The Encyclopedia of World Religions

missionaries S 295

ist Christians were passing themselves off as “mes sianic” Jews. In this way they hoped to convert unsuspecting Jews to Christianity. Such excesses are not limited to Christianity, but North American readers are likely to understand these examples more readily. BUDDHIST MISSIONS According to tradition, the B UDDHA himself sent out the first Buddhist missionaries. He instructed monks to carry the DHARMA of Buddhism in every direction. The places where Buddhism is prac ticed today are a witness to their success. Only a small number of Buddhists live in India, the land where Buddhism arose. But Buddhist missionaries from India had a profound influence on southeast, east, and central Asia. Buddhist missionaries from China established large Buddhist communities in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Buddhism has generally spread in two ways. Buddhist monks often traveled with merchants. They walked the ancient routes to southern India; they traveled by ship to southeast Asia; and they followed the Silk Road to China. Rul ers who favored Buddhism have also spread it. Examples include A SOKA , an emperor in India in the third century B . C . E ., and rulers in China and Japan. After roughly 1000 C . E . there was relatively little missionary effort in Buddhism. But starting in the late 19th century, Buddhists began to pros elytize once again. They did so largely in response to European colonization and Christian missionary efforts. Buddhist missionaries created a small Bud dhist revival in India. Starting in the 1960s, they also attracted many North Americans and Europe ans to Buddhism. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS Tradition says that J ESUS , like the Buddha, sent his followers out into the world to spread his message. The most famous early missionary was the apostle P AUL . He carried the message of Christianity to non-Jews living in the northeastern Mediterranean region (modern Greece and Turkey). Tradition says that other apostles were missionaries, too.

those that accept them. Just as significant, many religious people still retain their traditional views. For them, miracles are part of what happens when human beings encounter religious power.

missionaries People who attempt to convert other people to their religion. Not all religions proselytize, which is the attempt to convert others. In many religions, people practice their own reli gions, and they expect other people, usually living in other places, to practice theirs. Good examples are J UDAISM , some of whose branches also do not accept converts, and the Japanese religion S HINTO . Other religions have not proselytized for practical reasons. The P ARSEES —modern Zoroastrians—are a good example. They do not even accept converts. According to tradition, when the Parsees migrated to India, they were allowed to live there on one condition: that they promise not to proselytize. Other religions, however, have seen it as a religious duty to spread their truth throughout the world. If success is measured by the number of people converted, the most successful proselytiz ing religions have been B UDDHISM , C HRISTIANITY , and I SLAM . At best, missionaries present their religions and allow other people to accept or reject them in complete freedom. They adapt their messages to fit the cultures of the peoples whom they are proselytizing. They also exhibit a genuine concern for other people, for example, by sharing medical advances. Albert Schweitzer is a good example of a medical missionary. Not all missionaries have observed these prin ciples. Some missionaries have achieved conver sion through physical coercion. For example, after defeating the Saxons (an early German people) in battle, Emperor Charlemagne gave them two choices: Be baptized or die. Many missionaries have declared local cultures depraved and sinful. For example, in the 20th century some African Christians still refused to use traditional African music in worship because European and North American missionaries had earlier condemned it. Some missionaries have also resorted to deception. At the end of the 20th century some fundamental