Buddhism and Christianity: A Parallel and a Contrast

32. The question of the disciples in John ix. 2, concerning the man who was born blind, “Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” is alleged by Professor Seydel (Das Evangelium von Jesu in seinen Verhältnissen zu Buddha-Sage und Buddha-Lehre) to indicate an idea introduced into the Gospel from a foreign source, as the doctrine of the pre-existence of souls was then unknown among the Jews. Meyer in his critical and exegetical Handbook to St. John’s Gospel has shown that no one required to go outside the sphere of Jewish thought for an explanation of this part of the disciples’ question. In addition to his quotations from the Rabbinical books illustrating this Jewish belief, Kuenen in his brief criticism of Seydel adduces another from the Wisdom of Solomon viii. 20, as also rendering the Buddhist derivation of this “thought quite superfluous” (Hibbert Lectures, 1882, Appendix). Many instances of agreement in thought and phraseology with the Gospels in passages in Buddhist works are adduced by Dr. Kellogg, Light of Asia, etc., p. 137 seq., and are satisfactorily accounted for by the similarity of circumstances under which Buddha and the Saviour taught and the condition of men which they both perceived and described.

33. Lucius, Die Therapeuten und ihre Stellung in der Geschichte der Askese, Strassburg, 1880; also Der Essenismus in seinem Verhältniss zum Judenthum, Strassburg, 1881.

34. Dissertation in Commentary on Colossians, pp. 119, 157.

35. Jewish Wars, ii. 8. 2-13; Antiq. xiii. 5. 9; xv. 10. 4, 5; xviii. 1. 2-6.

36. Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, vol.i.p. 325.

37. Hibbert Lectures, 1882, p. 203.

38. Oldenberg, Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde, translated by W. Hoey, 1882, p. 6; Williams and Norgate.

39. Dr. Joseph Edkins, Chinese Buddhism, pp. 250, 343; Trübner, 1880.

40. Fergusson, Tree and Serpent Worship, Introduction, p. 77.

41. This must be read in the light of Professor Max Müller’s What can India teach us?

42. Luke viii. 46.

43. Even Kuenen and Wellhausen assume as established that Monotheism shows itself with unmistakable distinctness in Hebrew prophecies of the eighth century B.C. (Hibbert Lectures, 1882, p. 119; Theological Review, 1874, pp. 329, 336; Encyc. Brit., art. Israel). Professor H. Schultz maintains that Monotheism was established in Israel from the time of Moses downward, among the leaders of thought at least. (Alttest. Theolog., 2d ed., 1878, pp. 440, 457.)

44. Light of Asia and Light of the World, pp. 40, 102, 161.

45. Weber, Indische Studien, vol.i.p. 400; J. Muir, Sanskrit Texts, p. xxxiv; Lorinser, Bhagavadgitâ, Appendix, translated by Muir in Ind. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 283.

46. Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde, translated by Wm. Hoey, 1882, p. 292.

47. Müller, Gifford Lectures, Natural Religion, p. 169.

48. Dr. Caird, Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, p. 343 seq.

49. Sir A. Mitchell, Rhind Lectures for 1876 and 1878, The Past in the Present, pp. 207, 214; Edinburgh, Douglas, 1880.

50. Whately, Political Economy, p. 68.

51. Max Müller, Gifford Lectures, Natural Religion, p. 54.

52. The savagery of a great city is in some aspects more awful than that of Africa.

53. T. W. Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, p. 10.

54. Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol.i.p. 380.

55. Müller, Introduction to the Science of Religion, p. 41; Chips from a German Workshop, vol. ii. p. 254.

56. Fairbairn, Studies in Religion and Philosophy, p. 13.

57. Baring Gould, Origin and Development of Religious Belief, vol.i.p. 109.

58. “Nations,” says Professor Goldwin Smith, “redeem each other. They preserve for each other principles, truths, and hopes, and aspirations which, committed to the keeping of one, might become extinct for ever. They thus not only raise each other again when fallen, but they prevent each other from falling.”—Lectures on the Study of History, delivered in Oxford 1859-61, p. 71.

59. Celsus, quoting our Lord’s saying, Matt. xix. 24, and the exhortation to forgive our enemies, Matt. v. 43, 45, alleged they were transferred and coarsely perverted from Plato, de Legibus, and Crito.—Origen, contra Celsum, Book vi. chaps. 15, 16, and Book vii. chap. 61.

60. Enarr. in Psalm.cxl. 6. Clement of Alexandria regarded Greek philosophy as a προπαιδεία or preparatory discipline for the reception of Christian truth, Strom. vi. chap. 8, and as a step to something higher, ὑποβάθραν οὖσαν τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν φιλοσοφίας, Strom. vi. chap. 17.

61. Trench, Hulsean Lectures for 1846, p. 153.

62. Introduction to Le Bouddha et sa Religion; Paris, 1858.

63. Müller, Introd. to Sacred Books of the East, vol. i. p. xxi.

64. A. Burnell, Indian Antiq., 1880, p. 223, quoted by Prof. Max Müller in Introduction to vol. x. of Sacred Books of the East, p. xi.

65. Frankfurter, Appendix to Wordsworth’s Bampton Lectures for 1881; The One Religion, p. 340; Eitel Lectures on Buddhism, p. 44; Edkins, Chinese Buddhism, p. 232.

66. Prof. Max Müller, Introduction to vol. i. of Sacred Books of the East, p. xxvii.

67. A. E. Gough, Philosophy of the Upanishads, etc., p. 5; Trübner’s Oriental Series.

68. This statement is hazarded, notwithstanding the recent reply of the author of Supernatural Religion to Bishop Lightfoot’s Essays. It will be generally conceded that he has adopted an untenable position, and that, though his rejoinder to the learned Bishop may be a vigorous assault, it is weak criticism. Sanday’s work on The Gospels in the Second Century is on the whole a better reply than the Bishop’s to the allegations of the author of Supernatural Religion, whose extreme scepticism of literary evidence is quite equalled by his dogmatic extravagance of statement.

69. Vie de Jésus, Introd.pp.xv, xvii, 4thed.; Paris, 1863.

70. Science de Religions, pp. 12, 20.

71. Professor Max Müller, Introd. to Dhammapada, Sacred Books of the East, vol. x. p. x.