The salvation of Japan depends largely upon the Japanese. Can you find a St. Paul among them? Only with such a man can you hope to save Japan.-Wм. T. STEAD. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one flock, one shepherd.-JOHN x, 16. It is a question whether there is not in the Oriental nature, and at its best, especially in its aspects of reverential worship, of contemplative insight, of sympathetic attachment to the unseen, and of responsive loyalty to Christ, which may enable it to contribute an added charm and a winsome attractiveness to the Christian world.-JAMES S. DENNIS, "The New Horoscope of Missions." The surest ground of hope for the comparatively early Christianization of a considerable proportion of the people is the fact that within a generation of the founding of the first church Christianity has become naturalized, has given birth to leaders comparable in character and ability to those of the West, and has created several aggressive, self-governing bodies.-Galen M. FISHER, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 391. In a home for discharged prisoners, established in Tokyo by a Christian, Taneaki Hara, 1,117 persons have been cared for since its establishment thirteen years ago. This number has included 801 burglars, 74 murderers, 49 incendiaries, 141 prostitutes, and 73 vagrants. About 500 of these former jailbirds have been restored to a reputable life, 123 have died, and only 113, or about ten per cent, have returned to a criminal life.TASUKU HARADA, International Review of Missions, January, 1912, p. 90. Selfishness is the source of all evils, but Christianity teaches love as the first thing. God is Love; Christ, who hung upon the cross, is the embodiment of love; we human beings are all brothers, and to us the one great commandment of life is love to God and to each other. If we love our neighbour as we do ourselves, all the social problems of the world will be easily solved.-GUNPEI YAMAMURO, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 298. IX THE CONVERTS AND THE CHURCHES T HE enduring, life-giving things which shall never pass away, are the words of Jesus. He said: "In secret spake I nothing." His Gospel is for every man. It is a public Gospel with a breadth as wide as the race, and a reach beyond the limits of time. All that the Gospel requires is hearers in an open field, who are not prejudiced by the fanaticism of false teachers or intimidated by the sword. The victory of the Gospel is assured in any land if once the people have a chance to turn their attention to the Cross and know its message of love to human depravity and of salvation by grace. Though the masses in Japan are still unacquainted with Christianity, yet the proportion in high circles who respect it or are obedient to its precepts is strikingly large. The former wife of Prince Katsura, who was thrice Prime Minister, was a member of the Congregational Church. The wife and mother of Baron Goto, an ex-Cabinet minister, are church members. Judge Noboru Watanabe, head of the Supreme Court in Korea, is a Christian. Admiral Uryu, who opened the war with Russia, was educated at Annapolis and joined the church when living in New Haven. In 1908, out of three hundred and eighty members of the Japanese House of Representatives, fourteen were Christians. For some years before the death of Prince Ito, his private secretary was a Christian. Even from the very first, the influence of Christianity upon the Japanese Government has been more than is generally known. The Iwakura Embassy of 1872, which had much to do in shaping Japan, was launched by a missionary. At Washington the embassy picked up Neesima as an interpreter. Kinkichi Kataoka, a member of the embassy, served as President of Japan's Lower House of Parliament for six years, and was a most devout Christian. The noted Imperial oath was drafted by Yuri Kosei, who was a disciple of Yokoi Shonan, whose pronounced Christian views cost him his life. Many of the middle classes and but few of the common people have entered the church. One of the chief reasons is historical in its origin. For more than two hundred and fifty years the people were taught that Christianity was the synonym of all evil and to accept it was a treasonable act always punished by death. The removal of misconceptions about Christianity which were promulgated under the Shogunate must necessarily be slow in a land where the people are intensely patriotic and manifest a unique loyalty to the Imperial House.* In a country town the chief man gave us permission for holding preaching services provided we said nothing against the Imperial decrees. From the day that the multitudes of Japan, who are composed of fishers, farmers, and artisans, are convinced that Christianity is not anti-governmental, there will be an unparalleled triumph of the Cross. The converts, as a whole, are poor in this world's goods and many of them have but the rudiments of an *The reverence of the Japanese for their Emperor, and the sanctity with which his person is regarded, probably surpasses that of any other nation in the Twentieth Century. I have never heard but one Japanese say in public that he hoped that the Emperor would become a Christian. But once have I ever heard a missionary in public speak of the Emperor's conversion. He had grown grey in missionary service, and before a large audience of Japanese he said: "I am determined to pray for the Emperor's conversion as long as I live. And should I live to see it, like Simeon I would say, 'Now, Lord, lettest thy servant depart in peace.'” |