The 10 Commandments: The Moral Differences Between Buddhism And Christianity

Every religion has a moral code or set of laws that believers adhere to, this is known as religious law (Gellman). In Buddhism, novice monks and nuns adhere to a moral code entitled the Ten Precepts, which are voluntary rules they undertake (“Access”). In Christianity a code of ethics called the 10 Commandments is followed in obedience to God. The Gospel of John reads “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” 1 John 5:3). These moral codes address an array of topics in regard to various aspects of life. The stance of Buddhism and Christianity on various topics can be attained through a comparison of the 10 precepts and the 10 commandments on the subjects of violence, human desire, and the treatment
of others.
When looked at superficially the 10 Commandments and the 10 Precepts are identical; however, when examined more closely one sees the differences within these moral codes.
The Christian stance on killing can be understood through thorough examination of the 6th commandment. The 6th commandment in Christianity states “Thou shall not kill” (Ex. 20:13). The Hebrew translation of this commandment is “Thou shall not murder”(Thou). The consensual meaning of murder is the “unlawful pre-mediated killing of another human being”(Dictionary). Thus, this Commandment is understood to solely to be in regards to human beings, as opposed to other living creatures. The corresponding Buddhist Precept is said as, “ I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying living creatures” (Brahma). The explanation of this Precept found within the Brahma New Sūtra states that this refers to taking any life including the lives of animals, plants, and recognizably humans. As seen above, Buddhism and Christianity both have identical views on taking human lives; however, Buddhism further extents this view of the sacredness of life to recognize the lives of animals and plants as well, thus
applying this principle to all living beings, instead of solely being in reference human beings as with Christianity. On a similar note the Christian and Buddhist view of abortion can be seen through close examination of these commandments. Through modern scientific discoveries concerning ovulation and surrounding the question of at what point life begins, Buddhists have concluded that live starts at fertilization (Keown). Therefore, because of this scientific finding Buddhist have generally reached the consensus that abortion is taking a live which goes against the 1st precept.
In contrast to Buddhism, the consensus in Christianity is not as clearly stated. Although, the 6th commandment states not to murder, there is no clear description of what constitutes at murder in regards to pregnancy found in the Bible. A passage the gives one some insight into God’s view ( and thus the Christian view) of murder can be found in Exodus. The passage states” And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no [further] injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him; and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any [further] injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise “ ( Exodus 21-22:25). From the passage stated above one can decipher that because God gave such a harsh penalty, for those who inflict violence upon pregnant women, that he truly values the life inside of the mother, and therefore it is deemed important. From this one can take
that Buddhism and Christianity are share the same view that abortion should not be done, and share the same reasons as well; however, Christians come to this conclusion through biblical references and Buddhists come to this conclusion through science. Since violence can be seen as “strength of emotion or an unpleasant or destructive natural force” (cite this), one can also look at the Buddhist and Christian stance of verbal violence. To do this one can examine the Ninth Commandment which states that thou shall not “bear false witness” against they neighbour and the fourth Precept which is a vow to refrain from incorrect speech. First, when we examine the Ninth Commandment though consultation, with the Holy Scriptures of Christianity one sees that this means to falsely accuse a person of committing a deed or lying about what someone has done. This can be a violent act against another’s reputation and their own self-esteem. Concerning the fourth Precept of Buddhism, refraining from “incorrect speech” is to refrain from lying, speech that brings about hostility or disagreement, idle chatter, and abusive speech (“Access”). The abstaining the types of speech listed above is what is recognized in Buddhist as correct or right speech. More specifically right speech is seen as speech that is “is spoken at the right time. It is spoken in truth. It is spoken affectionately. It is spoken beneficially. It is spoken with a mind of good-will."( AN 5.198). Buddhist believe that the dangers of not refraining from incorrect speech are harming others and tormenting oneself (“Access”). As seen through the information stated above both Christians and Buddhist believe in proper speech. The Christian elaboration of this phrase is to not accuse someone of something that have not done, and to abstain from lying. Buddhist also incorporates these values into the Fourth precept and goes more in depth, and truly answers the question of what truly incorrect speech is.