While studying narratives in the context of its own religious tradition may uncover that religious tradition's doctrines and priorities, this study assumes that a comparative model contributes to a clearer understanding of the uniqueness of each religion's ideas. By comparing religions rather than studying them in isolation, we may understand each with greater clarity.
The narratives compared and contrasted in this study are the birth narratives of Moses and the Buddha. These two figures may be identified as the respective heroes of the Jewish and Buddhist religions. This comparative study highlights and examines the similarities and differences presented in their birth narratives and seeks to determine the significance these narratives have from within the context of their respective doctrinal traditions. Although studying one tradition alone produces important results, it is only by comparing and contrasting religious traditions, and in this case the birth narratives of different religious traditions, that the uniqueness and qualities of each come into full view.
This study begins with an examination of Moses' birth narrative, first as it has been understood by modern scholarship, and then as it has been presented in the classical literature of early Judaism. In the second part, the Buddha's birth narrative is explored, first from the perspective of modern, Western scholarship, and then as it appears in the Pali and Sanskrit literature of early Buddhism. The third part of this study is committed to a comparative analysis of the two birth narratives.
