Building Bridges: From Asian Faiths to Jesus in the Gospels

Introduction: Our Christian Mission

Dr Hwa Yung, a former bishop in Malaysia, argues that the traditional Western approach to evangelism in Asia fails to communicate the Gospel for the twenty-first-century Asian church. He says:

We need to develop a Christian apologetic in proper dialogue with the religions and traditions of Asia, an apologetic that takes them seriously, appreciating their strengths and weaknesses.¹

He then suggests we must treat other religions with respect, yet without compromising our own convictions. For the Christian alternative to commend itself with genuine moral authority, our Christian apologetic must be backed by integrity in Christian living against a background shaped by the high moral demands of many of Asia’s non-Christian traditions.

The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated mission response to the people of the main religious faiths in Asia, namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Muslims, that they might become followers of Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, families and communities. This mission includes evangelism, the care and training of new believers, compassion to all who are suffering, justice for the oppressed and marginalized, and the care and restoration of God’s creation. To achieve this comprehensive goal we will follow three lines of inquiry.

First, to build bridges of mutual respect through interpersonal dialogue between individuals, families and communities. We will try to reduce misunderstandings between us. We recognize that each religion has its own approach to the globalization of their mission and lifestyle, and to these we will seek to respond.

Secondly, our method is threefold:

(a) to encourage the followers of each faith to search their own scriptures for the truths that are relevant to all people. The purpose then is to create a desire to find truth beyond their own scriptures and to be open to explore the fulfilment of these truths in one or more of the four biblical gospels.

(b) to critically study the lives of the founders, gurus or prophets of their religions. This is to create an openness to search for an even more inspiring and challenging founder and prophet worthy of their allegiance, by inviting them to read the gospels and research the life and mission of Jesus Christ.

(c) to explore the different media for communicating the good news of Jesus and his kingdom. As well as the normal prose media we will give priority to the media of poetry which is much loved by every Asian culture. In most cases their scriptures are recorded in poetic form, making it easier for their followers to chant the scriptures in their worship services and to learn them by heart, a common practice among children and youth. Poetry appeals to the imagination, conveys truths, motivates worship and inspires love and obedience to their god or prophet. It is used to tell myths and parables, especially at religious festivals.

To achieve these goals we will move from the traditional western approach of confrontation, non-contradictory rational argument and individual decision-making to a relational, people-centered approach which appeals to experience rather than formal logic. The focus will also be on family and community decision making.

Wherever possible, we will refer to people as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians, rather than the more abstract terms – Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.

For many Asians, religion is a culture, a way of life, rather than a set of beliefs. It is common for a person who no longer believes the tenets of his or her faith to vigorously defend their religion and culture when it is criticized by a person of another faith. We will not explore to what extent the traditional religions of Asia are fulfilled in the Christian religion. Rather we will explore how the Creator-Redeemer God, through his Spirit has spoken to myriads of people of all faith who lived centuries before God revealed himself to Abraham, 4,000 years ago. We will also consider how God speaks to those who have never heard of the biblical Christ, whether they lived before Abraham or since. This leads us to explore the nature and unity of God’s self-revelation which transcends the so-called divide between general and special revelation. Our approach to God’s mission to humanity since Adam and Eve will be controversial.

This study is designed to enable Christians to engage in mission with their neighbors of other faiths, believing that genuine dialogue is the better way for Christians to fulfil their evangelistic and mission task. We recognize that those so engaged will do so from the perspective of their own beliefs and practices which they want to share. They need to begin with a willingness to be a good listener and to share one’s own spiritual pilgrimage and needs. Aggressive confrontation has no place here. Paul’s conversation with the Gentile philosophers in Athens (Acts 17:16-34) is a model for fruitful dialogue in Asia.

The Search for the Meaning of Life

The search for the meaning of life is a universal quest of every religious and non-religious person. A good example of one who engaged in this is Dr Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist who survived four years in Nazi concentration camps including Auschwitz, where his whole family perished. He wrote his reflections in Man’s Search for Meaning,² in which he says the meaning of life is not found in pleasure or success but in love. When he was asked to express in one sentence the meaning of his own life, he wrote his response on a paper and then asked his students to guess what he had written. When one student said The meaning of your life is to help others find the meaning of theirs, Frankl replied, Those are the very words I have written.³ He saw life as it is as he coped with pain, guilt and death.

In his meditation under the Bo tree, Buddha also glimpsed life as it is. He expressed this in four spiritual laws, with the need for a middle path between sensuality and asceticism. Buddha’s enlightenment has become the hope of an increasing number of modern secularists who are looking for meaning to fill their existential vacuum.

I am devoting the third section of this book to Buddhism, predicting that this religion is becoming an alternative to the Christian answer to pain, guilt and death. In the West, secularism has led to a steady decline in the number of Christians in worship and their impact on society. The practice of yoga and mindful meditation is replacing the Christian answer. Buddhism offers a path to mindful spirituality without any reference to God.

Philosophical Divides

The first divide in the world’s great religions is between revelation and experience. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are monotheistic religions that begin with the assumption that God is and can be known because he speaks and reveals himself and his purpose for all that exists. The Asian religions of Hinduism and Buddhism and their variants, along with the eastern religions of Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism and Shamanism, begin with a human understanding of reality that may include experiences of God, gods and goddesses, and good and evil spirits. For them, the empirical world may be maya or unreal, or an illusion that the world is real. Their religions are governed by a divine or natural law that has neither beginning nor end.

The second great divide is whether God is a personal creator, as in the three monotheistic religions, or is an impersonal reality, as in the Brahman of Upanishadic advaita faith. Abstract language may be used for God, such as the Formless One of the Sikhs, or the ground of our being as with Paul Tillich. For atheistic Theravada Buddhism, the issue doesn’t arise.

The third great divide is whether or not a saving God is needed. For Judaism and Christianity, the human predicament is that we are alienated from God because of our nature. We need a God who is a savior.

In Islam sacrifice is not needed, for Allah is all powerful and can forgive at will. However, the story of Abraham being obedient in his willingness to sacrifice his son is remembered in the post-hajj festival of Eid al-Adha, introducing the idea of a ransom that needs to be paid, but without any explanation of the payment. In the experiential religions, the human predicament is ignorance or self-imposed suffering, as in Buddhism, to be overcome through the inner liberating power of enlightenment achieved through yoga, mindfulness and meditation.

Against this pluralistic background we will examine the monotheistic claims for the existence of God as the creator of all things and as the redeemer of sinful human beings. For the Christian origin of all things we turn to Genesis 1-11. In these chapters we have an amazing summary of the beginning of human history from creation itself to the call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1). All the principles of Christian salvation are embedded in these primal chapters.

These chapters tell two stories: one of God’s progressive creation, climaxing in the creation of humans as responsible and blessed beings, reflecting the very nature of God himself. The second story tells of the consequences of sin leading to the corruption of humanity and God’s judgment as seen in the Flood and the Tower of Babel. This led to the scattering of the human race over the face of the whole earth (Genesis 11:9).

Genesis 1 spans the vastness of God’s progressive creation, culminating in God creating men and women. It is important to note that God created the universe out of nothing (Latin: creatio ex nihilo). Nothingness is symbolized in the chaos of Genesis 1:2. In our missiological context this is important because the experiential religions of Asia believe that creation is either eternal or has evolved from God. So it is important to note that creation is by the Word of God, God speaking. Each of the days of creation begins with God said…. God as Word is the logos who became man (John 1:1-14).

It is also important to note that whatever God created was good and that God was satisfied with his creation. This is needed in Asia where creation is often viewed as evil, and spirit as good – a distinction denied in the whole of the Bible. Humanity, then, is the crown of creation. Humans are a psychosomatic unity of body, soul and spirit, and not a dichotomy of body and spirit, as in much of Asian and some Christian thinking. Human beings are created in God’s own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26) with the capacity to talk to God, and to listen to and obey his word revealed in many ways. This relationship to God distinguishes them from the animal kingdom.

One aspect of being in the likeness of God is human conscience, the innate ability to discern right from wrong. However, the gift of conscience to human beings is not infallible, because people can abuse, repress, manipulate or ignore it.

The creation of human beings in God’s likeness is reflected in the statement in the Lausanne Covenant of 1974: Because man is God’s creature, some of his culture is rich in beauty and goodness. Because he has fallen, all of it is tainted with sin and some of it is demonic. The Gospel does not presuppose the superiority of any culture to another, but evaluates all cultures according to its own criteria of truth and righteousness, and insists on the moral absolutes in every culture.⁴

Every culture excels in art forms, including the fine arts, music, dance and drama, puppets and mime, sculpture and architecture. Alas, all these forms can become corrupted or made idolatrous. We praise God when we observe the wonders of creation, as well as enjoying the art forms that he has inspired. We can identify with the scientist who had carved in Latin on the gates of the Cavendish physic laboratory of the University of Cambridge, Great are the works of the Lord; studied by all who delight in them (Psalm 111:2).

The Nature of God

The three great monotheistic religions all stress the unitary nature of God as expressed in the Shema confession, The Lord is one God. Love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your soul and with your strength (Deuteronomy 6:4). But the interpersonal nature of the one God is also stressed from the beginning. It is hinted at in the creation phrase Let us… (Genesis 1:3, 26). This is deeper than the plurality of sovereignty. It is metaphysical. God is a tri-unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God as triune emerges with greater clarity in the writing of the prophets, especially Isaiah, and then in the Psalms and more fully in the Gospels and the apostolic letters of the New Testament. The Bible expounds the being of God as eternally Father, Son and Holy Spirit, using language that human beings can understand. The personhood of God is revealed in the original names given to God, the most common being Elohim or El Elyon (the most High God) and Yahweh, God’s personal name that he revealed to Moses at the burning bush when God said I am who I am (Exodus 3:14). Paul expounded the trinitarian character of God in his benediction to the Christians in Corinth: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).

It was not until the 4th century that Bishop Alexander defined the full Trinitarian nature of God in the Nicene Creed of 325 AD. This was further expounded in the writings of Athanasius. We cannot expect nonbelievers today to understand this mystery. Even those who do believe find it difficult to grasp these eternal truths.

To accept Adam and Eve as the historical founders of the human race and as distinct from the earlier homo sapiens who were possibly still alive when God created humans, is a difficult issue. Science may define our DNA but it has no comment on our being created in the image of God, which we may call homo divinis. A hint of this possibility of living homo sapience is the Nephilim, who were present during Adam’s lifetime (Genesis 6:4). But in the words of Professor Berry, We are a special creation – inbreathed by God at a special point in time.⁵ I assume the historicity of Adam and Eve, as distinct from other homo sapiens, though not physically different from them. Science is not able to explore the spiritual origin of humanity, created in God’s image.

The Human Predicament

The biblical story of Genesis 3 is the fall of Adam and Eve from shame to guilt. Their sin was twofold: first, disobeying God’s command not to eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil. They disobeyed and ate it. In their shame they tried to hide their nakedness, and then hid from God himself. Second, they wanted to be autonomous in order to control their own future by eating from the tree of life and living forever. The consequence of their action was that they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, their marriage broke down and they lost control over creation (Genesis 3:12-19. Their relationship to the Creator was broken. Adam died spiritually, though he continued to live physically for another 900 years, almost to within a few years of the Flood.⁶ This puts the origin of the local flood very early in human history. Genesis 4-11 tells the story of human degeneration from Adam to Abraham.

But God is not only holy and just but also loving and forgiving. God had mercy on Adam and his descendants and revealed to them the way of sacrifice as an atonement for their sin. He made garments of skin to cover their nakedness, a symbol of sacrifice. This was followed by Abel’s offering to God the firstborn of his flock, in contrast to Cain who offered the fruit of the soil (Genesis 4:2-5).

When Noah emerged from the ark, his first act was to build an altar to sacrifice the best of his animals and birds on it (Genesis 8:20-22). This is the first clear evidence of a burnt offering offered as a sacrifice to the Lord. It can be compared to the sacrifice of a burnt offering described in Leviticus 1:1-17. It was then that God made a covenant of salvation with Noah and the whole of creation (Genesis 1:9-17).

From these chapters, 4-11, we learn that God is the creator, the sustainer and the savior of humankind. God’s redemption of all things is confirmed in the Psalms, as in The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it (Psalm 24:1). From these early scriptures we learn that God appointed sacrifice, life for life, as the only way to atone for sin. This principle of sacrifice culminated in the cross, as Paul said, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross (Colossians 1:20).

The thesis of this book is that these two principles, of worshipping the one God in spirit and in truth and sacrifice as an atonement for sin, are the basis of biblical salvation. This is the Gospel we share with the people of Asia. I will argue that these two principles are foreshadowed in the spirituality of the rishis who saw this truth recorded in the Vedas. The yajna Veda recorded elaborate sacrifices culminating in the sacrifice of Prajapati, the god of creation. These two principles found their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and his atoning death on the cross.

Sadly, this rishi trust in the one God degenerated into polytheism as the priests became corrupted and worship degenerated into idolatry. Propitiation for the forgiveness of sin gave way to auto-salvation through asceticism. Muhammad in the Qur’an rejected the need for an atoning sacrifice, with the result that Muslims are imprisoned by the rigidity and harshness of sharia law.

God Reveals the Way to People of Other Faiths

In the biblical story we have many examples of God revealing himself outside of Abraham and his descendants. Abraham himself entered into a dialog with Melchizedek, king of Salem (Genesis 14), and Abimelech, king of Gera (Genesis 21:22-24). Jonah was used by the Lord to bring many in Nineveh to repentance. God used Elijah to change the life of Naaman, the Syrian military commander. None of these people had a Jewish religious heritage, and yet God’s messengers dialoged with them. Jesus the Jew, called of God to the people of Israel, himself had fruitful dialogs with Gentiles and unbelieving Jews, including the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) and the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mark 7:26). Paul the missionary was used of the Lord to bring God’s message to the Gentiles also, as seen in his encounter with them in Lystra (Acts 14:8-20) and in Athens (Acts 17:16-34).

The Revolt against Priesthood, Sacrifices and Idolatry

By 800 BC, Brahmins had become the hereditary priests. Progressively their practices degenerated into magic in order for them to control their enemies. In response, by the sixth century BC, reform movements arose in protest. The revolt spread across Asia, beginning with Zoroaster of Persia (modern Iran), and spread to China with the Confucianists and Taoists. In south and west Asia the Jains, led by Mahavira, and the Buddhists, led by Gautama Buddha, also rejected the corrupt Hindu priesthood. They rejected Vedic monotheism and the Brahmin sacrificial system. Meditation and mindfulness replaced animal sacrifices. In the case of Islam, Muhammad, who was born in Mecca, rebelled against the polytheism and idolatry of his environment. Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel led the revolt in Israel. God was not silent during this era of confusion. The Holy Spirit was speaking to every community through the divinely given conscience, and perhaps in direct ways of which we have no record.

Introducing the Gospels

When Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists or Muslims are seeking new meaning for their lives and begin to read one or more of the four Gospels, their prejudices begin to disappear. They begin to discover the wonder of experiencing God and to learn who Jesus really is, why he came to earth and how he rose from the dead.

To encourage Hindus to read the Gospels we suggest they begin with John’s Gospel, which acknowledges the concepts of incarnation, mystical union with God, and the way of love and devotion. For Buddhists, Luke is preferred since as a Gentile he wrote for a wider readership. For Muslims, Matthew may be better since his beliefs reflect the Jewish emphasis on obedience to law. Also, Matthew begins with Jesus’ genealogy and includes the Sermon on the Mount. Both have been effective in leading people to Christ. But all four Gospels are needed for a fuller understanding of who Jesus is and why he came to earth.

Our mission is to introduce our dialog partners to Jesus, his miraculous birth, his teaching, his lifestyle, his miracles of healing, his power over nature, his acceptance of shameful treatment and rejection. All these lead to the cross, to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and to the promise of his eventual return.

Asians are drawn to Jesus when they understand his response to the issues they now face, such as suffering, uncertainty about the future, and fear of evil spirits and death itself. Bondage to astrology and magic are common. Few have the assurance of life beyond death. The need for forgiveness of sin may only be realized sometime after their encounter with Jesus. It is not a prerequisite to meeting him.

The Need to Listen

Meaningful dialog begins with good listening. This is essential to developing respect, and without it no progress can be made. There are no shortcuts to bridge building. However, the development of relationships may happen sooner if the Christian partner shows exceptional love and patience in times of crisis. Mutual respect makes it easier to accept that God is the Creator of all of life and that all people are valuable in his sight.

Misunderstandings of one another’s faiths are common. Hindus and Buddhists object to the Christian claim that Jesus is the only way to God. Muslims greatly misunderstand the term, Son of God, as if Jesus was born of intercourse between God and Mary. Further, they think Christians believe in three gods. For them the cross of 2,000 years ago is irrelevant to today’s suffering. Hindus are appalled at the individualism of Christians.

At the same time, Christians have misunderstandings of these three faiths. They misunderstand that the family, not the individual, makes the decisions. Asians are not bound by logic the way Christians are. Christians fail to recognize that the scriptures of these religions contain divine truths as well as errors and that the message of the Qur’an is distinct from what later Islam teaches. They fail to understand that most of the Qur’an is based on selections from Deuteronomy and the Gospels. With mutual respect these misunderstandings can be overcome.

Global mission is the central goal of Christians, Buddhist and Muslims, and only indirectly of Hindus. For Muslims, evangelism (dawa) is essential to bring the whole world to accept one ruler, the Caliph. Only then will there be peace on earth. Jihad has come to mean the force to ensure Allah’s global rule. Buddha looked for more peaceful ways to spread his global message. In the case of Hindus, one has to be born Hindu to be a real Hindu.

For Christians, the goal of global evangelism is for Christ to rule over all creation and bring his kingdom reign to earth.

In the words of Dr Hwa Yung of Malaysia, What we need to do is to humbly accept God for the grace to live our lives in such a way that the moral integrity of Christian lives will form, together with our apologetics, a powerful combination for mission in the twenty-first century.⁷

When partners in dialog fail to agree, they need to continue by discussing issues of mutual social and community concern, whether this means working together to relieve the poverty of a suffering community or standing together for justice