three "versions" as an example; NIV: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved". KJV: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved". NAS: "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved" Different words and sentences but the meaning is identical. To blame religious division on the fact there are different Bible versions, therefore, is incorrect. The view that each translation of the Bible conveys a different message is also incorrect. There is only one Bible message that has been translated into hundreds of different languages. ”

- Christian on different translations.• All translations of the Bible are taken from the original text (in Hebrew) so that the message

does not get changed.

“Ultimately, above the human authors, the Bible was written by God. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Bible was "breathed out" by God. God superintended the human authors of the Bible so that while using their own writing styles and personalities, they still recorded exactly what God wanted to be said. The Bible was not dictated from God, but it was perfectly guided and entirely inspired by Him.

Humanly speaking, the Bible was written by approximately 40 men of diverse backgrounds over the course of 1500 years. Isaiah was a prophet, Ezra was a priest, Matthew was a tax-collector, John was a fisherman, Paul was a tentmaker, Moses was a shepherd. Despite being penned by different authors over 15 centuries, the Bible does not contradict itself and does not contain any errors. The authors all present different perspectives, but they all proclaim the same one true God, and the same one way of salvation—Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Few of the books of the Bible specifically name their author.”

Who were the authors of the bible?

– Quote off gotquestions.org

Old Testament (NIV)book Type Author

?Book Type Author

?book Type Author?

Genesis Torah Revealed to Moses?

2 Chronicles Historical Ezra Daniel Major Prophets

Daniel

Exodus Torah Revealed to Moses

Ezra Historical Ezra Hosea Minor Prophets

Hosea

Leviticus Torah Revealed to Moses

Nehemiah Historical Ezra Joel Minor Prophets

Joel

Numbers Torah Revealed to Moses

Esther Historical Mordecai Amos Minor Prophets

Amos

Deuteronomy Torah Revealed to Moses

Job Wisdom Moses Obadiah Minor Prophets

Obadiah

Joshua Historical Joshua Psalms Wisdom David/ other authors

Jonah Minor Prophets

Jonah

Judges Historical Samuel/ Nathan/Gad

Proverbs Wisdom Solomon Micah Minor Prophets

Micah

Ruth Historical Samuel/ Nathan/Gad

Ecclesiastes Wisdom Solomon Nahum Minor Prophets

Nahum

1 Samuel Historical Samuel/ Nathan/Gad

Song of Songs

Wisdom Solomon Habakkuk Minor Prophets

Habakkuk

2 Samuel Historical Samuel/ Nathan/Gad

Isaiah Major Prophets

Isaiah Zephaniah Minor Prophets

Zephaniah

1 Kings Historical Jeremiah Jeremiah Major Prophets

Jeremiah Haggai Minor Prophets

Haggai

2 Kings Historical Jeremiah Lamentations Major Prophets

Jeremiah Zechariah Minor Prophets

Zechariah

1 Chronicles Historical Ezra Ezekiel Major Prophets

Ezekiel Malachi Minor Prophets

Malachi

New Testament (NIV)book Type? Author

?book Type? Author? book Type? Author

?

Matthew Gospels Matthew Ephesians The Pauline Epistles

Paul Hebrews General Epistles

Unknown, possibly Paul

Mark Gospels John, Mark Philippians The Pauline Epistles

Paul James General Epistles

James

Luke Gospels Luke Colossians The Pauline Epistles

Paul 1 Peter General Epistles

Peter

John Gospels John 1 Thessalonians

The Pauline Epistles

Paul 2 Peter General Epistles

Peter

Acts History Luke 2 Thessalonians

The Pauline Epistles

Paul 1 John General Epistles

John

Romans The Pauline Epistles

Paul 1 Timothy The Pauline Epistles

Paul 2 John General Epistles

John

1 Corinthians

The Pauline Epistles

Paul 2 Timothy The Pauline Epistles

Paul 3 John General Epistles

John

2 Corinthians

The Pauline Epistles

Paul Titus The Pauline Epistles

Paul Jude General Epistles

Jude

Galatians The Pauline Epistles

Paul Philemon The Pauline Epistles

Paul Revelation Apocalypse John

Chinese whispers?

• Before Scriptures were written down, Oral transmission was the way in which most teachings and scripture were spread.

• In modern times, the thought of Oral transmission makes us think of Chinese whispers, that every time that the stories and scripture would be repeated they would change.

• However, back in the times of and before Jesus, scripture would be taught and studied so thoroughly and vastly that if a story teller was to get a fact incorrect there would always be people who knew it around to correct them. Therefore the transmission remained a very accurate one.

Propositional revelation.• This is the view

that scripture is the divine word of God

• God proposes statements of fact about his nature and wishes and these are recorded by people on earth.

•Scripture is therefore considered to be a direct revelation from God.

• “ Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11

2 Timothy 3:16

“all scripture is God- breathed”

Revelation 22:18-19• “I warn everyone who hears the worlds of the prophecy of this book:

if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which re described in this book.”

Direct revelation from God?• In the Bible there are numerous recorded

occasions in which God has supposedly directly spoken to individuals:

• Genesis 1-3, God speaks to Adam and Eve. • Genesis 12,v1-3 God’s call to Abraham• Exodus 3-4 v1-17 God’s call to Moses• Exodus 20 v 1-17 the Ten Commandments• Acts 9 v1-22 the conversion of Paul.(these are just a few examples)

…But

• Other religions such as Islam claim that their scripture is the divine word of God also.

• The Qur’an is considered to be completely propositional.• “Qur’an” literally translates as “recitation” • Supposedly, the Angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad

and revealed the Qur’an to him which Muhammad recited to his followers.

• • Hence, the Qur’an is not

translated by Muslims from its original Arabic but is instead learnt off by heart by followers so that it may never be changed through translations.

Problem:

• Each Religion has its own God, and most have their own scripture too…

…Jews Christians and Muslims all claim that their Scripture reveals their God.

If we were to only take the propositional view of scripture, i.e. scripture is the direct word of God…

…then surely this must mean that only one of the religions or none of them are genuine.

(or God has purposefully chosen to confuse everyone, but this would not seem to fit in with his supposedly all loving character)

Could all scriptures be God’s word? • Many moral teachings do seem to overlap across religions. E.g, both Muslims, Jews and Christians all

follow and agree with the Ten Commandments,

• BUT:• Jesus says in the Bible “I am the way and

the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”

So what would this Christian view mean for other Scripture?

• Buddhist Scripture may show signs of God. It may even be influenced or inspired by God somehow, but Buddhism is not the true way and does not feature the Divine word of God.

• Islamic Scripture (the Qur’an) again may be influenced or inspired by God. Muslims do follow the Ten Commandments and other Biblical teaching. But again, for Christians, Islam is not the true way, and therefore a lot of its scripture would be considered not to be the divine word of God, but rather the words of man.

What the Philosophers say:

• Francis Schaeffer defends the belief in propositional revelation, saying that an “unlimited, non-created personal being” who creates a world full of “limited, created personal beings” would logically be able to communicate with those beings. (he believed that we were created by God as “language-communicating beings” for this very reason.

• Aquinas: suggested that “faith” must be based on some facts as it must involve a knowledge of a God who is transcendent. Though he agreed that faith could not be proven to be true in the same way as science may or may not.

Criticisms of Propositional Revelation

• Propositional revelation involves the receiver being passive, but many philosophers have argued that the human mind seems unable to receive and retain information whilst in a passive state. The human mind actively receives information.

• How can one know that they have experienced a true revelation rather than just their own thoughts?

• Different religions claim to have received propositional revelations, yet there are conflicting claims between the religions.

• There is no way to directly prove or verify that propositional revelations happen.

• Problem of whether translating Scripture is wrong if it is propositional revelation from God (as meanings may be changed through use of different wordings in language)

Non-Propositional revelation•This refers to the idea that God does not reveal facts or truths to people, instead the believer recognises God acting in things such as history and nature.

•This is an indirect form of revelation and can also be subjective.

•A non-propositional view of scripture would be that scripture is not word-for-word God’s word, but how people have perceived God and interpreted events.

William Temple

• In his book “nature, man and God” William Temple suggested that:

• “there are truths of revelation, that is to say, propositions which express the results of correct thinking concerning revelation, but they are not themselves directly revealed.”

God is revealed in all things…?

• William Blake:“to see a heaven in a wild flower”

(Pantheist)

Is the Bible non-propositional?

Perhaps…• the Bible is full of symbolism.• Revelation for example is a dream described by

the experiencer.• Psalms are human responses, songs, poems to

God, not necessarily seeming to be written by God.

• Perhaps human interpretation is necessary as we lack the complete capability to understand God fully. If it was all word-for-word Gods work, then maybe it would be baffling to the reader.

But…

• If the Bible was purely non-propositional then it could not be claimed to have the authority of God as it would all be simply human interpretation.

• How could the “truth” be deciphered amongst different human interpretations?

So if it is not all propositional, and not all non-propositional, what is the Christian

view of the Bible?

John Stott

• John Stott has preached that the bible, though it is written by men (prophets and apostles) it still has the authority of God as these people had been delegated the authority of God.

• “prophets” are people who have “directly encountered the numinous or divine and serves as an intermediary with humanity”

• “Apostle” literally translates as “one who is sent.”

• In Jesus’ time and before, it was held that “the one sent by a person is as this person himself”

• Yet Jesus still called his disciples “apostles” meaning that he was delegating his authority to them so that they could continue after his death to spread his word.

• Thus John Stott argued that as the Bible is written by Apostles and Prophets, it has the authority of God, as God has touched or chosen these people in some way.

• So, usually the Bible is viewed by Christians as a mixture of both propositional and non-propositional revelation

What is the emphasis on scripture amongst different denominations?

• Scripture, reason, tradition and experience all feature as forms of revelation in Christianity and Judaism.

• But different denominations have different emphasises on each…

ROMAN CATHOLIC

PROTESTANT

LIBERALMYSTICAL

CHARISMATIC

However,

• The Bible still has a great sense of authority in no matter what denomination of Christianity, as it is the main concrete source of information and revelation provided about God.

• It contains rules, advice, life guidance, assurance, hope, praise, stories, and true historical facts,

• It is in essence, the Christian handbook to life (and death).

Buddhist Scriptures

• Buddhism has more scriptures than any other religion!

• These scriptures are written in 4 languages- Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan and

Chinese.

• initially, none of the Buddha Sidhartha Gautamas’ teachings were written down, but soon after his death a meeting of 500 monks was arranged to make sure there was a clear record of what he had said.

• The monk Ananda repeated all of Buddhas teachings aloud, and then all of the monks repeated the teachings together. The teachings of the Buddha were passed on orally until about 500 years after the Buddha had died.

• After this time, monks began to canonise the teachings into different books, different schools thought different parts of the teachings were more important, so each branch places different emphasis on different holy books.

• Like Christianity, the teachings were canonised by holding authoratative counsels.

• The Dharma is one of the three jewels of Buddhism, the other two

being the Buddha and the Sangha.

• In a Mahayana scripture it says: ‘From the Dharma one should see

the Buddha ; the Dharma is attributed to the Buddha and his

words.

The Dhamma or Dharma

• The word Dharma refers to the teachings of the Buddha. ‘Dharma’ usually refers inclusively not just to the sayings of the Buddha but to the later scriptures and interpretations that the various schools of Buddhism have developed to help explain and expand upon the Buddha's teachings.

• Alternately, ‘dharma’ may be seen as an ultimate and transcendent truth which is utterly beyond worldly things, somewhat like the Christian ‘logos’; seeing the dharma as referring to the "truth" or ultimate reality or "the way things are".

• Buddhism rejects the idea of ‘revealed scripture’, as it is not theistic. The scriptures only have authority because they are words from an enlightened being-the Buddha. The words are not revelations, they are simply teachings.

• The role of a Buddha is to explain the truth to the unenlightened.

• The scriptures have no intrinsic value, just instrumental value.

Is the dharma propositional or non propostional?

• The 3 Marks of existence and 4 noble truths and other teachings devised by the buddha could be considered non-propositional, but the Buddha was the first to reveal them, so they could be considered propositional.

The first Buddhist Council

• According to the scriptures, the first Buddhist Council was held after the death of the Buddha, at Rajagaha.

• Its objective was to preserve the Buddha's sayings (suttas) and the monastic discipline or rules (Vinaya).

• The assembled arhats listened to the venerable Ananda and Upali reciting the teachings and memorised them, this is how the dharma was transmitted orally for several centuries.

The Second Buddhist Council

• 100 years after the Buddha's death, in Vesali.• This council aimed to resolve the issues of the arising

new sects within Buddhism.• It resulted in a split between the elders; from here the

Theravada and Mahayana branches became distinct. • The Theravadins claimed the council had been to rectify

lax practises amongst the monastics• Mahayana accounts claim the council was to debate the

nature of arhats. The Mahayana ideal then became the bodhisattva.

The Third Buddhist Council

The emporer Ashoka called this council to

settle doctrinal disputes.

This council validated the conservative teachings of the Theravadan elders and purified the movement of Buddhism.

There is no record of this council in Mahayana sources.

The Dhammapada

• contains 423 verses in 26 categories. According to tradition, these are verses spoken by the Buddha on various occasions, most of which deal with ethics.

The Pali Canon• The Pali Canon is the standard scripture collection of the

Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pali language. The Canon was written down from oral tradition at the fourth Buddhist Council.

• The Pali Canon falls into three main categories, called pitaka (meaning basket) in Pali. Because of this, the canon is traditionally known as the Tipitaka (three baskets). The original scripture was written on palm leaves and stored in baskets. The three pitakas are:

• Vinaya Pitaka, rules for monks and nuns • Sutta Pitaka, discourses, mostly ascribed to the Buddha, but some

to disciples • Abhidhamma Pitaka, variously described as Buddhist philosophy.

• The most important of these baskets is the Sutta Pitaka, as they are the teachings of the Buddha, including the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Lotus Sutra

• A sutra is a ‘thread’ of teaching.• is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana

sutras in East Asia and the basis on which the Nichiren sect of Buddhism was established. The Mahayana tradition states that the Lotus Sutra was recorded at the time of the Buddha and stored for five hundred years in the realm of the dragons. After this, they were re-introduced into the human realm at the time of the Fourth Buddhist Council . These teachings were kept secret as humankind was said to be unready for them at the time of the Buddha.

• It illustrates the Bodhisattva-the centre of the Mahayana tradition- and the concept of upaya -skilful means.

The Heart Sutra• The Heart Sutra is usually considered a one of the ‘Perfection of

Wisdom’ (Prajnaparamita) scriptures of Mahayana literature. It consists of just 14 ‘shlokas’ or verses in Sanskrit.

• It focuses mainly on emptiness.• An interesting feature of the sutra is the fact that the teaching is not

actually delivered by the Buddha, which makes it one of a small class of sutras not directly spoken by the Buddha.

• The heart sutra focuses on Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.

• ‘one should know the prajnaparamita (perfect wisdom) as the allayer of all suffering’.

• The sutra closes with a mantra: go, go, go beyond, go thoroughly beyond, and establish yourself in enlightenment.

The Tantric scriptures

• These scriptures are used by the Vajrayana sect.

• These scriptures or ‘tantras’ describe rituals and visualisation practises

• They are written in a cryptic language- a guru or teacher is needed to understand them.

How do Buddhists relate to their scriptures?

• Different schools have different practises regarding scripture. Some sects use a particular scripture, or none at all.

• The scriptures are so extensive that they could not all be comprehensively studied. Most lay people rely on monks to relate the basic essence of the teachings to them.

• There are some core sutras that most Buddhists would be familiar with, like popular stories in the bible for Christians. Examples include stories of the Buddhas life from the Pali Canon and advice on meditation.

• Parts of scripture that are chanted can become a central part of the dharma for a monastary, and become very well known.

• Scriptures are kept in elevated places to show respect, and also because they symbolise wisdom and truth.

• Sometimes, scriptures are enshrined in stupas.

• The Buddha advised his followers to examine his teachings for themselves; not to digest them blindly, not ‘purely out of reverence’ but for their own spiritual development.

• The authenticity and correctness of scriptures can be tested using three criteria:

• It must agree with ones experience of life

• It must stand up to logical reasoning

• It must seem right against meditation experience

language• As in the bible, figurative, metaphorical and picture

language are used in Buddhist scriptures.• The Jataka tales could be an example of figurative

language, some Buddhists may not believe that lotus flowers grew at the feet of the newly born Budda-it may simply be symbolic to show that he was special.

• Some stories are allegorical or analogical-not to be taken literally. A famous analogy is the chariot analogy taken from the Khuddaka Nikaeya scripture.

The mosquito and the carpenter- an allegorical story from the Jataka tales

• Said the carpenter to his son, who was seated hard by, "My boy, there's a mosquito stinging me on the head. Do drive it away."

• "Hold still then father," said the son. "One blow will settle it."

• (At that time the Bodhisattva had reached that village in the way of trade, and was sitting in the carpenter's shop.)

• "Rid me of it!" cried the father.

• "All right, father," answered the son, who was behind the old man's back, and, raising a sharp awe on high with intent to kill only the mosquito, he cleft his father's head in two. So the old man fell dead on the spot.

• Thought the Bodhisattva, who had been an eye witness of the whole scene, "Better than such a friend is an enemy with sense, whom fear of men's vengeance will deter from killing a man." And he recited these lines:

• Sense-lacking friends are worse than foes with sense;Witness the son that sought the gnat to slay,But cleft, poor fool, his father's skull in two.

• The story acts as a fable- a story with a meaning and moral.

Is the oral transmission of Buddhist scripture as authentic as the written Judeo-Christian tradition?

• Yes…• Respect and reverence for Buddhas’ teachings amongst

the monks meant that they would pass on the scriptures accurately, without embellishments

• Chanting encouraged precision, as the chant ensures everyone is passing on the same scripture

• In Eastern countries, chanting and storytelling are seen as legitimate ways to convey information accurately, in our sceptical Western culture we find this hard to comprehend.

• No…• There are so many collections of scriptures because there

was no centralised authority to decide which scriptures were orthodox and which were heretical- so the origins of some scriptures could be dubious.

• The Mahayana scriptures did not become apparent until later in the history of Buddhism, their origins are unclear.

• Details of scripture may have been intentionally or unintentionally changed; like a game of chinese whispers.

• Different interpretations of scripture may have caused people to pass it on with different emphasis, altering its meaning.

In both Buddhist scriptures and Christian scriptures there is a

difference between true events and stories.

Parables, Analogies, Tales and true events.

Parables, Analogies, Tales and true events.

• In Christian scripture, the Bible feature the Book of Jonah, where Jonah is supposedly swallowed by a whale and remains in its stomach for three days. This is considered to be a true event, (despite it defying all scientific laws). And this alongside many accounts of Miracles are all considered to be true events.

• There is a requirement of faith needed in order for these true events to be accepted as true and a belief in the fact that God is able to intervene with nature, making the impossible possible.

• Jesus in the Bible however, also uses Parables and analogies to get a point across. The Parable of the good Samaritan is an example of such a story that didn’t actually happen, but is used as a teaching method.

• Likewise in Buddhism there are true events and tales.

• The Jataka tales are stories of the Buddha’s past lives, but emphasis on these vary across the different schools. They may be considered to be stories, or true events depending on the school of thought.

• The birth of the Buddha, of a walking, talking baby that came out of his mother’s side is another example of a scientifically defying story, that is accepted to be a true event by some and just a story by others.

Parables, Analogies, Tales and true events.

Comparisons• In Christianity there’s a set scripture, whilst in Buddhism different sects have

their own Scriptures.• Christianity- the Bible has authority because it is Divinely inspired by God.

Buddhism- scripture has authority because it is the Buddha’s words, and enlightened being, not an figure of worship.

• Apostles, prophets, Bodhisattvas and disciples of the Buddha all contributed to the writings of sections of scripture.

• Both the Bible and Buddhist scriptures (such as the Dhammapada and Heart Sutra) contain dialogues.

• The Bible contains Psalms that are comparable to songs of devotion featured in the Buddhist Mahayana scriptures.

• The New Testament and Jataka tales both feature events in the religious leaders’ lives.

• The Bible is set out in a chronological order, whilst Buddhist scriptures are more focused on individual teachings in no particular order.

• Both Buddhist and Christian scriptures were debated over in Councils and canonized.

• Neither the Buddha or Jesus played a part in writing their own scripture.

• The Bible was mainly written in one language (Hebrew) whilst Buddhism was written in four main languages (Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan.

• The last book of the New Testament was written only 60 years after Jesus’ death, whilst the Buddhist scriptures were written down about 500 years after the Buddha’s death (Mahayana scriptures may have been written even later).

• Buddhism has more scriptures than any other religion. • There is a difference between the value Christians and Buddhists

place on their scripture. Perhaps scripture is more important in Christianity than it is in Buddhism.

• The Old Testament can be likened to the Jataka Tales as they both point towards the coming of the saviour and Wheel turner.

• Both relied on Oral transmissions before scripture was formally written down.

Comparisons continued