AND ITS CHRISTIAN CRITICS BY DR. PAUL CARUS " CHICAGO THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY JOHN FRYER CHINESE LIBRARY COPYRIGHT, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, BY THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY, CHICAGO, U. S. A. PREFACE. COMPARISON is the best method of acquiring comprehension; and comprehension involves both the discrimination of contrasts and the recognition of similarities. Differences are upon the whole at once apparent while similarities are hidden; but the import of differences can, at the same time, not be appreciated until the similarities are seen. Thus, the discovery that the course of the moon and the fall of a stone are both phenomena of gravitation, becomes significant only when the difference of both phenomena can be traced to a difference of conditions. For this reason every religious man should study other religions in order to understand his own religion; and he must try to trace conscientiously and lovingly the similarities in the various faiths in order to acquire the key that will unlock to him the law of the religious evolution of mankind. The present book purports to be a contribution to comparative religion, and it is one-sided because it is addressed mainly to Christians, viz., to those Christians who are anxious to acquire an insight into the significance of Buddhist thought as it is at its best. Buddhism and Christianity are in many respects |