cover image THE JESUS SUTRAS: Rediscovering the Lost Scrolls of Taoist Christianity

THE JESUS SUTRAS: Rediscovering the Lost Scrolls of Taoist Christianity

Martin Palmer, . . Ballantine, $24.95 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-345-43424-1

Palmer (Kuan Yin; Travels Through Sacred China) has the ability to make readers feel as if they have joined him in an exuberant and breathless Indiana Jones–style adventure, as he weaves his clues and discoveries of the early Christian Church in China. Here he examines the "Jesus Sutras," discovered by a Taoist priest in a cave in northwestern China near the end of the 19th century. Among hundreds of scrolls, books, artwork and artifacts were Christian documents dating from the early seventh to the early 11th century C.E.; the earliest texts seem to have been recorded by Persian missionaries, while those that followed seem more indigenous to Chinese culture. There are sutras of liturgy, as well as odd reinterpretations of the Bible and a form of catechism. These Christian sacred books have been translated into English only twice, both times in the 1930s by translators who knew the language but were unfamiliar with Chinese sacred works such as the Tao Te Ching and the Lotus Sutra. Palmer, with his firm grasp of early Christian history, Buddhism, Taoism, Shamanism, Confucianism and Chinese history and languages, makes a fascinating case for the scrolls' syncretism of classical Western Christian orthodoxy and Taoist beliefs. For example, the texts place a strong emphasis on Jesus' ability to save believers from the wheel of karma. Palmer has written an important and wonderful book that is accessible for a general audience. (Aug.)

Forecast:What's next after the phase-out of the Celtic Christianity craze? Given the tremendous interest in Eastern spirituality in America, perhaps the market is ripe for intelligent books like this that marry historic Christianity with the wisdom traditions of the East. Many Judeo-Christian Americans who practice Buddhist or Taoist meditation techniques will be fascinated to know, as Palmer puts it, that "fourteen hundred years ago, the Jesus Sutras had already created a synthesis of Tao, Christ, and Buddha." Promotions in Tricycle and other publications should help move the title, which has a modest initial print run of 15,000.