An atheist coworker of my husbands is intrigued by Christianity because he says that it’s the only religion that talks about forgiveness.
Yeah, some teachings of some religions overlap, but the love mercy and forgiveness offered to people that God does, is unprecedented.
He’s not a god who needs to be appeased to ward off His wrath. He himself did for us what we couldn’t do ourselves so that we could spend eternity with Him. It’s offered as a free gift to anyone who wants it; just for the taking.
He offers us everything of His for everything of ours, which I consider a pretty good trade off.
No, Christianity is not like other religions, even if some of the other teachings overlap, which is bound to happen.
And so what if Jesus knew of Buddah’s teaching? That has nothing to do with His message and what He came to do. His knowing about them is irrelevant to His death and resurrection.
An atheist coworker of my husbands is intrigued by Christianity because he says that it’s the only religion that talks about forgiveness.
For at least some religions, this is because they don't believe in "sin" per se--hence, nothing to forgive.
Yeah, some teachings of some religions overlap, but the love mercy and forgiveness offered to people that God does, is unprecedented.
Again, I understand why Christians think so, but followers of other religions very likely think the same of their deities. The Native Americans, for instance, speak of the love of the Great Spirit for his children. Here's one example.
He’s not a god who needs to be appeased to ward off His wrath.
Perhaps not now, but the scriptures which Christians call the Old Testament is full of stories about Yahweh's wrath and the attempts of the Israelites to appease him.
No, Christianity is not like other religions, even if some of the other teachings overlap, which is bound to happen.
Well, I suppose it can be said that no religion is like another, from the viewpoint of its adherents. And you're quite right that teachings overlap; it seems that all humans have certain innate needs and inclinations, which understandably turn up in the religions they create.
And so what if Jesus knew of Buddah’s teaching?
Well, so nothing, except that you had stated Jesus' teachings were "head and shoulders" above anyone else's. I merely meant to demonstrate that that was not accurate, especially if he took some of his material from the Buddha. No biggie.
Hey, I think it's great that you've found a belief system that works for you! Many people never do. All I'm trying to do here is point out a slightly different angle of perception for people who perhaps have only ever looked at things from one fixed viewpoint.
Thanks for the interesting discussion! :)
Sincerely,
d