The Word of God ♦ Bible vs other writings

Bible vs. Pali Canon

Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Buddha, was a Hindu prince that lived in the 6th or 5th century BC. He thought that he found the path to enlightenment, and he started to teach others what later became the Buddhism religion. He didn’t think that he would start a new religion, but instead he thought to reform Hinduism and find a way to eliminate suffering. The first writings about his teachings appear four centuries after his death. This allows for a certain amount of uncertainty regarding Buddha and his teachings, uncertainty conceded by Buddhist scholars. Although there is no book that defines the absolute authority for Buddhism, there is a collection of books called Pali Canon, considered as authoritative. Pali Canon is divided into three parts (baskets): “Vinaya Pitaka”, “Sutta Pitaka” and “Abhidhamma Pitaka”.

There is no god in Buddhism. Although some people worship Buddha, he never considered himself as god. There are a few direct consequences coming out of this belief. First of all, because there is no god, Buddhists teachings take man as absolute authority, and man defines what is right and what is wrong.

Then, another major consequence is that the world must have been formed by natural random processes. So, Buddhism and Evolutionism fit together very well. But, as described in the “Creation vs. Evolution", there is more and more evidence in different areas which prove that without a Creator there is no possibility to explain the complexity and fine tuning of life and the surrounding world.

Another consequence of believing that there is no god, is that there is no heaven or hell after death. Buddhists believe in reincarnation as a process that goes on and on, until someone reaches the final state of “nirvana” when the perfect state is achieved and the reincarnation cycle is stopped.

Take time to read the following articles and understand the differences between Pali Canon writings and the Bible. Consider the evidence and understand why the Bible stands as the true and only word of God!