The Bible and Asia

R. S. Sugirtharajah

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9780674728097
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Christianity

Though the Bible is a product of West Asia, its influence on Europe and the Americas has received far more attention than its complex career in the East. R. S. Sugirtharajah corrects this imbalance with an expansive new study of Asia's subversive and idiosyncratic relationship with the Bible. This is the story of missionaries, imperialists, exegetes, reformers, and nationalists who molded Biblical texts according to their own needs in order to influence religion, politics, and daily life from India to China.When the Bible reached east and south Asia in the third century CE, its Christian scriptures already bore traces of Asian commodities and Indian moral stories. In China, the Bible merged with the teachings of Buddha and Lao Tzu to produce the Jesus Sutras. As he recounts the history of how Christianity was influenced by other Asian religions, Sugirtharajah deftly highlights the controversial issue of Buddhist and Vedic influence on Biblical religion.Once used to justify European rule in Asia, the Bible has also served to promote the spiritual salvation of women, outcasts, and untouchables. The Bible has left a literary mark on Asia in two ways: through its influence on Asian writers and through the reinvigoration of modern Asian vernaculars when proselytizing missionaries introduced Western print culture to the East.

1 Merchandise, Moralities, and Poetics of Aryans, Dravidians, and Israelites

Readers of any standard work on the Bible will get the impression that there is a tacit agreement among biblical scholars that both testaments were influenced by Near Eastern and Hellenistic cultures. Before Napoleon’s campaign in the Mediterranean (1798–1801), scholarly investigation of biblical religion and culture was largely confined to the sources supplied by Greco-Latin classical writings. Subsequent to the opening of the Orient, however, and the discovery and decipherment of Sumerian, Hittite, and Ugaritic inscriptions, the history of Israel was placed within what biblical scholars designedly configured as a Near Eastern context. Such a placement radically challenged biblical history, its chronology, and its theological precepts. It has always been taken for granted that the New Testament was produced under Roman colonial rule. Roman administration not only provided economic and political stability but also supplied philosophy, language, and customs that shaped the New Testament writings and the early church. In other words, it has become a scholarly convention to assume that those adjoining countries that often invaded Israel and the occupying power—the Roman empire—offered cultural provisions and sustenance to both testaments. This chapter aims to broaden the cultural catchment area of the Bible by including Asia as a potential contributor to the life and thought of the biblical people and their culture.

The chapter, then, will do three things in particular. It will draw attention to the presence of India and Asia and how these were represented in various biblical books; provide examples of the exchange of both commercial commodities and cultural products, such as myths, stories, and religious concepts, that took place between India and the biblical world; and explore the possibility of Eastern religious thought, especially the alleged influence of Buddhism, on the New Testament. It will conclude with a consideration of some of the hermeneutical implications surrounding the potential influence of Eastern religions on the emerging Christianity.

Asia in the Bible

I begin by listing instances where Asia and India have been mentioned, first in the Hebrew scriptures, then through the intertestamental writings, the New Testament, and other books that are left out of the canon.

One of the earliest biblical writings to mention India is the Book of Esther. It has two references. The first appears in the opening verse of the book: “This happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the same Ahasuerus who ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia” (1:1 New Revised Standard Version [hereafter NRSV]). The other occurs as part of an edict: “The king’s secretaries were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language” (8:9 NRSV). The purpose of mentioning India as the eastern border of the Ethiopian empire in Esther, according to Randal Bailey, is to indicate the power of the southern empires. Because the book of Esther was written during the Greek rule of Southern Syria, Bailey’s contention is that it could be an anti-Greek polemic that called attention to the superiority of southern nations over the north. Ethiopia and India are not just geographical markers but the benchmark against which Israel is evaluated.¹

In the intertestamental period, the Books of Maccabees have a number of references to Asia and India. In these writings, Asia was used as a way of highlighting the might and dominion of the Seleucid empire:

They also had defeated Antiochus the Great, king of Asia, who went to fight against them with one hundred twenty elephants and with cavalry and chariots and a very large army. He was crushed by them. (1 Macc. 8:6 NRSV)

Then Ptolemy entered Antioch and put on the crown of Asia. Thus he put two crowns on his head, the crown of Egypt and that of Asia. (11:13 NRSV)

Then Trypho attempted to become king in Asia and put on the crown, and to raise his hand against King Antiochus. (12:39 NRSV)

While the holy city was inhabited in unbroken peace and the laws were strictly observed because of the piety of the high priest Onias and his hatred of wickedness, it came about that the kings themselves honored the place and glorified the temple with the finest presents, even to the extent that King Seleucus of Asia defrayed from his own revenues all the expenses connected with the service of the sacrifices. (2 Macc. 3:3 NRSV; emphasis added)

Now Timothy, who had been defeated by the Jews before, gathered a tremendous force of mercenaries and collected the cavalry from Asia in no small number. (2 Macc. 10:24 NRSV)

When our expedition took place in Asia, as you yourselves know, it was brought to conclusion, according to plan, by the gods’ deliberate alliance with us in battle. (3 Macc. 3:14 NRSV)

At a time when our ancestors were enjoying profound peace because of their observance of the law and were prospering, so that even Seleucus Nicanor, king of Asia, had both appropriated money to them for the temple service and recognized their commonwealth—just at that time certain persons attempted a revolution against the public harmony and caused many and various disasters. (4 Macc. 3:20 NRSV; emphasis added)

In the Book of Maccabees, there is a mention of an Indian mahout with Antiochus’s elephants: “On the elephants were wooden towers, strong and covered; they were fastened on each animal by special harness, and on each were four armed men who fought from there, and also its Indian driver” (1 Macc. 6:37 NRSV).

India also appears as one of the limits of the Persian empire under Darius in the apocryphal Greek version of the Book of Ezra known as 1 Esdras. The passage runs as follows: “Now King Darius gave a great banquet for all that were under him, all that were born in his house, and all the nobles of Media and Persia, and all the satraps and generals and governors that were under him in the hundred and twenty-seven satrapies from India to Ethiopia” (3.1–2 NRSV).

Asia, in these writings, is perceived as a place full of cash and cavalry. India in the Hebrew scriptures and in the intertestamental writings is portrayed as a powerful nation that supplies forces for war, including trained warriors driving elephants. For the Selucid kings, elephants were an “important instrument of war” that they used in their campaigns. The Mauryan king Chandragupta gifted 500 elephants to Seleucus I (305–285 BCE) in exchange for a matrimonial alliance and the return of territories that were part of India.² There is also the record of Antiochus I receiving twenty Indian elephants sent by the governor of Bactria to the satrap of Babylonia, who dispatched them to Antiochus I to fight against the Ptolemies.³ It was generally accepted that African elephants were “no match for the much fiercer Indian ones.”⁴ The mention of Indian mahouts and an Indian army as part of the Selucid international force attacking Israel reinforces the prophetic portrayal of the tiny and hapless nation of Israel faced with numerous and powerful enemies.

In the New Testament, however, under the Roman empire the picture is different. Asia is mentioned in the writings of Luke (Acts 2:9; 6:9; 16:6; 19:10, 22, 26, 27, 31; 20:4, 16, 18; 21:27; 24:18; 27:2), Paul (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; 2 Cor. 1:8), Deutero Paul (2 Tim. 1:15), Peter (1 Pet. 1:1), and John (Apocalypse 1:4). The Asia mentioned here is Proconsular Asia—a Roman province that included the Western part of Asia Minor and had Ephesus as its capital, now in Western Turkey. Proconsular Asia contained the seven churches of the Apocalypse (Rev. 1:11). Although the cities Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Antioch, and Armenia were all geographically in West Asia, culturally and politically they were part of the West.

Significant events of early Christianity took place in Western Asia—Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ephesus, Antioch. It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus for the first time were called Christians (Acts 11:23–26). Although major events of nascent Christianity played out in Asia, it was seen as a place to be avoided. The Acts reports that Paul and his companions traveled through Phyrgia and Galatia but the Holy Spirit kept them from preaching the word in Asia (16:6). The unknown author of 2 Timothy encapsulates the mood: “This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me” (1:15).

In the portrayals of the New Testament writings, Asia and Asians do not come across as attractive or appealing. They are portrayed here as disruptive, and Asia is seen as a hostile territory. For instance, in the trial of Stephen, Asians are seen as part of the Jewish orthodoxy who argue with him: “Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen” (Acts 6:9). In another example of Asian hostility seen in Ephesus, the preaching of the new Christian movement creates a stir when it leads to a loss of income among local silversmiths. The chief instigator is Demetrius, who made silver shrines for the local goddess Diana. What is surprising is that just a few years earlier, the very same Ephesians had welcomed enthusiastically the message of Paul. The apostle taught for five hours a day in the rented school of Tyrannus in Ephesus (Acts 19:9). Now, a few years later, in a changed scenario, the same province had turned against him. Asians are thus portrayed as a people who are not reliable and who deserted Paul when he needed them most. Paul singles out Phygelus and Hermogenes, who failed to come to his rescue when he was in trouble with the Roman government.

There were exceptions. For instance, there was Onesiphorus, an Ephesian Christian who visited Paul when he was in prison and whom Paul praised for his kindness, courage, and hospitality. Another Ephesian, Tychicus of Asia, came to Paul’s rescue. Paul then dispatched him to Ephesus in the hope that a native of that province might succeed in sorting out the troubles there (Eph. 6:21; also see 2 Tim. 4:12).

Tychicus is mentioned five times in the New Testament. A close reading of these passages will reveal two things. First, he simply accompanies Paul in his journeys. He is mentioned, with Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, and “Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia” (Acts 20:5), as one of Paul’s companions on his travel to Asia. Second, he merely follows the orders of Paul and fulfills whatever is asked of him. Tychicus was sent to Ephesus twice. On the first occasion, he was sent to tell the Ephesian church how Paul was doing. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “But that you also may know my affairs and what I am doing, Tychicus will make all things known to you” (Eph. 6:21). On the second occasion, Tychicus was dispatched to Ephesus to win back the rebellious Ephesian Christians (2 Tim. 4:12). The last time we hear of Tychicus, Paul has summoned him again for a visit. “When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there” (Titus 3:12). Paul asked Titus to come to him and was willing to send one of the two men, apparently to take over the work that Titus was doing in Crete. Again, it is apparent that Tychicus was willing to go wherever Paul needed him to go. Very little is said about Tychicus, except that he is a “beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord” (Eph. 6:21; also see Col. 4:7). The impression that one gets is of an obedient and pliant Asian who had no voice or initiative of his own but who respected authority and faithfully followed orders.

While some Asians are portrayed as unquestioningly obeying authorities, others are seen as having authority and position. They are recognized as administrating agents of the imperial government and as the wielders of power. Colonialism creates and relies on a subset of a colonized population that forms a collaborating comprador class. Luke refers to a group of Asian chiefs—Asiarchs. The “chiefs of Asia” (Acts 19:31) were certainly wealthy and influential citizens who were elected annually to supervise and conduct religious festivals, especially the ritual concerned with emperor worship. Their responsibility included organizing games in their home cities. In the eyes of Christians, these Asiarchs were all pagans. Some were portrayed as friends of Paul, although their religious views differed fundamentally from those of the apostle. The idolatrous practices of these people went against the tenets of the gospel that Luke was trying to convey. What endeared Luke to them was their imperial connections. As officials of the Roman empire, they were jealous supporters of royal authority and showed intense loyalty to the emperor. It was these Asiarchs who were the officers of the imperial cult, but they did not find Paul a threat to the emperor. They saw to it that he and his traveling companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, were not exposed to the mob.

Going beyond the canonical books of the New Testament, one of the rejected writings of the early church, the Acts of Thomas, offers a prominent place to India, a site where the apostle Thomas was sent to evangelize. In the Acts of Thomas, an early third-century text, India features frequent...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Merchandise, Moralities, and Poetics of Aryans, Dravidians, and Israelites
• 2. Colonial Bureaucrats and the Search for Older Testaments
• 3. Enlisting Christian Texts for Protest in the Empire
• 4. A Buddhist Ascetic and His Maverick Misreadings of the Bible
• 5. Paul the Roman in Asia
• 6. Exegesis in Eastern Climes
• 7. Between the Lines of Asian Fiction
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Acknowledgments
• Index of Scriptural References
• General Index