The Tomb of Jesus — Page 50
“Similarities 50 between Christianity and. Buddhism have frequently been pointed out of late, and the idea that Christ was influenced by. Buddhist doctrines has more than once been put forward by popular writers. The difficulty has hitherto been to discover any real historical channel through which Buddhism could have reached Palestine at the time of Christ. "5 66. I can find no evidence whatever of any actual and direct communication of any of these ideas common to Buddhism and Christianity from the East to the West. ' ,,6. Hence, the alleged story of Jesus' borrowing from Buddhism is utterly without foundation. . A fact of exceeding importance bearing on this question consists in the complete lack of the sources of information concerning Buddha and. Buddhism which can be traced back to a period earlier than the Christian era. Eitel maintains that "Not a single ancient manuscript of the Buddhist authorities has survived the ravages of time. . Max Muller fully agrees with this opinion when he says: "All Indian MSS are comparatively 5 Max Muller, Ninteenth Century, October 1894. 6 Rhys Davids, Lectures On The Origins Of Buddhism, Hibbert. Lectures, p. 151. 7 Three Lectures On Buddhism, p. 23. 997