The Beginning of Heaven and Earth

The Beginning of Heaven and Earth PDF

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.

In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians

In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians PDF

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?

Hidden Christians in Japan

Hidden Christians in Japan PDF

Author: Kirk Sandvig

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-11-29

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 149859168X

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Hidden Christians in Japan: Breaking the Silence examines the contemporary issues facing hidden Christian communities in Japan, looking at how these issues have resulted in the discontinuation of hidden Christian practices, and how these communities adapt to their changing communities. For those who have disbanded or are deciding to disband, this book examines the ways these groups deal with keeping both the traditions and rituals of the hidden Christians alive and how it affects their communal identity as a whole. The way these communities choose to either leave their practices behind as a forgotten legacy of their ancestors or publicly preserve their artifacts and traditions through various means can have a dramatic impact on how the world is able to finally understand their views, but more importantly, how hidden Christian communities cope with the loss for these familial traditions.

The Kakure Kirishitan of Japan

The Kakure Kirishitan of Japan PDF

Author: Stephen R. Turnbull

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1873410700

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First major study in English of the Japanese 'hidden' Christians - the Kakure Kirishitan, who chose to remain separate from the Catholic Church when religious toleration was granted in 1873 - and the development of the faith and rituals from the 16th century to the present day.

Handbook of Christianity in Japan

Handbook of Christianity in Japan PDF

Author: Mark Mullins

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-12-24

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 9047402375

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This volume provides researchers and students of religion with an indispensable reference work on the history, cultural impact, and reshaping of Christianity in Japan. Divided into three parts, Part I focuses on Christianity in Japanese history and includes studies of the Roman Catholic mission in pre-modern Japan, the 'hidden Christian' tradition, Protestant missions in the modern period, Bible translations, and theology in Japan. Part II examines the complex relationship between Christianity and various dimensions of Japanese society, such as literature, politics, social welfare, education for women, and interaction with other religious traditions. Part III focuses on resources for the study of Christianity in Japan and provides a guide to archival collections, research institutes, and bibliographies. Based on both Japanese and Western scholarship, readers will find this volume to be a fascinating and important guide.

Christ's Samurai

Christ's Samurai PDF

Author: Jonathan Clements

Publisher: Robinson

Published: 2016-04-07

Total Pages: 288

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.

Silence and Beauty

Silence and Beauty PDF

Author: Makoto Fujimura

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2016-04-01

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 0830844597

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Internationally renowned artist Makoto Fujimura reflects on Shusaku Endo's novel Silence and grapples with the nature of art, pain and culture. Showing that light is yet present in darkness, he uncovers deep layers of meaning in Japanese history and finds connections to how faith is lived in contexts of trauma.

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