A scholarly journal devoted to Buddhism and Christianity and their historical and contemporary interrelationships, Buddhist-Christian Studies presents thoughtful articles, conference reports, and book reviews. It also includes sections on comparative methodology and historical comparisons, as well as ongoing discussions from two dialogue conferences: the Theological Encounter with Buddhism, and the Japan Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies. Membership in the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies includes a subscription to the journal.

Join the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies 

Read Online:

1999 to present

Back content starting in 1981

• Recent Articles

• Editors’ Introduction
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Self-Awareness (rang rig) and Nondual Presence: Tibetan Mahāmudrā and a Christian-Adjacent Correlation
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  “I Am But Lowly”: Humility in the Hagiographies of Yeshé Tsogyal and Mechthild of Magdeburg
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Subjectivity and Śūnyatā: A Conceptual Bridge between Kierkegaard and Tsongkhapa
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  The Celestial Web: What Is It All About?
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Putting the Fractal Theory to Work: Review Article Perry Schmidt-Leukel, The Celestial Web
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Normativity, “Acceptance,” and Fractals: Perry Schmidt-Leukel and the Future of Buddhist-Christian Dialogue
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  A Different Comparison
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  “Don’t get caught in Indra’s net”: A Response to The Celestial Web
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Essential Diversity: A Religious Studies Take on Schmidt-Leukel’s Celestial Web
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Fractals and Identities: A Response
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Multiple Religious Belonging and Community Leadership from a Buddhist-Christian Perspective
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Buddhist-Christian Double Belonging in Resisting Ultranationalist Populism: The Case of Seiichi Yagi
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Problems and Perils of Dual Practice/Belonging
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Response to a Panel: “Reflecting on Buddhist-Christian Double Belonging: A 2024 Update”
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Hearing Common Chords: An Experience of Multiple Religious Belonging
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  A Heart-Mind that Heals
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Buddhist and Christian Transformation
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Proceeding in the Way of Zen and the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises: Ruben Habito’s Legacy
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Be Still and Know: Effing the Ineffable—A Response
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Dying, Death, and the Afterlife: An Analysis and Comparison of Karl Rahner and the Dalai Lama
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  True Self Is No Self? A Comparative Reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Please Call Me by My True Names” and Thomas Merton’s “Hagia Sophia”
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  “Destroying the Suffering of the World”: Christian and Buddhist Perspectives on Universal Salvation
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  H. H. Kung (1880–1967) and Multiple Religious Belonging: Christian–Confucian–Buddhist Interfaith Encounters in the Early Twentieth Century
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Peace in Action: Venerable Chin Kung’s Approach to Interreligious Dialogue
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Why Mindfulness Is Not Sati: The Genealogy of the Mindfulness Boom
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Empowered Speech from Indic Mantras to the Name of Jesus
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Self-Love in Religious Altruism: A Dialogical Comparison between Thomas Aquinas and Śāntideva
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  The Heart Unbound: Chastity in Theravada Buddhism and Franciscan Religious Life
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Purifying Mind and Heart: The Sāmaññaphala Sutta and Austin Farrer’s Glass of Vision
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  The Nature of the Embodiment of “Law” (dhamma/λόγος) in Early Buddhism and Christianity
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  SBCS Board Meets Online (11/7/2024) To Maximize In-Person Time Together at AAR and Minimize Expenses
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  SBCS In-Person Annual Meeting Events At the San Diego AAR Meeting (11/22–24/2024)
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Buddhist and Christian Perspectives on the Mind July 2−6, 2026 Hamburg, Germany
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  European Academy of Religion’s Eighth Annual Conference Vienna, Austria July 8–12, 2025: Panel: Tibetan Buddhism in Comparison
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Upcoming Events/Members’ Projects
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Membership
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Constructing Reality in Comparative Theology by Paul S. Chung (review)
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Euro-Buddhism and the Role of Christianity ed. by Kurt Krammer, John O’Grady and Martin Rötting (review)
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Karma and Grace: Religious Difference in Millennial Sri Lanka by Neena Mahadev (review)
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Christian Imaginations of the Religious Other: A History of Religionization by Marianne Moyaert (review)
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Christian Perspectives on Transforming Interreligious Encounter: Essays in Honor of Leo D. Lefebure ed. by Peter C. Phan and Anh Q. Tran (review)
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  The Great Open Dance: A Progressive Christian Theology by Jon Paul Sydnor (review)
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

  Martin Luther’s Theology of Two Kingdoms in Buddhist and Christian Communities: Transforming Contemporary Myanmar Society by Pa Yaw (review)
  Posted on Tuesday January 13, 2026

• Pricing Guide

• PAYMENT

  All prices are indicated in U.S. dollars. Canadian customers must include 5% GST (automatically included at checkout). All prices shown are exclusive of any taxes.

  Payment must be included with all orders. We accept payment by U.S. dollar checks drawn on a U.S. bank and made payable to the University of Hawaii Press. We also accept payment by Visa or MasterCard. If paying by credit card please include the card number, expiration date, cardholder name and billing address. If you wish to pay by bank transfer, please contact us for bank details. No refunds will be made except for erroneous duplicate orders.

  PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS – GENERAL INFORMATION

  Subscription Start

  Unless otherwise requested, subscriptions will start with the current year’s issue.

  Shipping / Postage

  All prices shown include standard delivery in the U.S.A. Additional postage will be charged at checkout for print orders mailed outside the U.S.A. Priority Mail option at additional cost is available at checkout. Please contact customer service for other shipping options.

  Back Issues

  Print issues older than two years are available in limited supply and may be purchased at a discounted rate. Please fill out a back-issue order form.

  Bookstores/Classroom Use

  Bulk-rate discounts for one-time print orders are 20% on 10-19 copies and 30% on 20 or more copies. Postage charges are NOT discountable. All sales are final, we do not accept return of journal issues. Please contact customer service to order bulk copies.

  INDIVIDUAL ORDER INFORMATION

  Individual rates apply to subscriptions and single issue orders for individual (personal) use. You must provide a first name, last name, and telephone number.

  Online access

  When you place your order for online access (electronic subscription), you will receive an emailed receipt that includes an activation code and a link to this page: https://associations.press.jhu.edu/uhp/

  Please enter your activation code and register on the site to gain access to the journal content.

  A FAQ is available here: https://faq.press.jhu.edu/uhp

  We are pleased to partner with the Johns Hopkins University Press and Project MUSE to provide online access to subscribers.

  INSTITUTIONAL ORDER INFORMATION

  Institutional rates apply to subscriptions and single issue orders for Institutional / Organizational use and paid for by libraries, universities, schools, societies, government offices, departments, businesses and the like. If you are ordering on behalf of your institution, please include the institution name.

  Online access and Print + Online orders

  Institutions may order electronic subscriptions or print + electronic through our hosting partner Project MUSE: http://muse.jhu.edu/about/order/single_title_options.html

  You may contact Project MUSE at [email protected].

  SUBSCRIPTION CLAIMS

  Claims for non-receipt of issues will be honored at no charge within 180 days of the original ship date. Thereafter, the single copy rate will be charged for replacement. No more than one free replacement per issue will be allowed. Credits for non-receipt are not offered.

  Please contact customer service at:

  Journals Department, University of Hawai‘i Press, 2840 Kolowalu Street, Honolulu, HI 96822

  Tel. 1-808-956-8833; Fax 1-808-988-6052

  Toll-free (U.S. & Canada) Tel. 1-888-UHPRESS; Fax 1-800-650-7811

  e-mail: [email protected]

  SUBSCRIPTION AGENTS

  Please see our current title listing and rate sheet. We offer an agency discount of 5% off the institutional subscription rate. We do not offer discounts on single issue orders or postage. New agents must provide the URL of their business website or submit their initial correspondence on official company letterhead.

• Author Guidelines

• Buddhist-Christian Studies is a scholarly journal published annually by the University of Hawai‘i Press. It presents research papers, book reviews, and news items on Buddhism and Christianity, their interrelation, and comparative study based on historical materials and contemporary experience.

  The materials selected for publication will be balanced between historical research and contemporary practice, and, where possible, they should employ analytical and theoretical tools and be set within the framework of our shared human history. The journal also recognizes that religious studies must involve subjective as well as objective and theoretical investigations if they are to be effective in the search for knowledge. Accordingly, in selecting papers for publication, value is placed on the clarity of presentation and on significance for enlarging religious understanding for scholars, religious thinkers, and the educated public.

  In preparing manuscripts for submission, authors of academic papers, book reviews, and news items must conform to the submission guidelines given in this volume.

  The first page of the manuscript must contain the author’s contact information:

  (a) the title of the manuscript, (b) the name of the author, (c) the author’s affiliation, (d) postal address, (e) email address, and (f) telephone and fax numbers.

  All manuscripts should be prepared for electronic editing and typesetting. Use a standard word-processing program such as Microsoft Word and submit both RTF (Rich Text Format) and PDF versions of the manuscript. Diacritic marks should be used for foreign language terms, and, wherever possible, use a Unicode font. The preferred font is Times New Roman, 12 pt.

  If a contribution is in another language, the original and an English translation must be submitted. The system of transliteration used for foreign terms and names should be consistent within each article and should conform to generally accepted practice.

  Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all quotations and for supplying complete references in the form of endnotes. In formatting endnotes authors must use the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., rev. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010).

  The editors receive manuscripts for publication. All submissions should be sent to Thomas Cattoi and/or Kristin Johnston Largen at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively. Books for review should be sent to the book review editor: Jason VonWachenfeldt at PO Box 6433, Lawrenceville, NJ, 08648, USA; News items should be sent to the News and Views editor: John Becker at [email protected].

  All manuscripts are subject to anonymous peer reviewing before acceptance and may receive editorial modifications in the course of publication. The editors will make every effort to have all submissions evaluated in a timely manner.

  After a manuscript has been accepted, it will go through copyediting, proofreading, and composition. Authors may receive queries during this production process. Only minor adjustments should be made at this time, and authors should respond in a timely manner. Extensive changes to proofs may result in delays, are costly, and therefore should be limited to correction of printer’s errors and errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and/or fact.

  Manuscript submission guidelines

  With very few exceptions, manuscripts are copyedited and composed electronically from files supplied by authors. Guidelines for preparing the copy follow. It is hoped that they will aid you in preparing your materials for the best possible results with electronic type.

  Software

  Most standard word-processing software programs from either Windows or Macintosh systems are acceptable, but MS Word is likely to be easier to convert than WordPerfect. In most cases, it is best to include a second version of your file in RTF (Rich Text Format), which preserves italics and footnotes, or plain text (ASCII) as a worst-case backup.

  Please save your final submission files using your surname and type of manuscript or file submitted (e.g., Cattoi_article.docx, Cattoi_table2.docx, Anderson_review.doc, Anderson_fig1.jpeg, Seitz_news.rtf, etc.)

  Please email your submission to the editors indicating the name of the word-processing program used (e.g., “MS Word 2004 for Mac”) along with short versions of the author(s) and title(s), an abstract (no more than 350 words), and keywords (minimum of three).

  Be sure to retain copies of the final files for your reference.

  Make no further changes to the manuscript files once they have been submitted.

  Contact Information

  Please provide your most current email address with your final manuscript so we may contact you with any queries. Upon acceptance of your manuscript, you will also be asked to sign a publication agreement from University of Hawai`i Press, our publisher, in order to proceed with publication. Please include your complete contact information, including current mailing address, on this form. Please notify the editors of any changes to email or mailing address during production.

  Buddhist-Christian Studies does not include contributor notes, but authors may note institutional affiliation in their byline.

  Special characters and fonts 

  Many of our authors use either Asian-language word-processing software or various add-on programs (such as Twinbridge) that allow Asian characters to be entered and edited in (Eurocentric) standard Mac or Windows word-processing programs. Many also rely on specially purchased or customized fonts, or WordPerfect “compose” codes, to enter unusual characters or diacritics. None of these can be easily converted. The most reliable method is to replace each such special character with a spelled-out substitute enclosed in angle brackets, such as or . Be sure to submit a listing of all such codes used.

  As an author, if you use a Unicode font for your work, problems that arise with regard to proper diacritics when the data is transferred from one person to another can be avoided. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you use a Unicode font so that foreign language terms can be displayed properly without any distortion.

  Figures and Tables (Illustrations)

  Submit figure and plate captions as a separate file—all captions in one file. Be sure that each table is on a separate page and is double-spaced. In the text, indicate approximate placements of tables and figures (within angle brackets), each on a separate line as follows:

  or

  Figures must be provided in 300 dpi resolution for visual clarity in print. Trim size of the journal is 6 x 9 inches or 27 x 47-1/4 picas. Preferred file format is .tiff or .jpeg.

  All print images will appear in grayscale. Color images may also be provided, but they will appear in the online version only.

  Tables must fit into an 8.5 x 11 inch document in portrait or landscape format. MS Word documents are preferred, though MS Excel files will also be accepted, so long as margins are not too large to print.

  Keep document formatting to a minimum:

  • Run all text flush left and ragged right; do not justify the right margin.
  • Do not run headers or footers on text pages.
  • Do not use hanging indents.
  • Use upper/lower case letters in plain type You may use centering or enlarged type to show titles and subheads if you wish, but do not use underscoring, boldface, all caps, small caps, or other displays.
  • Do not create extra space between paragraphs; one extra space (only) above subheads is OK. Keep the following in mind when inputting:
  • Use type to show italics (not underlining) and sub- and superscripts.
  • Use type for letters with diacritics only when the symbols are standard in your software program; never access type from a special chart or from another software program. See Special Characters and Fonts.
  • Never use all caps (acronyms excepted), either as displays or in text; avoid small caps (exceptions: B.C.; B.C.E.).
  • Use the tab key to indent (not the spacebar).
  • Do not use “soft” hyphens or hyphenation programs; avoid end-of-the-line word breaks.
  • Use the numeral “1” for one (never the letter “l”), the numeral “0” for zero (never the letter “O”).
  • Show a dash with two hyphens (no extra space either side).
  • Use only one space after a period or semicolon.

  Foreign Language Issues

  All technical terms in Buddhist languages, etc., except proper names, are italicized. Chinese (i.e., Standard, or Mandarin, Chinese)

  1. Use pinyin, follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, 10.100 –10.103, 425–428.
  2. Diacritics: in the pinyin system, observe the rare diaeresis over the “u”:
     • lüan, lüe, nü, nüe [pinyin]
  3. For the proper Romanization of Chinese syllables, follow the “Pinyin to Wade- Giles”/“Wade-Giles to Pinyin” conversion table in The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, Table 10.2, pp. 426–427.

  Typeface 

  • Do not use bold except for the first
  • Use italics for emphasis rather than bold or underscoring. But do not over use italics for emphasis.

  Headings

  • The first heading is in roman small caps typeface.
  • Subheadings are in italic caps and lower case letters.

  Titles

  • Book titles are italicized; article titles are enclosed in quotation marks.
  • Conference titles such as “Interreligious Dialogue and Co-existence” are in quotation marks, not italics.
  • Transliterations in the title and headings should be the same as in the body of the article paragraphs.
  • No extra line space between paragraphs.
  • New paragraphs are indented (except for the first paragraph of a new section, which is aligned left).

  Quotes 

  • Use only double quotation marks (except for quotes within a quote, which use single marks).
  • Quotes of 40 words and more are to be displayed (indented, with one line before and one line after); quotes of less than 40 words to be run on.
  • Text within quotations must not be standardized (this includes capitalization and standardization of transliterations).

  Spacing 

  • Space between initials in a name (e.g., K. N. Jayatilleke).

  Ellipsis

  • Spaced ellipsis, without brackets; four spaced dots when including a full stop.

  Endnotes

  • The journal uses only endnotes. Endnotes should come at the end of the article and should present substantive information. Bibliographic citation in end-notes should be in-line with Chicago Manual of Style, 15th , rev. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003) (see below for examples).
  • Endnote indicators in the body of the text should be in superscript.
  • If the endnote comes at the end of a quote, the note indicator comes after the closing quote marks: “… an important religious community in Asia today.”
  • Page citations in endnotes should not contain letters “p” or “pp.”

  Examples of endnote references

  Book:

  David J. Kalupahana, A History of Buddhist Philosophy: Continuities and Discontinuities (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992), 68.

  Chapter in a book: 

  Mahinda Deegalle, “Buddhist Prayer?: A Reflection,” in Rita M. Gross and Terry C. Muck, ed., Christians Talk about Buddhist Meditation and Buddhists Talk about Christian Prayer (New York and London: Continuum, 2003), 118–131.

  Journal article:

  David W. Chappell, “Religious Identity and Openness in a Pluralistic World,” Buddhist-Christian Studies

  25 (2005): 10.

  Spelling

  • American English.

  Grammar 

  • “That” to be used only in restrictive relative clauses; “which” to be used in descriptive relative clauses.
  • “Since” to be used only with reference to a passed period of time, not as a synonym of “because”; “while” to be changed to “although” when not used specifically in terms of a time relationship of some sort.

  Punctuation

  • Use serial commas (i.e., place a comma before “and” in a list; g., “red, white, and blue”).
  • Periods and commas go inside quotation marks; semicolons and colons go outside quotation marks.
  • Commas after “e.g.” and “i.e.”
  • Use unspaced em-dashes (—).
  • Use apostrophe + s for possessives of words ending in –s, e.g., “Edwards’s view.”
  • Numbers 
  • Numbers one to ninety-nine are written out; numbers 100 and over are in numerals (but “36 percent”).
  • Approximations in place of numbers are written out (e.g., “around eight hundred”).
  • “chapter 1” “chapter 2,” “chapters 8–11,” etc., not “chap. 1” or “chapter ”
  • Change fractions to decimals where possible.
  • No elision of numbers: pages 232–238, not 232–38; 1980–1984, not 1980–84.

  Dates

  • For authors, give complete dates: Anagārika Dharmapāla (1864–1933).
  • 1500s, not 1500’s.
  • “1970s,” not “seventies.”
  • “Seventh century,” not “Seventh Century” or “7th ”
  • 400 B.C.E., 1500 C.E. not 400 B.C., A.D.
  • March 5, not March 5th.
  • Ranges: 1915–1926 (use an en-dash, not a hyphen).
  • Lists
  • Numbered lists and notes in text: (1) . . . (2) . . . , (no superscripts); each item in a list is followedby a semi-colon.

  Figures and Charts 

  • For figures mentioned in text: Figure 1; Figure 2
  • For figure caption : Fig. 1 ; Fig. 2
  • Charts are in tables and do not use tabs.
• Editorial Board

• Editors

  Thomas Cattoi and Kristin Johnston Largen

  News and Views Editor

  John Becker

  Book Reviews Editor

  Jason VonWachenfeldt

  Editorial Advisory Board

  Francis X. Clooney

  Catherine Cornille

  Kenneth Tanaka

  Ruben Habito

  Elizabeth Harris

  Sallie King

  Paul Knitter

  Leo Lefebure

  Carolyn Jones Medine

  Bee Scherer

  Judith Simmer-Brown

• Indexes

• Articles appearing in Buddhist-Christian Studies are indexed and/or abstracted in:

  American Theological Library Association Religion Database (ATLA)

  Asian Religious Studies Information

  Atla Religion Database

  Book Review Index

  Index to the Study of Religion Online

  Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG)

  (IBZ) International Bibliography of Periodical Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences

  (IBR) International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences

  Beginning in 2017, the journal has been accepted for indexing in Scopus.

  Clarivate Analytics–
  Emerging Sources Citation Index
  Web of Science

  EBSCOhost–
  Academic Search Alumni Edition, 11/1/2001-
  Academic Search Complete, 11/1/2001-
  Academic Search Elite, 11/1/2001-
  Academic Search Premier, 11/1/2001-
  Academic Search Ultimate, 11/1/2001-
  Academic Search: Main Edition, 11/1/2001-
  Advanced Placement Source, 11/1/2001-
  ATLA Religion Database (American Theological Library Association), 1981-2015
  Biography Index: Past and Present (H.W. Wilson), vol.23, 2003-vol.28, 2008
  Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson), May 2003-
  Current Abstracts, 11/1/2001-
  Humanities Abstracts (H.W. Wilson), 11/1/2003-
  Humanities Index (Online), 2003/05-
  Humanities International Complete, 11/1/2001-
  Humanities International Index, 11/1/2001-
  Humanities Source, 11/1/2001-
  Humanities Source Ultimate, 11/1/2001-
  MainFile, 11/1/2001-
  OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson), 11/1/2004-
  OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson), 11/1/2004-
  Poetry & Short Story Reference Center, 11/1/2001-
  Religion & Philosophy Collection, 11/1/2001-
  Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies
  TOC Premier (Table of Contents), 11/1/2001-

  Gale–
  Academic OneFile, 01/2000-
  Book Review Index Plus
  Expanded Academic ASAP, 01/2000-
  General OneFile, 01/2000-
  InfoTrac Custom, 1/2000-
  Religion and Philosophy Collection, 01/2000 –

  OCLC–
  ArticleFirst, vol.12, 1992-vol.31, no.1, 2011
  Electronic Collections Online, vol.20, no.1, 2000-vol.31, no.1, 2011
  Humanities Index (Online), 2003/05-

  ProQuest–
  Professional ProQuest Central, 01/01/1998-
  ProQuest 5000, 01/01/1998-
  ProQuest 5000 International, 01/01/1998-
  ProQuest Central, 1/1/1998-
  Religion Database, 01/01/1998-
  Research Library, 01/01/1998-

  Religious & Theological Abstracts, Inc.–
  Religious & Theological Abstracts