Is it possible to be both a Buddhist and a Christian?

I looked into it a while back. On the surface they seem similar, promoting peace, harmony with your fellow man, asceticism, etc. But if you go deeper there are a few differences that can't really be reconciled. Better to just pick the one you like better

The metaphysics couldn't be any different (which makes it hilarious when Christians suggest their metaphysics are the only logical alternative to "athiesitc" materialism)

please point me out the god that is worshiped in Buddhism

Buddhism asserts a different truth than the Christian one.

In Christianity, you have a benevolent diety who is the centerpoint of meaning.

In Buddhism, you have the flow of images in consciousness and the notion that the way to end "suffering" is to gain a certain realization about reality where attachment to one's own evaluations, emotions, etc are controllable.

As a Buddhist I see our own understanding of the nonself and nirvana totally incompatible with Christian salvation and eternal life. Knowing dukkha, why would a Buddhist even find eternal life desirable? Christianity has wisdom, but ultimately it responds to impermanence and death with extreme attachment to God and the kingdom of heaven, and a historical narrative of the universe from Genesis to revelations. By contrast, the concrete historical existence of gotama Buddha and linear eschatology are not considered really essential to the Buddhist dharma, and doubt in the Buddha is even a step towards enlightenment. Karma is impartial, nonconscious and can have mixed proportions in Buddhism - in Christianity you're pretty much either a sinner or Jesus (although both religions have sects that operate by works or faith within themselves) and the Christian hell is generally considered eternal, as opposed to birth in naraka whick is never eternal but often very long.

Does the nicene creed have any scriptural basis?

This statement baffles me but I hear westerners say it a lot. Buddhism is not nihilistic at all. Karma is considered an objective feature of reality and compassion is a core tenet. It posits that the phenomenal is not reality, yes, as did Plato and many others.

Taoism is quite compatible with Buddhism, but Confucians and Buddhists often disagreed for obvious reasons that were not really reconciled but ultimately ignored. Western ideas about God undoubtedly influenced Eastern religious polemics and apologetics, but syncretism is really a feature of all societies. Many things that a western atheist considers particular to his culture, foreigners would call religious.

What's literally the first commandment? Trust me, I wish it was. I was born and raised in a Christian household, so I can't stray from my original faith, but Buddhism and even Hinduism fascinate me.

Buddha isn't a god and devas are not worshipped by most Buddhists, only in deviant traditions like the Tibetans.

Buddha is above Gods according to Buddhism

No, humans have the unique quality of being 1) smart enough to understand the dharma, 2) not afflicted with some crippling flaw like "always being hungry" or "perpetually orgasming" and 3) have a short enough life span to dwell upon the notion of death such that following the dharma is even something that we would conceive of.

The Buddha teaches gods and demons the dharma not because he's better than them, but because they are even more deluded about the truth than most people are (It's hard to desire to forego dukkha if you live for seventy bazillion years and shoot fireballs out of your dick).

Of course there's folk traditions where the Buddha is pretty much Yahweh, but that's different.

Leviticus 26:1 ESV / 171 helpful votes

“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.

"You will no get out in tell you've paid every last penny" - Jesus Christ
Either he means purgatory, or hell isnt eternal. I agree it's purgatory but it's debateable.

>What's literally the first commandment?

I am the Lord your God who took you forth from Egypt and the house of slavery.

You're thinking of the second commandment.

Apostles' creed all the way, orthodox and aryans are just memes.

He's not above the gods. He's wiser than the devas but devas are not really gods in the western sense of the word, unless you consider Jehovah a deluded Brahma which is obviously heresy. It is other metaphysical concepts that make the two incompatible, the soul and afterlife especially. I feel the moral prescriptions are quite similar, and Buddha does say they're important even if rebirth and karma turn out to be false.

In chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha explains that he is truly eternal and omniscient.

That sounds like a God to me.

If that's the case, then we all are. We all have that nature.

No way unless you mean you're nominally one and seriously the other

He explicitly denies being a God when asked, saying his mental state was neither like that of a deva or ordinary human (given the realms of existence are more mentally divided than physical in Buddhist canon). Certainly there are fantastic descriptions of him and his powers that many Buddhists take literally and many don't, but the earliest written texts we have were composed a few centuries after his supposed death, and he did not posit himself as any form of creator, ruler or judge of creation. Nor did he grant requests for miracles (beyond self transformation) or claim the ability to atone for anothers karma. Focusing on his supposed feats is considered more of a distraction from enlightenment than anything.

>Nor did he grant requests for miracles (beyond self transformation)

In the book Great Disciples of the Buddha by Nyanaponika Thera and Hellmuth Hecker, there are several additional powers described:

The Divine Eye (Clairvoyance)- this power allows one to see beings in other realms as well as see the future
The Divine Ear (Clairaudience)
Travel by Mind-Made Body(Astral Travel)
Travel with the Physical Body (to other realms)
Telekinesis (Supernormal Locomotion)
Flying
The power of Transformation
The ability to replicate one's body
Penetration of others' minds (Thought Reading)
Passing through solid objects
Diving in and out of the earth as if through water
Walking on water
Touching the sun and the moon with one's fingers
Becoming invisible
Recollection of past lives (some would call this a power, some would call it true knowledge)

You misunderstand. I'm not denying the canonized powers (which you list despite the fact that I explicitly mentioned them last post) but he didn't "perform miracles" such healing for people like Jesus did, and said he hated such requests. He classified the extent and of such powers, and the mindstate of meditation, as avyakata. Nor did he consider this unique to his own being but a result of buddhahood that anyone can achieve. You also ignore the logical conclusion of anatta and how it relates to eternity.

Jesus himself says to his disciples "you will have powers greater than these" in regards to his miracles.

Also, my usage of self-transformation was not literal, although there are myths of him physically doing so. What I meant was that he considered his gift to be the dharma itself rather than satisfying people's transient whims through purported supernatural abilities.

Jesus says "we are all gods" and scripture cannot be nullified.

He also says you can make the mountains jump into the sea if you have faith the size of a mustard seed. Power ultimately belongs to God alone in Christianity.

Clearly you need works as well. When his displays asked why they couldn't drive certain demons out Jesus told them those types of demons could only be driven out "through fasting and prayer."

*disciples

Yes but some of these "powers" are clearly figurative principles of faith or wisdom, not comic book superpowers like you contrive.

I never contrived them as comic book superpowers. I think you're confusing me with another poster.

Walking on water is clearly metaphoric.

Jesus himself declares that the bread he fed the crowds with was spiritual teachings, not actual bread.

>Jesus says "we are all gods"

Where? I have a strong feeling you truncated this.

biblehub.com/john/10-34.htm

>omitting possessive apostrophes in order to imply plurality

He said they belong to god.

No. He clearly calls them gods, not that they belong to God.

Your are gods, not "you are god's".

The psalm it's based on is clear as well, as is the context of the saying.

The world itself is based on very supernatural concepts and many don't even realize this. Jesus made this fact plain as day to those around him and just one of the ways he did it was to cast demonic entities/unclean spirits out of people which were causing everything from numerous diseases to mental disorders(not all problems/ailments are caused by demons but demons DEFINITELY can cause ailments, deciding which is which takes spiritual discernment)

I've lived in a house in which people practice/have practiced satanist witchcraft and is even buried near/on top of Indian burial grounds, I have a ready test-bed of what works/exists spiritually against darkness and can readily practice these concepts (out of necessity) and believe me prayer works against these forces/entities which can be as stubborn as a roach infestation once they 'lay claim' to a certain area, or a person. Jesus himself speaks on the mechanics of this behavior in Matthew 12:43-45
43When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation

I've also been trained by multiple exorcist priests over the last half decade whom also know this stuff is very real. I'm not trolling about any of this it is very real and it can be very deadly if you're caught off guard/not strong in Christ/covered in the blood of Christ for protection. Yes Jesus spoke in parables, and some lessons are metaphor, but when Jesus cast out demons that's what he literally did...just some food for thought God bless

Cont.

Back to the original statement Jesus was indeed being literal when he said certain demons only come out through fasting and prayer, during a fast I did recently I prayed for a certain "pain" in my chest which refused to come out for years and it finally did which literally felt like a small electric shock and the pain was immediately gone. I've heard multiple theories as to why fasting does this but my guess would be that 'starving' the body physically makes it harder to inhabit for certain entities/issues to arise literally 'starving' the demon out you. Again just saying these are spiritual instructions in the bible you're actually reading from a VERY knowledgeable guide (God and God's son) so what you may take as metaphor may actually be quite literal and vice-versa. Praise Jesus.

The Nicene creed is accepted by Catholics,Orthodox,Luterans and Anglicans, it was established in the 1st Council of Nicea.
There are problems only in the 2nd Council of Nicea