The centuries-old dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity

This article examines the pre-history of today’s dialogue between Buddhists and Christians. Contrary to what one might think, pre-modern Europeans did have some understanding of Buddhism, however limited and distorted it might have been. Asians during the same period had a far better chance of unde...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: M. Clasquin-Johnson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2009-12-01
Series:Acta Theologica
Online Access:https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2249
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Summary:This article examines the pre-history of today’s dialogue between Buddhists and Christians. Contrary to what one might think, pre-modern Europeans did have some understanding of Buddhism, however limited and distorted it might have been. Asians during the same period had a far better chance of understanding Christianity, because of the widespread presence of the Nestorian Church from Arabia to China. We do have evidence that interaction between Buddhists and Christians lead to some creative synthesis between the two.
ISSN:1015-8758
2309-9089