was TEST...now Buddhism

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> CREA

>     Ditto re Farrell!  Looks like the router at Internet Infidels is

still

> running, at least.  Guess we all were waiting for the Ezekiel debacle and

> didn't want to muddy the waters.  If there's a particular (or favorite)

> errancy issue which you'd care to bounce off the group, please don't

> hesitate due to current circumstances -- otherwise Sherman or Bell may

trot

> out the tired old line of our all being mindless robots parrotting the

> Gospel According to Till, and are incapable of discourse in the absence

of

> that "eminence grise".  ;-)


THOMSON
Greetings Mr Crea...  There is a subject I'd like to bounce off the group. 
Without wishing to cause a dispute, I'm personally interested to find out
if you believe there is any archeological evidence of the life of
Siddhartha Gautama.  Are there any independent (non-buddhist) sources which
correlate with legend of his life that are contemporary with his life?  
Can it be shown (with the same evidence that you require of Christianity)
that he actually discovered the Four Noble Truths?  The Eight-fold Path? Is
there any evidence for Reincarnation?  Karma?
Please don't infer hostility....just curiosity.


BRIDEAN
My answer to that would be that you apply different standards based on the
type of claim being made.  For example, you wouldn't apply the same
standards
as far as understanding science to Steven Hawkings as you would some kid
who is in the first grade.

Therefore, based on the claims of Buddhism it isn't really important
whether or
not Gotama existed.  This is because unlike Christianity, Buddhism is based
on the belief in the four noble truths and the eightfold noble path.  It
doesn't
matter whether Gotama discovered these or not.  Another example would be
that we generally don't ask for proof of Einstein's existence before we
accept
the theory of relativity.  We generally ask for evidence which has nothing
to
do with whether Einstein existed or not.

However, Christianity makes claims which make the actual existence of 
Jesus rather crucial.  If the teachings of Christianity were limited to
Jesus's
sermon on the mount we would probably not be concerned about whether
he really existed or not.  However, since a MAJOR tenent of Christianity
hinges on the fact that Jesus died and rose from the dead, the existence
of Jesus now becomes rather crucial.

Hope I made this clear.

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