Yes they did!

Fabian Fucan 1565-1621 was a convert who spent many years working with the Jesuits in Japan. After being turned down for ordination and becoming disillusioned with Christianity as a whole, he reverted to Buddhism, became a monk and penned a critique of his old faith called ‘Deus Destroyed’. The book is similar in form to Christian texts of the time; the author neutrally states a point of doctrine then challenges it the following section. It was intended as handbook for Shinto and Buddhist priests to refute attacks by Christians.

Fucan attacks Christianity from several different angles. Among other things he argues that a six thousand year earth doesn’t tally with Chinese and Japanese histories, he suggests the notion of the saviour being a lifelong virgin being born to a lifelong virgin “subverts the universal moral law that one and all shall enter into marital relations”.

At the base of Fucan’s critique is a belief in Confucian order. He believes that because Jesus disrupted the natural order of society by flouting universal moral laws and challenging the rulers of his time he deserved his final punishment. Interestingly he appears to view the Jews who tried Jesus as in keeping with Confucian notions of a just and orderly society. He praises their supposed actions using a quote which I think comes from Confucius:

‘To hack and axe haft an axe hacks: the pattern’s near’

Because he considered Christian morality to be incompatible with a peaceful society Fucan justifies the persecution of Christians in the Japan of his day. He also accuses Christianity of relying on magic and trickery to distract people from its spiritual emptiness.

In the book ‘Jesus Beyond Christianity’ the authors note that Buddhist critiques of Christianity from this period tend to rely on Confucius to defend their arguments. Confucius as a non Buddhist was seen as somewhat neutral figure and their use his arguments allowed them to avoid accusations of Buddhist defensiveness.

In her paper ‘The Pro and Anti Christian Writings of Fukan Fabian’ Monika Schrimph points out that Fucan was not universally hostile to Christian teachings and did not believe Buddhism represented universal truth. He believes that there is truth in all religions, citing the co-existence of Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism in Japan. Christianity contained many of the same good doctrines as these religions but nothing that superseded them morally.

Though Fucan posits many arguments against Christianity, at BB the root of his theories is the notion that Christianity is an anti social faith which subverts universal morality and challenges rather than serves the state.