Course Summary

A comparative study

A survey of the history of Buddhism, including beliefs, practices, and scriptures, along with a comparison to basic Christian ideals.  The course is organized in three modules: (1) The History of Buddhism, (2) Buddhism: Belief and Practice, and (3) Sacred Writings. 3 semester hours of graduate credit.

Objectives

• Summarize the general history of Buddhism, along with its spiritual, socio-historical, and ethnocentric dimensions

• Assess key issues essential to understanding the distinctions between Buddhism and Christianity

• Compare and contrast the sacred scriptures and specific concepts of Buddhism and Christianity.

Credit.  Credit requires a 70 percent score on three multiple-choice exams and two essays.  Each is valued at 20 percent of the final grade.  A sample multiple-choice exam problem is given below.

Buddhism originated in (A) China, (B) India, (C) Indonesia, (D) Japan.

Resources 

Ample e-books are available in the Electronic Collection without cost to the student.