page_title: Lynn de Silva
section_title: Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue
hierarchical_section_title: Lynn de Silva / History of Buddhist-Christian relations in Sri Lanka / Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue
caption_attribution_description: English: This picture was taken by my digital camera on 19/08/2008 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
context_page_description: Lynn Alton de Silva was a Sri Lankan theologian and Methodist minister. He was the founder and editor of one of the first theological journals on Buddhist-Christian encounter called Dialogue, chief translator for the revision of the Old Testament of the Sinhalese Bible published as New Sinhala Bible, and director of the Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue in Sri Lanka. Lynn de Silva is widely regarded as one of the foremost Christian practitioners of Buddhist-Christian dialogue in Sri Lanka, and also as one of the pioneers in this dialogue.
  Lynn de Silva's book titled Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices in Sri Lanka was mentioned in two journals in the early 1980s as being unparalleled as an introduction to Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Possibly his most notable contribution to theology is the book titled The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity, in which he points out an age-old misconception held by Buddhists and Christians that the notion of an immortal soul is a biblical teaching. This book is considered by Schmidt-Leukel to be one of the classics in Buddhist-Christian dialogue, and one which has become well known among those actively involved in this dialogue.
context_section_description: Lynn de Silva was the director of the Study Center for Religion and Society from 1962. The center was organised into two divisions: Division of Buddhist Studies, and  Division of Frontier Studies. The purpose of the former division was to promote study and research in Buddhism, while the purpose of the latter division was to explore the theological and social implications of the Christian faith in Sri Lanka. The center was involved in successfully organising a number of dialogues, meetings, and seminaries, and it became an internationally recognised center for dialogue with Buddhism and other ecumenical concerns. Furthermore, the center was recognised in the 1970s and 1980s as one of the most active of all similar study centres worldwide.
  In 1977, the center was renamed to Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue (EISD), and set up as an autonomous body separate from the control of religious bodies and institutions. Although the primary focus was maintained on Buddhist-Christian studies and dialogue, a third additional division called Division of Studies of other Faiths and Ideologies was established to initiate studies in other religions. In addition to publishing books and papers on dialogue between Christianity and other religions, the EISD published the Dialogue journal on a quarterly basis, which was founded and initially edited by Lynn de Silva.
caption: The new Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue building erected after Lynn de Silva's death, with funds that he had collected
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