Page:The Praises of Amida, 1907.djvu/13

 Rh the student of comparative religion, but, practically, to the Christian missionary, and to every one interested in the religious movement of to day, is, Who is Amida? The points of resemblance between Amida and Christ are too striking to be passed over unnoticed, even by a casual reader. Can the two stones in any sense be said to have a common origin?

No attempt has ever been made to give Amida a historical embodiment, and it must be remembered that there are very many Buddhists, even in Japan, who place no trust in Him and His Paradise. I believe, however, that such an embodiment is possible, and I hope to show at some future date that the Amida legend is an Oriental adaptation of the Life of Christ. Amida is first mentioned, so it is said, in the writings of As'vaghosha, who flourished in the reign of the Indo-Scythian Sovereign Kanishka. Kanishka s date is sometimes assigned to the middle of the 1st century A.D.; but Dr. Bhandarkar of Bombay gives extremely good reasons