World Religions (2240 words)

How has the history of the religions of China and Japan, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam influenced the development of Buddhism, the religions of China and Japan, Judaism, Christianity and Islam today.

Buddhism, the Religions of China, Religions of Japan, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

The religions which are to be analyzed in this paper are: Buddhism, the Religions of Chi-na, Religions of Japan, Judaism, Christianity, and finally Islam. In addition to these analyses, a a section is devoted to how the religions we discussed in the second semester of the class, especial-ly Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, are rooted in the primal and ancient religions of antiquity. Finally, a conclusion sums up the ideas on religion as we learned in the course.
Buddhism
First, a discussion of Buddhism will lay out the central beliefs and offers some compari-son and contrasts with other religions we learned. Buddhism does not have a detailed theology like the other world religions studied in this course. While much of the teachings of Buddhism are ascribed to Siddhartha Gautama, much of the content of this faith is in the teachings, which make it sound more like a philosophy than a religion. For example, Buddhism has an exciting way to understand the question, “what is the meaning of life,” often called the Four Noble Truths. The first is about suffering. Suffering is an idea we see in many religions, for example in Christianity, but in Buddhism the idea is that the essence of life is pain, while, in Christianity, suffering is caused by original sin. But in Buddhism, the ideas is that suffering comes from our desires. When we want something out of life we then want more, then more, so we are ultimately not satisfied. Again, this sounds as Jesus in the New Testament when he talks about giving away material possessions, but for Buddhism, the idea is more of a mindset, then work of charity....

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