An interesting read is D.M. Murdock's book review of Michael Lockwood's book, Buddhism's Relation to Christianity. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject. They should read her review before they purchase Lockwood's book which doesn't include an index.
Christianity is a difficult subject in its own right. I have always looked at it with a mind to simplify it; to see what the text is really saying and how we should read it. That said, I have tentatively concluded that Christianity stems from Buddhism.
A number of years ago when I entered into the mystical side of Buddhism in 1976 (which I have touched on in this blog) I was given a simple picture of Christianity which also allowed me to connect it with Buddhism. If you put your feet together and outstretch your arms you have a cross. In other words, our carnal body is the cross and our soul is nailed to it which is yet to become spiritualized. Flesh, which is evil and not spirit, is not unlike the five skandhas which belong to Mara the Evil one, which are not the ātman or spirit.
We Buddhists wrongly through our spiritual ignorance latch on to the skandhas as being who we are—our pleasure toy of the flesh. But our spirit or ātman is not any of the skandhas according to the Buddha. We still have to separate our self or ātman from the skandhas spiritually which is what dhyāna is all about!
In a way, like the Christian we bear the cross, also, crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). And for those Buddhists who have spiritually separated from the skandhas by dhyāna we read that they are: "reborn in companionship with the devas of the pure abodes. This is a rebirth not shared with worldlings" (A. ii. 128).
But let me stop here. We learn from Murdock's review that Indians have long been in the Mediterranean, for example.
Indian envoys sent to Rome and other parts of the Roman empire;
Stories of Indian saints immolating themselves in the West;
Presence of thousands of Indian slaves at Rome and elsewhere in the Mediterranean;
Numerous substance traded between the two worlds. . .;
Caches of thousands of Roman coins found in...in India;
Testimony in Josephus that the Jews were descendants of Indian philosophers.
Anyway there is much more. Please check out Murdock's book review.