The Banyan Tree: A Living Analogy of the Apostolic Church as a Network of Unity and Diversity

A Banyan “Tree of Life” Icon by Bp. Joseph, Combining AI Art from Detailed Prompts, Digital Editing, Color Adjusting and Painting Apps

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West) 

Introduction 

Today, I walked with my wife around a Hawaiian market, taking in the sights and smells of this profoundly different place, an axis of the world, a confluence of trade, culture, races and traditions. As we came to the center of the market, we stumbled onto a giant tree, hundreds of years old, around which the market had formed. Over the years, stones had been piled around then tree to protect it, and a stream ran through its roots. Immediately, it struck me as a highly unusual sight - like the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, or like the Tree of Life in Heaven at the end of time, rooted in a sea of glass and bearing many types of fruit for the healing of the nations. As I walked around it in wonder, a truly awe-inspiring and deeply beautiful sight, I was struck by how this tree, far more than our Western Trees, illustrates the Church as Scripture, History and lived-experience reveals. 

An Analogy in Contrast

Western Christianity has long imagined the Church as a towering tree of Northern European origin - an oak or pine with a single, sturdy trunk from which branches extend outward. In this view, the Roman Catholic tradition envisions an unbroken lineage rooted in one visible center, Protestantism sees a trunk fractured into myriad branches, and the anti-ecumenical Orthodox position regards all but itself as fallen limbs severed from the true stem. Yet, this analogy, while evocative, fails to capture the organic, interconnected, and cellular reality of the Apostolic Church as it has lived and grown through history. It overlooks the vibrant complexity of Christ’s Body, reducing it to a rigid, hierarchical model that denies the dynamic unity found in Scripture, tradition, and nature itself. It also fails to capture the imagery of the “Candlestand” the “Manorah” that Christ uses to represent the Church in the Book of Revelation. 

A far more fitting image emerges from the East: the Banyan tree, a sprawling, multi-rooted marvel native to South and East Asia. Unlike the singular trunk of a pine, the Banyan begins with one seed - Christ’s Gospel - and spreads through an intricate network of roots, trunks, and branches, each distinct yet inseparable from the whole. This, I propose, is the truer analogy for the Apostolic Church: not a monolith defined by institutional uniformity, but a living organism, rooted in the blood of martyrs, expanding through diverse cultures, and unified not by a single visible structure but by an invisible, interdependent life flowing from its origin in Christ, visible in the multiple trunks that all share the same image and likeness. There is a visible Church, but this visage is not a monolithic tree or pyramid, but a living network of roots, branches, trunks, all made of continuous growth amongst all peoples. 

The Seed of Christ and the Roots of the Apostles

Every Banyan tree starts with a single seed, a humble beginning that belies its eventual grandeur. So too did the Church begin with Christ’s proclamation: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). This seed, though small, bore the fullness of divine life, and from it the Apostles were sent forth, like roots stretching in every direction - to Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, India, Armenia, Ethiopia, Persia, and beyond. Christ likened His Kingdom to a mustard seed that grows into a great tree (Luke 13:19), but the Banyan offers a richer metaphor. Where the mustard tree suggests a centralized growth, the Banyan’s roots embed themselves in varied soils, nourished not by a single trunk but by the sacrifices of those who carried the Gospel. As Tertullian wrote, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” These roots, sinking deep into the earth of many cultures, established the Church not as a linear extension but as a web of interdependent communities, each bearing the imprint of its local soil yet united by its origin in the one seed.

The Old Banyan Tree, Painting by David Bone 

Local Trunks: The Formation of Apostolic Sees

As a Banyan tree matures, its roots do not remain mere tendrils; they thicken, twist together, and form new trunks, creating what appears as multiple trees but is in fact a single organism. So it was with the early Church. The Apostles’ missions gave rise to local churches - Antioch with its Semitic roots and biblical dependency, Alexandria with its Hellenistic depth and philosophical inquiry, Rome with its Latin legal order - each developing its own liturgy, language, and theological voice. These were not mere branches of a central trunk but new trunks within the same life, interwoven and mutually supportive. St. Irenaeus captured this reality in the second century: “The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world… preserves [the faith] carefully, as though dwelling in but one house” (Against Heresies, I.10.1). The Pentarchy - Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem - emerged not as a political construct but as a natural outgrowth of this Apostolic rooting, a network of trunks forming a vast foundation. Beyond these, the Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, and other ancient churches took shape, each a trunk rising from the same root system, distinct yet part of the whole.

The Network of Faith and the Illusion of Schism

The Banyan’s growth defies simplicity. Its branches extend outward, and when they grow heavy, they send down new roots that become additional trunks. To the untrained eye, these may appear as separate trees, but they remain one living entity. This mirrors the history of the Church’s apparent schisms and separations in time over terminology and human leadership: the division between Chalcedonian and Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox in the fifth century, the Great Schism of 1054 between Rome and Constantinople, and the later fragmentation of the Anglican Reformation, which still maintained the outward semblance of the Apostolic Faith. Each event seems to suggest a break, a severing of unity, yet the Banyan reveals a deeper truth - one in which there can be organic connection in the midst of outward separation. These new trunks - each claiming Apostolic Succession, sacramental life, and fidelity to the Gospel - do not erase their connection to the original seed. Their distinctiveness is real, their separations painful, yet their shared root in Christ endures. As St. Paul wrote, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:5). The schism is illusory not because differences are unimportant, but because the life of the Church transcends institutional boundaries, binding all in an unseen unity, which is the shared life of the Holy Spirit. 

A Buddhist Philosophical Echo: The Banyan as Spiritual Symbol

The Banyan tree’s resonance extends beyond Christianity, finding profound parallels in East Asian religious traditions, particularly Buddhism, which can culturally and philosophical enrich our understanding of the Church’s nature, just as Plato and Aristotle did in the Greek Christian tradition. In Buddhist lore, the Banyan - the Sacred Bodhi tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, functioning as a symbol of sacrifice, temptation and ultimate triumph in Buddhism as the Cross functions in Christianity - culturally symbolizes wisdom and contemplation. Ascetics and teachers find solitude and comfort beneath its canopy, finding refuge in its vast shade, just as the Church offers spiritual shelter through the Sacraments and the presence of Christ, the Logos. 

Buddhism also sees the Banyan as an emblem of interdependence (“pratītyasamutpāda”), its network of roots and trunks reflecting the truth that all things arise in relation to one another. This echoes the Church as a communion of saints, a “sangha” or “gathering” of believers across time and space, each dependent on the others for the fullness of faith. The “Jataka” tales depict the Banyan as a selfless provider, sacrificing itself for the good of all - a foreshadowing of Christ’s own sacrifice and the Church’s call to “dāna” (generosity).

Perhaps most strikingly, the Banyan embodies the Buddhist concept of “māyā” - the illusion of separateness that makes mankind fight and strive in selfishness. Its many trunks appear distinct, yet they share one life, much as in my above analogy of the Church’s diverse traditions - Orthodox, Catholic, Oriental, Assyrian - seem divided but remain rooted in the same Gospel, the same ultimate reality of Christ’s sacrifice of self and the offering of His Life through the sacraments. In Hindu myth, the Banyan-like “Aśvattha” tree is described as “upside-down,” its roots in the divine, its branches in the world (Bhagavad Gita 15:1), a fitting image for a Church whose true unity lies not in earthly structures but in its heavenly source, rooted in heaven and not of the world. 

The Banyan Tree, Watercolor by Megan Morgan

The Apostolic Church: One Seed, Many Trunks, One Life

The Banyan tree challenges the Western analogy and obsession with a single-trunked Church. The early Christians did not envision a uniform institution radiating from one center; Acts of the Apostles reveals a Church of many hubs - Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus - each unique yet in communion, different and independent, while still a “part of the whole.” The Fathers, from Ignatius to Irenaeus, spoke of a universal body, a tapestry of many strands, not a monolith. The Church’s unity is not a matter of hierarchical control, but of organic interconnection, a living network sustained by the Holy Spirit, centered on the One, Unchanging, Supernatural and Sacrosanct Truth of Jesus Christ - the God-Man. 

Like the Banyan, the Apostolic Church grows outward, sending down roots wherever the Gospel takes hold. It is not diminished by its diversity but enriched by it, each trunk - whether a venerable and ancient patriarchate or a humble Apostolic mission - contributing to the whole. The schisms of history, though real in their human toll, cannot sever the root of Christ as Lord; they are new trunks within the same tree, reflections of a faith that adapts to local soil and yet remains completely one and whole.

Banyan Cross 

Beneath a sky of trembling jade, 

Where market voices rise and fade, 

I wandered past the crimson stalls, 

Perfumed with salt and cinnamon walls. 

And there it stood - vast, bright, untamed, 

A tree of fire, a tree unnamed. 

Its branches arched like vaulted prayer, 

Its roots unbound, yet everywhere. 

Not one, but many, strong and deep, 

Like prophets who no silence keep. 

And in its limbs, the lanterns swayed, 

The incense tendrils of saints who prayed. 

This tree was once a planted Cross, 

In days of strife, of gain and loss. 

When Kauikeaouli bowed at last, 

And broke the idols of the past, 

This Banyan rose where temples fell, 

And Heaven weaves its God-spell. 

And in its roots, the martyrs sleep, 

Their silent voices thunder deep. 

O Banyan gold, O tree of grace, 

Not lone nor rigid, bound in place! 

Thy trunks are many, yet but one, 

A silver-leafed lattice kissed by sun. 

Rooted where He once had trod, 

Where Asia wept, where Rome grew flawed, 

Where Nilus sang, where Sinai spoke, 

Where seraphs crowned the Son of God. 

Thy roots, O Christ, are in the deep, 

Where martyrs' bones like pearls still sleep. 

No severed limb, no broken spine, 

But grafted, grown, a new life divine. 

Not Western oak, nor rugged pine, no rigid monolithic line, 

But bending grace, the holy seed of God - 

A bruised and broken reed, a ripped ephod

What seems apart, is still yet the same, 

Each trunk a tongue that speaks Thy name. 

And through the ages, men have fought, 

To claim, to cut, to twist to naught. 

But lo! the Banyan tree still whispers low - 

The blood of saints will only flow,

And with this stream each Church will grow! 

Beneath its shade, all nations stand, 

With cup and book in outstretched hand. 

From Antioch to Southern Sea, 

The winds still call the lost to Thee. 

No throne, no crown, no iron chain, 

But roots that drink of Heaven’s rain. 

O Banyan bright, O Cross unfurled

O Gospel that transforms the world

O Church untamed, O Saints unashamed

The world may wound Thee, but Thou remain. 

A thousand branches, of one design - 

One seed, one Christ, one life divine - 

Awaiting the final trumpet call, 

When this Banyan Cross will Triumph over all!

Summary

In this vast, sprawling Banyan at the middle of a Hawaiian market, I see an analogy of the Church as it truly is: a refuge for the weary, a network of interdependent and uncreated life, a testament to the enduring power of Christ’s seed, the Original Gospel, which goes out into all the world for the salvation of all who hear, repent and follow after Jesus Christ. It is not a structure to be defended but a mystery to be lived, ever-expanding, ever-rooted, ever-one. This is the great tree of life, the Church!

Collect

O Almighty and Everlasting God, who hast planted Thy Church as a living tree, whose roots are deep in the blood of the martyrs and whose branches stretch unto the ends of the earth: Grant that, as the nations find shelter beneath its shade, so may we, being grafted into the true Vine, abide steadfast in the faith once delivered unto the saints. That, strengthened by Thy grace, we may neither be swayed by the winds of error nor broken by the storms of persecution, but bearing the fruits of righteousness, may ever glorify Thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Bp. Joseph and Lady Victoria Standing Before the Waikiki Banyan Tree at the International Market