The two Christian saints who are the Buddha • Hacker News Board

Re: The two Christian saints who are the Buddha

#201

Post by elwell » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 5:33 PM UTC

gsky wrote: post #196

elwell wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds more like the "scribes and Pharisees" that Jesus preached against : "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. ...they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But yo…

He was born to a virgin and you expect us to believe that fairy tale.

Not without reason. I believe it, in view of the entire context.

Re: The two Christian saints who are the Buddha

#202

Post by 3m4r » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 5:57 PM UTC

geye1234 wrote: post #200

3m4r wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Christianity is not 'a syncretic import from the east'. One way we know this is by looking at its differences with eastern ideas. What would first-century Christianity make of the denial of diachronic identity (the self is an illusion), or the denial of the idea that God is personal? You're still doing the exact same thing. "Eastern ideas" is a leaky set and faulty abstraction. You have pointed to no actual bounded…

>>Christianity is not 'a syncretic import from the east'. One way we know this is by looking at its differences with eastern ideas. What would first-century Christianity make of the denial of diachronic identity (the self is an illusion), or the denial of the idea that God is personal? > You're still doing the exact same thing. "Eastern ideas" is a leaky set and faulty abstraction. You have pointed to no actual bound…

I think I've used enough of my time and more than illustrated my original points.

I wish you well, and hope your faith grows to be as secure as St. Thomas Aquinas's before his death and not as Bellarmine's during his life.

Re: The two Christian saints who are the Buddha

#203

Post by geye1234 » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

3m4r wrote: post #202

geye1234 wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Christianity is not 'a syncretic import from the east'. One way we know this is by looking at its differences with eastern ideas. What would first-century Christianity make of the denial of diachronic identity (the self is an illusion), or the denial of the idea that God is personal? > You're still doing the exact same thing. "Eastern ideas" is a leaky set and faulty abstraction. You have pointed to no actual bound…

I think I've used enough of my time and more than illustrated my original points. I wish you well, and hope your faith grows to be as secure as St. Thomas Aquinas's before his death and not as Bellarmine's during his life.

Yep likewise, wish you well. (And what do you expect of a Jesuit? :) )

Re: The two Christian saints who are the Buddha

#204

Post by geye1234 » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:59 PM UTC

danans wrote: post #183

geye1234 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but that proves nothing. The fact that human beings who profess religion R engage in behaviour B does not imply that B results from said profession of R. But I think you'd struggle to argue that the caste system doesn't result from Hinduism.

> But I think you'd struggle to argue that the caste system doesn't result from Hinduism. The "Hindu" caste system results from the history of social hierarchy in the Indian subcontinent. What you are calling "Hinduism" is a relatively recent construct that has emerged as a response to religions with more centralized/uniform doctrines and institutions. There are belief systems categorized under this "Hinduism" label…

True, I was speaking loosely, but that doesn't affect the point. If you change my statement to 'the caste system results from some belief systems categorized under the Hindu label' then the original point (which is that you find enormous differences resulting from different belief system) stands.

The existence of caste systems outside Hinduism doesn't change this either.

Some objects are red in and of themselves, while others can be made red by something outside them. Likewise, some beliefs cause people to act in certain ways, while other people may act in the same ways tangentially to, or even despite, their belief.