, 1881-01-16
The Close Resemblance Be-
tween Christ and
B1lddila.
No Point Of Contact Visible in the
Grand Exposltors Of Al
trulsm.
lmperfeetions Of Science and Theology
The Time Coming Wien They
Will Agree.
The Late Thomas Atkinson,
Episcopal Bishop Of North
Carolina
Celebration Of the Syriac Mass in One OF
the New York Catholic
Churches.
General Notes, Personals, Sab
bath Musings-Serv-
ices To-Day.
CHRIST AND BUDDHA.
THE RESEMBLANCE. But no POINT OF CON
TACT BETWEEN THE TWO.


Ner 1'orl sun.
On one occasion, at Il meeting Of the Bosto
Radical Club, come reScub,ances we're p0!nfe
out between parts Of the New Testament an
sayings attributed to ConfuciEs nnd to Dnddhs
Thereupou Mr.. Wendell Phillips surprised Il!
audience by intimating TINT these coincidence
were so many p!agiarsu1s OIL the part OF Easter
authors from tile Christian Scriptures by thi
remark Mr.. Phillips made it plain that he wa
more convcrsaut with the history Of the l nite
States than with the chronology Of religions
But :onycrsc assertions just as groundlcs5 hny
l.een made by those who would minimize tn
novelty and Importance Of the Christian teach
inss Such was Burnout's contention that th
story OF Christ wns merely reproduction Of th'
legend of Erishu,, for it is now generally &C
!.1owlelged by scholars that the worship o
Erishua did not arise in Ind!u earlier than tn.
fifth or sixth century Of our era. There is. O
course. no such fatal chronological objection Il
the theory which would base the Gospel narrn
tive IN part on the Buddhist Scriptures for thcr'
was, unquesuonabiy, such man MS Gauta1na
who lived about $40 years before the birth q
Christ To prove, however. Il trnusfcr o.
materials from the Biographies Of Duddha II
TIE Christlan eyangel;sts, it is not sufficient Il
show rcscmblances. 1t is Indispensable to ex-
libit points Of contract between lndia auG
Palestine; and that is just what modern scholar
ship has hitherto failed to do The extant evil
dence on This head has lately been summed
up in the Nineteenth Century by Prof. j. f.
Carpenter, who points OUT how decidedly it falls
short Of establishing the alleged connection.
cursory Observers should have been Impressed @ I'd
by tho likeness between the accounts ut
Gautamn and tho biographies ot Jesus, and
should have inferred that Il strong case for the
theory OF transcription might hc made out. 1t
was told of Gautama, for example, that his in
carnatton was voluntary, undertaken nor for
hut that he might redeem the world Again.
1t bis birth the angels In Heaven sang. "This
Law is }udIslttn born on earth TO give JOY and
peace to men,; and an aged saint, who h,d truv-
eled from Afur TO see him. predicted his future
greatness. AS the yeurs passed. the child grew
in stature and wisdom until lie taught his teach
ures that surrounded him, and ut length left bis
home. He went into the waste places, and
strove to attain the peace he ss.ught by pcnances
appeared to him in the air. and " "ofYered to give
him universal sovereignty over the four quar-
tiers OF the earth -; but GnuruIna replied in sub
stance that his kingdom was not ct this world
His final attainment ot complete enlightenmear
OF Buddnuhood was signalixci by thirty-two
great 1nisacics.. The blind received their sight.
the deaf could hear, tho lame walk freely and
cAptiycs were restored to liberty. According To
the burmese leEend, Gau1ama himself, ut his
eliminating moment was trtnsrured, and his
after forty-uine days of fnsting near the Bo-
tree. or tree Of wisdom, he set forth. according
toa Chinese version Of the narrative. " 10 cstab-
lish the kingdom of righteousness. to give light
to those in darkness, and to open the gate Of i'm
mortality to men"
Striking, also, are the parallcl1sms between
the prcccpts ascribcd TO Huddha and the teach
i1gs Of Jesus. Wearc told that Glutama sent
forth his disciples 10 preach tho most excellent
lay to all uen. without exception. Let every
brought to the broad daylight" Early in bis
career. Gnu1a1na Is described as preaching q
sermon on the Mount. lie bade his disciples, If
her Ia
II they struck them. to strike not in return
The Keynote Ut his injunctions was il close ac-
eur coId y With thht which Jesus pronounced the sec
out measure, impartial. unmixed. without
enmfy, prevail throughout the world" Pro-
testing asninst slavish adherence to 4 cere-
montal system, he declared that salvation was
IN the spirit. not in the letter. "}.eyercnce,"
be sud, shown TO tho righteous Is hcttcr tnnn
sacritfce ~ =; al and asa!n. The real deden,cnt
lug Of tlesh.' To some ono asking, What must
i; 90 to isy " Up n store future bcssedncss:" he
none. rcrier reverence to whuln it IS due
practice every Kind Of sclf-dIscillne and pure
life. do s"ot to those around you.
by puFnblcs drawn from Lusandry he con-
unually inforccd his maxim: "Speuk the truth,
from The little ;hou mast. Finally, ike Jesus, Ss
Guatau'a ba1c his disciples lay lip Tor them
selves 'ncurruptibt. unpurlonabie treasures,
- man.. he observed, >'buricS 4 treasure in n
deep pit, which, lying there, prot,s hln nothing.
L.
treasure Of tfmpcsa11cc. sobcrness charity.
plety. Behold treasure secure impregnublt'
91t cannot pass awax treasure unshared with
For rcasons ~ be SIanccd ut presently, the
1ucnttty nt thought and expression remarked in
such excerpts from the buddhist scriptures, and
iu certain passages Of the Gospel narraljye dn.s
nos OF itself suffice to prove transcription The
iart of plagiarism. Ike nay other fact, must he
possible. by historical t"s1imunr Now. the
buddhist historians themselves claim no con-
guests Tor their fa',h In the Countries west of
Nactrin1a. There is no proof that tie dispersion
o1 the Jews extended IL 1n,iin. and even after
The christian era the t:nve1s uf jewish scholars
reached nofarthcr Than the Parthau kingdom
on the east- As1n. from the beginning al the
Third century u. C., when Buddhism first nc
CURED some prominence in India, Under Asoka
fhe !no,', na9ons between Indian Kings and the
IFeek soferctgns OF Syria ant Egypt were ex-
treme]y for','ai and infrx*luene- To tho few
Gseek ambassadors or trAyecrs who visited
India prior to the birth Of Christ, tho name uf
Huddha seems to have been unknown. and in
their surviving writings only two casual :ll,,-
eions can. with any degree of certainty. be re-
nf sicn1 jn!tl,ra;ioa through traders, We st0uld
remember that thu land route of Indian tratIc.
across the deserts Ut North Arnbiu and Syria.
,ad been. to large extent, Abandoned long te- |
Tore the beginning. Of our eru for The maritime
route by the Rcd Sea. Moreover so late as the |
,eiEn Of AUGUSTUS We find Strabo complaining I
I 20 information, the merchants who visited
naia being IS few aud uncducutcd aud cs,rtrib-
l11ns nulhinH 10 tEe cNust knowledge of the
and whittier they suilcd." II is not. indeed, til
0"nri the e!ld of the second century after
.hr1st that buddhism comes clearly and specific
lls into view. In short, there Is no evidence
hat the commerce between the Mediterranean
Id the Enst, dependent, as it wns on the iutc--
ent!on OF the Arats. served It ANY time us n
7c9!u'n Tor the spread OF IDEAS.
In the present state CT scholarship and anti
rarinn Research, the hypothesis seems lntena-
fc TINT the incidents Of f;uddha's CAREER, or the
rirciplts Of his philosophy, could huye secured
lodxHent in the thought and sentiment of |
a!es:frc prior IL the birth Of Christ Nor do |
t Feed such superstition 10 account for the
siulifnritics In The schemes OF the
uddhist and Christian ethics. AS tho two mes
'i@ts most Intensely lraught With the cntGu-
asnl IF humanity. as the two most peFfcct ex-
,ssuonS nf altrui5tn which tho world has seen, |
z might hare expected 10 discern in them a |
!tstuntial likeness of idea: nor shall VIC be !
ucn surprised by coincidenccs of expression, |
1ell VIC tcur ia mind that the naterlai condi-
'ns Of India aud Palestine were probably not
But when we pass from the ethical I
inlttcs Of the two faiths tO,their metaphysical
thcolog.caf fcnets. we encounter IL profound
d :rrcconcilab!e divergence. TO Gautama, ia t
hour 1T enlightenment beneath the Do~trec, | {
,re came no vision OF personal God; and |
In the Christian sense *of conscious
1:lnuity wAe preached lv hume Of his discf- +
s. till the primitive creed of Buddhism had !.