Christianity Made in Japan: A Study of Indigenous Movements

Chapter 4. The Fountainhead of Japanese Christianity Revisited

54 CHAPTER FOUR The Fountainhead of Japanese Christianity Revisited W HILE ONE OF the aims of this book is to give attention to a number of relatively unknown indigenous movements, the numerous references to the Nonchurch movement and quotations from Uchimura’s writings thus far show how impossible it is to entirely ignore this earliest expression of Japanese Christianity. Uchimura’s writings contained numerous strands of thought that were subsequently elaborated (and sometimes rejected) by other leaders and movements. In short, the Nonchurch movement is signi³cant not only as an independent expression of Christianity but also for what it has given birth to throughout its history. Without a central authority or bureaucracy, it has functioned as the fountainhead of indigenous Christianity in Japan and given rise to many other movements. THE FOUNTAINHEAD OF JAPANESE CHRISTIANITY REVISITED 55 Many Japanese critics of transplanted mission churches expressed a longing for the “pure” or “spiritual” religion of Jesus without Western institutions, rites, and dogmas. The God of Christianity “is spirit and truth,” Uchimura wrote, “and they that worship Him are commanded to worship in spirit and truth—i.e., without forms, or with a minimum of forms.”1 Nitobe Inazõ, however, recognized that ultimately a religion without forms or “human wrappage” [sic] was impossible and pleaded for the development of “homemade garments.” The fact that a number of Japanese accepted Christianity but rejected missionary traditions implied there were alternative interpretations of the Christian faith with their accompanying cultural forms and institutions. Charismatic minor founders were not only responsible for the break with transplanted mission churches and traditions but subsequently became the creative force in the development of new Christian traditions. As F. F. Bruce has perceptively observed, “It is noteworthy how often the renunciation of an old tradition is followed by the speedy development of a new one, held at least as tenaciously as ever the old one was.”2 Although these words were written in a very different context, they accurately capture the process of “tradition-making” in Japanese Christianity. UCHIMURA KANZÕ AND THE NONCHURCH MOVEMENT The Nonchurch movement is undoubtedly the most widely known and respected expression of Japanese Christianity. This is due largely to the fact that Uchimura was a proli³c writer respected by many individuals both within and outside Christian circles. The complete works of Uchimura consists of some 50 volumes : 17 primarily biblical and exegetical studies, 25 volumes of theological and topical works, and 8 volumes of diaries and correspondence. Many of his disciples have likewise been well-known intellectual ³gures, authors, and university presidents. In light of Uchimura’s prominent place in Japanese intellectual history and in the development of Christianity in Japan, it is understandable why he and his movement have been the focus of so much attention. The literature produced by or about this movement is now so immense that a 1990 bibliography of materials related to Uchimura and the Nonchurch movement exceeded 100 pages.3 Each year since then new materials have continued to roll off the press. Another reason Uchimura and the Nonchurch movement are widely recognized , at least in church circles, is due in part to the work of Emil Brunner, the Swiss theologian, who became fascinated with this movement during his stay in Japan from 1953 to 1955. Brunner was quite sympathetic with the aims CHRISTIANITY MADE IN JAPAN 56 of the Nonchurch movement as a lay reform movement within Christianity . He subsequently played a major role in introducing this form of Christianity to the Western world through his writings in German and English. Many observers have recognized that Brunner was an important “bridge” between this independent movement and the established churches while in Japan.4 In his otherwise illuminating monograph, Carlo Caldarola mistakenly de³ned his study of the Nonchurch movement as an analysis of an indigenous form of Christianity “totally independent of Western inµuence.”5 While the Nonchurch movement and other indigenous movements have clearly been independent of Western “control,” they have hardly been independent of Western inµuence. In stark contrast to Caldarola’s view, Ohta maintains that “Uchimura was a man nurtured by Western culture for the whole of his life,” and as evidence points to the library Uchimura bequeathed to Hokkaidõ University: 746 titles were books in European languages (mostly English) and only 109 titles in Japanese and Chinese.6 What obviously needs to be clari³ed is how Uchimura and...