Baur, who had made a special study of the intricate speculations of the Gnostics, compares them with "the vast abstractions of Buddhism." Sec.5.The Spirit of Buddhism Rational and Humane.
Ultimately, two facts appear, as we contemplate this system,--first, its rationalism; second, its humanity.
It is a system of rationalism.

It appeals throughout to human reason.

It proposes to save man, not from a future but a present hell, and to save him by teaching.

Its great means of influence is the sermon.

The Buddha preached innumerable sermons; his missionaries went abroad preaching.
Buddhism has made all its conquests honorably, by a process of rational appeal to the human mind.