In the first half of this book, editors Thomas Moore and Ray Riegert tell the amazing story of the sutras. The writing flows quickly from event to event, with chapters describing the journey of Christian monks who brought the sutras to China, the creation of a monastery at Da Qin at the request of the Chinese Emperor, the mysterious hiding of the sutras in a cave around A.D. 1005, their accidental discovery in 1907 and the recent translating of the sutras and rediscovery of the original monastery.

The second half of the book presents a collection of the sutras. The sutras are divided thematically and each section includes a running commentary that draws on Moore's unique experience as a former priest and enlightening author. Together with Riegert, Moore shows how the sutras combine Jesus€ teachings with Taoist maxims and Eastern meditations to create a more gentle and spiritual form of Christianity. These scrolls constitute the sacred teachings of a Chinese Christian church of the Tang and early Sung dynasties. Here Christianity melds with Buddhism and Taoism in a fashion never seen before or since. The result is a dynamic form of Christianity that marks the meeting point of East and West.