Case 14 · Polemic · The class
Buddhism
No-self against karma and rebirth, the grounds of morality, and Pure Land grace as a point of contact.
5 claims · 8 exhibits · 7 objections answered
What this case argues
- Buddhism’s teaching of no-self sits in real tension with its teaching of karma and rebirth, a difficulty recognized within Buddhism itself.
- Buddhism distinguishes craving from wholesome desire, so its real diagnosis is misdirected desire rather than desire itself, which is close to Augustine’s and a point of contact rather than a contradiction.
- A reality in which everything conditioned is impermanent and the ultimate is impersonal raises a hard, contested question about where lasting meaning and objective morality could come from.
- Pure Land Buddhism, one of the largest forms in East Asia, teaches salvation by the grace of Amida Buddha received through trust, not by self-effort, which is a striking point of contact with the gospel.
- The Buddha declined to answer whether there is a God or whether the soul survives death, treating such questions as distractions from the path, which shapes how a Buddhist hears the God question.
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