Theology of Culture in a Japanese Context

Theology of Culture in a Japanese Context PDF

Author: Atsuyoshi Fujiwara

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2012-07-01

Total Pages: 439

ISBN-13: 163087647X

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The Christian faith has always stood in a place of tension between its transcendent nature and the surrounding culture. On the one hand, Christian faith claims to originate in the revelation of God, which transforms culture itself. On the other hand, all such revelation is inevitably received and interpreted by humans in concrete situations. It is no exaggeration to say that two millennia of church history have continually demonstrated the struggle between Christian faith and culture. In an effort to address this struggle, this book explores relevant issues pertinent to the relationship between faith and culture in the particular context of Japan. In this unique work, the context of Japan, well known as a desolate swamp for Christian missions, provides the setting for a re-exploration of issues pertaining to theology of culture. As such, Japan provides both a concrete and challenging context to work out a theology of culture. This book also helpfully illuminates for Western readers some key problems that may not have appeared fully in their contexts yet but will do so as the post-Christendom era continues.

Theology of Culture in a Japanese Context

Theology of Culture in a Japanese Context PDF

Author: Atsuyoshi Fujiwara

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2012-07-01

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 1606088637

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In dialogue with H. Richard Niebuhr, John Howard Yoder, and Stanley Hauerwas, this work examines Japanese culture, suffering, and three theologians: Kazoh Kitamori, Yasuo Furuya, and Hideo Ohki.

Religion and National Identity in the Japanese Context

Religion and National Identity in the Japanese Context PDF

Author: Hiroshi Kubota

Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 3825860434

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This book focuses upon the relationship between religion and socio-cultural or socio-political aspects in the history of religions in Japan. Religious and ideological justifications in the course of forming a political and national identity, and the mutual relation between political, national and cultural issues can be noticed in every region of the world before the onset of secularization processes, but also in modern nation-states today. In Japan as well, just like in most modern societies, political, cultural and religious elements are closely interrelated. In a comparative approach the sixteen papers in this volume elucidate the intellectual undercurrent in Japanese history of putting positive perspectives on national achievements and cultural-religious uniqueness into service of establishing and refurbishing a national identity.

Christ in Japanese Culture

Christ in Japanese Culture PDF

Author: Emi Mase-Hasegawa

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2008-04-30

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 9047433211

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This ground-breaking study on the Roman Catholic, Japanese novelist Endo Shusaku (1923-1996) uniquely combines western and Japanese religious, theological and philosophical thought. The author interprets Endo’s central works such as Silence (1966), The Samurai (1980), and Deep River (1996), from a theological point of view as documents of inculturation of Christianity in Japan. Analysing the social and religious context of Japan in a global perspective, the author identifies a central role for koshinto - a traditional Japanese ethos - in Endo's thought on inculturation. Endo’s change from a critical to a positive acceptance of the koshinto tradition partly accounts for his move from a pessimistic attitude of Christian inculturation in his early years to the growing theocentric and pneumatic concerns of his later years. Essential for Western readers.

Japanese Understanding of Salvation

Japanese Understanding of Salvation PDF

Author: Martin Heißwolf

Publisher: Langham Publishing

Published: 2018-02-14

Total Pages: 534

ISBN-13: 1783683716

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It is no secret that Christianity has been widely rejected in Japan with less than two percent of the population identifying as Christian. The dominant worldview in Japan is deeply animistic, with beliefs such as the Japanese mana-concept, ki (気), the Japanese soul-concept, and the concept of God/god(s), kami (神), being deeply rooted in the culture and fundamentally influencing society. Dr Martin Heißwolf, with his years of experience in Japan, critically examines Japanese animism in light of core Christian beliefs, such as the concepts of “peace” and “salvation.” Central to Japanese people’s rejection of Christian truth is the diametric opposition of its supernatural message to the natural focus of Japanese animistic folk religion. Heißwolf’s meticulous study is framed squarely within missiological thought and praxis so Christians serving in Japanese contexts are better able to communicate the message of the gospel by more fully understanding Japanese people, people by whom God wants to be known.

Christianity, Empire and the Spirit

Christianity, Empire and the Spirit PDF

Author: Néstor Medina

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-05-29

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9004363092

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In Christianity, Empire and The Spirit, Néstor Medina uncovers the interwoven cultural processes that influence how people understand reality, express faith, and think about God. Countering Eurocentric theological articulations, he proposes that the Spirit is at work in the cultural.

Religion, Culture, and the Public Sphere in China and Japan

Religion, Culture, and the Public Sphere in China and Japan PDF

Author: Albert Welter

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-02-23

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 9811024375

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This collection examines the impact of East Asian religion and culture on the public sphere, defined as an idealized discursive arena that mediates the official and private spheres. Contending that the actors and agents on the fringes of society were instrumental in shaping the public sphere in traditional and modern East Asia, it considers how these outliers contribute to religious, intellectual, and cultural dialog in the public sphere. Jürgen Habermas conceptualized the public sphere as the discursive arena which grew within Western European bourgeoisie society, arguably overlooking topics such as gender, minorities, and non-European civilizations, as well as the extent to which agency in the public sphere is effective in non-Western societies and how practitioners on the outskirts of mainstream society can participate. This volume responds to and builds upon this dialogue by addressing how religious, intellectual, and cultural agency in the public sphere shapes East Asian cultures, particularly the activities of those found on the peripheries of historic and modern societies.

Xavier's Legacies

Xavier's Legacies PDF

Author: Kevin M. Doak

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2011-03-01

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0774820241

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Japan has had three Catholic prime ministers, and its current empress was raised and educated in the faith. How did a non-Christian nation come to foster more Catholic leaders than the United States, particularly when Protestantism is said to define Christianity in Japan and Catholicism is believed to be but a fleeting element of Japan’s so-called Christian century? Far from being a relic of the past – something brought to Japan by sixteenth-century missionaries such as Francis Xavier and then forgotten – Catholicism offered, and continues to provide, an authentic way for Japanese believers to shape their cultural identities. This volume documents the appeal of Catholicism, not only among farmers and fishers but also among scientists, diplomats, novelists, and members of the imperial household who have found in Catholicism an alternative way to keep “tradition” and negotiate modernity since the late nineteenth century.

The Category of ‘Religion’ in Contemporary Japan

The Category of ‘Religion’ in Contemporary Japan PDF

Author: Mitsutoshi Horii

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-04-17

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 3319735705

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This book critically examines the term ‘religion’ (shūkyō) as a social category within the sociological context of contemporary Japan. Whereas the nineteenth-century construction of shūkyō has been critically studied by many, the same critical approach has not been extended to the contemporary context of the Japanese-language discourse on shūkyō and Temple Buddhism. This work aims to unveil the norms and imperatives which govern the utilization of the term shūkyō in the specific context of modern day Japan, with a particular focus upon Temple Buddhism. The author draws on a number of popular publications in Japanese, many of which have been written by Buddhist priests. In addition, the book offers rich interview material from conversations with Buddhist priests. Readers will gain insights into the critical deconstruction, the historicization, and the study of social classification system of ‘religion’, in terms of its cross-cultural application to the contemporary Japanese context. The book will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines including Japanese Studies, Buddhology, Religious Studies, Social Anthropology, and Sociology.

A History of Japanese Theology

A History of Japanese Theology PDF

Author: Yasuo Furuya

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9780802841087

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This is the first book on the history of Japanese theology written by Japanese theologians. The authors clarify the tumultuous history of Japanese Christianity and describe the context, methodology, and goals shaping Japanese theology today.

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