Did a Christian Priest Influence the transmission of Buddhist Literature to Japan?
Fr. Bar Hanna (Fr. Dale A. Johnson) The co-translator of Buddhist literature in China at the beginning of the 9th century CE was a Christian priest and monk. His seven volume work, produced under the direction of the Indian sage, Prajna, was completed precisely at the time two Japanese monks arrive at the same monastery in China in search of Buddhist literature to bring back to their homeland: Kukai and Saicho. These monks were founders of the Lotus and True Word schools, In the Buddhist monastery of Ta-tsin near Xian, China ( 782 CE) Prajna from India arrived as a guest of the Chinese Emperor. He was asked to translate the Buddhist scriptures. Because he did not know Uighar or Chinese languages he sought the help of a Christian missionary priest and monk from Afghanistan, Father Adam. Father Adam was a Nestorian Christian who was under the direction of his Patriarch near Bagdad (Selucia Cestiphon). He studied in Gundushapur where former Persian Emperors had brought intellectuals from
