The Board of Missionary Preparation of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America planned a series on "The World's Living Religions" in 1920, and volume three of that series was published. The series aims to familiarise Western readers with the true religious practices of each significant non-Christian nation. The original version of Buddhism, as it was taught by Gautama in India and developed in the years that followed, is not an accurate representation of Buddhism as it is practiced in any country today.
Like Christianity, Buddhism has been impacted by national circumstances. It contains at least three distinct kinds, necessitating as many separate volumes in this series to fairly interpret and present it. Buddhism requires that both a missionary and a professional student of the religion approach it with a genuine understanding of what it intends and accomplishes for its adherents.
Undoubtedly, many high-minded, pious, and serious people live idealistic lives among the followers of Buddhism in China. Such minds should be strongly attracted to Christianity without losing any of their joy, certainty, or dedication. Instead, it ought to encourage a more nuanced understanding of the working world, a higher view of God, and a more acute awareness of one's own need and sinfulness.
Lewis Hodous was an educator, sinologist, Buddhist scholar, and missionary for the American Board in China.
He was born in Vesec, Bohemia, on December 31, 1872, and immigrated to the US in 1882 together with his parents. He earned diplomas from Adelbert College of Western Reserve University in 1897, Hartford Theological Seminary in 1900, and Cleveland High School in 1893. He also spent a year studying abroad at the University of Halle in Germany.
On September 18, 1901, Hodous received his ordination as a congregational preacher at Cleveland, Ohio's Bethlehem Church. He served in Foochow as a missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from 1901 and 1917. He worked with the Chinese Red Cross in 1911 during the Hsinhai Revolution.
On October 31, 1918, Hodous returned from his time serving in missions, having left it in 1917. He taught history and religious philosophy in addition to Chinese culture at the Hartford Seminary Foundation's Kennedy School of Missions. Hodous also served as a translator for the American government during the Second World War.
