The Cross and Lotus

An Introductory History of Christianity in a Buddhist Context

By James Carlton Stephens

Tempers ran high along the Silk Road for generations between
merchants, mercenaries and monks, who spent weeks trekking
alongside camels through the desert sands at night avoiding
marauders and the blistering mid day sun. Refreshing stops at a
desert Oasis for several days to a week at a time provided ample
opportunity for a religious debate for these road scholars who
traded social gossip as readily as silk and gold.

At times the raging wind blew the swirling sand across the great
dunes until the normal trail was no longer visible. Hamid, the
experienced Bedouin trader sensing the futility of further travel
erected his two room gutba effortlessly in what seemed but a
moment. It was an inbred ritual of survival that generations had
carried out. Once the tent was secured, he placed an interior light
on the tents center pole signifying his tribes belief that Allah is the
light of the heavens and earth (Surah 24, Ayah 35). Kneeling
towards Mecca he intently rolled out the niche carpet in the alcove
of the gutba designed for Muslim prayers, bowed and thanked Allah
for refuge from the storm. The incessant pelting sand bred a
drowsy rest among the remaining exhausted pilgrims.

As early evening approached, the winds died down and the camp
arose to a sweet aroma of black coffee, served as a symbol of the
Bedouin belief that any guest is a guest of God. After Hamid drank
the El Heif (first cup), to assure the guests of its purity, Hamids
guests each poured a small portion into each of their cups from the
briki into the second cup, the El Keif on cue. After their meal, some
stale dates were passed around the circle for dessert. Hamid was
not only a capable cook, but a skillful captain on the sea of sand
who had mastered the art of survival, stellar navigation and out of
necessity several trade languages. It wasnt long until, the Nestorian
and Buddhist merchant were having an intense one-on-one
discussion about their faith.

Its just a myth, a legend. Think about it. Giant hooded snakes
shielding the Prince from the rain! Ridiculous.

The Buddhist merchant retorted, No. It really happened. He was

alive and born in Nepal.
Okay, so he lived, but wheres the historical evidence? the
Nestorian challenged.

Its obvious you dont have a clue about Indias culture and how
religious teachings are passed on. What does it matter what your
books say! Your Jesus never wrote any books. He just talked like our
beloved Buddha. Some of his disciples memorized many of his talks
they were so brilliant, proudly retorted the Merchant from Ladakh.

After listening to the discourse for an hour, the dark skinned Indian
merchant sitting in the shadows sarcastically said, Why resuscitate
from a well-deserved oblivion the pestilent views of the Buddha?
Buddhism is but a stray dog of our high religion of Brahmanism.
Buddha broke ranks and brought shame to his royal family and left
his father like a spoiled goat! Now Ganesh, Krishna, and Shiva they
are gods worth worshipping!

Hamid, recognizing his authority on the desert piped in with his own
opinion, hoping to keep the debate somewhat civil. Out in the
desert, we fight the elements of wind, and sand, and the blazing sun
by day and the freezing temperatures at night. I dont much care for
worshipping a carved stone of an elephant to save me from the
perils of a sand storm. He skillfully turned the discussion back to the
Nestorian. I dont think that Jesu was crucified. In fact, his name
here is Mani and he is said to have appeared and preached to many
in Ladakh and Kashmir. He is a great prophet, may Allah be
praised.

His Ahmadiyyan Muslim friend broke in, No Hamid. Mani was a

disciple of Jesu. Jesu spent his years studying magic in our
mountains and returned to the Holy Land to call his disciples. The
Romans didnt kill him. He was taken off the cross after a few hours
and survived. I heard he was seen in Kashmir where he finally died
after many years.

A Chinese merchant trading in herbal medicines, thinking about the

Hindus attack said, You have in your tradition many avatars. Some
say Buddha was but a reincarnation of Krishna. We believe that the
Buddha was a reincarnation of our great philosopher Lao Tse. So,
you see it doesnt much matter does it? See how you argue over
vain disputes that are but a vapor? What does heaven matter when
we can not even get along among ourselves?

Hamids presence had a way of making itself known as he rose to

his feet, the primitive fire in his eyes dancing to a different tune
knowing the way of the deserts Silk Road. Without heavens stars
to guide us, we would burn in the hell of the deserts dunes. Allah be
praised. It is now time for a few hours rest. We break camp at two
so we can travel in the cool of the night. Stone silence replaced the
intense debate overheard by the ancient audience of stars lighting
the Silk Road.

Centuries later, Kenneth Scott Latourette, the dean of American

historians, posed a question which those from a New Age or
Buddhist background might have postulated, Would Christianity
have been different had the original impulse appeared in some
other cultural areain India or China? His answer was,
Undoubtedly.

As I have meditated on the expansion of Christianity, I have

wondered why the Holy Spirit initially barred the Apostle Pauls
desire to propagate the Gospel in Asia. You may recall that as their
team passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region they were
forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia (Acts 16:6).
Many historians have said that the order by which the Gospel has
primarily been propagated has been the same route the sun travels,
from East to West. However, some others contend that arrived in
Asia prior to .. And yet even within the Hellenistic world, the early
Church encountered the syncretistic milieu from differing stances,
not unlike our contemporary experience of Christian mission among
Buddhists. To understand the future, one must understand the
historical and religious circumstances leading to our present age.
While Christianity has traveled from West to East.has has
Buddhism prospered and what have been the intersections of the
two faiths?

Latourette emphasized,

In church circles a widespread distrust of pagan philosophy and

literature existedOn the other hand, many teachers were ardent
students of ancient philosophy and sought to present their faith in
philosophical guise. Notable among these were Clement of
Alexandria and Origen (Latourette 1970 Vol. 1:253).

Cross & Lotus in China

Samuel Moffatt posed the question, How Old is Chinese

Christianity?

When the Jesuits reached China I the sixteenth century they found
a colony of Jews in Kaifeng, but no Christians. Perhaps the reports of
ancient missions to China were nothing but wishful thinking, though
some remembered the vanished Franciscan missions to the Mongols
in the thirteenth century, others believed Marco Polos reports of
Christians in Kublai Khans China, and a few accepted the unlikely
references to a mission of St. Thomas from India to China. But if
Christians had indeed been in China before the Jesuits, there was
nothing left to show for it.

Then came a dramatic discovery. In 1623, workmen digging not far

from what is now Hsian (Xian), the ancient Tang-dynasty capital
Changan, uncovered a great stone more than nine feet high and
three and a third feet wide of black granular limestone, beautifully
inscribed in Chinese characters beneath a design at the top
centering around a cross rising from a lotus blossom. Large
characters under the cross proclaimed it to be A Monument
Commemorating the Propagation of the Ta-chin (Syrian) Luminous
Religion in China (ta chin ching jyan liao tung jung guo bei). It was
a monument erected in 781 telling of the arrival of a Nestorian
missionary in the Chinese capital in 635.