Comparative Characteristics of Christianity and Buddhism Values

Abstract

The article considers dynamics and carries out comparison of significant valuable guidelines of Christianity and Buddhism which form the basis of theological conceptions if these world religions and demonstrate ideological and moral priorities of people professing these religions. The issues under consideration are of relevance as the problem considered in the article and reacquired results of the survey reveal the difference in the mentality of people confessing definite religion and as a result can remove difficulties arising in the process of communication of people sharing different religious views.
 The aim of the carried investigation is to identify values forming the basis of the two of the world’s principal religions. To determine causes and main directions of historical dynamics of the pointed values as well as influence of the values of a certain religion on the society’s functioning.
 In the process of conducting research the following methods were used: semantic and content analysis method, conceptual analysis and discourse analysis.
 The study showed that the following values can be referred to traditional Christian values: faith, good (kindness), love, mercy, modesty, forgiveness, purity of morals, God. At the present stage of social development Christian values have undergone changes, and at present such values as life, truth, and good have come to the fore. Besides, modern Christianity refers to values such notions as patriotism, freedom and family values. Buddhism historically refers to the category of values the guidelines determining foundations of human life: correct views, correct intentions, correct speech, correct behavior, correct lifestyle, correct efforts, correct attention. At the present stage of social development modified values of Buddhism come to the forefront: cleansing the mind and developing wisdom, compassion, the law of karma and rebirth. In modern Buddhism, values present complex concepts implying that a person has particular moral qualities. The results of the study showed that Christian values have been kept unchanged, while values of Buddhism have been subject to changes under the influence of changing historical conditions.