The Remnant Online

News => 9.0 Quake Hits Japan => Topic started by: Richard Myers on April 16, 2011, 08:37:43 AM

Title: Christianity in Japan
Post by: Richard Myers on April 16, 2011, 08:37:43 AM
Jesuit priest, Francis Xavier, arrived in Japan in 1549.The Japanese people were not easily converted; many of the people were already Buddhist or Shinto. Xavier was welcomed by the Shingon monks since he used the word Dainichi for the Christian God; attempting to adapt the concept to local traditions. Buddhism and Shintoism was brought into the Christian worship and Catholic force was used to convert sinners.

The concept of Hell was a struggle for the Japanese. They were bothered by the idea of their ancestors living in Hell.  Many Christians were martyred. Suffering persecution many Christians joined in a revolt that began in 1637. The Hara Fortress was a stronghold of the rebellion which fell in April 1638. Christianity was then strictly banned from Japan as a troublesome religion.

Commodore Perry of the US Navy forced Japan into signing an agreement that brought Japan’s isolation to an end. And in 1859 Protestant missionaries arrived in Japan. The defeat of Japan in World War II marks the first time in history when Japan suffered defeat and occupation by a foreign power. Japan was compelled to adopt a democratic constitution ensuring religious freedom and banning Shinto, Emperor worship, as the state religion.

As with many countries that have seen an apostate Christianity, Japan is now open to seeing the true religion of Jesus Christ.  "And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes." Ezekiel 36:23.

Often we find that there is resistance to the Bible because of those who claimed to be Christian when in fact they did not reflect Christ. Let us be His witnesses today that the promise of Jesus can be fulfilled before the eyes of the heathen.
Title: Re: Christianity in Japan
Post by: Richard Myers on April 16, 2011, 08:46:54 AM
The Mountain View Japanese Seventh-Day Adventist Church (MVJSDAC), the first Japanese church outside Japan, has its roots in the early 1900's as Japanese immigrated to the West Coast of the United States. Retired Bible worker Elizabeth Swift established an English school in Oakland to help these Japanese immigrants. One of her students, Kinichi Nozaki, became an ordained pastor and energetic servant of God who founded Japanese churches around the world.   source (http://mvjapanese.adventistfaith.org/history)