1. Introduction

Dutch theologian J. H. Bavinck once wrote, “It seems that man has had a vague notion all through the ages that there is something undefinable, something we cannot name, resting on human life and weighing it down, and that there must be salvation available in some way or other.”1 Bavinck aimed to describe the innate recognition in human consciousness of a need for deliverance and salvation. In turn, different religions and philosophies attempt in their own way to answer this need, albeit in distinctly contrasting means.

With present calls for ecumenicism and inter-religious dialogue, Christianity must relate to major world religions like Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism in specific ways. Furthermore, the Christian faith should distinguish its uniqueness in belief and practice. In contrasting Buddhism and Christianity, the respected English philosopher G. K. Chesterton states,

The more we really appreciate the noble revulsion and renunciation of Buddha, the more we see that intellectually it was the converse and almost the contrary of the salvation of the world by Christ. The Christian would escape from the world into the universe; the Buddhist wishes to escape from the universe even more than from the world. One would uncreate himself; the other would return to his Creation: to his Creator.2

To further illustrate the contrast, this article will demonstrate how Christianity “subversively fulfills” the prayer wheels of Tibetan Buddhism by using one of the “magnetic points” put forward by J. H. Bavinck, “I and salvation.” First, Christianity confronts trusting in mere religious objects as a means for salvation and instead provides the person of Jesus Christ as Mediator to reconcile humanity to God. Second, Christianity challenges the offering of repetitive mantras to gain spiritual help, since these are never efficacious before the throne of God. In contrast, the gospel grants genuine confidence in prayer through a loving Father’s adoption and regeneration of the sinner. Third, humans can never gain merit through their works; salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, and in Christ alone. Christianity confronts the counterfeit peace Buddhism offers and proclaims that salvation comes exclusively through the person and work of Jesus.

To advance these arguments, the article first provides a short history of Buddhism and the Tibetan school of belief. Next, the article describes several crucial concepts relating to prayer wheels while defining Bavinck’s magnetic points and Hendrik Kraemer’s term “subversive fulfillment.” The article then delivers a biblical and theological analysis by examining Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels through Bavinck’s magnetic point of “I and salvation,” exposing the ineffectiveness of this practice and demonstrating how Christianity “subversively fulfills” what prayer wheels cannot provide. Finally, the article gives a brief missiological application for Christian consideration.

2. Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism

Buddhism is the fourth largest world religion, with an estimated 488 million adherents.3 Often labeled a philosophical system rather than a religion, W. George Scarlett contends Buddhism calls for people to transform their view of life to one of a spiritual nature, appealing for faithfulness to its teaching. While not claiming a connection to a personal deity, Buddhism is “rooted in faith, faith that the nature of the universe is indeed essentially moral, and faith that in being compassionate, we tap into what is transcendent.”4

Buddhism began in northern India. Charles Farhadian reports that most scholars believe that Siddhartha Gautama was born in 563 BC to the warrior-caste family of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya.5 After attaining enlightenment, he taught his followers a lifestyle termed “The Middle Way.” Farhadian notes that Buddhism’s popularity arises from this teaching, which strikes a middle ground between pursuing pleasure and denying it altogether. Gautama would spend the rest of his life endeavoring to bring others into the same enlightenment.6

Gautama’s followers naturally passed down his teaching. C. R. Wells reports how Buddhism extended outward from India to Central Asia, Tibet, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.7 This slow but steady growth and a lack of centralized authority brought about different schools of belief within Buddhism, such as Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan. The schools’ diversity lies more in a historical lineage than formal doctrinal confessions.8

Vajrayana, or Tibetan Buddhism, developed in the seventh century AD. Elizabeth Dowling states that Vajrayana pulls from both Theravada and Mahayana but also focuses on tantras, which are written texts outlining spiritual techniques intended to refine and support the journey to enlightenment.9 Farhadian claims that Tibetan Buddhism uses such methods because it blends Buddhism with Bön, the folk religion of Tibet that emphasizes the spiritual world, magic, and demons. The Tibetan school also believes rituals are more important than meditation in reaching nirvana, and it uses prayer wheels in these practices. The Dalai Lama serves as the official head of this school and has lived alongside the exiled Tibetan government in Himachal Pradesh, India, since 1959.10 John B. Noss calls the Tibetan school the most advanced of Buddhism because, as a religious system, it holds “civil authority over the lives of a people.”11

3. Descriptions and Definitions

The subject and content of this article necessitate several detailed descriptions and definitions for the thesis and argumentation. Along with the distinction of the Tibetan school within Buddhism, the reader needs to understand the different types of prayer wheels, the primary mantra of “Om Mani Padme Hum,” and the central purpose of merit-making in using prayer wheels. This section also defines Bavinck’s “magnetic points” and Hendrik Kraemer’s term, “subversive fulfillment,” as the primary tool for engaging Tibetan Buddhism with Christianity.

3.1. Prayer Wheels as a Religious Object in Tibetan Buddhism

The prayer wheel has an extensive history in every school of Buddhism. Lorne Ladner reports a prophecy at Gautama’s birth that the baby would become a wheel-turning king or an enlightened buddha.12 When Gautama left his family in The Great Renunciation, became enlightened, and began to teach others, he put the Dharmacharka, the Wheel of Dharma, in motion. In Buddhism, dharma is the summation of the Buddha’s teachings. Thus, as Ladner observes, “Rather than becoming a world, wheel-turning king, [Gautama] became a king of the realm of truth, who by turning the Wheel of Dharma awakens others to the true nature of things.”13

This visual concept of a wheel evolved into actual prayer wheels for ritual practice. L. Carrington Goodrich suggests that prayer wheels arose in Buddhism as early as the seventh century AD or as late as the fourteenth century AD, possibly developing from revolving library cases used in temple devotion in China.14 Ladner describes these cases as octagonal bookcases which turned clockwise from an axis in the middle.15 Using two Tibetan texts, Dan Martin agrees with Goodrich’s suggestion about the wheels’ origin and asserts that prayer wheels arose from mediation customs.16 Martin also relays another story of lore regarding Nāgārjuna, a Buddhist philosopher. In the tale, Nāgārjuna traveled to another place and asked a bodhisattva there for a wheel of dharma. Upon receiving it, he brought the wheel back to India, which was later taken to Tibet.17 From this wheel came the diverse prayer wheel customs of Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibetan Buddhists use three types of prayer wheels for rituals.18 The first has fixed wheels stationed in rows for devotees to walk past and turn. Another kind is the large motion wheel often seen in monasteries. William Simpson describes them as nine feet high and four feet wide “with an iron spindle at each end; on the lower one, there was a crank to which a string was attached, and by simply pulling this the machine went slowly round.”19 A third type is the hand wheel, also called Mani-Lag-Khor. They are much smaller and intended to be held and turned.20

Regardless of the type, each wheel functions the same. Ladner informs that devotees spin the wheels clockwise to symbolically trace the sun’s east-to-west movement as an example of the right path of living. Furthermore, the circular motion represents the significant moments of the Buddha’s existence: birth, enlightenment, setting the Wheel of Dharma in motion, and nirvana.21 Simpson additionally shares that Buddhists place other prayer wheels outside, where elements of water, smoke, and wind naturally turn the wheels.22

Every prayer wheel contains a central axis, scrolls of mantras, and an outside shell.23 According to Martin’s research, the middle axis of the wheel must be made from sandal or juniper wood. The writing ink used for the mantras is mixed with fragrances, and the letters of the mantras must face outward.24 The prayers are also carved on the outer housing for ritual purposes. Technology also affects prayer wheel construction. According to Lee Kane, “Modern prayer wheels incorporate microfilm with millions of mantras, instead of paper for thousands of mantras—a move applauded by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”25

Tibetan Buddhists employ prayer wheels to make praying more efficient. Alexander Gardner notes that by turning the prayer wheel, the devotee activates the mantras written on the inside and carved on the outside.26 Ladner emphasizes the central belief of why spinning prayer wheels are popular among Tibetan Buddhists: turning is equivalent to praying.27 According to A. R. Wright, the more quickly the wheel turns, the greater benefit comes to the worshipper.28 The most popular of the prayer wheel mantras is “Om Mani Padme Hum.”

3.2. The Primary Prayer Wheel Mantra: “Om Mani Padme Hum”

Prayer wheels are often called “mani wheels” because the chief prayer uttered while using them is “Om Mani Padme Hum.” According to Lama Anagarika Govinda, this mantra is the most important and valuable for Tibetan Buddhists.29 However, Simpson contends that the actual name “prayer wheel” is a misnomer because the meaning of “Om Mani Padme Hum” is not a request of prayer but a cry of praise. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism states the mantra praises Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion and central deity of Tibet.30 H. P. Kemp remarks that Tibetan Buddhists consider the current Dalai Lama to be the fourteenth incarnation of Avalokiteśvara.31

Along with these connections, Noss asserts that the mantra is both a statement of faith and a protective spell, alluding to the syncretistic nature of Tibetan Buddhism with Bön.32 The mantra has different translations; for example, Kemp translates it as “Hail to the jewel in the lotus,” which agrees with Simpson’s claim.33 Another translation places “jewel” and “lotus” together to laud Avalokiteśvara, “homage to the Jewel-Lotus One.”34 The present Dalai Lama believes the six syllables set an individual on a transformational path, eventually making their living, speaking, and thinking like a Buddha.35 The mantra is an essential aid for Buddhist seekers to seek and achieve nirvana.

3.3. The Central Prayer Wheel Purpose: Merit-Making

The central purpose of prayer wheels is to make merit in order to gain good karma and erase bad karma. George J. Tanabe Jr. notes that the foundation of salvation in Buddhism rests in merit-making. Buddhists gain good and bad karma through their personal moral choices and religious rituals. Some Buddhist schools, such as Mahayana and Tibetan, value rituals more than others to earn merit.36 Edward Conze points out that the average Buddhist’s “one and only religious task at present can be to increase his store of merit.”37 Because Buddhism holds to a continuous cycle of rebirth that only breaks with nirvana, religious activities such as prayer wheels earn merit and thus good karma for the person. Tanabe summarizes,

Merit and merit-making comprise a cogent system in which moral action produces merit, ritual performance generates benefit, and the buddhas and bodhisattvas grant blessings to those who earn them through their efforts and can share the fruits of their virtues with the living and the dead in hope of gaining a good rebirth and, ultimately, entry into nirvana.38

Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche declares prayer wheels are “a powerful merit field” and believes, with proper motivation, they help others reach enlightenment faster than other routes.39 Prayer wheels are a central merit-making object in Tibetan Buddhism.

3.4. J. H. Bavinck’s “Magnetic Points”

In his work Religious Consciousness and Christian Faith, J. H. Bavinck lists five essential elements embedded in all religious consciousness, a universal similarity that all people possess and cannot escape. Bavinck termed these elements “magnetic points.”40 Timothy Keller adds that the points are “five fundamental things for which all human beings are searching and to which all of us are inevitably drawn ‘magnetically.’”41 First, “I and the cosmos” describes how people sense they belong to something much larger than themselves. Second, “I and the norm” refers to knowing that an objective moral standard exists outside the individual. Third, “I and the riddle of my existence” states the relationship between personal action and ultimate destiny, that amid personal choices, one perceives the ultimate story belongs to someone greater. Fourth, “I and salvation” speaks to the brokenness of the world, individual guilt, and the need for deliverance. Fifth, “I and the Supreme Power” conveys that everyone is related and somewhat accountable to a higher power.42 Daniel Strange retitles the magnetic points Totality, Norm, Destiny, Deliverance, and Higher Power.43 This article employs the fourth magnetic point of “I and salvation” (Deliverance) to analyze Christianity’s “subversive fulfillment” of Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels.

3.5. Hendrik Kraemer’s “Subversive Fulfillment”

Hendrik Kraemer coined the term “subversive fulfillment” to demonstrate Christianity’s relationship with world religions. Kraemer was adamant that other religions do not prepare people to come to Christ but stand in opposition.44 As a result, Christianity both confronts the other world religions and provides what they cannot. Strange explains, “It subverts in that it confronts, gets inside, unpicks, and overthrows the world’s stories…. The gospel fulfills in that it connects with our deepest longings and is shown worthy of our hopes and desires.”45 Keller also asserts, “Jesus fulfills each of these universal human longings in ways no other world religion can match.”46 Strange summarizes, “The gospel of Jesus Christ, while confrontational, costly, and sacrificial, is wonderful enough, trustworthy enough to exchange old desires and hopes for new ones.”47 Christ himself is the subversive fulfillment of the magnetic points.

With these descriptions and definitions in place, the article now turns to a biblical and theological analysis of Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels. The gospel confronts the insufficiency of Vajrayana’s system of works and rituals. Only Jesus Christ provides the salvation and deliverance Tibetan Buddhists attempt to attain on their own.

4. Biblical and Theological Analysis

To perform a biblical and theological analysis, this article employs Bavinck’s magnetic point of “I and salvation,” what Strange calls Deliverance. The rituals of Tibetan Buddhism demonstrate a clear recognition of the personal need for salvation. In using this magnetic point to examine Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels, their mantras, and their use for merit-making, Christianity subversively fulfills this religious practice, showing that Jesus alone brings deliverance.

4.1. Subversive Fulfillment of the Prayer Wheel as a Religious Object

Tibetan Buddhists value prayer wheels as essential to their rituals. Because of the magnetic point of “I and salvation,” the faithful adherent believes the wheels provide a more effective way for gaining good karma, ending rebirth, and achieving nirvana. However, Christianity confronts a vain trust in religious objects rather than God himself.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrews employed ritual objects for religious practice but only to increase their trust in God. Peter Adam states that these objects were to remind Israel and express their covenant relationship with God.48 However, Israel often focused on the objects rather than on God. A primary example is the Ark of the Covenant. Although God commanded its construction and use, the Hebrews experienced a stunning defeat in battle when they trusted the Ark’s presence rather than God. First Samuel 4:3 records Israel’s misplaced hope. “Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies” (ESV). Israel was then soundly routed by the Philistines. Andrew Blackwood summarizes, “The means of grace became the ends in worship.… First, men said that God was in the Ark. Then they insisted God was the Ark. Later they assumed that the Ark was God. Hence they relied on the Ark as a substitute for the God of their fathers.”49

Another Old Testament example is Nehushtan, the bronze serpent Moses made as a public antidote for snake-bitten Israelites to look upon and live (Num 21:4–9). The southern kingdom later devolved into worshipping Nehushtan, but King Hezekiah confronted this popular idol during a time of reformation and revival. “He broke in pieces the bronze serpent Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel” (2 Kgs 18:4–5 ESV). As Adam points out, one of the two major sins in the Old Testament was using the religious objects God provided to turn away from him.50 These objects were never to be ends of worship in themselves. The Bible teaches that God alone deserves worship.

There are no New Testament examples of religious objects used in Christian worship, nor are there any commands from Jesus or the apostles to use such. D. E. Aune states the contrast of first-century Christianity with other religions at that time “in that it had no cult statues, temples, or regular sacrifices.” Early Christian worship was not tied to a specific place or object but was practiced anywhere.51 Unlike other religions, Christianity calls for trusting a living person for salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Strange writes, “Christians are in the business of offering people the Lord Jesus, and it is he who brings forgiveness and who gives peace.”52 I. Howard Marshall identifies Christ’s exalted position to the Father’s right hand as shared with no one. Thus, Christ is the only savior. No one else and nothing else can save.53

Christianity fulfills the perceived need for deliverance by trusting a person, not an object, for salvation. The apostle Paul identifies this person, “There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:5 ESV). Philip Towner asserts, “His position relates him both to God and humankind and qualifies him to negotiate the transaction.”54 William Barclay adds that neither Jewish nor Greek thought provided direct access to God, but Christians, through the work of Christ as a mediator, can approach God.55 Jesus has done what no religious object could ever do, bearing God’s wrath and demonstrating God’s love. Colin Kruse notes that Christ not only pleads mercy for sinners but also provides the sacrifice necessary for them to receive mercy.56 Christianity confronts trusting in religious objects rather than God alone. The gospel fulfills the desire to be delivered from guilt and shame. Only Jesus Christ can make people right with God.

4.2. Subversive Fulfillment of Prayer Wheel Mantras

Christianity also subversively fulfills the mantras of Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels. In mantras like “Om Mani Padme Hum,” the focus is not on what is said but on how many times it is said. The deep-felt magnetic point of “I and salvation” emerges in Tibetan Buddhist prayer practice for spiritual blessings. Harold Coward explains,

On set occasions, people will gather to chant Om Manipadme Hum as many times as they are able, with the number of repetitions being counted. At the end of the week, each person’s total is forwarded to the monastery in charge and the grand total calculated as an accumulation of blessings that might be dedicated, for example, to the well-being of the Dalai Lama…. Repeated chanting of the mantra, Om Manipadme Hum, keeps one’s mind focused on the goal to be realized and simultaneously removes obstructing karma.57

Because of a recognized need for deliverance, Tibetan Buddhists trust repeating mantras as a means toward good karma and nirvana.

The Christian Scriptures stand in sharp contrast to these prayer rituals. The Mount Carmel narrative of Elijah and the prophets of Baal demonstrates the futility of mindless, repetitive prayers. The prophets of Baal “took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice, and no one answered” (1 Kgs 18:26 ESV). The prophets then tried more desperate measures of cutting themselves, but Baal never answered. Gary Inrig points out the great contrast between the prophets’ magic-like incantations and Elijah’s brief and straightforward plea. The prophet did not attempt to force or coax his God like the prophets of Baal, and the God of Israel answered Elijah’s prayer with fire from heaven.58

The New Testament also confronts vain repetitions of prayer. Jesus taught during the Sermon on the Mount, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matt 6:7 ESV). Jesus emphasized God as a personal father who hears his children’s prayers, and as Craig Blomberg describes, this God is “accessible as the most loving human parent.”59 In contrast, to whom are Tibetan Buddhists praying? Marcus Bach notes that Buddhists do not have a personal God in the traditional way of thinking.60 Walter Martin states that all Eastern religions carry the same theme: a denial of a personal God who knows, cares, and hears those who call upon him.61 However, Israel’s God says, “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit” (Isa 57:15 ESV).

Christianity fulfills the cries for deliverance in every way that the prayer wheels of Tibetan Buddhism never could. First, unlike the dead gods of the nations, Christianity reveals a living God who hears. The Psalmist writes, “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell” (Ps 115:4–6 ESV). The next psalm finds the writer rejoicing that the living God hears prayer: “I love the Lord, because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath” (Ps 116:1–2 NLT). The Lord is vastly different from created idols. Derek Kidner states, “A God too great to tie down to any image or even to earth itself, who is not the prisoner of circumstances but their master, is a God to glory in. And he is our God, not in the petty sense in which the heathen have their idols—all their work!—but in the personal bond of ‘steadfast love and … faithfulness.”62

Second, the living and true God hears the prayers of his people because he has changed their relational status with him. Scripture teaches that every person is born dead in sin, separated from God, and existing as his enemy.63 By God’s grace, those who repent and believe the gospel exhibit a change of heart through the miracle of regeneration, and God adopts them as his children.64 Christians can pray to their Father because he makes them spiritually alive. Christianity offers reconciliation, forgiveness, and a living relationship with God for all eternity.

Third, the New Testament presents the living God as a loving Father who hears his children when they pray. In teaching on prayer, Jesus says, “Pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you…. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt 6:6–8 ESV). Scripture further testifies that God answers his children’s prayers. Jesus continues in the Sermon on the Mount, “How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him” (Matt 7:11 ESV). The apostle John later writes, “And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (1 John 5:15 ESV). According to Daniel Akin, this verse means God hears and answers his children’s prayers favorably, even if they do not see the answers instantaneously. Christians can thus pray in bold confidence because God is their Father.65

Fourth, Christianity offers a savior who prays for his people. On the eve of denial, Jesus tells his disciple Peter, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32 ESV). Jesus’s current ministry in heaven is one of prayer, for Hebrews 7:25 states, “He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (NASB). As Robert Murray M’Cheyne remarks, “I ought to study Christ as an Intercessor. He prayed most for Peter who was to be most tempted. I am on his breastplate. If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.”66 This Jesus is unlike anyone else. He is the true Jewel and Lotus, the true incarnation of the invisible God.

4.3. Subversive Fulfillment of the Merit-Making Purpose of Prayer Wheels

The magnetic point of “I and salvation” resurfaces again in the agent of liberation. For Tibetan Buddhists, the individual is central to their deliverance and nirvana. E. A. Burtt notes Gautama’s words to his followers before dying, “Rely on yourselves, and do not rely on external help…. Look not for assistance to any one besides yourselves.”67 To achieve ultimate deliverance in nirvana, the Tibetan Buddhist strives to earn merit for their salvation.

Christianity subverts Tibetan Buddhism’s use of prayer wheels to make merit in several ways. First, the Bible teaches that all people possess no righteousness on their own. The apostle Paul, quoting Psalms, writes, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom 3:10–12 ESV). Job asks, “How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?” (Job 25:4 ESV). Jeremiah affirms, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9 NASB). Tremper Longman III asserts that the spiritual sickness of the heart causes self-delusion and self-deceit because each person believes their actions are morally acceptable regardless of God’s commands.68 Jesus pointed to the problem of the heart being the heart of the problem: “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:20–22 ESV). No one possesses innate righteousness because all are sinful.

Second, not only are all unrighteous, but all cannot do righteousness. The prophet Isaiah bemoans, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isa 64:6 NASB). Gary Smith observes that the term, “filthy garment,” illustrates that the sinner “is more repulsive than a vile and rancid menstrual cloth.”69 Isaiah also laments, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” (Isa 53:6 ESV). Job states the same reality, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one” (Job 14:4 ESV). The story of Cain and Abel’s offerings in Genesis 4 illustrates this truth: Abel came with a blood sacrifice of an animal, but as Gary Herion suggests, Cain offered the work of his hands, which came from the cursed ground of Genesis 3:17–18. Therefore, God did not accept his offering.70 Man can never gain merit before God from the work of his hands.

Because man is not righteous and cannot do righteousness, nothing he ever does is enough to make him right before God. Romans 3:20 states, “For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (ESV). James adds, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (Jas 2:10 ESV). To break only one of God’s commands does not make someone ninety-nine percent righteous; breaking a commandment makes them one hundred percent unrighteous. Jesus stated God’s standard in the Sermon on the Mount, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven…. You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:20, 48 ESV). R. T. France shares that the kingdom of heaven does not call for keeping a few rules but imposes all of God’s perfection on all who attempt to enter.71 Furthermore, Paul adds that to rely on self-effort to achieve God’s standard brings a curse: “For all who rely on work of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them’ ” (Gal 3:10 ESV). God demands absolute perfection.

Christianity not only subverts the merit-making purpose of prayer wheels, but the gospel of Jesus Christ alone fulfills what these rituals attempt in vain. Because people cannot earn merit before God, they must become right with God through the merit of another. Christ says in Matthew 5, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matt 5:17 ESV). The New Testament later declares that Christ is sinless, stating, “In him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5 ESV). Jesus is completely perfect in nature, action, behavior, word, thought, deed, and motive. Because of his perfect life, God accepts his substitutionary death on behalf of sinners to pay for sin, as 1 John 2:2 declares, “He [Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (ESV). The resurrection of Jesus demonstrates God’s acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice, for Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead” (Rom 1:5 ESV). As Robert Mounce notes, “Without his death there would be no basis for acquittal. Without his resurrection there would be no proof of the redemptive reality of his death.”72 The resurrection guarantees redemption.

Because of Christ’s perfect life, only he is acceptable to God. R. C. Sproul emphasizes God’s acceptance of “vicarious obedience,” where Christ’s perfect life substitutes for the sinner’s lack of obedience.73 Jesus’s perfect life makes possible his substitutionary death for sinners. When someone believes in Christ for salvation, God imputes Christ’s perfect righteousness to them, and they are justified before God. Brian Vickers states, “God both creates and declares a person righteous because he now sees that person in union with his Son and so covered with the Son’s righteousness.”74 This righteousness only comes by faith in Jesus. Paul writes, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1 ESV). Wayne Grudem explains faith as being God’s chosen instrument to receive Christ’s righteousness because faith in Christ is the antonym of trusting in one’s works and merit for salvation.75 Therefore, righteousness comes not by works but through faith in Christ.

God can justify sinners because Christ suffered in their place. Paul writes, “For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21 ESV). David Garland calls Christ a stand-in for sinners, as God treats Christ as if he lived the sinner’s rebellious life. For the one who trusts Christ’s work in their place, God now regards them as if they lived the perfect life of Christ. This reality means believers “do not simply have the righteousness from God, we are the righteousness of God as a result of being in Christ.”76 Christianity teaches double imputation: all of Christ’s righteousness goes to the sinner who believes because all their sins went to Christ. Vickers summarizes, “The righteous status, made possible by Christ’s obedience, is applied to the believer when he puts his faith in God. Christ’s obedience ‘counts’ for the status that is secured at the cross, and appropriated by faith, through which comes the declaration of the accrual status, ‘righteous.’”77

In Christ alone, God supplies the merit he demands. His merit declares a sinner right with God, and only in the gospel does God impute Christ’s merit to sinners. The merit and deliverance Tibetan Buddhists seek through prayer wheels are only found in Jesus Christ.

5. Missiological Application

So, what must Christians now do? Christopher J. H. Wright correctly touches a deep nerve when he writes, “We ask, ‘Where does God fit into the story of my life?’ when the real question is where does my little life fit into this great story of God’s mission…. I may wonder what kind of mission God has for me, when I should ask what kind of me God wants for his mission.”78 There are two main missiological applications for Christians when analyzing a religious ritual like Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels. First, the Christian church must possess a godly urgency. Nearly 500 million people worldwide adhere to some form of Buddhism, all heading toward a Christless eternity. These millions will perish without the knowledge of the gospel, which alone proclaims how to possess right standing before God. The Christian church must take the rituals and practices of the Religious Other seriously. Tibetan Buddhists genuinely believe they can accrue and gain merit for salvation through their works. Such actual, spiritual deception calls for a Great Commission response from Christians everywhere. Christians must not only boldly and compassionately share the gospel’s truth with their mouths but also show the gospel’s power with lives of holiness and grace before all peoples, including Tibetan Buddhists.

Second, the Christian church must examine her own ranks for beliefs and practices that theologically or practically deny the gospel. Do Christian sermons proclaim the gospel of costly grace or a works-based legalism? Do Christian churches demonstrate the sacrificial nature of Christ in their ministries or most closely model a country club membership? Christians can often critique the false beliefs and practices of the Religious Other yet practically function just like them. As Peter wrote, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God” (1 Pet 4:17 ESV). Only when the church removes the logs of gospel contradictions from her own eyes can she offer the unreached world the gospel of God’s unlimited grace for their salvation.

6. Conclusion

This article aimed to show how Christianity subversively fulfills the prayer wheels of Tibetan Buddhist rituals and practices. The gospel of Christ confronts the merit-making of Tibetan Buddhism as incapable of gaining the perfect righteousness of God. Christianity also grants what Tibetan Buddhism can never provide: peace with God, assurance of forgiven sins, and ultimate rest. The magnetic point of deliverance disturbs the Tibetan Buddhist conscience to show Buddha’s Middle Way never brings liberation. As Chesterton concludes regarding the Buddhist dharma and the gospel of Christ,

They are in one sense parallel and equal; as a mound and a hollow, as a valley and a hill. There is a sense in which that sublime despair is the only alternative to that divine audacity. It is even true that the truly spiritual and intellectual man sees it as a sort of dilemma; a very hard and terrible choice. There is little else on earth that can compare with these for completeness. And he who does not climb the mountain of Christ does indeed fall into the abyss of Buddha.79

Jesus Christ alone fulfills the longing of every Buddhist heart for salvation.

 

APPENDIX A

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRAYER WHEELS

Fixed Prayer Wheels, Swayambhunath, Nepal 80

Motion Prayer Wheel, Thimpu, Bhutan81

Hand Prayer Wheel82

APPENDIX B

CONSTRUCTION OF HAND PRAYER WHEELS83

APPENDIX C

TURNING PRAYER WHEELS IS EQUIVALENT TO PRAYING MANTRAS

Prayer wheels at the Dalai Lama Temple Complex, McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India84