How did the development of religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism transformed?

Question

Please help answer, it's for school!..Thanks!

Answer 1

The history of Buddhism in the Western world goes back to a period before the Christian era. First there were those contacts and inter-cultural influences which gave Buddhism a hearing in the world into which Christianity was born and developed. Secondly, there were outstanding scholars in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries who presented Buddhism to the Western world through editions and translations of Buddhist scriptures and their research. Finally, certain misrepresentations of Buddhism which persist in the minds of Westerners need to be removed and a brief positive account of what Buddhism has to offer to our modern world presented.
The Buddha lived in India in the sixth century B.C. The first historical and important confrontation between the classical East and the classical West took place in the fourth century B.C. when Alexander the Great invaded India. He was no ordinary soldier. As a pupil of Aristotle, he deeply appreciated cultural values, and in his expedition was a large number of scholars and artists for cultural exchanges. It is reasonable to suppose that the knowledge of Indian culture these Greek intellectuals and artists took back to their country included some acquaintance with Buddhism. As a result of this meeting of East and West, diplomatic relations were established and maintained between several Greek rulers and India's Court of Pataliputra (modern Patna), the capital of the Maurya Empire.
In the third century B.C., the great Buddhist Emperor Asoka of India, sometimes described as the Buddhist Constantine, in three of his Edicts (Rock Edicts II, V and XIII), engraved on rocks and still extant, declared that he had established a ministry of religious affairs (called Dharma-mahamatra) to spread the Dharma and to promote moral and religious life among the people, and that he had sent successful 'Missions of Piety' to some Greek territories in addition to various parts of his own empire. He mentions by name five Greek kings to whom these missions were sent. They have been identified as Antiochus II of Syria (261-246 B.C.), Ptolemy II of Egypt (285-247 B.C.), Antigonas Gonatas of Macedonia (276-246 B.C.), Magas of Cyrene (300-258 B.C.) and Alexander of Epirus (272-258 B.C.). There can be no reasonable doubt that Asoka's envoys' or 'missionaries' (Duta) spread a knowledge of Buddhism in these Greek territories, where Judaism was already known.
A few years ago an Edict of Asoka in both Greek and Aramaic languages was discovered in Afghanistan. (It is interesting to note that Aramaic was the language of Christ.) Very recently another Edict in Greek only, not as yet published, was discovered in the same country. The contents of these Edicts are more or less the same as those of Asoka's 'Edicts of Dharma' (Dharmalipi) discovered in India. It is now believed that almost all Asoka's Indian Edicts were published simultaneously in Greek too for the benefit of Greek speaking peoples.
'The Questions of Milinda' (The Milinda-panha), the well-known Buddhist text in Pali language written about the first century after Christ (A.C.), reports a discussion on some important Buddhist doctrinal problems between a king named Milinda and the Buddhist scholar-saint Nagasena. This king has been identified as the Greek king Menandros, who ruled over the north?western part of India in the first century B.C.
' The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka' (The Mahavamsa), written in the fifth century A.C., but based on earlier material, says that in the first century B.C. a delegation of Buddhist monks from the Greek city of Alexandria (Yona-nagara-Alasanda), led by the Greek Elder Dhammarakkhita the Great, attended the inauguration ceremony of the Great Stupa (now called Ruvanvali-saya), at Anurdhapura in Sri Lanka. Whether this refers to Alexandria in Egypt or some other Alexandria, it was a Greek city where an important Buddhist community existed.
Clement of Alexandria, one of the 'early Church fathers', in the closing decade of the second century A.C., says that among the 'barbarians' whose philosophy came to Greece were 'those who obey the precepts of Buddha'.
Numerous scattered references like these indicate the existence of Buddhism in the West in those early days. There should be no doubt as to the Buddhist influence on the Greek world and on early Christianity. The Christian monastery itself seems to have been influenced by the Buddhist monachism. It is well-known that Buddhists were the first in history to establish and organize cenobitic monasteries. Yet, curiously, no documents pertaining to Buddhism in the West in those early days are to be found today. One wonders whether they were destroyed by nature or perished at the hand of narrow?minded fanaticism. The influence of Buddhism and Indian thought on Western culture especially during those formative Christian centuries would provide serious students with numerous subjects of research.

Answer 2

The Spirit of God has worked in different mysterious ways thru the ages transforming people to engage in many beliefs and ways thru the cultures they're in by this Acton of the holy spirit it may then touch many people and cause them to know God and its Spirit in the way that is best for those particular people.in those particular lands, within those peoples cultures comes realization of truth thru the Spirits guidance.By the grace of the One and only God.

Answer 3

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