Updated: 19 March 2007

Home page for Christ the Tao

Articles and Essays About the institute Contact information Related links and resources Book information News and event information 		  About Kuai Mu Institute for Christianity and World Cultures

Are Christians "hungry ghosts?" Why did the Chinese Emperor come to the Temple of Heaven? Who is the Prince who brought Snow White back to life? How have (and should) followers of Christ in pagan Europe, India and China, related the Gospel to the deepest truths in their culture? Is Christianity a form of cultural imperialism, or an "alien ideology?" to non-Westerners?

Statement of Faith

Kuai Mu Institute: What Is It All About?

Is Christianity true? Why should we believe the Gospel story? What does Jesus have to do with other religious traditions, with Buddha or with Mohammed? What does the Christian heritage have to offer the world?

One of the deepest needs in life is for spiritual rootedness. The Dalai Lama said that asking someone to believe a religion unrelated to his heritage is like putting a "sheep's head on a yak's body." Zen teacher Thich Naht Hanh wrote of young people in the modern world who are like "hungry ghosts" because they lack connection to tradition and do not know who they are.

Jesus said, "Do not think I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to do away, but to fulfill." From the earliest days of the Church, wise Christians have shown the Gospel as bringing the ultimate answer to what Simone Weil called "the need for roots." Greek philosophy and even mythology were, at their best, a "tutor" to bring the world to Christ, said Justin Martyr. Dante addressed the pagan Roman poet Virgil: "Through you I became a poet; through you, a Christian."

Kuai Mu Institute aims to bring the best insights of the wisest Christians through the centuries to show the world that Jesus does indeed fulfill and deepen the truest elements of all human cultures. We aim to do this by first creating a web page with the best cultural apologetics in many languages, secondly by putting on seminars with some of the world's most astute thinkers on a variety of topics, and thirdly by producing quality books and articles about how Jesus gives humankind "roots" in the good and true in every culture.

We have held seminars on the historicity of the Gospels; the Resurrection; China and Jesus; Hinduism and Christianity; and Islam and Christianity, with people like Craig Blomberg, Gary Habermas, Vishal Mangalwadi, Don Richardson, and Dudley Woodberry. We've also put on "personal pizza" type seminars on a wide variety of topics related to culture, history, and the truth of the Gospel.

Participants have told us they found the seminars:

“Helpful, informative – overall very congenial spirit.”

“I really enjoyed all parts of the seminar. I now have at least a good basic understanding of the difference between Christianity and all other religions.”

“Speakers were well-qualified. It was an honest presentation of the world religions, as well as their relationship to Christianity.”

“Wonderful! Great! Do it again.”

Who Is Kuai Mu?

David Marshall returned to the United States from teaching at Siebold University in Japan to start Kuai Mu Institute. He is author of four books: Jesus and the Religions of Man (2000), True Son of Heaven: How Jesus Fulfills the Chinese Culture (1996), Why the Jesus Seminar can't find Jesus, and Grandma Marshall Could (2005); and, due out April of 2007, The Truth About Jesus and the "Lost Gospels". He has also been asked to write a response to best-selling attacks on Christianity by atheists Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. David has also written articles for Books and Culture, First Things, Touchstone, and other journals. He worked as a missionary and educator in Asia for 13 years, and has spoken to audiences around the Pacific Rim.

A number of people volunteer generously with Web page production, book sales, seminar logistics, and speaking.

2007 Seminar and Lecture Subjects

  • "The Truth About Jesus and the Lost Gospels"
  • "Why Richard Dawkins is Wrong: A Critique of the New Atheism"
  • "The Gospel and Chinese Culture"
  • "World Religions"
  • "Can Jesus Save Islam?"
  • "The Gospel in Children's Literature"
  • "How the Brothers Grimm Overthrew the Evil Empire"
  • "Buddhism and Christianity"
  • "How Jesus Changed the World"
  • "What Is Different about the Gospels?"

Contact for Seminars and Speaking

Email:christthetao@msn.com

Phone: (425) 222-3956
   
  Text and photo copyright © 2000, 2007 by David Marshall.