Now I think I speak for many of you buddhists out there when I say that we are in part attracted to the Buddhist philosphy because we don't have to ignore the discoveries of science when embracing its worldview. This review (from the NY Times Book Review) of the latest Dalai Lama work, "The Universe in a Single Atom," says a bit more about this:

"But this book offers something wiser: a compassionate and clearheaded account by a religious leader who not only respects science but, for the most part, embraces it. 'If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims,' he writes. No one who wants to understand the world 'can ignore the basic insights of theories as key as evolution, relativity and quantum mechanics.'

"That is an extraordinary concession compared with the Christian apologias that dominate conferences devoted to reconciling science and religion. The 'dialogues' implicitly begin with nonnegotiables - 'Given that Jesus died on the cross and was bodily resurrected into heaven ..' - then seek scientific justification for what is already assumed to be true."

But not so fast:

"But when it comes to questions about life and its origins, this would-be man of science begins to waiver. Though he professes to accept evolutionary theory, he recoils at one of its most basic tenets: that the mutations that provide the raw material for natural selection occur at random. Look deeply enough, he suggests, and the randomness will turn out to be complexity in disguise - 'hidden casuality,' -the Buddha's smile. There you have it, Eastern Religion's version of intelligent design."

From a review of "The Gnostic Gospels of Jesus" in the local paper:

"The Gnostic gospels are sayings attributed to Jesus that are very different from those of the Jesus of the four Gospels in the Christian New Testament. ...
The Gnostic Jesus imparts knowledge so we might be enlightened. In these texts, Jesus imparts wisdom that is supposed to save us from ignorance. Ignorance of self is the real problem. The Gnostic Jesus teaches us that we have the divine within ourselves. We must learn to know ourselves, and this knowledge enlightens and saves us."

Intriguing to think of how Western development might have differed had the Gnostics not been so effectively suppressed. It would be heartening to see Gnostic philosophy gain some wider following; perhaps Christians could then become Buddhists without even knowing it!