Changing Master Narratives in Midstream: Barlaam and Josaphat and the Growth of Religious Intolerance in the Buddhalegend’s Westward Journey

The article analyzes how a Buddhist narrative of enlightenment was reconfigured during its transmission into medieval Christian literature. MacQueen first introduces the story of Barlaam and Josaphat and identifies its major textual witnesses, especially the Ismaili Arabic, Georgian, and Greek versions. He then examines the change from a Buddhist master narrative centered on emancipation through insight to a Christian master narrative centered on salvation through faith, showing how the prince’s recognition of suffering and quest for liberation were gradually reinterpreted as receptivity to divine revelation. The article further compares the treatment of religious interaction in the Buddhacarita and in Barlaam and Josaphat: while the former allows for commonality, dependency, dialogue, and progressive movement beyond incomplete religious paths, the latter increasingly portrays non-Christian religions as false, dangerous, demonic, and incompatible with salvation. Through this comparative framework, the article shows how textual transmission can reshape not only doctrine and plot structure, but also the ethical logic governing interreligious relations.