Jesus Was a Buddhist Monk?

[Friend of Bill W]

You should be able to find Bauer online for free.

With prices at £85 for Bauer's book, it'll definitely be an online job here!

Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity: Amazon.co.uk: W. Bauer: Books

Some links on Bauer, if anyone is interested:

http://ebionite.org/member2/bauer_prelim.pdf

Also PDF commentary on Bauer's work here (you'll have to google for it; I can't stick a link up 'cos when I click on it, it goes straight to downloading a PDF).

I'll stick more if when I find them. I've enough to keep me busy.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

By the way, Friend, I must compliment your English. You get along beautifully, especially in your signature.

You're much better than I am at my second languages. I might possibly understand a German or a Frog if I forced them to speak English. :biglaugh:

 

[waterbear]

There were numerous religious groups in the area. I tend to think Jesus was a Therapute an order of monks/healers that came out of Egypt. The people of Judea had a number of different religious influences. The Pharisee, which is said to be the precursors of Rabbinic Judaism it only one of the groups back then. Kind of obvious the Jesus was at odds with the Pharisee. many of the other groups are no longer around so one can only guess at their influence. The Pharisee and Christians(Hellenized Judeans) emerged. A lot of the Christian thinking was likely influenced by the Greeks. Not quite sure how you'd trace any of it back to Buddhism.

I don't think Christianity was directly influenced by Buddhism but if the authors of the Gospels like Mark had access to the Library of Alexandria they would have had access to Buddhist ideas as well as Greek, Jewish, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian theologies. I think exile Jews in the Alexandrian community were in a similar position as were the exile Jews in their Babylonian captivity, i.e., in a place where religious ideas were being kept in libraries. The Iranian influence on Judaism during the Babylonian captivity is well-known with its introduction of a more dualistic god-head producing eventually the Christian idea of the "Devil", even that word being borrowed from Iranian Brahministic religious war with Indian Brahmins and their Devas. But then there's "Satan" too which is derived from the Egyptian conception of the devil as Set and the Egyptian connection to the Gospels is quite remarkable but logical if Mark and John were writing from Alexandria with Egyptian religious ideas all around them. Certainly a case can be made for Christianity as a Jewish Egyptian Mystery Religion.

But Jesus as a Buddhist monk? No way. Jesus' is of God and Buddhism rests on control of human mentality, not surrender to the will of God.

 

[Friend of Bill W]

By the way, Friend, I must compliment your English. You get along beautifully, especially in your signature.

You're much better than I am at my second languages. I might possibly understand a German or a Frog if I forced them to speak English. :biglaugh:

Actually, I wasn't being exactly truthful. It's true I was born in Japan, however I was dragged up in Geordie-land; North East UK, and we have a little language all of our own.

So, I'm a Japanese lookin' Geordie; some folk find that funny; and I just kinda said English wasn't my first language since I had to rush a post to go out; as an excuse for my mistakes.

Apologies.

 

[Tathagata]

Jesus may have had some similar ideas to Buddhism, especially the esoteric, Gnostic version, but he was in no way an orange robe wearing monk. He simply was possibly inspired by Buddhist thought.


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