BULLETINS OF THE PRESIDING 
 BISHOP AND COUNCIL OF THE 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 
 SERIES OF 1921 BULLETIN NO. 15 
 
 Missionary Problems 
 
 and 
 
 Policies in Japan 
 
 by 
 
 Rt. Rev. H. St. George Tucker, D.D. 
 Bishop of Kyoto 
 
 Being the Reinecke Lectures delivered at the 
 Virginia Theological Seminary 
 1921 
 
 Issued by the 
 
 Department of Missions and Church Extension 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLICITY 
 281 FOURTH AVENUE 
 NEW YORK CITY 
 
Bulletins, Series of 1921 
 
 1. Introductory Bulletin. Publicity. 
 
 2. Budget for 1921. Finance. 
 
 3. Diocesan Programme for Religious Education. Religious Education. 
 
 4. The Pearl of the Antilles. Missions. Price 5 cents. 
 
 5. Summer Schools. Religious Education. ( Out of print) 
 
 6. Church School Service League. Religious Education. 
 
 7. In the Track of the Trade Winds. Missions. Price 5 cents. 
 
 8. Parochial Missions. Nation-Wide Campaign. 
 
 9. Proposed Continuance of Campaign Work. N. W. C. ( Out of print) 
 
 10. Under the Southern Cross. Missions. Price 5 cents. 
 
 11. Parish Organization. Nation-Wide Campaign. 
 
 12. Parish Programme Conferences. Nation-Wide Campaign. 
 
 13. Under Four Flags. Missions. Price 5 cents. 
 
 14. Theological Text-Books. Religious Education. 
 
 15. Missionary Problems and Policies in Japan. Missions. Price 20c. 
 
 Additional copies of any Bulletin can be 
 secured free of charge, except as indicated, 
 by writing to the proper Department. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 HE following lectures were delivered by Bishop Tucker at the 
 
 X University of Virginia in January, 1921. Some months later, 
 when the Bishop was on the point of returning to Japan, a few 
 Church people who had been given the opportunity to read the 
 manuscript, believing the lectures to be of great and permanent 
 value, asked the privilege of arranging for their publication. There 
 was no time for revision and the lectures are, therefore, printed 
 exactly as delivered. 
 
 It should be understood that, according to the intention of their 
 author, these lectures are in no sense a justification of the need and 
 importance of Christian work in Japan. It is assumed that those 
 who read them are already convinced on this point and understand 
 the significance of the Church’s Mission and the responsibility of its 
 maintenance. The one purpose is to present the problems of the 
 existing work and the spirit and method by which alone they can be 
 successfully solved. 
 
 Bishop Tucker’s whole ministry has been spent in the Japan 
 Mission. He was President of St. Paul’s College, Tokyo, for nine 
 years, and has been Bishop of Kyoto since 1912. His intimate 
 knowledge of the people of Japan and sympathetic understanding of 
 their national characteristics and aspirations, his familiarity with 
 every phase of Christian work among them, his statesmanlike grasp 
 of the larger problems of the Orient and their relations to those of 
 the Western World, and above all, his profound spiritual insight and 
 far-reaching vision qualify him to speak with full authority and give 
 to the clear and uncompromising statements in these lectures a force 
 which should be at once compelling and inspiring. 
 
 George A. Strong. 
 

 « 
 
 
 
 
MISSIONARY PROBLEMS AND 
 POLICIES IN JAPAN 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 The Present Problem 
 
 T HE Japanese have an ancient saying to the effect that he who 
 would conquer must know both his adversary and himself. The 
 time has come when we need to apply this principle to our foreign 
 missionary enterprise. We have, indeed, entered upon this work as 
 a venture of faith, confident that, however overwhelming the difficul- 
 ties, Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations carries with 
 it the assurance of final success. Yet the certainty that some desir- 
 able end will ultimately be realized is no excuse for neglecting the 
 means by which alone it can be accomplished. Faith in the supe- 
 riority of Christianity to all other religions must not degenerate into 
 the assumption that its progress is automatic and exempt from the 
 laws upon which success in human affairs is conditioned. The power 
 of Christianity to produce results in the world is measured, not only 
 by the value of its ideal, but also by the degree to which that ideal is 
 realized in Christians. Missionary work, then, demands the same 
 prudent and wise consideration that is requisite to success in all 
 practical undertakings. The nature and magnitude of the task must 
 be ascertained. The means requisite to the accomplishment of such 
 a task must be determined. We must prepare and qualify ourselves 
 to adopt those means. “Which of you intending to build a tower 
 sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient 
 to finish it?” 
 
 The purpose of these lectures is to apply such considerations to 
 the missionary work of our Church in Japan. First, we will con- 
 sider the nature of the problems that confront us. Secondly, the 
 policy that must be pursued on the field in the face of these problems. 
 Finally, the demands that the carrying out of such a policy will 
 make upon the Church at home. 
 
 To the Oriental, Christianity presented itself in the first place as 
 the religion of the Western nations. The missionary did not come 
 alone, but in company with the trader, the teacher and the soldier. 
 He represented one phase of the inrush of new influences and new 
 
 [ 5 ] 
 
6 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 ideas, which followed the breaking down of the barriers that had so 
 long separated the West from the East. If the East had been 
 devoid of a civilization of its own, or had its civilization been so 
 lacking in vitality that it simply crumbled away before the advancing 
 tide from the West, the problem of missions would have been a 
 comparatively simple one. Its chief task w r ould have been to re- 
 awaken interest in religion, in the assurance that any revival of 
 faith would naturally turn to Christianity for satisfaction. For a 
 while in Japan it looked almost as if that were what was going to 
 happen. The first resentment against intrusion gave way to such 
 enthusiastic reception of everything western that it appeared, super- 
 ficially at least, as if the whole of the old civilization would be dis- 
 carded in favour of the new. Even the historic prejudice of the 
 Japanese against Christianity was unable to withstand the prestige 
 which attached to it as the religion of a superior civilization. One 
 would have been tempted to conclude that so far as Japan was con- 
 cerned Christianity’s chief foes were those of its own household. 
 It appeared likely that the new influences would determine the re- 
 ligious future of the Empire. The only question was as to whether 
 the resultant of those influences would take the direction of Chris- 
 tianity or materialism. 
 
 The eclipse of the ancient order, however, proved only tempo- 
 rary. It soon became evident that the result of the contact of the 
 two civilizations was not to be the substitution of the new for the 
 old, but a process of amalgamation between them. The East had 
 indeed much to learn from the West. In so far as civilization con- 
 sists in the application of ideas to the production of practical results, 
 it found itself hopelessly outdistanced. The question remained, 
 however, as to whether the superiority extended to the basic prin- 
 ciples of the civilization or whether it was due to the method of 
 cultivating those principles. We may take as an illustration mili- 
 tary power. Did the difference consist in weapons, training and 
 organization, or did it spring from inferiority in the military virtues 
 themselves? The event soon proved that the Japanese soldier when 
 given modern training and equipment was fully able to hold his 
 own against the armies of Europe. Again experience has shown 
 that many of the forms of Western civilization are not suited to 
 Oriental conditions. The tendency, for example, to adopt Euro- 
 pean dress for women quickly died down when it became evident 
 that such clothing was neither comfortable nor becoming. Illustra- 
 
 t 
 
192 1 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 
 tions might be multiplied to show that, great as have been the 
 changes which have been effected by the introduction of Western 
 ideas and methods into Japan, in fundamentals continuity with the 
 past has been preserved. The root and the body of the tree remain 
 unchanged, although by a judicious system of grafting it has been 
 made to produce new varieties of fruit. 
 
 What, then, will be the fate of the old religions in this process 
 of reconstruction? In answering this question it is necessary first 
 to consider the part played by these religions in the development of 
 the former civilization. The original religion of the Japanese was 
 Shinto.* It is very lacking in theological or ethical teachings, but 
 it has furnished the religious expression for two of the strongest 
 Japanese sentiments, reverence for ancestors and loyalty to the Im- 
 perial Family. While Shinto itself does not seem likely to survive, 
 yet a place for these sentiments must be found in any future re- 
 ligious reconstruction. 
 
 The ethical ideals of Japan are largely the product of Confu- 
 cianism. It is hardly a religion, but it has exercised a far-reaching 
 and lasting influence upon the life and thought of the Japanese, 
 especially of the educated classes. One of the developments from 
 Confucianism was Bushido, f the way of the Samurai or warrior. 
 It was neither a religion nor a system of ethics, but may perhaps 
 best be described as the spirit of loyal devotion and knightly 
 honour. This spirit still retains its hold upon the people generally 
 and will undoubtedly be one of the formulating influences in shap- 
 ing their future ideals. Philosophically Confucianism was charac- 
 terized by a positivist tendency. As a result of this one finds among 
 the educated people of Japan a strong disinclination to belief in the 
 supernatural, a characteristic which will certainly play some part 
 in determining their attitude towards religion. 
 
 The great turning point in the development of Japanese civiliza- 
 tion was the introduction of Buddhism from Korea about the middle 
 of the sixth century. £ With Buddhism came not only new religious 
 ideas, but a new culture. It exercised the same kind of civilizing 
 influence in Japan that Christianity did in Northern Europe. In 
 the beginning, indeed, it was the practical benefits brought by 
 
 *Note: Aston’s “Way of the Gods.” Look up other references. Harada, “Faith 
 of Japan.” 
 
 fNote: Japanese Confucianism. Armstrong’s “Light from Ancient East.” Nitobe’s 
 Bushido. 
 
 tReferences: History — Murdock, etc. Religion — Griffis, Religions of Japan; 
 Harada, Faith of Japan; Reischauer, Studies in Japanese Buddhism; Lloyd, Creed 
 of Half Japan, Shinran and His Work. 
 
8 
 
 BULLETIN - NO. 15. 
 
 19 2 1 
 
 Buddhism rather than its doctrinal teaching which impressed the 
 people. It was only after it had been to some extent harmonized 
 with pre-existing Japanese religious ideas that it gained wide- 
 spread hold upon the popular mind. In this process it under- 
 went many strange developments, some of which were apparently 
 quite inconsistent with the original Buddhistic philosophy. For 
 example, the older Buddhism taught that salvation was attained 
 only by one’s own efforts, while the later Japanese sects de- 
 veloped the doctrine of salvation by the power of another.* 
 In this doctrine is involved a distinct approach towards theism 
 (Amida). These Japanese modifications of Buddhism have a very 
 significant bearing upon the question of the part that it is to play 
 in the future reconstruction of religion in Japan. First they opened 
 the way for a much deeper impression of Buddhistic conceptions 
 upon Japanese life and thought than would have been possible for 
 the original religion. This means that Japanese, even though 
 Buddhism itself should perish, will approach religion from a 
 Buddhistic point of view. Further, the character of these modifi- 
 cations is in the direction of breaking down the contrast between 
 Buddhism and the religious conceptions that have come in from the 
 West. Finally, this capacity for adjustment to new conditions 
 greatly increases the possibility of its passing through such a crisis 
 as confronts it at the present time. 
 
 The limits of these lectures do not admit of any detailed ex- 
 amination of the doctrines of Buddhism. For our purpose the 
 important point is that Buddhism together with Shinto and Con- 
 fucianism represents the religious conceptions which have become 
 natural to Japanese. In so far as their life and thought are de- 
 termined by their own past, any awakening of religious interest will 
 tend to express itself along the lines of their former faiths. A dis- 
 tinction must be made, of course, between the character and the 
 content of their religious conceptions. The latter will undoubtedly 
 be greatly altered and enriched by the new ideas which have poured 
 in from the West, but the manner of expressing this new content 
 will be largely influenced by the inherited modes of thought and 
 feeling. For example, while it seems certain that the belief in a 
 supreme Deity will be included in the future religion of Japanese, 
 yet in their conception of God it will be very difficult for them to 
 escape the influence of the Pantheism which has been bred into 
 
 
 
 ’Note: See Arthur Lloyd, Reischauer. 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 9 
 
 
 their thought by Buddhism. Not only will the old modes of thought 
 persist^ but there are some elements in their old beliefs, such as 
 reverence for ancestors, with which they will not easily part. With 
 the great mass of people satisfaction of sentiment is perhaps a more 
 cogent recommendation of a religion than an appeal to reason. 
 
 What bearing have these considerations upon the task that con- 
 fronts Christianity in Japan? They show that the christianizing 
 of the nation as a whole is a much more complex problem than it is 
 sometimes assumed to be. In estimating, therefore, the nature and 
 magnitude of the missionary task it will not do to leave out of 
 account the continuing influence of the old religions. It will not 
 do to formulate our missionary policy on the assumption that they 
 are doomed to decay in the atmosphere of the new civilization. That 
 may or may not be true, but in any case their influence over the 
 thought and life of the people will persist. Two facts need to be 
 borne in mind. First, Christian work up to the present time has 
 been to a large degree confined to that element among the people 
 which is most susceptible to foreign ideas. Secondly, the reaction 
 of the old order is only beginning to show its real strength. 
 
 So far as the religious sphere is concerned this reaction is taking 
 two forms; 1st, a revival of activity on the part of Buddhism; 2d, 
 attempts at the formation of new religions. When Christianity first 
 came to Japan it found Buddhism reflecting the social and economic 
 lethargy of Japanese Society. It appeared to have lost entirely that 
 aggressive missionary spirit which characterized it in the days when 
 it swept triumphantly through China and Japan. It seemed morally 
 and spiritually decadent. Buddhism, however, has not remained 
 unaffected by the new spirit of progress which has produced such 
 remarkable results in all other directions. Some of its sects at least 
 have begun to bestir themselves, especially the Shinshu,* which is 
 by far the most vigorous and the most popular in Japan. An inter- 
 esting feature of this revival is that the Shinshu leaders have not 
 hesitated to break away from tradition and to adopt ideas and 
 methods suited to the new age. They have been distinctly influ- 
 enced by Christianity both in their theology and in their practical 
 methods. The theistic note to which reference was made in an 
 earlier part of the lecture is being more and more emphasized. 
 
 *Note: Collections of hymns for the use of Sunday Schools have been published. 
 The hymns are very largely adaptations of those which have proved popular in Chris- 
 tian schools. In some the Father is addressed in practically the same terms that 
 Christians would use. Pamphlets have also been published giving advice to parents 
 concerning religious instruction and training. 
 
10 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 They have organized Young Men’s Buddhist Associations. There 
 is a Buddhist Salvation Army. Taking the Christian Sunday School 
 as a model, they are making very energetic attempts to extend their 
 influence among the children of the Empire. Their student priests 
 are being given a better education than our own theological candi- 
 dates receive. They are producing and distributing widely a large 
 amount of excellently written propaganda literature. Their social 
 welfare work is beginning to attract sympathetic attention. In addi- 
 tion to their activities at home, they are carrying on missionary 
 work in several foreign countries.* 
 
 It is too early yet to say what the final results of this revival 
 will be. Pure Buddhism, with its pessimism, would hardly seem 
 to be a religion suited to a progressive people. On the other hand 
 Shinshu represents a wide divergence from orthodox Buddhism and 
 is even now showing a marked capacity for adjusting itself to new 
 conditions. Much depends upon the amount of moral earnestness 
 back of the movement. In any case it suggests one possible form 
 which the religious reconstruction may take. To the alternative 
 Christianity or materialism we must add a third term, modernized 
 and Christianized Buddhism. 
 
 The second form in which the religious reaction is manifesting 
 itself is the springing up of new religions. Japanese scholars have 
 frequently suggested that what Japan needs is a form of belief 
 combining all the good points of the world’s great religions while 
 leaving out all of their superstitious elements. The new religions, 
 however, have disregarded entirely this advice. Their creeds con- 
 sist for the most part of a jumble of naive and superstitious ideas 
 fitted into a Shinto setting, with some special feature added which 
 attracts popular attention. Thus Tenrikyo practices faith healing 
 and Omotokyo, the latest of these sects, appeals to the sentiment 
 of nationalism. While none of these can be considered as serious 
 competitors for Japan’s future religious allegiance, both the form 
 that such movements have taken and the success with which they 
 have met suggest the possibility of the emergence of a religious 
 movement in which modern ideas will be grafted on to the body of 
 the old Japanese faiths. They at least serve to show how firm a 
 hold the old religious sentiments and modes of thought retain upon 
 the people generally. Until Christianity has established points of 
 contact with these traditional sentiments and ideas, it will be diffi- 
 
 *e. g., Hawaii, United States, Korea, China. 
 
 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 11 
 
 
 cult to get the masses of the people to respond to its appeal. In 
 this connection mention should be made of the efforts of the authori- 
 ties during recent years to revive interest in Shinto, not indeed as a 
 religion but rather as a national cult. This movement is due to 
 the apprehension lest material and intellectual development should 
 result in the undermining of the national spirit of the people. In 
 order to prevent this, official encouragement is being given to the 
 performance of ceremonies connected with the shrines of the Im- 
 perial ancestors and of the national heroes. The government is 
 careful to explain that worship before these shrines is not religious, 
 but is meant to arouse patriotic sentiment. It is difficult, however, 
 to maintain this distinction in the minds of the masses of the people. 
 Prof. Chamberlain has described this movement as the creation of a 
 new religion.* While any such intention is disclaimed, yet un- 
 doubtedly the sentiment aroused by such rites is religious in char- 
 acter. Patriotism is not, as is sometimes said, the only religion of 
 the Japanese, but no religion which does not give satisfaction to 
 their patriotic feeling will be likely to win their allegiance. 
 
 So far we have been considering the problems that are raised 
 for Christian missionary work by the influence of the pre-existing 
 religions. We found reasons to believe that these problems will 
 be much more serious in the future than they have been in the past. 
 We must now turn our attention to difficulties of another kind. In 
 the case of the introduction of Buddhism into Japan we saw that 
 in the beginning it was the practical benefits it brought rather than 
 the nature of its creed that secured it a welcome. The same thing 
 was to a large extent true with regard to the reception accorded 
 Christianity. Its missionaries came (to Japan) to proclaim the 
 Gospel, but they brought with them practical evidences of the value 
 of their teaching. They were the apostles of the ideal side of the 
 new civilization, whose material achievements were making a pro- 
 found impression upon the Japanese. For the religion by itself 
 there was not likely to be much enthusiasm. Indeed Japan had for 
 centuries nursed an intense suspicion of Christianity. When, how- 
 ever, its missionaries began to establish schools, build hospitals and 
 to devote themselves to bettering social and moral conditions, this 
 suspicion gave way to respect for a religion which produced such 
 fruits. Gradually also the value and the reasonableness of certain 
 aspects of its teaching won recognition, especially among those 
 
 *Note: Creation of New Religion — B. H. Chamberlain. Note expenditure of 
 
 several millions on Meiji Shrine and ceremonies connected with its opening. 
 
12 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 19 2 1 
 
 who had imbibed the spirit of the new times. Some of those who 
 were thus attracted by the teaching and labours of the missionaries 
 identified themselves with the Christian organizations, but the ma- 
 jority were content with accepting the practical lessons. It thus 
 happened that while the churches grew but slowly, Christian ideas 
 and standards obtained a wide following. The result of this was 
 that soon the example set by the missionaries began to be followed 
 outside the limits of the Christian community. Moral and social 
 principles which had at first been associated with Christianity be- 
 came the accepted standard of educated public opinion. This is a 
 great tribute to the influence of Christianity, but at the same time 
 it deprives it of one of its chief assets in its evangelistic appeal. 
 Formerly Christians might be said to have had a monopoly of the 
 leadership in philanthropic enterprises. Today the amount of such 
 work under Christian control represents only a small proportion of 
 what is being done. Only recently in a Kyoto paper there appeared 
 an article strongly criticizing Christianity for the falling off of its 
 interest in social welfare work. “Even the Buddhists,” said the 
 writer, “are showing more activity in these matters than are the 
 Churches.” The criticism was hardly fair, for during the past 
 twenty years Japanese Christians have greatly increased both the 
 scope and the intensity of their philanthropic efforts. Twenty years 
 ago, however, they had few competitors. Now interest in such ques- 
 tions has become general. The large and well-equipped institutions 
 founded by the Government and by wealthy individuals overshadow 
 anything that Christians can do with the scanty means at their 
 disposal. 
 
 It is not meant to imply that this Christianization of public 
 opinion is a drawback to missionary work. On the contrary, it is 
 one of the ends towards which we have been striving and its ac- 
 complishment means that it is now possible to advance to the next 
 stage of our programme. If the purpose of our work up to the 
 present has been to create public sentiment sympathetic with Chris- 
 tian ideals and to develop the Japanese Church, the next step will 
 be to make an evangelistic appeal to this sentiment through the 
 agency of that Church. The springing up of new problems and new 
 difficulties is a sign that new and larger opportunities lie ahead of 
 us. They also teach us that as our work develops and as its char- 
 acter changes we must be prepared to alter our methods to suit the 
 new conditions. 
 
 
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1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 13 
 
 
 The religious situation in Japan is further complicated by the 
 fact that the influences coming in from the West have not by any 
 means been altogether favourable to Christianity. This would have 
 been the case even if the Oriental had given an impartial welcome 
 to all sides of western civilization. He was not, however, particu- 
 larly impressed with its spiritual superiority, but concentrated his 
 attention almost entirely upon its material and intellectual achieve- 
 ments. These, so far from creating any interest in Christianity, 
 led him rather in the opposite direction. The result was wide- 
 spread materialism and agnosticism. The influence of the Christian 
 countries themselves gives rise to one of the greatest difficulties met 
 with in carrying on missionary work. 
 
 There are many other features of the situation in Japan which 
 have an important bearing on the formulation of missionary policies, 
 but it will be best to postpone mention of these until we have de- 
 termined what is involved in presenting Christianity to a society 
 whose modes of thought are those of the old religions and whose 
 practical standards are, roughly speaking, those of Christianity. 
 Two difficulties at once suggest themselves. Christianity expressed 
 in purely Western terms will not fit in with their religious point of 
 view, nor can it any longer depend upon its contribution of prac- 
 tical benefits to compensate for that disadvantage. On the other 
 hand, the old religions do not furnish an adequate basis for the new 
 life. It is just here that Christianity will find powerful support for 
 its appeal. Can we not say then that our future task is to present 
 Christianity to the Japanese in such a way that they can find in it 
 satisfaction for all the truth of their old religion, both as regards 
 its substance and its form, and that in addition they shall find a 
 Gospel adequate for the new life which they have learned to prize? 
 In other words, we must let Christ speak to them His gracious 
 message, “I am come not to destroy but to fulfill.” We must make 
 plain the capacity of Christianity to be a New Testament, not only 
 to Hebraism and to Greek Philosophy, but also to Buddhism, Shinto 
 and Confucianism. We must recognize that God in time past spoke 
 at sundry times and in divers manners to the Oriental as well as to 
 the Hebrew and to the Greek. Should we not also expect that the 
 fullness of the Godhead which dwells in Christ cannot be perfectly 
 revealed until He has had the opportunity to bring to its consumma- 
 tion those aspects of the truth that were entrusted to the prophets 
 of the East? 
 
14 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 A moment’s thought is sufficient to show that this task, which 
 is so easy to state abstractly, involves enormous difficulties which 
 up to the present time we have not really faced. When we remem- 
 ber how arduous has been the process of adjusting our expression 
 of Christianity to the development of our own thought, we will 
 appreciate something of what is involved in harmonizing it with an 
 entirely different order of ideas. It will not be easy to distinguish 
 between what is of the essence and what is merely due to our modes 
 of thinking. Names and forms that have become dear by long 
 association will have to be sacrificed. A great change of heart will 
 be required to enable us to get rid of what seems to be a congenital 
 characteristic of westerners, the sense of their own superiority. On 
 the other side is the danger of allowing the resultant religion to 
 be determined altogether by the exigencies of the situation, to be- 
 come a reduced, instead of an enriched, Christianity. In our search 
 for points of contact we must not disregard the points of contrast. 
 We must be loyal to St. Paul’s principle, “The Jews require a 
 sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified,” 
 not indeed with dogmatic arrogance, but by displaying persuasive 
 evidence that in us He has proved Himself to be both the power and 
 the wisdom of God. These problems, of course, do not call for 
 immediate decision. They will arise in the course of a long process, 
 but it is necessary to qualify ourselves to deal with questions that 
 are sure to come up, one might almost say to orientate ourselves. 
 Also it is important to formulate policies that will allow this de- 
 velopment to begin and go forward freely. 
 
 When one considers the nature of this new task the importance 
 of the native Churches will be at once evident. It is not without 
 reason that the chief emphasis in our work so far has been laid upon 
 their organization and upon the training of leaders. Only a Church 
 to which the Oriental mode of thought is an inheritance is qualified 
 for the task of interpreting Christianity to the great mass of East- 
 erners. A people like the Japanese whose national self-conscious- 
 ness and national self-reliance are highly developed will not readily 
 yield to the appeal of a religion which is not incorporated into the 
 national life. The significant feature in the present missionary 
 situation is found in the coming to age, as it were, of the Japanese 
 Church. This means that the first stage of our missionary work, 
 that is, the development of the organism through which Japan can 
 be evangelized, is nearing its completion. In the lectures which 
 
 
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1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 15 
 
 follow we shall consider the question, What further is required of 
 us to enable this organism, this indigenous Church so full of promise 
 but at the same time so immature and so lacking in resources, to 
 fulfill the purpose for which it has been created? 
 
 
LECTURE II 
 Policies in the Field 
 
 I N the preceding lecture we considered the problems that are 
 raised for missionary work by the religious attitude of the 
 Japanese. We found that while they had accepted quite widely 
 Christian practical ideas, philosophically and sentimentally the 
 fundamental influence was that of the old religions. One often 
 hears the criticism, “Christianity is inferior to Buddhism philo- 
 sophically, but more efficient practically.” Moreover, the influence 
 of modern scientific teaching is seen in the prevalence among the 
 educated classes of agnosticism, or at least of a demand for a 
 religion stripped of all supernatural elements. The Christian 
 apologetic must, therefore, be presented in such a form that it will 
 meet the objections of modern thought and at the same time awaken 
 a response from the submerged but not extinct oriental religious 
 temperament. Experience shows that the foreign missionary is not 
 qualified to fulfill the second of these conditions, but that we must 
 depend upon Japanese Christians to interpret Christianity to Japa- 
 nese. This, however, does not mean the cessation or even any 
 lessening of the contribution which Western Churches have been 
 making to the missionary cause. The evangelization of Japan will 
 require the putting forth of the united efforts of the whole of Chris- 
 tendom, but the time has come when outside assistance should be 
 mediated through the agency of the indigenous Church. It is not 
 a question of whether our help is needed, but of how it shall be 
 given. The answer is that henceforth it should be given by way 
 of co-operation and not of control. We must allow the Japanese 
 to work freely as Japanese and not simply as mouthpieces of the 
 Western Churches. At the same time we must give them such sup- 
 port as will make their work as Japanese effective for the end in 
 view. The purpose of this lecture is to show that the development 
 of the Japanese Church has reached a stage at which this change 
 of policy is both feasible and desirable, and further to indicate what 
 it means in practice. 
 
 It is necessary first of all to review briefly the methods of work 
 that have been followed up to the present and the results that have 
 been accomplished. In doing this we shall leave out of considera- 
 tion the Roman and Greek Catholic Missions. Although their work 
 
 
 4 
 
 16 
 
192 1 
 
 BULLETIN NO. IS. 
 
 17 
 
 
 has met with great success, their methods and their relation to the 
 home Churches are so different from the general type that they 
 throw only incidental light on our particular problem. 
 
 The first Protestant missionaries reached Japan in 1859. They 
 were not able to do much direct evangelistic work until 1873, when 
 the edicts against Christianity were abolished. During this period 
 only about ten people were baptized. It was not, however, barren 
 of results. The missionaries familiarized themselves with the lan- 
 guage. A beginning was made in the translation of the Bible. Of 
 still more importance for the future was the progress made in gain- 
 ing the confidence of the people and in softening the intense hatred 
 of the Christian religion. 
 
 In 1873 the removal of the edicts against Christianity and the 
 arrival of a large number of new missionaries made possible the 
 commencement of aggressive work. The end to be pursued was 
 two-fold, — the development of a Japanese Church and the general 
 promulgation of Christian ideas. All the forms of work engaged 
 in had these two objects in view. The results accomplished by the 
 sermon, the school, the hospital or the tract were not confined to 
 the comparatively small number who received baptism. Equally as 
 significant for the future Christianization of the nation was the in- 
 fluence exerted upon those who did not respond to the appeal to unite 
 themselves with the Church, for through them a general understand- 
 ing of the Christian point of view became widely disseminated. 
 
 Further in regard to those who became converts the purpose 
 was not simply to make as many as possible. It was rather to 
 organize them into an autonomous Church. For the formation of a 
 Church the training of converts is no less important than their 
 acquisition. It is certainly more difficult. Not only must the gen- 
 eral body of members be trained in the doctrine and practice of 
 Christianity, but leaders are needed, men qualified to fill the posi- 
 tion which in the first place is necessarily occupied by the foreign 
 missionary. The Church’s capacity for influencing the nation will 
 depend upon the character of its leadership more than upon its size. 
 
 We see, therefore, why from the beginning great emphasis was 
 laid upon educational, philanthropic and literary work. Looked at 
 purely from the point of view of making converts, schools and 
 charitable institutions might seem to be a misapplication of funds 
 and energy. The same amount of money put into evangelistic work 
 would undoubtedly produce greater results, so far as numbers go. 
 
18 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 192 1 
 
 The function of the school is to supply the leadership without which 
 even a multitude of converts would fail to constitute a Church. 
 The most hopeful feature of the work in Japan today is the large 
 body of well-trained, earnest native ministers. These men repre- 
 sent the contribution of missionary education to the cause of Chris- 
 tianity. The school is also useful in removing prejudice and in 
 creating a sympathetic attitude towards Christianity on the part 
 of the people generally, thus opening the way for the extension of 
 evangelistic work. 
 
 This same consideration applies with equal force to philan- 
 thropic institutions. The practical illustration which they give of 
 the spirit of the new religion carries greater conviction than many 
 sermons. The number of baptisms among the patients of a hospital 
 may be small compared with the expenditure of money it involves, 
 but its influence affects thousands who would never venture into a 
 preaching hall. A prominent Japanese once remarked, “St. Luke’s 
 Hospital is your Church’s most eloquent missionary.” Philanthropic 
 work also furnishes the means of training the young converts in 
 their practical duties as Christians. 
 
 Some idea of the success which attended these methods may be 
 obtained from the statistics compiled for the Osaka Conference of 
 Missionaries in 1883. During ten years the number of the baptized 
 members of the various Churches had increased from ten to five 
 thousand. There were ninety-three organized congregations, of 
 which fifteen were already self-supporting. A native ministry, con- 
 sisting of forty-nine ordained men and one hundred evangelists, 
 had been developed. The subjects appointed for discussion in the 
 conference are significant as showing the nature of the problems 
 that had begun to confront the work. Among what are called 
 obstacles to the reception of Christianity we find cited, not only the 
 influence of the old religions, but also the widespread reading of 
 anti-Christian literature imported from the West. There were sev- 
 eral papers read on the purpose and methods of educational work. 
 Much attention was given to the question as to the proper kind of 
 training needed for native pastors. The position of medical mis- 
 sions was discussed. The subject that seemed to have roused the 
 warmest debate was “Self-support in the Native Church: Should 
 foreign money be used at all” ? In all these papers the true aim 
 of missionary work, the development of the indigenous Church, is 
 kept well in the foreground. Already we find attention being called 
 
 
 i 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 19 
 
 to the question of the relation between native self-support and help 
 from abroad, although for the most part the discussions assume the 
 continuance of missionary control. 
 
 During the period preceding the Osaka Conference considerable 
 progress had been made in bringing about a more favourable atti- 
 tude towards Christianity, especially on the part of the Central 
 Government. There was still, however, a great deal of opposition, 
 not only from the partisans of the old religions, but from intelligent 
 people who, though indifferent to religion in general, were convinced 
 that Christianity was detrimental to the national welfare. In 1882 , 
 for example, we find Mr. Fukuzawa, one of the pioneer reformers 
 of Modern Japan, writing, “The national religion of Japan is 
 Buddhist. We must protect it from decay. The higher classes of 
 Japan care nothing about any religion. Nevertheless, at the pres- 
 ent juncture this peculiar merit of the Japanese is a grave detriment 
 to the country. That Christianity is a danger to our national power 
 is evident. Unless Buddhism is assisted by the influence of the 
 upper classes nothing can obstruct the intrusion of Christianity. 
 Buddhist priests are immoral and shameless, and without energy of 
 spirit. It is very unsafe to trust this weighty cause to them alone. 
 We do not believe in Buddhism nor do we respect the priest. Our 
 concern is for the national power, in the conservation of which 
 that religion must be utilized.”* 
 
 Even in this article, however, we see evidences of the great 
 change that was beginning to take place in public opinion. That 
 change was due in the first place to growing enthusiasm for every- 
 thing western, but it was the good work done during a long period 
 of years that enabled the Church to take advantage of the new 
 situation. Crowds of eager inquirers began to pour into the mission 
 stations. Numerous invitations to open work or to send someone to 
 give instruction in Christianity were received. Even those who 
 were cynically indifferent to religion urged the adoption of Chris- 
 tianity as a national policy. The same Mr. Fukuzawa who was so 
 strenuous in his opposition in 1882 , three years later writes, “There 
 is no alternative for our country but to adopt the social color of 
 civilized nations in order to maintain our independence on a footing 
 of equality with the various powers of the West. As an absolutely 
 necessary preliminary the Christian religion must be introduced 
 from Europe and America.”']' Men like Mr. Fukuzawa were not at 
 
 *Quoted in Cary — History of Christianity in Japan, p. 159. 
 tQuoted by Cary, op. cit. p. 172. 
 
20 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 all interested in Christianity from the purely religious point of 
 view. They represented the old Confucian school of thought, whose 
 inherited aloofness to the supernatural had been confirmed by the 
 influence of Western rationalism. It was a question of policy. As 
 Mr. Fukuzawa put it in another article, “We must change our pro- 
 fessed belief and wear a religious dress uniform with others. We 
 cannot attach too much importance to Japan’s entrance into the 
 comity of Christian nations.” 
 
 In such circumstances the Christian community developed with 
 great rapidity. Within five years after the Osaka Conference its 
 baptized membership had increased to over 25,000, — that is more 
 than 500 per cent.* 
 
 There was corresponding progress in self-support and in the 
 development of the native ministry. Under such conditions, how- 
 ever, rapid growth was accompanied by grave dangers. A large 
 proportion of those who were so eager to become Christians had 
 very little idea of what Christianity really meant. Their faith was 
 sincere enough, but it was faith in Christianity as the religion of 
 civilization. With some this was the stepping stone to a true con- 
 version, so that the Churches owe many of their staunchest adherents 
 and most capable ministers to this period. The faith of others, 
 however, withered with the passing away of the atmosphere in 
 which it was born. The time of testing came when in the nineties 
 the enthusiasm for Western ideas was succeeded by a nationalistic 
 reaction. This gave the elements opposed to Christianity the oppor- 
 tunity to dominate public sentiment. The Churches suffered both 
 from the falling away of their members and from the retardation 
 of evangelistic work. Even those who remained loyal were affected 
 by the wave of reaction. Japan did not indeed propose to throw 
 overboard all that she had learned from the West, but rather to 
 make it truly Japanese. Western interference or advice was greatly 
 resented.f Accordingly in the Church there arose a strong move- 
 ment for throwing off the dependence of Japanese Christianity upon 
 its Western teachers and for giving it a Japanese form. This move- 
 ment deserves attention because it represents a premature attempt 
 to realize the end towards which missionary work is directed. We 
 can learn from it some of the problems involved in such a step and 
 
 *Cary, op. cit. p. 174: Roman Catholic, 1890, 42,000 (including children); Greek 
 1883, 8,863 (including children). 
 
 tNote: Dr. Cary cites as an instance of this, that when someone criticized blun- 
 ders in the English of articles published by Japanese, the reply was that Japanese need 
 not be bound by the rules in force in England, but would produce a Japanese form of 
 English superior to the original. 
 
 « 
 
 4 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 21 
 
 
 some of the conditions which are indispensable to its success. In 
 the first place the motive that inspired the movement was not only 
 concern for the welfare of the cause but also resentment against 
 foreign control. Such resentment is perfectly natural, but unless 
 it is based upon a strong sense of the responsibility of the native 
 Church for the Christianization of Japan and a conviction that this 
 can be carried out more efficiently by Japanese working indepen- 
 dently, it is insufficient to guarantee useful results. In the second 
 place the Japanese Church was not mature enough either in strength 
 or character to dispense with outside guidance and help. Could it 
 have counted on the loyal support of all of its members and could 
 these have been united in one body, it would doubtless have been 
 better qualified for vigorous activity. Already many of those who 
 had entered the Church so enthusiastically had grown cold and were 
 backsliding morally. The really staunch Christians were divided 
 up among a number of denominations, no one of which was strong 
 enough for useful independent work. The most serious drawback, 
 however, was that even the ablest of the leaders did not have a 
 sufficiently firm grasp of Christianity to qualify them for the task 
 of modifying it to suit Japanese conditions. They had accepted the 
 instruction given them on the authority of their teachers, but had 
 not assimilated it thoroughly enough to be able to stand firm against 
 the criticisms of the rationalizing philosophy that dominated the 
 Japanese intellectual world at that period. As soon, therefore, as 
 the restraint of the authority on which they had accepted the tradi- 
 tional teachings was removed, they succumbed to the influence of 
 their environment. In such circumstances their proposed adjust- 
 ment of Christianity to suit Japanese conditions was neither safe 
 nor useful. In the first place, there was nothing to balance the 
 demand for stripping religion of its supernatural elements. Further, 
 the environment itself did not represent the permanent religious 
 characteristics of Japan. Under these prevailing conditions the 
 so-called adjustment would have been only a conflict between two 
 forms of Western thought and the resultant faith would have been 
 much less qualified than traditional Christianity even in its Western 
 form for meeting the real problems that would ultimately have to 
 be solved. 
 
 Another lesson which a study of this period suggests is the 
 importance of reconciling independence and the continuance of con- 
 tact with the older Churches. The principle laid down by one of 
 
22 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 19 2 1 
 
 the chief protagonists of the movement toward a Japanese Christian- 
 ity was that* “henceforth we must think independently and construct 
 without assistance so as to build a Church of Japan.” This meant 
 the entire repudiation, not only of foreign dictation, but also of 
 foreign co-operation. Independence achieved in such a spirit was 
 not likely to prove a success especially in view of the immaturity of 
 the native Church. On the other hand the foreign missions failed to 
 find any mode of continuing their influence and support and at the 
 same time giving scope for Japanese initiative. The conditions 
 were not yet ripe for the solution of that problem. The Japanese 
 Church needed to continue for a while longer under tutelage, but the 
 experience was at least a warning that the time was approaching 
 when, in order to ensure further development, a way would have to 
 be found of transferring the control of the work to native leaders 
 without abandoning them altogether. 
 
 
 STATISTICS SHOWING DEVELOPMENT OF THE NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 
 
 1910-1919 
 
 
 Ordained 
 
 Baptized 
 
 No. of 
 
 Total Con- 
 
 
 Clergy 
 
 Persons 
 
 Communicants 
 
 tributions (Yen) 
 
 
 1910-1919 
 
 1910-1919 
 
 1910-1919 
 
 1910-1919 
 
 No. Tokyo 
 
 14 
 
 25 
 
 2,759 
 
 5.881 
 
 1,738 
 
 2,744 
 
 7,408.85 
 
 21,128.95 
 
 So. Tokyo 
 
 ... 15 
 
 14 
 
 2,887 
 
 4,731 
 
 1,741 
 
 1,805 
 
 7,158.50 
 
 12,153.00 
 
 Mid-Japan 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 1,696 
 
 
 727 
 
 
 4,716.39 
 
 Kyoto 
 
 11 
 
 24 
 
 2,682 
 
 4,915 
 
 1,599 
 
 1,820 
 
 9,115.17 
 
 *23,574.31 
 
 Osaka 
 
 . . . . 12 
 
 15 
 
 2,760 
 
 5,069 
 
 1,634 
 
 2,029 
 
 6,650.12 
 
 13,846.63 
 
 Kyushu 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 1,239 
 
 1,990 
 
 624 
 
 860 
 
 2,001.13 
 
 6,552.75 
 
 Hokkaido 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 2,866 
 
 3,311 
 
 772 
 
 879 
 
 2,520.57 
 
 10,094.41 
 
 Formosa 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 121 
 
 383 
 
 71 
 
 176 
 
 347.42 
 
 1,203.13 
 
 Totals 
 
 ... 58 
 
 98 
 
 15,314 
 
 27,976 
 
 8,179 
 
 11,103 
 
 35,201.76 
 
 93,269.57 
 
 * Including offertories 
 
 With the opening of the twentieth century conditions became 
 more favourable for the progress of Christian work. The reaction 
 gradually lost its extreme anti-foreign character. Moreover, the 
 prospect of trouble with Russia exercised a sobering effect. The 
 necessity for developing the real strength of the nation in order to 
 meet the approaching crisis overrode all sentimental considerations 
 in the adjustment of the new civilization to local conditions. At the 
 same time a decided change in the attitude of thinking men towards 
 religion began to manifest itself. They saw with concern that 
 education and material development did not ensure the moral wel- 
 fare of society. Although personally they might not feel the slight- 
 est need of religion nor any interest in its doctrines, yet they were 
 driven to the conclusion that it was indispensable in order to supply 
 
 *Cary, vol. II, p. 219. 
 
19 2 1 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 23 
 
 a basis for the ideal side of the nation’s life. Opinion was greatly 
 divided as to what religion was best suited to meet the need, but 
 Christianity derived at least this benefit from the discussion of the 
 question, that it created a general willingness to listen to its teach- 
 ings. 
 
 Under these conditions the work developed, not as rapidly indeed 
 as in the period from 1882 to 1888, but much more normally. There 
 was a steady increase in Church membership, until in 1917 the 
 number of baptized people had risen to more than two hundred thou- 
 sand, including seventy-five thousand Roman and thirty thousand 
 Greek Catholics.* Some eight hundred ordained native ministers 
 and three hundred and twenty self-supporting congregations indicate 
 still more clearly the growth in capacity for Japanese control. If 
 the purpose of missionary work were simply the organization of an 
 indigenous Church, able to support itself and manage its own affairs, 
 we should be justified in concluding from these statistics that our 
 task is nearing its completion. Already many of the Japanese 
 Churches are strong enough to survive, even though we should with- 
 draw all our men and cut off all our financial aid. If, however, the 
 evangelization of Japan as a nation is our aim, then we cannot con- 
 sider ourselves absolved from further responsibility until we have 
 provided the means for accomplishing that end. A Church able to 
 maintain itself and a Church competent to give Christianity to the 
 nation are two different things. The fundamental question, there- 
 fore, in determining future missionary policy is whether the inde- 
 pendent Church, which is now in process of formation, is competent 
 to carry forward, unaided, the evangelization of Japan. 
 
 It is obvious that the Japanese themselves could not at the 
 present time furnish the financial support necessary to maintain the 
 extensive evangelistic work carried on by the missions. While there 
 are three hundred self-supporting congregations, there are some fif- 
 teen hundred stations which depend upon outside aid. Were foreign 
 help withdrawn a large proportion of this subsidized work would 
 have to be abandoned. Such a backward step as this is clearly out of 
 the question. It is to be presumed, however, that these aided congre- 
 gations will in time become self-supporting and be transferred to 
 what we may call the autonomous portion of Japanese Christianity. 
 If we suppose this process completed, will the result be a Church 
 
 ’Statistics for 1919: Members, 216,735 (Roman Catholic, 75,983; Greek, 36,618); 
 Contributions, 1,028,061.00 yen ($514,030.50). 
 
24 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 competent to deal with the problems involved in the evangelization 
 of Japan? Our present missionary policy is based on the assump- 
 tion that our responsibility with regard to a particular group of 
 Christians ends when they reach the point of self-support, and that 
 when the number of these groups becomes sufficiently large, we shall 
 be able to hand over to them the task of completing the work which 
 we have begun. We are assuming, in other words, that self-support 
 implies competence for the task. The present system makes no provi- 
 sion for contact with churches when once they have become inde- 
 pendent. Missionary assistance is confined to the aided portion of 
 the work. On the other hand no way is provided by which the inde- 
 pendent churches can be of use in the sphere for which the missions 
 are responsible. We are proceeding on the principle that work 
 supported by foreign money should be kept under foreign control. 
 Should not this policy be modified in both directions, so that the 
 independent churches may receive the benefit of our co-operation and 
 the aided work the advantage of Japanese leadership? In order to 
 answer this question we must first ascertain whether the present 
 system is working satisfactorily. 
 
 The record of self-supporting congregations in large cities is on 
 the whole one of steady progress. So far as local work is concerned, 
 their pastors have shown themselves both earnest and efficient. They 
 have not only managed their own congregations well, but have made 
 their influence felt in the community. In smaller places the situation 
 with regard to independent churches is much less satisfactory. Many 
 of them are not so strong now as they were ten years ago. Quite a 
 number are without a pastor from inability to furnish his support. 
 This difference is due in part to the constant drift of the Christian 
 population from smaller to larger places.* Then again the most 
 capable pastors are usually to be found in the city churches. Appar- 
 ently, therefore, the progress of independent congregations depends 
 upon certain favourable circumstances, which are to be found only in 
 large centres. Moreover, the energy of even the successful churches 
 seems to be exhausted in promoting their own welfare, so that their 
 evangelistic zeal tends to become parochial rather than general. It 
 is true that they are undertaking missionary work, to which they 
 contribute liberally in proportion to their means, but the impulse 
 which goes out beyond the borders of their own parish has not suffi- 
 cient momentum to give life to a general evangelistic movement. 
 
 •Note: Another explanation is that the amount of salary needed for the support 
 of his family by a pastor is almost three times what it was ten years ago. 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 25 
 
 While failure in this respect is compensated for by the work of the 
 foreign missions, yet this will result simply in producing more inde- 
 pendent churches of the same kind as the present ones. Those that 
 are unfavourably situated will hardly be able to maintain themselves 
 in stable equilibrium and even those which make satisfactory prog- 
 ress will not have enough surplus energy to enable them to take over 
 the responsibility of a nation-wide evangelistic programme. 
 
 The defect of the present system is that as soon as a congregation 
 has become self-supporting all contact with the outside Church is 
 cut off. It is left alone as though it were a finished product, and no 
 further use is made of it. Self-support presents itself to the little 
 band of Christians as the goal toward which they are striving. When 
 it is reached they become sufficient unto themselves. This isolation is 
 a loss both to the local church and to the work as a whole. The 
 spirit that has produced self-support ought to overflow the limits of 
 the one parish, but it can only do this as it is reinforced from out- 
 side. The congregation may no longer need help for itself, but it 
 does need help to enable it to be useful to others. This aid will in 
 turn promote its own spiritual growth by giving an opportunity for 
 the full exercise of its missionary zeal. The value of the contribu- 
 tion which we are making to the missionary cause will be greatly 
 increased, if a portion of it at least can go through the Japanese 
 Church. 
 
 The application of this principle will undoubtedly be attended 
 with many difficulties. The present method of separate spheres of 
 control for Japanese and foreign leaders avoids many of the irritat- 
 ing and delicate questions that will be raised by co-operation. There 
 is also the danger that outside assistance instead of stimulating 
 larger efforts will diminish the spirit of independence and responsi- 
 bility. Such aid must not be allowed to deteriorate into a mere 
 financial subsidy, but should be made the means of preserving 
 spiritual and intellectual contact between the young and the old 
 churches. The resulting relation must not be one of patron and 
 client, but of free and equal association in a great enterprise, in 
 which both parties render equal service and receive equal help. 
 Above all, the principle that he who pays the piper calls the tune, 
 must be laid aside, for the very purpose of this policy is to enable 
 Japanese freedom and initiative to operate on a wider scale. This is, 
 of course, not a new idea. The question of co-operation between the 
 indigenous churches and the missions has for many years been a 
 
26 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 19 2 1 
 
 subject of earnest discussion and investigation. Various expedients 
 for preserving the contact between the two organizations have been 
 tried, such as a standing committee composed of an equal number of 
 representatives from each. On the whole, however, none of the 
 methods so far tried seems to furnish a satisfactory solution of the 
 problem of making the Japanese Churches themselves the medium 
 through which foreign aid operates. In the Y. M. C. A., indeed, this 
 is done by having the official members of the executive committee all 
 Japanese, the foreigners holding only an honorary position. This 
 arrangement is said to work successfully, but while suggestive, does 
 not offer a model that can be followed in the more complex organiza- 
 tion of churches. 
 
 This problem in the Sei Ko Kwai assumes a form quite different 
 from that which it takes in the other missions. Indeed, at first sight 
 it may seem to be no problem at all, for in the Sei Ko Kwai the 
 foreign and Japanese workers meet on equal terms in the Church. 
 With the Congregationalists or the Presbyterians the Japanese 
 Church is formed of the independent congregations together with 
 those supported by them. The Mission is a separate organization 
 and its work is not directly a part of the Japanese Church. In the 
 Sei Ko Kwai, on the other hand, foreign and Japanese clergy have 
 exactly the same standing in the Church and all evangelistic work 
 comes under its jurisdiction. While the missionary does not lose his 
 standing in the American or English Church, yet so far as he exer- 
 cises his office in Japan, he is subject to the Constitution and Canons 
 of the Sei Ko Kwai. These Canons were formulated and can be 
 amended in a Synod in which by far the larger number of delegates 
 are Japanese. The same thing is true of the Diocesan Councils and 
 Standing Committees. In all legislation and formulation of policies 
 as well as in the management of single parishes no distinction is 
 made between native and foreigner. The Japanese have practical 
 control because of their numbers. In theory nothing could be more 
 equitable nor more conducive to genuine co-operation, nor provide 
 more ample scope for Japanese initiative. 
 
 In practice, however, the theory breaks down in two respects. 
 The first is the authority of the Bishops, all of whom are foreigners. 
 Constitutionally they have no more authority than they would have 
 in the American Church, but when it is remembered that this author- 
 ity includes the right of veto and fairly sweeping control of mission- 
 ary work, it is clear that they can limit the initiative of the Church 
 
19 2 1 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 27 
 
 to a considerable degree. Moreover, Japanese are accustomed to a 
 governmental system in which the source of authority is the ruler 
 and not the people. They tend, therefore, to defer to the Bishop’s 
 decision. This makes it difficult to appreciate the really Japanese 
 character of the Church so long as its Bishops are foreigners. 
 
 The second point is that the control of the support which comes 
 from abroad is in foreign hands. In the American Districts the 
 Bishop is the financial agent of the Missionary Society. He, in con- 
 ference with his foreign Council of Advice, prepares the budget of 
 help needed and directs the use of all appropriations. He is not 
 under any obligation to consult with the Japanese Church as to the 
 disposition of money thus received or even to inform them as to what 
 amount is available.* As practically all evangelistic policies involve 
 expenditure of money, it is evident that Japanese freedom and initia- 
 tive is limited to the self-supporting portion of the work. 
 
 Further, the Bishop has in his hands the appointment and plac- 
 ing of missionaries. The Canons require that he shall notify the 
 Diocesan Standing Committee of the acceptance of a new priest, but 
 do not give them any right to object. The employment, dismissal 
 and locating of Japanese evangelistic workers is also determined by 
 him, except where their salaries are paid by the native congregations. 
 
 The necessity for providing equipment also tends to throw the 
 control of policies into foreign hands. The Japanese are as yet able 
 to supply only a small part of the money needed for land and build- 
 ings. Equipment funds are not included as a rule in the Board’s 
 appropriations, but must be secured by special appeals to the Church 
 at home. This is not a good system even as regards foreigners, for 
 under it distribution of equipment is determined rather by the 
 money-getting ability of individual missionaries than by the needs 
 of the work. The native pastor must either secure the interest of 
 the Bishop or of some missionary, or else go without improvements 
 needed to carry out his plans. While the Bishops make a point of 
 giving special attention to the needs of Japanese workers, the ten- 
 dency is inevitably to repress their independence of action. 
 
 This is not at all intended to be an indictment of our past method 
 of work. During the pioneer or formative stage, concentration of 
 authority was the rational policy. Apart from any question of 
 ecclesiastical theory the Episcopal organization has proved its worth 
 
 *Note: Of course, in practice he may, and doubtless generally dots, consult with 
 his Japanese clergy in all such matters. 
 
28 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 19 21 
 
 in the mission field by the results attained. Progress has been slower 
 in some respects than in other missions, but there have been compen- 
 sating advantages. Others have developed more Japanese initiative 
 and self-support, but we have maintained more successfully the 
 contact between the foreign and the Japanese workers. This has 
 given longer opportunity for training and influence. 
 
 While, however, we have insisted upon the importance of ade- 
 quate training, we have all along been working up to the ideal of a 
 self-governing Japanese Church. The time has come when we must 
 begin to realize this ideal. The experiment has already been tried 
 with regard to local work. In the larger cities practically all the 
 churches have Japanese pastors, the majority of whom have shown 
 themselves fully capable of working independently. In some cases 
 the mission stations within the limits of a convocation have been 
 handed over to the native presbyters with excellent results. The 
 next step is diocesan self-government. 
 
 Diocesan self-government means, of course, a Japanese Episco- 
 pate. The Canons of the Sei Ko Kwai provide that six self-support- 
 ing churches in close geographical relation to one another may 
 organize an independent diocese and elect a Bishop. Osaka has 
 already more than the required number of independent churches. In 
 another year or so Tokyo will also be ready to meet the conditions 
 laid down in the Canon. In these two autonomous dioceses we 
 shall see the first fruits of our long years of missionary effort. 
 
 What then is to be the policy of the home Churches in regard to 
 such independent dioceses ? Shall we consider that our responsi- 
 bility, so far as they are concerned, is ended ? We have already tried 
 to show the bad effects of such a course in the case of self-supporting 
 churches. The reasons for maintaining contact with the autonomous 
 diocese are still stronger. If Osaka and Tokyo are the first fruits 
 of our work, then the tree will be judged by its fruits and will con- 
 tinue bearing the same variety. 
 
 We have laboured to organize autonomous dioceses because we 
 believe them to be the most efficacious agencies for the Christianiza- 
 tion of Japan. When we remember, however, the weakness, the in- 
 experience and the immaturity of these new dioceses and consider 
 the problems involved in presenting Christianity to Japan, it would 
 be foolish to leave them to complete the work unaided. Further, it 
 would be tht throwing away of an opportunity for which we have 
 
19 2 1 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 29 
 
 been waiting, bringing the energy of the whole Church to bear upon 
 Japan through the medium of Japanese Christian initiative. 
 
 Co-operation with self-governing dioceses will involve many 
 difficult practical questions. It will require, while not necessarily a 
 greater amount of material aid, certainly high spiritual qualifica- 
 tions. More than financial help is called for and we should assure 
 ourselves that we are capable of giving more. (It will not do to 
 reverse St. Peter’s words to the lame man.) The mode of co-opera- 
 tion will demand careful consideration. It must be effected in such a 
 manner that it will stimulate and not be a substitute for self-effort. 
 It must not bring the new freedom under bondage again. 
 
 Should we not also consider the use of Japanese control in non- 
 self-supporting dioceses? One of the axioms of missionary work 
 hitherto has been that self-support is the necessary condition of self- 
 government. We may grant that a mission which furnishes support 
 has a right to insist upon this condition, but surely it is not rights 
 but the best mode of promoting the cause which should determine 
 missionary policy. 
 
 From this point of view the true principle would seem to be that 
 control cannot usefully be transferred until a strong sense of respon- 
 sibility for self-support and adequate capacity for independent 
 activity has been developed. With these qualifications assured, 
 better results will be accomplished and complete self-support more 
 quickly attained by granting control rather than by withholding it. 
 We have followed this policy with single congregations and have 
 found that by granting them after a certain stage some of the 
 privileges of an independent parish we greatly promote their prog- 
 ress. The time has come when we may safely and usefully apply 
 the same principle to convocations, or even to a whole diocese. 
 Convocational autonomy in aided work has already been tried with 
 excellent results. If the clergy have thus proved themselves capable 
 of assuming responsibility, why should we not go further and use 
 Japanese initiative in the episcopal office. The moral effect of a 
 native Bishop, both upon Christians and non-Christians, would un- 
 doubtedly be great. He would naturally understand conditions 
 better and be able to get into closer touch with the people than a 
 foreigner. He would possess many advantages in the actual conduct 
 of the work. It is true that other qualifications besides practical 
 ability are called for in a Bishop, especially where his influence 
 counts for so much as in the mission field. He must not only be able 
 
30 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 19 2 1 
 
 to adjust himself to local conditions, but he must also have suffi- 
 cient strength of character and knowledge of Christian truth to keep 
 the Church loyal to its principles. There is no reason to doubt that 
 among the Japanese, clergymen can be found who will measure 
 up to these requirements. In order to give them an opportunity for 
 practice in fulfilling the responsibilities of the Episcopate it might 
 be well to begin with suffragan or assistant bishops in the missionary 
 districts. This would, however, be only a preliminary step to grant- 
 ing full episcopal control. 
 
 The most serious problem connected with the establishment of a 
 Japanese Episcopate is the preservation of contact with the home 
 Church. If we decide to adopt this policy, we must find some way in 
 which our influence and our assistance can be continued without 
 infringing upon the initiative and authority of the native Bishops. 
 This would undoubtedly be more difficult than under the present 
 systems, but it is absolutely prerequisite to success. Does not our 
 Lord’s method of establishing His Church suggest the nature of the 
 change which must take place in missionary policy as the work 
 advances ? The missionary’s first task is the selection and training 
 of a body of men to whom is to be committed the task of carrying 
 the Gospel to the great mass of the people. As those whom he has 
 trained become qualified for independent work more and more 
 responsibility is thrown upon them. This does not mean that they 
 are to be left to their own resources. We remember that our Lord 
 continued His connection with those to whom He committed the task 
 of evangelizing the world by the sending of the Holy Spirit. The 
 manner of communicating the divine aid was changed so as to 
 allow full scope for the exercise of the disciples’ freedom and activ- 
 ity, but it was given without measure. 
 
 We have traced in this lecture the gradual development of the 
 Japanese Church under the tutelage of foreign missionaries. It is 
 already reaching the stage where it is capable of self-support and 
 self-government. If a self-maintaining Church were the goal of our 
 missionary endeavor, we might feel that our responsibility was near- 
 ing its end. We began our work, however, with a larger end in 
 view, the evangelization of Japan. In a former lecture we consid- 
 ered the serious problems that have still to be solved before that end 
 can be accomplished. While they are of a nature that only a Jap- 
 anese Church can solve, yet they are of a magnitude that demands 
 the united effort of the whole Church. The emergence of the Jap- 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 31 
 
 anese Church then is not a signal for our withdrawal but only for a 
 redistribution of parts. It will henceforth take command of opera- 
 tions on the field. We will supply it with whatever is needed to 
 make its efforts effective. In our next lecture we shall consider what 
 is the nature of the help that we shall be required to supply under 
 these changed conditions. 
 
LECTURE III 
 
 Contribution of the Home Church 
 
 I N the two previous lectures we have discussed the task that lies 
 ahead of Christianity in Japan and the part that the Japanese 
 Church can be expected to perform as it becomes more and more 
 capable of autonomous activity. The conclusion reached was that 
 although the time has come to begin transferring leadership in the 
 field to the Japanese, yet they will still need outside help in order 
 to carry forward adequately the work of evangelizing the nation. 
 What then is the nature and extent of the assistance that the home 
 Churches will be called upon to give under these new conditions? 
 It is of tw r o kinds, material aid sent to the field, and the intangible 
 but very real influence of the Church’s Christian life and thought. 
 For the sake of clearness we will consider separately the material 
 aid needed in each of the departments into which missionary work is 
 usually divided, evangelistic, educational, philanthropic and literary. 
 
 1. — In evangelistic work assistance ought to be given sufficient 
 to enable the Japanese Church to make full use of its trained men 
 and women. This represents a natural limit above which help 
 would be harmful and below which the most valuable asset of our 
 past work would become useless. The amount of aid ought also in 
 some degree to be proportioned to what the Japanese themselves 
 give. The intensity of their own efforts will determine the efficacy 
 of their evangelistic work. All that foreign aid can do is to widen 
 its scope. The application of these principles would be effected by 
 conference between the Japanese Church authorities and representa- 
 tives of the Missionary Society on the field. These would naturally 
 be missionaries who would probably be working in contact with the 
 Japanese and would be able to advise intelligently without dictating. 
 
 Another important service that we should continue to render is 
 help in providing equipment. Religion in the Japanese mind is 
 closely associated with the beautiful temples and shrines which form 
 the chief ornaments of every town and village. Until Christianity 
 can provide more fitting surroundings for its worship than the ngly 
 little buildings which now serve as churches it will lose one of the 
 most hopeful points of contact with the Japanese religious tempera- 
 ment. Equipment is needed also for the various practical activities 
 without which it is impossible for the evangelist to get into touch 
 
 32 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 33 
 
 with the people around him. The cost of such buildings is entirely 
 beyond the means of even the larger congregations, to say nothing 
 of the little groups who represent the outposts of Christianity’s 
 advance into the heart of the nation. We should not relieve them of 
 all responsibility, but supplement the really earnest efforts they are 
 making to help themselves. 
 
 It would be a misfortune if the autonomy of the Japanese Church 
 involved the withdrawal of missionaries from the country. Apart 
 from the assistance they can give in the work itself, they will per- 
 petuate contact with the older Churches. But what will be their 
 status under Japanese control? Under the episcopal form of gov- 
 ernment the plan of having foreigners work in the territory of the 
 Japanese Church but not subject to its authority is impossible. Will 
 the Japanese Bishops welcome their assistance and give them oppor- 
 tunity for useful service? It will not do to force their acceptance 
 upon the native Church nor must their influence be maintained by 
 the power of the purse. Control of the funds makes it easy to 
 command outward obedience, but after a certain stage becomes an 
 actual hindrance to spiritual influence. The ill will and resentment 
 sometimes shown by Japanese Christians toward foreign mission- 
 aries are often due to the irksomeness of their position of financial 
 and official dependence. When this cause of friction is removed, 
 attention will be directed to the real contribution which the mission- 
 ary should be qualified to make to the cause of Christianity. At the 
 same time the responsibilities of leadership will open the eyes of the 
 Japanese Christians to their own deficiencies, and should dispose 
 them to accept with gratitude the co-operation of those who come to 
 them not to dictate but to serve, and who are really capable of serv- 
 ice. To men and women who can adjust themselves to these condi- 
 tions Japan will extend a call that is fully as urgent and as rich in 
 promise of opportunities for useful work as it has ever been in the 
 past. 
 
 The number of missionaries that can be advantageously employed 
 must be determined by what we may call the working capacity of 
 the Japanese Church. The evangelistic opportunities are so numer- 
 ous and so appealing that they seem to justify the argument for a 
 great increase in the missionary force. A foreigner, however, can- 
 not work usefully except in conjunction with a Japanese colleague. 
 Further, the results of his work must be incorporated into the Jap- 
 anese Church so that care should be taken not to go too much beyond 
 
34 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 its power of absorption. It is important also that the Church in its 
 evangelistic appeal should present itself to the people as thoroughly 
 Japanese. This makes it necessary to preserve a proper balance 
 between the native and foreign element in its working force.* The 
 fitness, rather than the number of missionaries, will be the important 
 consideration. We should aim to send men and women qualified to 
 carry to Japan the fullest contribution that the Western Church is 
 able to make. For such there will always be room and a welcome. 
 
 2. — In the preceding lecture mention was made of the part played 
 by educational institutions in the development of the Church. If 
 the Japanese Church is henceforth to assume the responsibility of 
 leadership in the presentation of Christianity to the nation, it will 
 need more than ever before proper facilities for training its workers, 
 both men and women. Not only must there be a constantly increas- 
 ing supply of competent clergy, but the Christian point of view should 
 be well represented among the future leaders of Japan’s life and 
 thought. Some doubt may be felt as to whether there is any need 
 for Church schools in a country where the government provides such 
 excellent educational facilities. The government itself, however, is 
 giving great encouragement to the establishment of private colleges. 
 The popularity of universities like the Keiogijiku and Waseda show 
 that high grade private education meets a real need of Japanese 
 society. The same thing is true to even a larger extent of schools 
 for women. 
 
 In order to make full use of the opportunities offered by educa- 
 tional work, the Japanese Church will have to depend very largely 
 upon foreign aid. The maintenance of even the present institutions 
 would be far beyond its strength, but the standard of Christian 
 education must be greatly improved in order to obtain through it 
 such results as have been described. This will involve the expendi- 
 ture of large sums of money both for equipment and for annual 
 upkeep. We have made some progress during recent years in 
 improving our equipment. What is now required is to give our 
 institutions sufficient income to enable them to raise the standard of 
 their work. They must be able to pay large enough salaries to 
 secure competent teachers. The teachers must not only be compe- 
 tent technically, but must also be imbued with the spirit of Chris- 
 tianity. This means that to a large extent we must train our own 
 
 ^Another point that deserves consideration is the proportions of the amount of 
 money available that should be spent on the support of missionaries and on equipment 
 and maintenance of work. 
 
 < 
 
 
192 1 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 35 
 
 men and women by giving them facilities for special study both in 
 Japan and abroad. The greater part of the teaching will necessar- 
 ily be done by Japanese. Yet they should have the co-operation of 
 a few foreigners, some of whom at least should be qualified for 
 really scholarly work. 
 
 There is still another important service that can be rendered by 
 a Christian university. Japan is, as we have seen, the meeting 
 ground of two civilizations. Their amalgamation will give rise to 
 many interesting but difficult problems, both practical and intel- 
 lectual. Some of the thinking that will be required for their solu- 
 tion ought to be done under Christian influences. Our colleges 
 should offer fellowships and be ready to furnish the requisite facili- 
 ties to those who wish to do special study or research work. Arrange- 
 ments should also be made by which the clergy can be given oppor- 
 tunity for preparing themselves to meet the problems involved in 
 adjusting the Christian message to the old order of thought. 
 
 3 . — Closely connected with educational work is the question of 
 Christian literature. Too little attention has been given to this in 
 the past. Japan’s newest religious sect, Omotokyo, recently invested 
 two hundred thousand dollars in the purchase of a daily newspaper. 
 The Sei Ko Kwai has a hard struggle keeping a very inferior weekly 
 journal alive. We have done little to encourage literary activity, 
 and as a consequence have few writers who can appeal by their style 
 to the general public. The number of theological books adapted to 
 the use of the clergy is woefully inadequate. Japanese are great 
 readers, so that our failure to produce Christian literature means the 
 loss of one of the most effective means of reaching them with our 
 message. 
 
 We have among our Christians an abundance of raw material 
 from which to develop writers. All that is needed is encourage- 
 ment, with opportunity for study and for practice. This, again, 
 means the expenditure of considerably more money than the Jap- 
 anese Church can provide. It must look to us for help. We ought 
 also to do more to encourage literary work on the part of the mis- 
 sionaries. Japan has a bad record in this respect, being far behind 
 China and India, where some of the missionaries have done excellent 
 work. This is probably the fault of circumstances and not of the 
 men, but now at least the situation calls for Christian scholars with 
 time to devote to the study of the problems involved in the interpre- 
 tation of our religion to the Japanese. The higher educational insti- 
 
36 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 tutions would seem to form the natural centre for literary activity. 
 There should be a publishing department or university press, gener- 
 ously enough supplied with funds to enable it to remedy what is 
 perhaps the greatest defect in our Christian propaganda. 
 
 No system of religious training is complete which does not begin 
 with the children of a country. The Sunday School and the kinder- 
 garten have made it possible to do this in Japan. Non-Christian 
 parents who are indifferent themselves, or even unfriendly, seem 
 glad to have us teach their children. The widest possible use 
 should be made of the opportunity thus presented of preparing the 
 way for future evangelization. In order to do this the Japanese 
 Church will need the co-operation of trained foreign workers and 
 also financial assistance for the maintenance of kindergartens. 
 
 4. — It has already been explained how Christian philanthropy, 
 which formerly was the most efficient means of winning confidence, 
 has gradually been rendered inconspicuous by the development of 
 general interest in this subject. There is no lack of zeal on the part 
 of the Japanese Church, but it is not able to work on a large enough 
 scale to gain public recognition. It would be impossible as well as 
 undesirable for Christians ever to regain their former monopoly of 
 leadership in philanthropic enterprises. Yet it is highly important 
 that they should have some adequate means of expressing their 
 interest in the practical welfare of society. Here again they must 
 continue to depend upon the assistance of the Western Churches. 
 Our own mission has in its hospitals a ready means of rendering this 
 service. In the past they have been one of the chief factors in pro- 
 moting the growth of Christianity. Medicine, however, like every- 
 thing else in Japan, has made great progress during recent years. 
 The hospital that formerly was sufficient to win general admiration, 
 today would remain unnoticed. Our own institutions are in danger 
 of meeting with this fate. They cannot maintain their prestige 
 unless they are given modern buildings, improved equipment and 
 ample endowment. The Japanese will make the quality of their 
 work the test of the value of the religion which they represent. 
 
 It may seem surprising, or even unreasonable, that as the Jap- 
 anese Church approaches self-support and autonomy its demands 
 for outside assistance instead of ceasing should actually increase. 
 Why should it not when once it has attained its independence be left 
 to work out its own salvation? Would not this in the long run be 
 the best thing for it? If the Japanese Church had only itself to 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 37 
 
 consider this might be true. It is face to face, however, with the 
 task of christianizing the Japanese Empire. Its baptized member- 
 ship is less than one two-hundredth part of the total population. 
 Through no fault of its own it is divided up into at least twenty 
 different denominations, which are prevented from coalescing by 
 prejudices or convictions inherited from us. While abounding in 
 zeal, it is lacking in material means. Very few, even of its leaders, 
 have thoroughly assimilated the Christian theology, yet they will be 
 called upon to solve some of the most difficult problems in adjust- 
 ment that have ever confronted Christianity in the course of its 
 history. Surely then, unless we wish to postpone until a distant 
 future, the christianizing of Japan, we cannot leave the Japanese 
 Church to struggle with the task alone. We welcome its progress 
 and place the leadership in its hands, not because this relieves us of 
 any further responsibility, but because it opens up the possibility of 
 new developments and renders any contribution that we can make 
 more effective for accomplishing our final purpose. With an active 
 partner who knows the field and can take charge of operations there 
 we expect to do more business. This calls for a greater outlay of 
 capital on the part of the firm, which is not begrudged, because it 
 promises increased returns. 
 
 The material contribution which we send to the mission field is 
 the channel through which our Christian life and thought is con- 
 veyed to the new Church. It may be compared with the sluice by 
 which water is carried to the point where its energy is to be applied. 
 The sluice cannot carry the water uphill. The amount of energy 
 that it is able to release at the end of the journey is no greater than 
 that which it received from its source. It is not the Church’s wealth, 
 but the spiritual driving power of its religion, that is needed to 
 evangelize the non-Christian world. The value of any contribution 
 that we make to the Japanese Church will be ultimately determined 
 by the quality of our own faith. We must ask, therefore, whether 
 Christianity as it is expressed in the life and thought of the Western 
 Churches is adequate to the task of evangelizing the East. 
 
 A distinction has to be made between the ideal perfection of 
 Christianity and the degree to which that perfection is realized in 
 Christians. Ideally there is no question as to its world-conquering 
 power. It may be that if we prove unworthy to be the medium for 
 conveying the power and the wisdom of God to the world, He will 
 choose some other method of accomplishing His purpose. That, 
 
38 
 
 B ULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 19 2 1 
 
 however, does not relieve us of the responsibility laid upon the 
 Church by Christ when He constituted it His witness. Experience 
 proves that although God does work directly upon men through the 
 Holy Spirit, and that though in the Bible men have access to a more 
 perfect revelation of Christ, yet the nature of the witness borne by 
 Christian lives places practical limits upon the missionary appeal of 
 His Gospel. Phillips Brooks once said that what we have to do is to 
 take Christ to Japan and leave Him there. We can, however, take 
 only as much of Christ as we ourselves have. 
 
 Such considerations have a much more direct bearing upon the 
 work now than they did in the early days. Then the missionary, 
 like the old-time ambassador, had plenipotentiary powers as the rep- 
 resentative of his religion. His own life and teaching were the only 
 tests which the Japanese could apply to determine its value. 
 Whether these were acceptable or not, they were supposed to present 
 a picture of conditions in Christian countries. Soon, however, the 
 West began to speak to the East through other voices besides that 
 of the missionary. These gave a very different impression of what 
 Christianity meant in practice. They, no less than the missionaries, 
 became its interpreters. In the long run, though the message as it 
 comes from the pages of the Bible or the mouth of the preacher will 
 reach the hearts of a few, the general effect produced by the preach- 
 ing of Christianity will correspond rather closely to the resultant 
 of all the influences that go out from the Christian countries. 
 
 The fact that Christianity is represented in Japan today by the 
 native Church does not alter our responsibility in this respect. The 
 Japanese Church is an immature reproduction of our own Christian- 
 ity. Some of its most serious disqualifications for its work have 
 been inherited from us. It needs our help not only because of its 
 inexperience and material poverty, but also to overcome some of the 
 weak points in the religion that we have given it. We have left it 
 unprepared to answer many of the questions that are raised as it 
 presents its message to a people who demand not only an explana- 
 tion of Christianity, but proof that it can make good its claims. In 
 its apologetic it has to meet two distinct classes of objections, those 
 that are raised by the Eastern mind and those that are raised by 
 modern thought. The Japanese themselves, perhaps, will have to 
 find the answer to the former of these, though even here they will 
 need our counsel, but as Christianity and the modern mind have 
 both come to them from the West, they naturally turn to us to show 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 39 
 
 how the two can be harmonized. The Japanese Church, from its 
 own membership, can furnish many witnesses to the power of the 
 Gospel to save the sinful and give hope to the despairing. Can it, 
 however, do for society as a whole what it has done for special indi- 
 viduals ? Has it sufficient vitality to make its influence felt in national 
 affairs, christianize business relations or arouse any enthusiasm 
 among the general run of men for the principles of the Sermon on 
 the Mount? However hopeful Japanese Christians may be in re- 
 gard to such points, they have to look to us to furnish testimony 
 based on experience. 
 
 How well qualified then is Christianity as realized in our coun- 
 tries to give the help that is needed to evangelize Japan? First, 
 what as to the value of our moral witness? It would be easy to 
 draw up a fierce indictment against the morality of Christian society, 
 but that would not serve our purpose. The question is whether a 
 Japanese, observing our general conduct, would discover any clear 
 evidence of the moral power of our religion? It must be acknowl- 
 edged that the evidence is not as overwhelming as it should be. In 
 our international relations the influence of Christianity is not notice- 
 ably prominent. Our business morality may be superior to that of 
 the Japanese, but it seems to be of the “honesty is the best policy” 
 type rather than distinctively Christian. In general, while there is 
 much both in our public and private life that a non-Christian will 
 find to admire and to imitate, yet he will not be so impressed with 
 our moral vigor as to conclude that without our religion imitation is 
 hopeless. It is not so much our lack of moral attainment as our 
 moral attitude which fails to impress. We seem to wait on the teach- 
 ing of experience rather than to be driven forward by the Spirit of 
 Christ. We correct public abuses when they have become a nuisance. 
 We support enthusiastically measures and movements that make for 
 practical welfare, yet, despite this propensity for keeping our moral 
 premises clean, the Oriental in his actual contact with Americans or 
 in his reading of our papers, gains the impression that we are a 
 pleasure-loving, money-getting race, proud of our achievements, 
 though ready, perhaps, to share our superabundance with others, 
 but hardly that conscious loyalty to Christ’s ideal of the Kingdom of 
 God is the compass that directs our moral course. The ethical 
 standards and ideals of Christian civilization have found wide 
 acceptance in Japan. If we are to go further and win acceptance 
 for the religion also, we must prove it to be a living power in the 
 
40 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 moral life of our people, teaching them not as the scribes, but with 
 an authority that awakens a response from their conscience. 
 
 There is one point in particular about which the Japanese 
 Church needs clearer instruction from us. What part should Chris- 
 tianity play in the social readjustments made necessary by indus- 
 trial development? It is only recently that the changes due to the 
 introduction of Western civilization have caused any radical disturb- 
 ance in social and economic relations in Japan. Causes of unrest 
 have indeed been gradually accumulating, but the passivity of the 
 masses tended to make them adjust themselves to new conditions 
 without undue protest. The breaking out of the world war, how- 
 ever, gave a sudden impulse to industrial development and at the 
 same time called attention to the questions which were agitating 
 Western society. This has resulted in the springing up among the 
 people of an entirely new social consciousness. A widespread spirit 
 of unrest and of protest against existing conditions is beginning to 
 manifest itself. The social problem has become the question of the 
 day, not only among the working people themselves, but also among 
 the leaders of thought. What should be the attitude of the Japanese 
 Church in these circumstances? Hitherto Christianity has been 
 looked to for leadership in all matters relating to social and moral 
 welfare. This, however, is a situation for which its missionary 
 teachers have not prepared it. They could hardly have been ex- 
 pected to do so, for at the time when they were sent out, the home 
 Churches themselves had not displayed any great interests in such 
 problems or laid down a policy in regard to them. Are we better 
 prepared now to give the Japanese Church the counsel which it 
 needs? If so, we can put into its hands an exceedingly useful 
 weapon. Nothing will strengthen its appeal more than to be able 
 to make a substantial contribution toward the solution of a problem 
 on which the thought of the nation is largely concentrated. Even 
 though we are not prepared to give a final answer to this question, 
 we have doubtless made some progress toward laying down a policy. 
 It would be useful to send to Japan a few men and women who are 
 capable of explaining to the leaders of the Church there the lessons 
 that we have learned from our own experience. 
 
 Another qualification needed for the successful completion of 
 our work in Japan is more missionary interest. We have seen that 
 probably the work in the future will make greater financial demands 
 upon us. That, however, is not the chief consideration. It will 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 41 
 
 require a much more genuine missionary interest to give help to a 
 Church controlled by Japanese than it did to support it while it was 
 in charge of our own representatives. There is much truth in the 
 saying, “money follows the missionary.” Stations in charge of a 
 foreigner are nearly always able to secure better equipment and 
 more adequate support than those under a Japanese. This is nat- 
 ural. The foreigner can arouse interest in his work by personal 
 appeals. We feel the obligation to back up men whom we have sent 
 out. As long as they are in charge the undertaking seems to be our 
 own in a very real sense. But the transfer of leadership to the 
 Japanese will largely do away with this incentive to giving. Has 
 the Church enough interest in the cause itself to support it for its 
 own sake? Has our religion the expansive energy to make its in- 
 fluence felt in Japan? In theory we all acknowledge our obligation 
 to obey Christ’s command to preach the Gospel to all nations. Yet, 
 as was said before, it is not the ideal of Christianity but the degree in 
 which that ideal is realized in our life which determines its evange- 
 lizing power. God may have other ways of fulfilling his purpose, 
 but the question for us is, not can Christianity, but can our Chris- 
 tianity conquer the world for Christ? 
 
 The handicap imposed upon missionary work by a divided 
 Christendom is self-evident. Sometimes one wonders whether it is 
 not more than a handicap. Is not Church Unity an indispensable 
 prerequisite to the evangelization of the Oriental and Mohammedan 
 peoples ? However this may be, our unhappy divisions weaken the 
 moral effect of the Christian appeal and cripple the practical effi- 
 ciency of the work. The most lamentable thing of all is the trans- 
 mission of the spirit of division to the native Churches. It is often 
 said that Church Unity will begin in the mission field, or that Jap- 
 anese or Chinese Christians will set us an example of coming to- 
 gether. This is probably too much to expect, though it might be 
 said with truth that the strongest motive to unity is found in the 
 exigencies of missionary work. Our differences will inevitably be 
 reflected in the Churches that owe their existence to tis. If their 
 contact with us were entirely severed they might be forced by the 
 pressure of circumstances to coalesce. Such unity would, however, 
 from the evangelistic point of view be defensive, not offensive. What 
 we need is a unity that will qualify the Church of God to fulfill its re- 
 sponsibilities. We must contribute to the Churches in the mission field, 
 not negatively by cutting them off from our separative influence, 
 
42 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 but positively by giving them the example of a Church whose divi- 
 sions have been healed by the unifying power of the love of Christ. 
 
 Up to this point we have been concerned with various methods of 
 recommending Christianity by showing its practical results. “Ye 
 shall know the tree by its fruits.” But when we have thus proved 
 the tree good, the question still remains whether it can take root and 
 live in the soil in which we propose to plant it. This implies intel- 
 lectual assent to the Christian apologetic. Men may accept a reli- 
 gion for a while without understanding its creed, but in the long run 
 if its characteristic doctrines, its idea of God and His relation to the 
 world are incapable of winning positive belief, their faith will lose 
 its vitality. On the other hand, if the religion is too much trimmed 
 down to meet their intellectual demands, it may be deprived of all 
 spiritual power. 
 
 The problem of Japanese Christianity is to win the belief of a 
 people whose world view is that of modern science, whose religious 
 temperament and underlying philosophy are Oriental and whose 
 practical ideals are approximately Christian. The bearing of the 
 last of these three characteristics is, of course, favorable. It repre- 
 sents the preliminary achievement of Christian work. The adjust- 
 ment of a Westernized Christianity to the Oriental religious temper- 
 ament may be considered the peculiar responsibility of the Japanese 
 Church. The problems raised by Eastern philosophy and Western 
 sciences differ in many respects, but they have this in common, they 
 make difficult the dynamic conception of God, which is the very foun- 
 dation stone of the Gospel of Christ. Christianity is more than the 
 revelation of the character of God. Christ reveals God’s character 
 in action, God fulfilling His gracious purpose in the sphere of 
 human history and experience. To the Buddhist phenomenal exist- 
 ence is altogether evil. It is absolutely determined by Kharma, the 
 law of cause and effect. The idea of God freely expressing Himself 
 in the phenomenal sphere was so far excluded that the only way of 
 union with the ultimate reality was by escape from the world of 
 change and action. The Eternal is the Changeless, the Passionless. 
 While Japanese Buddhism has shown developments in the direction 
 of a more personalized conception of God, that conception still re- 
 mains abstracted from the realm of phenomenal experience. Chris- 
 tianity, therefore, as the revelation of God in nature and in history, 
 presents great difficulties. Even where the terms in which it speaks 
 of God are used, the tendency is to give them a relative, not an abso- 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 13 
 
 lute, meaning. They are valuable as a means of producing a reaction 
 in man’s heart, but there is not necessarily an objective reality corre- 
 sponding to them. 
 
 Western science for a very different reason finds equal difficulty 
 in accepting the Christian idea of God manifesting Himself in the 
 phenomenal world. To the Buddhist the world is so evil that the 
 great desideratum is to escape from it. To the scientist it is so 
 interesting, so sufficient unto itself, that there is no need to seek for 
 anything beyond it. The sequence of events is explainable without 
 God. The uniformity of nature seems to leave no room for His 
 appearance in the sphere of physical phenomena. This philosophy 
 extends itself inevitably to history and finally even to psychical expe- 
 rience. There is, according to it, no room for God’s activity any- 
 where in the world of real events. He is banished to the realm of 
 abstract ideas. This, of course, is an extreme statement. It 
 expresses only a tendency, which in the West is checked and modi- 
 fied by other tendencies. While we recognize the immense value of 
 the scientific point of view in explaining the “how” of phenomena, 
 we question its adequacy as a philosophy of their “why” and 
 “whence.” We are learning that what science calls nature does not 
 necessarily include the whole of reality. Our own Christianity has 
 not passed through this crisis unscathed. For years Christian 
 thought has been paralyzed by a divided allegiance, and while grad- 
 ually it is finding a way to harmonize the revelation of God’s free 
 activity with the uniformity which science finds in nature, during the 
 process even in Christian countries there has been a lowering of 
 religious vitality. Faith and reason have their eyes turned in dif- 
 ferent directions. They become distrustful of each other and, 
 although they may agree to keep on living together, they do their 
 housekeeping separately. 
 
 It is obvious that such a state of affairs does not make for mis- 
 sionary efficiency. The same tendency that increases on the one 
 hand the difficulty of the task, weakens on the other the evangelizing 
 power of the Church. Japan was so much benefited by the results 
 of modern science that her welcome to its philosophy was not surpris- 
 ing. There was but little to check its influence. Buddhism was in 
 disfavour with the advocates of modern civilization. Confucianism, 
 with its profound indifference to the supernatural, furnished on the 
 whole a favourable soil for the growth of scientific agnosticism. 
 The writings of Haeckel, Spencer and John Stuart Mill became 
 
44 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 1921 
 
 for a time almost the Bible of the educated classes. Later there was 
 a reaction which has gradually brought about a widespread recogni- 
 tion of the importance of religion. The influence of the earlier 
 teaching, however, still manifests itself in a decided shrinking from 
 any close approach to the supernatural. The old Confucian maxim, 
 “Honour the Gods and keep them far from you,” would seem to 
 describe the religious attitude of many modern Japanese. They 
 demand a religious background, but it must be kept a background 
 and not obtrude too prominently into the world of real events. Such 
 an attitude is not easily reconcilable with the Christian view of 
 God’s free activity. 
 
 The early missionaries, however diverse in their ecclesiastical 
 views, were theologically evangelicals of the straightest sect. They 
 laid a solid foundation of true piety and fervent faith, which has 
 stood the Japanese Church in good stead. Their theological teach- 
 ing was clear cut and uncompromising, but it was not put in a form 
 that would qualify their converts to grapple sympathetically with 
 the problems of modern thought. But these converts were soon 
 brought into intimate contact with an environment dominated by the 
 scientific point of view. They could not remain unaffected by such 
 surroundings, and further, they were confronted with the necessity 
 of putting their evangelistic appeal in a way that would awaken a 
 response. The result was that most of the leaders shunned as far 
 as possible embarrassing points, confining themselves largely to the 
 practical side of Christianity. Many have attempted a readjustment 
 along the lines of liberal theology, but this has too often meant a 
 reduction of Christianity to meet the objections to its supernatural 
 elements rather than a restatement of its full Gospel in the terms of 
 modern thought. It was not to be expected that they should succeed 
 where so many to whom the Christian traditions are an inheritance 
 have met with failure. The later missionaries reflecting as they do 
 the chaotic attitude of Western theological thought, have not been 
 able to give the help required. The Japanese Church, therefore, as 
 it takes over from us the responsibility for leadership in the evange- 
 lization of its own country, must ask us to qualify it for the task by 
 providing it with an expression of Christian truth which will satisfy 
 whatever is reasonable in the demands of modern thought, without 
 sacrificing those elements of the Gospel that constitute it the power 
 of God unto salvation. 
 
1921 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 15. 
 
 45 
 
 If in these lectures we have emphasized chiefly the difficulties of 
 the missionary task and the unpreparedness of the Church to meet 
 them, it is not because we wish to sound a pessimistic or complaining 
 note. To one who looks back at the home Church from the mission 
 field it sometimes seems that by making plain the requirements and 
 complexities of our task God is pointing out the way to the solution 
 of the problems that disturb our Christian life and thought. Christ 
 reveals God’s character in action. The Church as the body of Christ 
 is the organ through which God’s action is perpetuated and ex- 
 tended. As the field of action grows wider, God reveals Himself 
 more clearly and more widely. The promise that the Spirit will 
 guide us into all the truth would seem to indicate that the revelation 
 will be made, not to a Church trying to minister to its own needs or 
 to satisfy its own curiosity, but rather to a Church intent on carrying 
 forward God’s purpose. May it not be, then, that in the effort to ful- 
 fill her mission to the utmost the problems that weaken her will be 
 solved. The times in which we live present two great opportunities 
 for the fuller explication of God’s character. One is the realization 
 of the true ideal of His Kingdom in society, the other the extension 
 of His Kingdom to the nations. On the one side are the masses 
 waiting for the Church to assert in their behalf the fundamental 
 democracy of the Lord’s words, “and all ye are brethren;” on 
 the other side are the unevangelized millions waiting for her to 
 obey His command, “Go preach the Gospel to every creature.” 
 The Church has not indeed been altogether unmindful of her 
 mission, but she can hardly be said to have put her whole thought 
 and strength into it. Who knows but that in the light of that high 
 endeavour, she will be given a vision of God that will harmonize 
 with the furthest development of man’s thought and meet the utmost 
 requirements of his life. He who wills to do the will of God shall 
 know of the doctrine. 
 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 For those who desire to make some further study of religious life in 
 Japan the following bibliography will be found useful: 
 
 *Shinto: The Way of the Gods. XV. G. Aston. Longmans, Green & Co. 1905. 
 *A History of Christianity in Japan (2 vols.). O. Cary. F. H. Revell Co. 
 1909. 
 
 *Religion in Japan: Shintoism, Buddhism, Christianity. G. A. Cobbold. 
 S. P. C. K., London. 1905. 
 
 *The Faith of Japan. T. Harada. Macmillan Co. 1914. 
 
 *The Religions of Japan. W. E. Griffis. Scribner’s Sons. 1907. 
 
 ’‘The Development of Religion in Japan. S. W. Knox. Putnam’s Sons. 1907. 
 *The Creed of Half Japan. A. Lloyd. Smith, Elder & Co., London. 1911. 
 *A History of Japan (2 vols.). /. Murdoch and I. Yamayata. Kegan, Paine, 
 Triibner, French & Co., London. 1903, 1910. 
 
 ^Religions of Mankind. E. D. Soper. Abingdon Press. 1921. 
 
 *New Life in the Oldest Empire. C. F. Sweet. Macmillan Co. 1919. 
 
 Light From the East. R. C. Armstrong. Macmillan Co. 1914. 
 
 Studies in Japanese Buddhism. A. K. Reiseliauer. Macmillan Co. 1917. 
 Bushido. 7. O. Nitobe. Putnam's Sons. 1905. 
 
 *The Christian Movement in the Japanese Empire. (Year Book, 1919, Conf. 
 Fed. Missions.) 
 
 The Titles marked thus (*) can be borrowed from the Circulating 
 Library at the Church Missions House. Address: Mission Library, Educa- 
 tional Division, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York City. 
 
 1 Ed. 10-21 5.500 KL