This book is an experiment with the conviction that there is a comparative dimension in confessional theology. This chapter briefly reviews the case for using sources from other religions in the work of Christian theology. It then describes the particular aim of this text to reflect on the reconciling work of Christ in light of Buddhist teaching. Another section reviews the history of Buddhist-Christian engagement, with special focus on the geographical area of the Silk Road in Central Asia and on the case of Manichaeanism as a tradition overlapping with both Buddhism and Christianity. It also reviews the author’s previously published constructive proposal in theology of religions, as the framework for this work. A final section outlines the plan of the book.
The Silk Road Imaginary in the Central Asia as an Emerging Geopolitical Discourse
