Is Buddhism an Atheistic Religion?

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No, it has an apophatic theology, which is also found in many strains of Christianity, in Hinduism, in Taoism, in Islam, and in Judaism.

Comments

  1. Geremia3:05 PM

    Wasn't the Jew Moses Maimonides the first to champion the via negativa, even before St. Thomas Aquinas?

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  2. Silas Barta4:10 PM

    That's a really good point to keep in mind. A big reason for this misconception is that the average person isn't going to learn about this until they get into the more advanced theology classes (or is otherwise well-suited for autodidactic study of God). I've even seen some top, tenured theologians get this one wrong!

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  3. gcallah12:35 AM

    Silas, we are agreeing on a point of theology!

    I guess I picked the wrong week to stop popping pills.

    ReplyDelete
  4. gcallah12:39 AM

    Alan, versions of the via negativa show up in Taoism around 500 BC, and in Zen by what... the 400s CE? Plotinus had a version of it in pagan philosophy around the 200s CE. Some of the Greek fathers were introducing it into Christianity a little after that.

    So Maimonides and Aquinas were latecomers to this game!

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