Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Y2K" data-source="post: 12340356" data-attributes="member: 35049">Therefore we see that it is not only the Buddha who rejects the idea of a soul existing by its own nature (an atman). This rejection is also consistent with the teaching of the Christ. We have nothing that is immortal by nature. Since the human nature cannot survive by itself, the soul and body have to be sustained by God. But although anatta is true for the Christian as well, we must be aware of a significant difference: By ourselves we are indeed impermanent and subject to decay and nothingness, but by the grace of God we are held in existence and are given the chance to have an eternal relationship with him. In a way that would be strange to the Buddhist, God gives the chance of immortality to the impermanent “heap of aggregates”. To use the Buddhist metaphor of the lamp that goes out when its fuel is consumed (MN 72, 19–20) as representing nirvana, in Christ the lamp is offered the chance to stay alive for eternity and not go out. Its fuel is the grace of God.</blockquote>

Top Bottom