The Influence of Buddhism on Primitive Christianity

The book is organized into eleven chapters. “Introductory” presents the author’s central argument that Buddhism had reached the West and influenced early Christian forms through Essene mediation. “Moses” examines early Jewish religion, sacrifice, taboo, law, ritual purity, and the development of Mosaic tradition. “Buddha” introduces Buddhist religious ideas as a comparative framework for understanding later Christian parallels. “The Four Presaging Tokens” compares narrative motifs associated with the renunciation of the Buddha and Christian sacred biography. “After Buddha’s Death” discusses Buddhist transmission, expectation, and doctrinal continuity. “The Apostles of the Bloodless Altar” examines ascetic, vegetarian, and non-sacrificial religious ideals. “The Gospel According to the Hebrews” considers early gospel traditions in relation to Essene and Buddhist themes. “The Essene Jesus” develops the thesis that Jesus should be understood in relation to Essene monastic religion. “The Anti-Essene Jesus” addresses tensions in the New Testament between ascetic and anti-ascetic portrayals. “The Church of Jerusalem” studies the earliest Christian community as an ascetic and communal body. “Johannine Buddhism” and “Rites” explore doctrinal, symbolic, and ritual parallels between Buddhism and early Christianity.