Evangelizing Buddhists...

[anthonylicalsi]

Hi Everyone,

I currently live in Japan and would love to try to evangelize while I am here.
Does anyone know of any books or recourses that would be good for this purpose?
I would love some type of Catholic/Buddhist comparison.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

Anthony

 

[KarenNC]

Yes. If they aren’t bothering you, leave them alone. Limit your evangelizing to the example of the life you lead. If they ask, then start discussing.

 

[anthonylicalsi]

Thanks but…I wasn’t actually going to go knocking on doors to evangelize.

I actually have friends who are Japanese and are Buddhist and are interested in Christianity.

Now I just need to know how do I go about teaching them in comparison to what they already know.

I am already showing them by example, but I want to tell them more.
Just talking about Christianity is not enough, they just don’t get it.
I really need some resources that will show comparisons.
The Buddhist way of thinking is just very different.

Does anyone have any good resources on this topic?

Thanks.

 

[Ahimsa]

Thanks but…I wasn’t actually going to go knocking on doors to evangelize.

I actually have friends who are Japanese and are Buddhist and are interested in Christianity.

Now I just need to know how do I go about teaching them in comparison to what they already know.

I am already showing them by example, but I want to tell them more.
Just talking about Christianity is not enough, they just don’t get it.
I really need some resources that will show comparisons.
The Buddhist way of thinking is just very different.

Does anyone have any good resources on this topic?

Thanks.

What kind of Buddhist are they?

If they practice Pure Land Buddhism, then they could probably relate to Christianity very easily, since Pure Land focuses on the salvationary power of Amitabha Buddha to save all beings.

This essay (by a Buddhist) looks at what Buddhists can learn from Christianity. This essay (by a Christian) looks at the reverse. Your friends might find both interesting.

 

[Ahimsa]

If your friends are more into Zen and meditation, then they might like this article, which talks about how some Catholics have taken up Zen practices.

 

[KofC660]

Remind them that Harry S Truman was an arch-enemy of Catholicism (he was an avowed Freemason), and he destroyed Nagasaki because it was, and still is, the center of the Catholic Faith in Japan.

 

[KarenNC]

Thanks but…I wasn’t actually going to go knocking on doors to evangelize.

I actually have friends who are Japanese and are Buddhist and are interested in Christianity.

Cool, that is a totally different situation.

Realize that around here “I want to evangelize” translates into knocking on doors, littering the place with tracts (on cars, in paper boxes, left in all sorts of public places), putting up billboards or taking out ads in the paper telling everyone (including the “wrong” kind of Christians) they are going to Hell and basically accosting people trying to browbeat them into becoming a particular form of Christian (even if they already are Christian).