Jesus is Not Like Buddha

Introduction

Jesus is Different

   When someone begins to learn about something new or unfamiliar they generally want to compare it to something they already know. This can be helpful sometimes but it can also lead to misunderstandings because there are usually many differences between the two. It is better if we not only compare the familiar with the unfamiliar, but also contrast them.
   If you have heard that Christianity is a religion, you might try to think of it like other religions that you know. Christianity does have some things in common with the world religions. But in order to properly understand Christianity you must see the ways in which it contrasts against the world religions. If you have heard that Christians worship Jesus, you will probably want to compare Him to other "religious figures" who people worship, like Buddha. But if you do that, your idea of Jesus will be completely wrong. The differences between Jesus and Buddha are more significant than any similarities.
   Therefore, one aim of this book is to clarify the message of Christianity by contrasting it against common ideas in Chinese culture. Be prepared to be challenged and surprised with new perspectives. If you learn about Christianity and don't find it surprising, then you have probably not understood it correctly. Jesus is not like anyone or anything else in Chinese culture, and He is also unlike anyone or anything else in Western culture.
   Jesus was Asian, and Christianity began in Asia. But Jesus was very different from what His culture expected of Him. His own people grew so afraid of Him that they killed Him. Then, early in the days of Christianity, the message of Jesus began to spread to Europe. The Europeans who heard the message said, "You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears." (Acts 17:20) The message of Jesus has taken both Asians and Europeans by surprise for 2000 years. The only people who don't think the Christian message is strange are the people who don't understand it.
   Jesus made it clear that He would not allow Himself to be compared to anyone else. He said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to [God] the Father, but through Me." (John 14:6) By the time you have finished this book, you will know enough about Jesus to be faced with a choice. You can either believe Him that He is the only way to God, or you can reject Him as a crazy man and a liar. But you will not be able to say that He was just another "good man" or "religious figure."
   Jesus considered Himself so different from anything and anyone else in the world that He would not allow anyone to follow Him unless they were willing to give up everything else, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26)
   Because Jesus was extremely different from any other person who has ever lived, the people who belong to Jesus should be distinguished as a very different sort of people. Jesus came into the world to destroy evil, and the greatest source of evil is the human heart. Therefore wherever the message of Jesus goes and wherever people learn to follow Him, great change takes place. The word "Christian" originally meant a disciple (learner and follower) of Jesus. (Acts 11:26) Unfortunately, many people today will say they are "Christian" yet they will admit that they are not a follower of Jesus. But wherever you find disciples of Jesus Christ, you will see people who are "aliens and strangers in the world." (1 Peter 2:11) The Way of Jesus goes against the ways of culture and society in all parts of the world.
   The message of Jesus is called the "Gospel" which just means "The Good News." It is wonderfully good news because it is so very different from the message of any of the religions of the world. The religions and philosophies of the world do not have the truth, the power, or the hope that we really need to overcome evil and be made right with God, but Jesus has the way because He is the Way.
   However, the good news about Jesus is closely related to the the bad news about us. God says that we are not the good people that we think we are. He says that we are evil to the core, "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." (Genesis 6:5) Thus the Christian message is more offensive to our pride than any of the religions and philosophies of the world. Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world." (John 8:12) It is painful when the light of the Truth shines in the depths of darkness in our hearts. God is a surgeon and His Word is a very sharp knife. He will cut you open and expose the secrets and the darkness inside of your heart which even you have never seen before. The message of Jesus is more offensive and hurts more than anything else, but that is because the healing that comes from Jesus goes far deeper than anything else.

What is the Bible?

   The single book we call the Bible is actually a collection of 66 smaller books written by several different people over a long period of time. The first 39 books were written from approximately 1500 BC to 500 BC. These books formed the foundation of the Jewish religion from that time until today. Christians call this section of the Bible the "Old Testament".
   Jesus was a Jewish man born around 1 AD. Jesus received the title "Christ" which means, among other things, that He is a King. Jesus died around 33 AD and during the next 70 years His closest followers wrote much about Jesus and His teachings. Their writings were compiled in 27 books which we call the "New Testament" and which make up the remainder of the Bible.
   Thus we see that God revealed His entire message to mankind over a long period of time. The greatest and fullest revelation of God comes in Jesus Christ. But for thousands of years before Jesus came God was preparing the way for Him. The Old Testament was written before Jesus was born so it does not mention Him directly, although it foretells His coming. Likewise, in this book we will not talk much about Jesus until Section 4, but by the end you will see that everything that comes before Jesus is leading up to Him.
   Many of the authors of the Bible recorded what they had seen and experienced themselves. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life." (1 John 1:1) "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." (2 Peter 1:16)   The Bible is the sole source of authority to teach us about Jesus and about obedience to God. Anyone who claims to teach about Jesus and Christianity should be able to support all of their teaching from the Bible. Indeed, the Bible itself commends people who tested what they heard about Jesus to see if it was really true (Acts 17:10-12).
   To help people find specific sections of the Bible, each of it's 66 books has a name (which either comes from the book's topic or the name of it's author). Each book is then divided into numbered chapters which are generally about one page each. The verses (or sentences) in each chapter are also labeled with a small number for reference. Thus, if you want to read the passage Acts 17:10-12, you look for the book of Acts, chapter 17, verses 10 through 12.
   If you have never learned about Christianity before, many names in the Bible will be unfamiliar. It can be confusing to keep track of all of the names. In this book I have tried not to introduce an excessive amount of Biblical names. The appendix has a list of people and place names in English and Chinese to help you keep track.
   More than half of the Bible consists of true stories from the history of Israel and from the life of Jesus. A good translation in your native language should be easy to understand. The Bible is nicely organized in order mostly according to time. Thus if you open to the first pages of the Bible you will see that it talks about the beginning of the world, and if you look at the last pages of the Bible you will see that it talks about the end of the world and the return of Jesus in the future.
   If you are just starting to learn about Christianity, it is not necessary to read the Bible from beginning to end. In particular, if you do not yet know about Jesus or believe in Him, one book of the Bible was written especially for you. It is the book entitled "John", the fourth book of the New Testament. If you want to be familiar with at least part of the Bible, I recommend that you read the book of John.
   Also extremely important are the first three chapters of the Bible which talk about God and His creation of the world including man. These chapters are crucial because God, man, and their relationship is the topic of the rest of the Bible. Every wise person in this world will ask themselves the big questions about our human existence: who are we, where did we come from, and where are we going? Anyone who desires the Truth about these things should look to the first three chapters of the Bible for answers. If you understand these chapters well, then the rest of the Bible becomes very clear. Therefore Sections 1 and 2 of this booklet will focus on clarifying what the Bible teaches us about God and man. After that, Section 3 summarizes the Old Testament and the Jewish religion and Section 4 reveals the good news of Jesus Christ.