Blackwell Reference Online

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[xiii.b] A few Monophysites and Nestorians (see Christology) reached India and China in the early centuries ce. Monophysitism once had substantial churches in western Asia, but competition with other Christians undermined them in the face of Islam, and Christianity was permanently weakened in this area. Substantial penetration of India, China and Japan came with Roman Catholic (see Roman catholicism) Missions of friars and Jesuits (see Monasticism) from the 16th century. They were decimated by persecution a century later. Fresh work in these areas came with Protestant missions and renewed Roman Catholic effort in the 19th century. These efforts were most successful in the South Seas, less secure in China and not numerous in Japan [58]. Indigenous cultures and major religions (Buddhism; Hinduism; Islam) have proved generally resistant to Christianity in Asia, except in the Philippines and Vietnam. Nationalism has also given an adverse image to Christianity as an alien Western religion. [121 vol. 3: xviii–xxii, vol. 5 xi–xvi; 122 vol. 3: x–xiv, vol. 6: iv–vii] ... log in or subscribe to read full text