Abstract
It is often said that the Buddhist view of time is cyclical whereas the Christian view of time is linear. In Christianity time began with God’s creation and will end at the last judgment with the event of Jesus Christ as the center of history. Time is thus understood to be linear, fundamentally unidirectionally moving from the past to the future.1 By contrast, according to some scholars, in Buddhism which talks about endless transmigration, time is understood to be repeatable and cyclical.
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Notes
Oscar Cullmann, Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964).
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© 1997 Masao Abe
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Abe, M. (1997). Time in Buddhism. In: Heine, S. (eds) Zen and Comparative Studies. Library of Philosophy and Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230375994_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230375994_12
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39227-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-37599-4
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