Question Description: Compare the following 3 excerpts from world religions that were founded in the second half of our course: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. While modern Western Christianity has developed different beliefs and practices, what did this early Christian text have in common with the texts from Buddhist teachings and Islamic belief? Also, what were their greatest differences based on the short excerpts below? In a 1 ½ double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font, paper (using the 3 primary documents you have been given as cited below) explain how these religious texts relate to each other. You must have a thesis statement and footnote citations.
“The Buddha: Basic Teachings,” from: Buddha, the Word. Edited by Nyanatiloka. Electronically
Enhanced Text (C) Copyright 1991, World Library, Inc. http://web.archive.org/web/
“The Gospel of Thomas” excerpt, translated by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
The Holy Qur’an, excerpt from “The Holy Qur’an” translated by M.H. Shakir at CMU.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.
Answer preview
The three religions, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, have teachings in religious texts that guide followers to live their lives in harmony and peace with others. For instance, the Bible has religious texts that guide Christians to be good followers of Christ’s teachings. One of the ways that Jesus taught his followers was through parables and canonical sayings, such as the Gospel of Thomas. This gospel informs believers about the secret teachings regarding God’s Kingdom and emphasizes that those who decode the meaning will have everlasting life (Patterson & Meyer, Chapter 1). Similarly, the Quran in Islam provides insightful teachings about an eternal and indivisible Being. While Christians should follow the gospel’s instructions to understand the righteous ways of Christianity, Muslims must follow the Sharia rules to live fruitful lives in the hope of getting a favorable judgment. Notably, this is evident in the Quran, which encourages the followers that doing good makes them get rewarded (Shakir, Index 17). The guiding texts in Buddhism are the four noble truths based on Buddha’s teachings which emphasize that suffering is inevitable since it is the primary nature of existence, the cause, and ways to live without it (Bussagli, Par. 1).
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