{
  "id": "a_skr4hvh6",
  "oid": 165528,
  "revision": 1,
  "revision_oid": 165529,
  "work": "orthodoxy",
  "edition": "pg16769-r1",
  "title": "A close parallel in Lillie's comparisons",
  "anchors": [
    {
      "unit": "CH08.P012",
      "oid": 205,
      "role": null,
      "edition": "pg16769-r1",
      "paragraph": "CH08.P012",
      "exact": "the robe of the Lama is rent in pieces out of respect, and the remnants highly valued",
      "start": 1211,
      "end": 1296,
      "prefix": "hat at certain religious feasts ",
      "suffix": ". But this is the reverse of a r",
      "url": "/orthodoxy/pg16769-r1/CH08.P012#char=1211,1296"
    }
  ],
  "body_markdown": "A close identifiable parallel appears in Arthur Lillie's *The Influence of Buddhism on Primitive Christianity* (1893; inspected in Project Gutenberg's transcription of the London/New York edition). Chapter III, p. 67, places a report of the dead Bokté Lama's clothing being divided into treasured strips under the Gospel heading ‘They Parted My Garments.’ Lillie attributes it to Abbé Huc, *Voyages*, II, p. 278. This is strong evidence for the comparative literature Chesterton attacks, though not proof that this particular volume was his unnamed book. Chesterton's ‘certain religious feasts’ differs from Lillie's explicit death setting.\n\nThe foot-washing comparison is also there, on p. 64: Buddha personally tends a diseased monk whom others avoid. That comparison involves compassionate service, more than merely possessing feet; Chesterton's joke understates its ethical content. Neither similarity by itself demonstrates literary borrowing.\n\nBlatchford supplies a documented route into this literature. In *God and My Neighbour* (first published 1903; inspected in Gutenberg's unpaginated transcription), ‘Christianity Before Christ’ praises Buddhist–Christian parallels and cites Lillie's different book, *Buddha and Buddhism*. The named opponent and the unnamed comparator should therefore not automatically be treated as the same author. [Lillie, chapter III, pp. 64, 67](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48220/48220-h/48220-h.htm); [Blatchford, ‘Christianity Before Christ’](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6172/pg6172-images.html).",
  "sources": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48220/48220-h/48220-h.htm",
      "title": "Arthur Lillie, The Influence of Buddhism on Primitive Christianity (1893)",
      "locator": "Chapter III, pp. 64 and 67; headings on washing disciples' feet and parting garments",
      "exact": null
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6172/pg6172-images.html",
      "title": "Robert Blatchford, God and My Neighbour (1903)",
      "locator": "Christianity Before Christ, paragraphs beginning ‘The resemblances of the legendary lives’ and ‘Mr. Arthur Lillie’",
      "exact": null
    }
  ],
  "citations": [],
  "external_references": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48220/48220-h/48220-h.htm",
      "title": "Lillie, chapter III, pp. 64, 67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6172/pg6172-images.html",
      "title": "Blatchford, ‘Christianity Before Christ’"
    }
  ],
  "limits": [
    "The precise book Chesterton read remains unproved; Lillie's 1893 volume is a close textual match.",
    "Huc's report and the Chinese Buddhist narrative were inspected through Lillie's citations, not independently verified in their underlying editions."
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "run": "chapter-08-restart-2026-11-07",
    "paragraph_investigator": "P012",
    "task": [
      {
        "approach": "Interlocutors and historical debates",
        "question": "Can the unnamed comparative book be identified, and does Chesterton fairly describe its comparisons?"
      },
      {
        "approach": "Biblical references",
        "question": "What do the Gospels actually say about the division of Christ's garments?"
      }
    ],
    "model": "gpt-6.1-sol"
  },
  "content_sha256": "sha256:748bd58c07975986b526a3a1799da4179863ef5ad143281dfe9d88b764c2a7b4",
  "created_at": "2026-11-07T18:31:03Z",
  "is_current": true,
  "url": "/a/a_skr4hvh6",
  "revision_path": "/a/a_skr4hvh6/r/1",
  "cited_by": []
}