Buddhist Gnosticism, the System of Basilides
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Description: From the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland for 1902.
ART. XV. -- Buddhist Gnosticism, the System of Basilides. ART. XV. -- Buddhist Gnosticism, the System of Basilides. The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland for 1902 p.377 "Up from Earth's centre through the seventh Gate I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn ate; And many a Knot unravel'd by the Road; But not hte Master-knot of Human Fate." Two questions, the early contact of Buddhism with Christianity, and the origins and character of Gnosticism, have attrracted much attention of late. Although these questions are independent of each other in the main, they happen to join hands in the case of the great Gnostic Basilides. I propose to show that the famous scheme of that arch-Gnostic was an attempt at fusing Buddhism with Christianity, and thus to throw some light upon the one question and the other.(1) The universal charity enjoined by the Buddha, and the occasional parallelisms of doctrine or story in the Buddhist writings and the Old and New Testaments, (2) have awakened much curiosity regarding the possible contact of the two religions. So much so, indeed, that the Congres International d'histoire des religions has called attention to the matter by a special resolution.(3) Moreover, such speculations are not devoid of a certain historical basis. Asoka states in an inscription, four times repeated, that between 260 ----------------------------- 1. Basilides occupies a considerable place in all works dealing with early Church history or the Gnosties. For the special bibliography regarding him see Bardenhewer's Patrologie, and the admirable article on Basilides by Dr. Hort in Smiths's Dict. of Christian Biography. 2. A useful collection of Parallel texts will be found in "Chirstianity and Buddhism," by Dr. T. Sterling Berry (S.P.C.K., London). 3. Upon the motion of M. Camerlynck, of Amiens, the Congress agreed to the following resolution: "That at the next Congress attention be drawn to the relations which may have existed, at the commen
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