Did Buddha claim to be a god & request to be worshiped? If not, will we see him in heaven?

[GaryTaylor]

That depends on how you define the term ‘god’. Is a god a human person

Pretty much focused on the issue.

1Tim215Mommy, My prayers are with you and your child also.

God bless!

 

[Kliska]

I had to take the baby to the ER & she was admitted & has had 2 surgeries already & we’re still here at hospital. Prayers requested

Prayers for you and yours.

 

[PRmerger]

I didn’t have the intention to start and abandon this thread. Soon after starting it, I had to take the baby to the ER & she was admitted & has had 2 surgeries already & we’re still here at hospital. Prayers requested

Prayers going up right now!

 

[1Tim215Mommy]

That depends on how you define the term ‘god’. Is a god a human person who has achieved enlightenment and lives on in spiritual form in the cosmos, or is a god an onmipotent spiirtual being? Using that Buddhist view of what is a ‘god’ then our saints would be classified as ‘gods’.

My prayers are with you and your child.

God bless you both

Thank you

 

[1Tim215Mommy]

Pretty much focused on the issue.

1Tim215Mommy, My prayers are with you and your child also.

God bless!

Thank you

 

[1Tim215Mommy]

Prayers for you and yours.

Thank you

 

[1Tim215Mommy]

Prayers going up right now!

Thank you

 

[weller2]

WARNING: New Age-y ideas ahead.

Based on when Buddha was alive, he would not have been exposed to the Gospel…unless her allegorical taught he was God and requested to be worshiped he can’t justly beer held accountable because billions off people over the centuries have chosen to worship him, right?

Buddha never claimed to be God, nor he requested to be worshipped.

Curiously enough, Jesus also never claimed to be God – He claimed to be the Son of God, or being one with God, but He never said that he is God himself – which is why Christians have developed the doctrine of Trinity. There is actually a non-orthodox view of Jesus as an enlightened spiritual teacher akin to Buddha (who was later mistankenly believed to be the God himself by the confused Apostles). Alan Watts has argued this view quite well, googling “Alan Watts on Jesus” will find you his talk.

What is even more interesting is that Gospels have some similarities to Buddhist teaching – for example, Buddha also told the parable of the prodigal son – although his version is slightly different: comparativereligion.com/prodigal.html

Might we be surprised to bump into him in Heaven should we get there?

Yes, if Nirvana and Heaven are two attempts to describe the same underlying concept using different language and tradition.

If you believe that both ideas are fundamentally incompatible (i.e. describe a different thing), then, no.

 

[PRmerger]

Curiously enough, Jesus also never claimed to be God – He claimed to be the Son of God, or being one with God, but He never said that he is God himself –

So why do you think the Jews tried to kill Jesus? Did they try to stone him for saying he was the Son of God or for claiming to be one with God?

which is why Christians have developed the doctrine of Trinity.

This is true. The dogma of the Trinity did develop.

 

[PRmerger]

There is actually a non-orthodox view of Jesus as an enlightened spiritual teacher akin to Buddha (who was later mistankenly believed to be the God himself by the confused Apostles).

When do you think this confusion occurred? Was it while Jesus was still alive and he did not correct their confusion?

Or did it occur after his death?

What is even more interesting is that Gospels have some similarities to Buddhist teaching – for example, Buddha also told the parable of the prodigal son – although his version is slightly different: comparativereligion.com/prodigal.html

This proves only one thing: all truth is God’s truth.

 

[Grym]

WARNING: New Age-y ideas ahead.

What is even more interesting is that Gospels have some similarities to Buddhist teaching – for example, Buddha also told the parable of the prodigal son – although his version is slightly different: comparativereligion.com/prodigal.html

Hi weller2.
Dont mean to be a joy kill but this sutta was written 2 centuries AD according to the link. But maybe it had an earlier oral tradition? So it might well have been influenced by (at the time) the comparitivly “New” Christian religion.

Interesting all the same. Thanks!

Yes, if Nirvana and Heaven are two attempts to describe the same underlying concept using different language and tradition.

If you believe that both ideas are fundamentally incompatible (i.e. describe a different thing), then, no.

Normally speaking they wouldnt be the same I guess but I have talked to christians that almost convinced me otherwise. .

Another interesting thing is that in the Digha nikaya (which is an much older gatha, BC I guess.). Buddha teaches the path to oness with God (the Brahma)!

Pretty interesting no?

Kindly Victor.

 

[weller2]

When do you think this confusion occurred? Was it while Jesus was still alive and he did not correct their confusion?

Or did it occur after his death?

After. Take the conversation between Jesus and Peter in Luke 9:18:

18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

Why doesn’t Jesus correct Peter and say “No, I am God”?

 

[PRmerger]

After. Take the conversation between Jesus and Peter in Luke 9:18:

So the apostles lied about the Resurrection?

Why doesn’t Jesus correct Peter and say “No, I am God”?

We believe that He did. It just wasn’t recorded in the Written Word, but in the Oral Word.

 

[DMC12]

let me give you an example, if i never knew of Christianism, and i at some point believed I was a god, and did all my best efforts to do this my world a much better place, do you think God would sent me to hell just for being in an error from which i had no form of getting out?

 

[PRmerger]

let me give you an example, if i never knew of Christianism, and i at some point believed I was a god, and did all my best efforts to do this my world a much better place, do you think God would sent me to hell just for being in an error from which i had no form of getting out?

You are responsible for only the information which you have been given.

 

[weller2]

So the apostles lied about the Resurrection?

Why do you think that one needs to be God himself to be resurrected? Gospels contain an account of resurrecting Lazarus – and Lazarus definitely was not God.

We believe that He did.

Um, no. You don’t. At least you shouldn’t. From the Nicene Creed (325AD):

• We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
• And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

That’s it. Being of one substance with the Father (hence Trinity), not being the Father. And remember that Nicene Creed is a compromise position which has been worked out after 300 years of hot debate about the precise nature of Jesus and his relationship with the Father.

It just wasn’t recorded in the Written Word, but in the Oral Word.

Well, don’t you think that such a big claim would get written down?

Besides, the biblical account is pretty clear that Sanhedrin had trouble trying to convict Jesus for blasphemy. If Jesus was claiming to be God himself, it would have been an open-and-shut case: for Jews, there was only one God and he dwelt in heaven, and not walked in the streets of Jerusalem. Instead, all they got was that (1) he claimed to be able to destroy and rebuild the temple in 3 days and (2) he claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Although, (2) is not strictly true either, because it is Caiaphas who actually makes the claim, and Jesus says “You have said so” (cf. Matthew 26:64).

So again: Jesus never claimed to be God – the closest thing is that he claimed being one with God (John 10:30). And this is exactly the claim you’d expect from a mystic of Buddha’s caliber – one which has achieved such level of enlightenment that his mind became one with God.

 

[PRmerger]

Why do you think that one needs to be God himself to be resurrected? Gospels contain an account of resurrecting Lazarus – and Lazarus definitely was not God.

You didn’t answer the question. Did the Apostles/witnesses lie about the Resurrection?

Yes, or no.

That’s a pretty straight forward question that demands a straight forward answer.

 

[PRmerger]

Um, no. You don’t. At least you shouldn’t. From the Nicene Creed (325AD):

• We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
• And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

That’s it. Being of one substance with the Father (hence Trinity), not being the Father.

Amen!

Jesus is the second person of the Godhead. The Eternal Logos.

As the Church has proclaimed this for 2000 years it is quite clear that Jesus did, indeed, declare Himself to be God.

And remember that Nicene Creed is a compromise position which has been worked out after 300 years of hot debate about the precise nature of Jesus and his relationship with the Father

Worked out after 300 years of hot debate? Yes.

Compromise position? Not so much. :nope:

Well, don’t you think that such a big claim would get written down?

It did.

See here.

Besides, the biblical account is pretty clear that Sanhedrin had trouble trying to convict Jesus for blasphemy.

And yet you acknowledge that they did believe He was being blasphemous.

Interesting, that.

 

[Kliska]

So again: Jesus never claimed to be God – the closest thing is that he claimed being one with God (John 10:30). And this is exactly the claim you’d expect from a mystic of Buddha’s caliber – one which has achieved such level of enlightenment that his mind became one with God.

If you remove His words from their cultural context you can torture them to mean something other than He meant. It is clear from the reaction of the learned Jewish leaders and priests around Him that they knew exactly what He claimed and it was sheer blasphemy. He took on several titles or names of divinity, and yes, even of God Himself, and allowed and nurtured worship of Himself by the Apostles and Disciples.

You can believe He was lying or crazy I suppose, but you can’t view all of the evidence and deny He was claiming to be anything but divine in essence. Reading your thoughts, I had one of my own; if you are ever looking for a book to read, “Jesus among other gods” by Ravi Zacharias might be a good one for anyone interested in comparisons between Jesus’ claims and others, even Buddha.

 

[PRmerger]

If you remove His words from their cultural context you can torture them to mean something other than He meant. It is clear from the reaction of the learned Jewish leaders and priests around Him that they knew exactly what He claimed and it was sheer blasphemy. He took on several titles or names of divinity, and yes, even of God Himself, and allowed and nurtured worship of Himself by the Apostles and Disciples.