Barlaam and Ioasaph

An edifying story from the inner land of the Ethiopians, called the land of the Indians, thence brought to the Holy City, by John the Monk (an honourable man and a virtuous, of the monastery of Saint Sabas); wherein are the lives of the famous and blessed Barlaam and Ioasaph."Readers of this work will note some startling similarities between the story of Ioasaph and the traditional Tale of Buddha. The work seems to be a retelling of the Buddha Legend from within a Christian context, with the singular difference that the “Buddha” in this tale reaches enlightenment through the love of Jesus Christ. The popularity of the Greek version of this story is attested to by the number of translations made of it throughout the Christian world, including versions in Latin, Old Slavonic, Armenian, Christian Arabic, English, Ethiopic, and French. Such was its popularity that both Barlaam and Josaphat (Ioasaph) were eventually recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as Saints, and churches were dedicated in their honor from Portugal to Constantinople. It was only after Europeans began to have increased contacts with India that scholars began to notice the similarities between the two sets of stories. Modern scholars believe that the Buddha story came to Europe from Arabic, Caucasus, and/or Persian sources, all of which were active in trade between the European and Indian worlds."

Douglas B. Killings

15 x 21 cm, 275 pgs