In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians

In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians

Author: John Dougill

Publisher: SPCK

Published: 2016-09-15

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 0281075530

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In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians is a remarkable story of suppression, secrecy and survival in the face of human cruelty and God’s apparent silence. Part history, part travelogue, it explores and seeks to explain a clash of civilizations—of East and West—that resonates to this day. For seven generations, Japan’s ‘Hidden Christians’ preserved a faith that was forbidden on pain of death. Just as remarkably, descendants of the Hidden Christians continue to practise their beliefs today, refusing to rejoin the Catholic Church. Why? And what is it about Japanese culture that makes it so resistant to Western Christianity?


The Beginning of Heaven and Earth

The Beginning of Heaven and Earth

Author: Christal Whelan

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 1996-09-01

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 9780824818241

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In 1865 a French priest was visited by a small group of Japanese at his newly built church in Nagasaki. They were descendants of Japan's first Christians, the survivors of brutal religious persecution under the Tokugawa government. The Kakure Kirishitan, or "hidden Christians," had practiced their religion in secret for several hundred years. Sometime after their visit the priest received a copy of the Kakure bible, the Tenchi Hajimari no Koto, "Beginning of Heaven and Earth," an intriguing amalgam of Bible stories, Japanese fables, and Roman Catholic doctrine. Whelan offers a complete translation of this unique work accompanied by an illuminating commentary that provides the first theory of origin and evolution of the Tenchi. Today, the few Kakure Kirishitan communities still in existence view the Tenchi as strange and flawed, expressing a distorted form of Christianity. It is, however, the only text produced by the Kakure Kirishitan that depicts their highly syncretistic tradition and provides a colorful window through which to examine the dynamics of religious acculturation.


Christ's Samurai

Christ's Samurai

Author: Jonathan Clements

Publisher: Robinson

Published: 2016-04-07

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1472136713

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The sect was said to harbour dark designs to overthrow the government. Its teachers used a dead language that was impenetrable to all but the innermost circle of believers. Its priests preached love and kindness, but helped local warlords acquire firearms. They encouraged believers to cast aside their earthly allegiances and swear loyalty to a foreign god-emperor, before seeking paradise in terrible martyrdoms. The cult was in open revolt, led, it was said, by a boy sorcerer. Farmers claiming to have the blessing of an alien god had bested trained samurai in combat and proclaimed that fires in the sky would soon bring about the end of the world. The Shogun called old soldiers out of retirement for one last battle before peace could be declared in Japan. For there to be an end to war, he said, the Christians would have to die. This is a true story.


Holy Anime!

Holy Anime!

Author: Patrick Drazen

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2017-07-31

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 0761869085

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Christianity has been in Japan for five centuries, but embraced by less than one percent of the population. It’s a complicated relationship, given the sudden appearance in Japan of Renaissance Catholicism which was utterly unlike the historic faiths of Shinto and Buddhism; Japan had to invent a word for “religion” since Japan did not share the west’s reliance on faith in a personal God. Japan’s views of this “outsider” religion resemble America’s view of the “outsider” Islamic faith. Understanding this through the book Orientalism by Edward Said, Patrick Drazen samples depictions of Christianity in the popular Japanese media of comics and cartoons. The book begins with the work of postwar comics master Tezuka Osamu, with results that range from the comic to the revisionist to the blasphemous and obscene.


Knowing Me, Knowing God

Knowing Me, Knowing God

Author: Richard Brash

Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press

Published: 2021-02-18

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 178974184X

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In the Bible, God gives us knowledge of himself and of ourselves, so that through these two intertwined strands we may receive what Calvin called 'true and sound wisdom'. In pursuit of this wisdom, many Christians have learned to interpret Scripture chrono-logically, following the Bible's developing story from creation, through fall, to redemption, and ultimately to restoration. But what of a complementary theo-logical approach to Scripture, one which focuses on the Bible's main 'characters' - God and human beings - and the nature of their relationship? Richard Brash presents such an approach, introducing six theological keys to Scripture which help us better to know God and ourselves in the three fundamental areas of being, knowing, and acting. At each stage, he develops the theme of the gracious condescension of the infinite, incomprehensible, and holy God in his relation to finite human beings: creating us as his image, establishing a proportion between his own knowledge and ours, and overcoming sin to take a people for himself through the love-gifts of his Son and his Spirit. If you are looking for an enlarged vision of God and a renewed understanding of your own vocation before the Lord, take up this book and be refreshed in your love for God in heart, soul, and mind.


A Christian Samurai

A Christian Samurai

Author: William J. Farge

Publisher: CUA Press

Published: 2016-04-29

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0813228514

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Through a close critical analysis of Baba Bunko's often humorous, but always biting, satirical essays a new picture of the hidden world of Christianity in eighteenth-century Japan emerges - a picture that contradicts the generally-held belief among Western historians that the Catholic mission in Japan ended in failure. A Christian Samurai will surprise many readers when they discover that Christian moral teachings not only survived the long period of persecution but influenced Japanese society throughout the Tokugawa period.


Berlitz: Japan Pocket Guide

Berlitz: Japan Pocket Guide

Author: Berlitz

Publisher: Apa Publications (UK) Limited

Published: 2013-03-01

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1780047932

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Berlitz Pocket Guide Japan is a concise, full-colour travel guide that combines lively text with vivid photography to highlight the very best that this enigmatic country has to offer. The Where To Go chapter details the best places to visit in Japan, from the dazzling architecture of Tokyo to Japan's first imperial capital of Nara and the breathtaking natural splendour of Mount Fuji. Handy maps on the cover help you to get around with ease. To inspire you, the book offers a rundown of the 10 top attractions in Japan, followed by an itinerary for a Perfect Tour of the country. The What to Do chapter is a snapshot of things to do in Japan, from shopping and sports to onsen (hot springs) and Japanese festivals. You'll also be armed with background information on Japanese culture, including a brief history of Japan and a chapter covering its mouth-watering cuisine. There is also an A-Z to give you all the practical information you will need.


Recovering the Scandal of the Cross

Recovering the Scandal of the Cross

Author: Mark D. Baker

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2011-08-02

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0830869093

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Since its publication in 2000, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross has provoked thought among evangelicals about the nature of the atonement and how it should be expressed in today's various global contexts. In this second edition Green and Baker have clarified and enlarged the text to ensure its ongoing critical relevance.