希腊有巴兰与约沙法(Barlaam and Josaphat)的传说,故事里约沙法本为王子,后来出家,随僧人巴兰修行。一般认为圣约沙法的传说其实是释迦牟尼的生平故事,经过阿拉伯文及格鲁吉亚文翻译而来。这传说常被认为是7世纪大马士革的圣约翰所书,但最早的纪录出于11世纪格鲁吉亚僧侣阿索斯的尤锡米乌斯(英语:Euthymius of Athos)的叙述。而约沙法这个名字(格鲁吉亚语:Iodasaph,亚拉伯语:Yūdhasaf 或 Būdhasaf)和梵文中菩萨(Bodhisattva)的读音接近。
1816年佐治·史坦利·法伯(英语:George Stanley Faber)在其著作偶像崇拜起源的历史证据(The Origin of Pagan Idolatry Ascertained from Historical Testimony)指出关于耶稣和释迦牟尼的描述极为相似,认为这可能不是偶然。[23]
比较宗教及东方研究学者马斯·梅勒在1883年在其著作印度:它告诉我们什么(India: What it Can Teach Us)指出“佛教和基督教有许多巧合地相似,是我们无法否认的。而佛教比基督教早至少四百多年存在。非常希望有人能够透过历史的证据证明佛教影响了早期基督教。我一生都在追寻这样的渠道,至今我仍没有找到。”
1897年,莱比锡大学的鲁道夫·舍伊道(英语:Rudolf Seydel)教授在著作“佛教传说与耶稣生平”(The Buddha Legend and the Life of Jesus)指出佛经与圣经有五十多处相似之处。在此之后,1918年耶鲁大学梵文及比较哲学教授爱德华·豪本勤(英语:Edward Washburn Hopkins)甚至认为耶稣的生平、试练、神迹、寓言以至弟子都是来自佛教的传说。[24] 比较近期的研究有历史学家杰瑞·本德利(英语:Jerry H. Bentley) 的著作“旧世界的文化交融”(1993年)[25]、意大利撒丁岛邓肯·麦德列(Duncan McDerret)的著作“圣经与佛教徒”(2001)、奕波星(英语:Iqbal Singh)的著作“佛教总论:佛陀的构成、法句经与宗教哲学”(2004年)[26] 认为基督教受到佛教影响。
坎特伯利基督教大学宗教研究学者博哈特·舒瑞尔(Burkhard Scherer)的网页 Jesus is Buddha[27] 引用2007年佛教研究博士基斯·连特纳(Christian Lindtner)的研究比较了巴利文和梵文的佛经以及希腊文的圣经之间的相似性。有反对者认为相似的原因只是因为希腊文和梵文是同一语系的语言。
语言学家撒查利亚斯·芬地(Zacharias P. Thundy)认为特拉普提(英语:Therapeutae)(Therapeutae)其实是巴利文上座部佛教(Theravada)的希腊文翻译。特拉普提派的寺院禁欲苦行的修行方式和佛教很相似,所以芬地认为他们其实就是阿育王派往西方的佛教使节,而他们直接影响了早期天主教的构成。[30] 但除了名字和修行方法的相似性,暂时并无考古证据支持这种说法。
艾尔玛·告鲁伯(Elmar R. Gruber)及宗教历史学家荷尔格·克尔斯顿(Holger Kersten)认为耶稣可能曾经像特拉普提派那样修行,因此学习了佛教教义。[31] 他们引用牛津的新约研究者巴纳特·史特拉特(Barnett Hillman Streeter)亦指耶稣的山上宝训和佛教教义有相似之处。[32]
耶稣在童年到成年讲道之间有许多年并没有任何记载,被人称为耶稣行成谜的岁月(英语:Lost years of Jesus),有人甚至推测耶稣有机会到了印度或西藏。1887年一名俄罗斯的情报员尼古拉斯·诺多维奇(英语:Nicolas Notovitch)曾去过印度北部拉达克的一个藏传佛教寺庙(Hemis Monastery),并声称在佛寺里看到关于圣伊萨事迹的手稿(Saint Issa,耶稣名字的阿拉伯译音)。他将之翻译为法文La vie inconnue de Jesus Christ并在1894年出版,该书随即被翻译为英文、德文、西班牙文及意大利文。
"The Silk Road city of Marv (Grk. Margiana), situated in the eastern part of the Parthian Empire, became a major Buddhist center" Foltz, "Religions of the Silk Road", p47
Cyril of Jerusalem, Sixth Catechetical Lecture Chapter 22-24
"22. There was in Egypt one Scythianus, a Saracen by birth, having nothing in common either with Judaism or with Christianity. This man, who dwelt at Alexandria and imitated the life of Aristotle, composed four books, one called a Gospel which had not the acts of Christ, but the mere name only, and one other called the book of Chapters, and a third of Mysteries, and a fourth, which they circulate now, the Treasure. This man had a disciple, Terebinthus by name. But when Scythianus purposed to come into Judaea, and make havoc of the land, the Lord smote him with a deadly disease, and stayed the pestilence.
23. But Terebinthus, his disciple in this wicked error, inherited his money and books and heresy, and came to Palestine, and becoming known and condemned in Judaea he resolved to pass into Persia: but lest he should be recognised there also by his name he changed it and called himself Buddas. However, he found adversaries there also in the priests of Mithras: and being confuted in the discussion of many arguments and controversies, and at last hard pressed, he took refuge with a certain widow. Then having gone up on the housetop, and summoned the daemons of the air, whom the Manichees to this day invoke over their abominable ceremony of the fig, he was smitten of God, and cast down from the housetop, and expired: and so the second beast was cut off.
24. The books, however, which were the records of his impiety, remained; and both these and his money the widow inherited. And having neither kinsman nor any other friend, she determined to buy with the money a boy named Cubricus: him she adopted and educated as a son in the learning of the Persians, and thus sharpened an evil weapon against mankind. So Cubricus, the vile slave, grew up in the midst of philosophers, and on the death of the widow inherited both the books and the money. Then, lest the name of slavery might be a reproach, instead of Cubricus he called himself Manes, which in the language of the Persians signifies discourse. For as he thought himself something of a disputant, he surnamed himself Manes, as it were an excellent master of discourse. But though he contrived for himself an honourable title according to the language of the Persians, yet the providence of God caused him to become a self-accuser even against his will, that through thinking to honour himself in Persia, he might proclaim himself among the Greeks by name a maniac." Catholic Encyclopedia (Public Domain, quoted in [1] (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆))
Tweed, Thomas. The American Encounter With Buddhism, 1844-1912: Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent. University of North Carolina Press. 2000: 280. ISBN 0807849065.
Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol 3. Charles Eliot
20 of 22: Egypt was a most religious country, but it does not appear that asceticism, celibacy or meditation formed part of its older religious life, and their appearance in Hellenistic times may be due to a wave of Asiatic
influence starting originally from India. [3] (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆)
Andre Grabar mentions Buddhist iconography of the birth of the Buddha as a possible source for the Christian depiction of the birth of Jesus Christ. Andre Grabar, p129
Latin Sources: Archelaus (Bishop of Cascar in Mesopotamia, d. about 278): Acta Disputationis cum Manete Haeresiarcha; first written in Syriac, and so far belonging to the Oriental Christian Sources (Comp. Jerome, de Vir. Ill. 72), but extant only in a Latin translation, which seems to have been made from the Greek, edited by Zacagni (Rome, 1698), and Routh (in Reliquiae Sacrae, vol. V. 3-206); Eng. transl. in Clark's Ante-Nicene Library (vol. XX. 272-419). [Am. ed. vol. VI. p. 173 sq.].
What is particularly disconcerting here is the disconnect between expectation and reality: We know from Chinese translations that large numbers of Mahayana sutras were being composed in the period between the beginning of the common era and the fifth century. But outside of texts, at least in India, at exactly the same period, very different — in fact seemingly older — ideas and aspirations appear to be motivating actual behavior, and old and established Hinayana groups appear to be the only ones that are patronized and supported., Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 494
Beverley, James A., Hollywood's Idol (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆), Christianity Today, "Jesus Christ also lived previous lives", he said. "So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Bodhisattva, or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice or something like that", Retrieved April 20, 2007
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