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the
arrett
Tower
Volume 31, Numher 3 ANNUAL STUDENT ISSUE June 1956
Problems of the Christian Churcll in Japan
A Crusade Scholar discusses the situation of the Church in his homeland
during and after the Second ~Torlcl War,
By Zen-i YamOinoto
INproportion to the growth of nationalism in Japan,
the pressure upon Christian churches and Chris-tians
grew heavier. In 1931 there occurred the "Man-churian
Incident" which developed into the Sino-
Japanese Conflict of 1937. Notwithstanding the fre-quent
announcements that Japan would try to settle
that conflict peacefully as a local matter, the Japanese
Army expanded the area of conflict. The militaristic
totalitarianism in Japan became clear. The Sino-
Japanese War led to World War II in 1941 by the
attacking of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Navy
forces. Freedom of speech was severely restricted
through the nation, and above all to the Christians.
Shintoism played a big part in furthering the
supernationalistic policy. The leaders of the country
emphasized the divinity of the Emperor as a living
God. As a result, it was natural that the Christian
faith clashed with belief in the divinity of the Em-peror.
All the Japanese, including Christians, were forced
to attend Shinto shrines, especially the Grand Im-perial
Shrine of Ise dedicated to the Sun Gcddess who
was regarded as the national ancestor. In 1936 the
National Christian Council made an important state-ment
declaring, "We accept the definition of the
government that the Shinto shrine is non-religious."
Many endeavors like this were made by the Chris-tian
Church to find a way to live long under the
pressure of the government and the military power.
At public meetings Romans 13: 1-7 was read quite
often to justify the Christian's attitude to the follow-ing
of the authority of the government. Some of the
Christian leaders tried to identify the Japanese mili-tary
ethics with the teaching of Christianity. From
the theological point of view, some Christians tried
to syncretize Christianity with Shinto. Dr. D. C.
Holtom said at the conclusion of his study on the
Japanese Christianity under the Shinto nationalism:
Under the circumstances the church has only
two roads open to it: persecution and martyrdom
or compromise and accommodation. The Japanese
Christian Church has chosen the latter. This has
meant the surrender of much iniative that at one
time was exercised with relative freedom.
But these things came after the Christians' des-perate
fight against nationalism. In the Anglo-Episco-pal
Church alone, forty-one ministers had been
arrested by 1942. Two denominations belonging to
the Holiness Churches were ordered to dissolve on
the charge of violating the Maintenance of Peace and
Order Law. Many Christian teachers were driven
from their educational positions. Thus, in some cases
the Christian Churches surrendered, whereas in other
cases many experienced severe persecution and
strengthening of faith.
Under these circumstances the United Church of
Christ in Japan, commonly known as the Kyodan,
was organized in 1941. There had long been a strong
Object Description
| Title | Garrett Tower vol.31 no.3 1956 |
| Volume | vol.31 no.3 |
| Date | 1956 |
| Institution | Garrett Biblical Institute |
| Publisher | Garrett Biblical Institute |
| Collection | Garrett Tower (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) |
| Description | Published quarterly. Subscription price, sixty-five cents per year, one dollar for two years. John C. Irwin, Editor. Includes: editorials, faculty and alumni information, Garrett happenings, and book reviews. Contents: 1956 Graduation (includes class picture). |
| Subject | Garrett Biblical Institute, Theology--Periodicals |
| Bound With | Garrett Tower v.29-34 1953-59 |
| Call number of physical item | BV4070.G31 v.29-34 1953-59 |
| Type | Text |
| Language | eng |
| Rights | The items digitized in this collection are the property of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. This image may be used freely, with attribution, for research and educational purposes. For permission to publish, distribute, or use this image for any other purpose, please contact The United Library by phone (847)866-3909 or email united.library@garrett.edu |
| Method of scan | HP Scanjet N6310 300ppi pdf with OCR |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Collection | Garrett Tower (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) |
| Transcript | the arrett Tower Volume 31, Numher 3 ANNUAL STUDENT ISSUE June 1956 Problems of the Christian Churcll in Japan A Crusade Scholar discusses the situation of the Church in his homeland during and after the Second ~Torlcl War, By Zen-i YamOinoto INproportion to the growth of nationalism in Japan, the pressure upon Christian churches and Chris-tians grew heavier. In 1931 there occurred the "Man-churian Incident" which developed into the Sino- Japanese Conflict of 1937. Notwithstanding the fre-quent announcements that Japan would try to settle that conflict peacefully as a local matter, the Japanese Army expanded the area of conflict. The militaristic totalitarianism in Japan became clear. The Sino- Japanese War led to World War II in 1941 by the attacking of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Navy forces. Freedom of speech was severely restricted through the nation, and above all to the Christians. Shintoism played a big part in furthering the supernationalistic policy. The leaders of the country emphasized the divinity of the Emperor as a living God. As a result, it was natural that the Christian faith clashed with belief in the divinity of the Em-peror. All the Japanese, including Christians, were forced to attend Shinto shrines, especially the Grand Im-perial Shrine of Ise dedicated to the Sun Gcddess who was regarded as the national ancestor. In 1936 the National Christian Council made an important state-ment declaring, "We accept the definition of the government that the Shinto shrine is non-religious." Many endeavors like this were made by the Chris-tian Church to find a way to live long under the pressure of the government and the military power. At public meetings Romans 13: 1-7 was read quite often to justify the Christian's attitude to the follow-ing of the authority of the government. Some of the Christian leaders tried to identify the Japanese mili-tary ethics with the teaching of Christianity. From the theological point of view, some Christians tried to syncretize Christianity with Shinto. Dr. D. C. Holtom said at the conclusion of his study on the Japanese Christianity under the Shinto nationalism: Under the circumstances the church has only two roads open to it: persecution and martyrdom or compromise and accommodation. The Japanese Christian Church has chosen the latter. This has meant the surrender of much iniative that at one time was exercised with relative freedom. But these things came after the Christians' des-perate fight against nationalism. In the Anglo-Episco-pal Church alone, forty-one ministers had been arrested by 1942. Two denominations belonging to the Holiness Churches were ordered to dissolve on the charge of violating the Maintenance of Peace and Order Law. Many Christian teachers were driven from their educational positions. Thus, in some cases the Christian Churches surrendered, whereas in other cases many experienced severe persecution and strengthening of faith. Under these circumstances the United Church of Christ in Japan, commonly known as the Kyodan, was organized in 1941. There had long been a strong |
