E? 
 
 
 
 
 3445 mm 
 
 1906 ^1 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
// /<? , o <^ 
 
 ^^ PRINCETON, N. J. \^ 
 
 Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund. 
 
 BV 3445 .16 1906 
 Imbrie, William, 1845-1928. 
 The Church of Christ in 
 Japan 
 
The Church of Christ 
 in Japan 
 
 A COURSE OF LECTURES 
 
 WILLIAM M. IMBRIE, D.D. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 THE WESTMINSTER PRESS 
 
Copyright, 1906, by 
 
 THE TRUSTEES OF THE 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION 
 AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Lecture I.— The Environment. 
 
 Lecture IL— A Bird's-eye View. 
 
 Lecture IIL— Methods of Work. 
 
 Lecture IV.— Notable Events in The 
 History of the Church. 
 
Lecture One 
 
 THE ENVIRONMENT 
 
LECTURE I 
 
 The Environment 
 
 I never shall forget the day, thirty years ago 
 next September, when I first caught sight of 
 the shores of Japan. It was early on a beauti- 
 ful Sunday morning; and when I came on deck 
 the steamer was making its way through the 
 fleets of fishing boats rising and falling on the 
 long, heavy swells of the ocean. As we drew 
 nearer land, we could see the villages of the 
 fishermen; and here and there, half hidden in 
 the recesses of the hills, the little shrines and 
 temples. Beyond and over all towered the 
 magnificent cone of Mount Fuji, with the clouds 
 lightly resting on its summit. I thought of the 
 past and the future, and pictured to myself the 
 life that lay before me; a life so different in 
 most of its details from the picture that I painted. 
 
 My life, like the lives of all, has had Its shad- 
 ows. There have been times in the history of 
 the church when I could not sleep at night. 
 In a very true sense, I am a man without a 
 country. As I go from place to place here at 
 home, I seldom see a familiar face. I know 
 too what it is to have a broken household. But 
 I know also that my life has been one full of 
 7 
 
8 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 interest. It has been a great privilege to have 
 a part in the founding and establishment of the 
 Church of Christ in Japan. And sometimes it 
 is a comfort at least to think that my life has 
 counted for more in Japan than it would have 
 done in America. 
 
 The history of the Church of Christ in Japan 
 since its first founding, now a little more than 
 thirty years ago, is so crowded with material 
 that I cannot attempt to do more than sketch 
 an outline. So true is this, that I was half 
 persuaded to say little or nothing regarding the 
 general environment. But the environment is 
 really a part of the story, the background neces- 
 sary to the picture. Therefore, though some of 
 what I shall say this evening may be more or 
 less familiar to you, I will ask you to hear it 
 again. 
 
 Japan curves like a crescent round a long 
 stretch of the coast of eastern Asia, and its cli- 
 mate varies with the locality. In the extreme 
 north the winters are very cold; the mercury 
 at Asahigawa, our most northerly station, some- 
 times falling to thirty degrees below zero; while 
 in the extreme southwest the climate is almost 
 semitropical. Down and to the west of the 
 center line of the main island runs a range of 
 mountains, which produces marked differences 
 in the climate, especially in winter. The winds 
 from the Sea of Japan come heavy with mois- 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 9 
 
 ture; and striking the mountains let fall most 
 of their burden on the west coast, covering it 
 all winter long with snow, in some places eight 
 feet deep. The broader part of the island to 
 the east of the range has, therefore, compara- 
 tively little snow; and the little that falls soon 
 disappears. In the summer, the mercury sel- 
 dom if ever rises so high as it sometimes does 
 in New York City; but the season lasts a month 
 longer, the heat is more continuous, and the rays 
 of the sun more penetrating. The resident of 
 Tokyo or Osaka often looks in vain for the cold 
 wave which so regularly comes rolling across 
 the United States. In winter, too, in this cen- 
 tral and southern section, the weather is never 
 nearly so cold as it often is in Pennsylvania or 
 New York. It is only very rarely that ice forms 
 in Tokyo thick enough to bear one's weight. 
 But during most of the year the atmosphere is 
 moist; and so the summers are sultry and the 
 winters are raw. From June to September, 
 nearly everything molds ; and the foreigner needs 
 fire in his house from November to April. But 
 having said so much, I hasten to add that in the 
 late autumn and early winter the weather is 
 charming. 
 
 There is in Japan no Niagara, nor any Yellow 
 Stone Park or Yosemite, but there are the In- 
 land Sea and Fuji and Nikko; and go almost 
 where one may, the scenery is beautiful and pic- 
 
10 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 turesque, with a beauty and picturesqueness of 
 its own. There are the mountains with sharper 
 curves than our own; and the mountain passes 
 with their rushing streams. There are Biwa and 
 Hakone and Chuzenji, and many another placid 
 lake. There are waterfalls innumerable in the 
 deep and silent woods; and ridges upon which 
 one may stand and watch the purple shadows of 
 the clouds crossing the waters of the lake far 
 beneath him, or out over the broad Pacific or 
 the Sea of Japan. There are the hazy islands and 
 the smoking volcanoes. 
 
 As one travels through the country, the people 
 are at work picking the tea leaves, or feeding the 
 silkworms, or busy reeling the silk from the 
 cocoons. On the plains and the terraced hill- 
 sides are the rice fields in living green ; and there 
 are golden orange groves. The tall white herons 
 are wading on the irrigated land or wheeling 
 away in flight; and in the spring time, early in 
 the morning, high overhead carols the skylark. 
 The ditches along the roadside, the margins of 
 the ponds, and the moats round the old castle 
 walls, are filled with the lotus flowers, which are 
 purple or white, and striking at a distance, but not 
 delicate in beauty like our own water lilies. The 
 feathery bamboo makes a home for itself almost 
 everywhere, of many kinds ; some nearly square ; 
 but all light and tall and graceful. Nor are they 
 beautiful only, but useful also; used for almost 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT ii 
 
 everything. There, too, in the woods stands the 
 many-hued camellia — white and red and pink and 
 variegated — a tree forty feet in height. What 
 the chrysanthemum is in Japan you know, for 
 it has now come to America. But the cherry 
 blossom you do not know, for it never has left 
 its home. The tree bears no fruit; it is planted 
 solely for the sake of the flowers, they are so 
 beautiful. 
 
 In many parts of Japan there are old and fa- 
 mous castles and temples with stately roofs vis- 
 ible from a distance; and in every nook and cor- 
 ner of the land are to be found the little wayside 
 shrines, many of them with stone images of foxes. 
 For in Japan there are foxes, sni generis; little 
 invisible foxes which enter in and take posses- 
 sion. Foreigners may smile at it, but it is well 
 to be wary. To mention only one thing more: 
 In the summer time, on the country roads, con- 
 stantly are seen the bands of pilgrims. In his 
 hand the pilgrim carries a staff ; his dress is white, 
 or rather once was white; from his girdle hangs 
 a tinkling bell. The band is on its way to visit 
 ancient temples, to bathe under famous water- 
 falls, to worship at sunrise on the summits of 
 sacred mountains. So much for a glimpse of 
 the country. A glimpse now at Tokyo; and 
 that will serve for other cities also. 
 
 The houses are mostly one or two stories high, 
 occasionally three; and commonly small. Here 
 
12 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 and there, however, as one looks over the city 
 from some elevated spot, his view is intercepted 
 by some modern building in foreign style, or by 
 the great temples with their heavy curving roofs. 
 There is also the Imperial Residence; a group 
 of buildings in Japanese style, with a beautiful 
 garden attached, now seldom accessible to for- 
 eigners. There are parks, too, and groves with 
 fine old trees. The city, which is eight or ten 
 miles across and has a population of more than 
 a million and a quarter, is supplied with an 
 elaborate system of canals ; and most of the heavy 
 traffic is thus done by water. 
 
 The sights to be seen and the sounds to be 
 heard in the streets are innumerable. You will 
 not expect more than a meager list. Soldiers 
 everywhere; for the day of battle now come has 
 long been looked for. Coolies; a sight once 
 seen never forgotten. Strong men scantily clad, 
 pushing lumber and stone and boxes of mer- 
 chandise on two-wheeled drays, and keeping time 
 as they work like sailors at the ropes. Blind 
 men ; so many blind men ; more in a day than one 
 meets in New York in a month. Boy acrobats 
 with a headgear supposed to make them look like 
 lions; and ready for a penny to turn themselves 
 almost inside out. Story-tellers, telling their 
 stories to listening crowds ; often stories not to be 
 listened to. Dancing girls in their bright red 
 skirts. Begging priests going from house to 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 13 
 
 house, commonly in pairs. One carries a staff 
 with iron rings, which he strikes upon the ground 
 as he walks to frighten away, with the rattle of 
 the rings, any passing insect that he might per- 
 chance tread upon. The other carries a bowl to 
 receive the gifts of the faithful. 
 
 Many games are played in the streets. There 
 is battledore and shuttlecock. The battledore is 
 made of wood, and the shuttlecock is smaller than 
 ours and hard. The players form a square and 
 send the shuttlecock from one to another around 
 the square. Whenever one misses, the others 
 black his face. Not only boys and girls, but young 
 men and women play this; and the streets are 
 full of them and their laughter. Kite-flying, too, 
 is a favorite; and the kites are of many a form. 
 Some like bats with wings extended; some 
 like dragons; but most of them oblong and 
 like a cylinder cut in two down the middle. The 
 ends of the bows, both upper and lower, are 
 joined by cords, and when the wind blows fresh 
 the cords hum; hum like belated bumblebees 
 hurrying home in haste. At the height of the 
 season, the city is full of them. Then there is 
 the pancake man. He carries a little charcoal 
 stove with a griddle on top ; also a bottle of bat- 
 ter and syrup for the cakes to be made. The boys 
 and the girls do their own baking. The cakes 
 consist of the batter, the syrup, and of what was 
 on the hands before the baking began. The trade 
 
i4 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 of the pancake man is a very seductive trade. 
 The boys and the girls gather round him almost 
 as thick as the flies round the cakes. These are 
 the games of Old Japan; New Japan is quite 
 given over to baseball. 
 
 This is to give you in passing a little of the 
 local color; but it will also, I think, make you 
 feel more deeply that God hath made of one every 
 nation. But before leaving the sights of the cities, 
 there is one thing upon which I may properly 
 dwell with somewhat greater fullness of detail — 
 the temples and the temple-worship. For Bud- 
 dhism is still the religion of the people. 
 
 There is no better place in all Japan to see the 
 populace worship than the Temple of Kwannon, 
 commonly called from the district of Tokyo in 
 which it is situated, the Asakusa Temple. There 
 worshipers are always to be found; and on cer- 
 tain days in the year, when those who come 
 acquire a high degree of merit, the temple 
 grounds are thronged with crowds in gay attire — 
 a brilliant show. 
 
 The approach to the temple is an avenue lined 
 on both sides with little shops, all open to the 
 street, as is the custom in Japan. In these are 
 sold odds and ends of every kind : Cakes and can- 
 dies; dolls and other toys of many sorts; pipes, 
 fans, and rosaries. For the rosary is common 
 to Buddhism, also. In the rear of the temple and 
 on either side of it are shows of all kinds : Aero- 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 15 
 
 bats, jugglers, trained birds, panoramas, thea- 
 ters, and an aquarium of marine fishes beautiful 
 and curious beyond description. Close by also 
 lurks the Toshiwara, the scarlet City of Night. 
 
 At the end of the approach stands the gate ; a 
 large building supported by pillars and painted 
 bright vermilion. To right and left, as one 
 passes through the entrance way under the gate, 
 are two great wooden images called Nio, the 
 guardians of the place. Beyond them are 
 stretched wire nettings; and on these nettings 
 hang straw sandals, some of them the usual size, 
 and some two feet long. These are offerings sus- 
 pended there by jinrikisha men or others who are 
 slow of foot, either by disease or birth, in the 
 hope of bettering their speed. The Nio them- 
 selves are spattered over with spitballs — origin- 
 ally bits of paper with prayers written on them. 
 If the spitball thrown through the netting sticks 
 to the image, the hope of the petitioner for a 
 favorable response rises higher. 
 
 Passing through the gateway one enters the 
 temple inclosure. In this open square are hung 
 stone lanterns. On the ground, on the temple 
 roof, inside the temple itself, or rising suddenly 
 in flocks, fluttering, cooing, whirling in the air, 
 so tame as to be in constant danger of being 
 trodden on, and eager to be fed with the seeds 
 for sale at hand, are hundreds of pigeons. To 
 the right is a tall pagoda, seven or eight stories 
 
i6 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 high, red like the gate^ and surmounted by a 
 tall ornament of bronze rings rising one above 
 the other, on top of which frequently perches a 
 crow or a kite, constantly present in the cities 
 of Japan, surveying the scene below. Nearer to 
 the temple and still to the right stood, until 
 recently, a building containing what many travel- 
 ers have described as a prayer wheel. This is an 
 error. The great octagonal red lacquered box, 
 resting on a pivot fitted into the stone floor and 
 with handles like the spokes of a capstan, was not 
 a prayer wheel, but a revolving library. Inside 
 was a collection of the sacred books of Bud- 
 dhism; and he who turned the library laid up a 
 store of merit equal to that of him who read the 
 books. I have several times turned the library 
 myself. 
 
 The temple is a large structure with the usual 
 heavy curving temple roof supported on pillars. 
 Like the other buildings, it is vermilion, except 
 the roof which is black tiling ornamented with 
 bronze. The ascent to the entrance is a broad 
 flight of steps. Directly in front of the middle 
 of the entrance hangs a heavy rope, so hung that 
 the worshiper can strike it against a large flat 
 bell with a long opening much like that of a 
 sleigh bell. That gives notice of his approach. 
 Just inside of the entrance is a large bronze ves- 
 sel containing coals of fire on which the devotee 
 deposits a pinch of incense, little different in 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 17 
 
 composition from the punk with which we light 
 our firecrackers except that it is made into sticks 
 as slender as steel knitting needles. 
 
 Once past the incense brazier there are many 
 things to attract the eye: Pictures of tigers and 
 dragons on the walls; huge paper lanterns hang- 
 ing from the ceiling; mirrors, pigeons, and dirt; 
 but four things also of special interest. Two 
 men are selling charms to many buyers. There 
 is a black wooden image, perhaps two feet high, 
 its nose and mouth all worn away. One needs 
 to wait but a moment to learn why. A mother 
 comes with a child ; she passes her hand over the 
 face or the arm of the image, and then over the 
 face or arm of the child. She thinks that virtue 
 goes out of the image. These things are to the 
 right of the sanctuary. 
 
 To the left of the sanctuary is the place of 
 divination, the oracle. Here the people come in 
 a steady stream ; some one is always there. Two 
 or more priests are in attendance. One holds a 
 box containing sticks about the size of a lead 
 pencil, but flat, and each one numbered. The 
 priest shakes the box until a stick flies out of a 
 hole in the top. Alongside of the second priest 
 is a case filled with little drawers. He opens the 
 drawer corresponding to the number on the stick, 
 and delivers one of the printed answers which 
 the drawer contains. Perhaps it will interest you 
 to learn what sort of answers these oracles return. 
 
i8 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 There is in the city of Osaka a celebrated temple 
 known as Tennoji, and a number of years ago, 
 during the sessions of synod, some of the mem- 
 bers strolled into the temple. The question in 
 the minds of all was that of the union then con- 
 templated with the Congregational churches. 
 Would the union be accomplished? And if so, 
 what would the outcome be? In the spirit of 
 fun and curiosity, one of the Japanese members 
 of the synod proposed to stop and see what the 
 old priest with his shaven head and stolid face 
 could tell them. This is the answer that came out 
 of the little drawer: "It will mount to heaven on 
 the wings of faith. The vessel will come home 
 laden with treasure. It will do good in the 
 future ; and will win the applause of the great." 
 That is a part of the secret history of the church 
 in Japan. 
 
 Between the seller of charms on the right, and 
 the oracle on the left, is the place of worship. 
 The idol stands on a raised platform in a room 
 in the rear — a large figure covered with gilt, and 
 with various ornaments chiefly of bronze in 
 front of it. All is lighted with candles and 
 dimly visible to the worshiper through a wire 
 netting set in the wall between the two rooms. 
 The worshipers come in a constant succession, 
 men, women, and children. Each throws a small 
 copper coin into a long box at the foot of the 
 wire netting. The men and women bow their 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 19 
 
 heads on tlieir breasts ; bring their hands together 
 below their bowed faces; and repeat the words, 
 Namu Amida Buttsu — Hail, Eternal Buddha. The 
 children bow their heads and bring their hands 
 together. Some of them are not old enough yet to 
 repeat the words; but they will learn them soon. 
 
 One day, now many years ago, I was standing 
 in this temple with a Japanese who knew Bud- 
 dhism through and through. We watched the 
 people coming and going. Most of them were 
 indifferent, gazing about while their lips moved ; 
 but others were reverent in manner and some 
 over importunate. I asked him about them, and 
 in particular what they prayed for. "No," said 
 he, "they never pray for such things — for the 
 forgiveness of sin, for a new life, for what we call 
 spiritual blessings. Some of their prayers are for 
 recovery from sickness ; some for success in some 
 business venture; in general most of them are 
 for good luck." 
 
 In many of the temples, usually on certain fixed 
 days of the month, there is preaching. One occa- 
 sion, when I attended a preaching service in com- 
 pany with Ishimoto,who as some of you know lies 
 here in the old graveyard, comes back to me as 
 if it were yesterday. The preacher was a learned 
 priest from Kyoto, old and mumbling in speech, 
 with the unmistakable face of a priest, and splen- 
 did in red and gold. The people, separated from 
 him by a slight railing, sat in Japanese fashion 
 
20 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 on the mats with which the floor of the temple 
 was covered. The preacher sat, Hkewise, in 
 Japanese fashion, on a low pulpit. It was the 
 time when the plum is in perfection; and the 
 pulpit was decked with its blossoms. For awhile 
 an attendant kept striking together two square 
 sticks of hard resonant wood, which gave forth 
 a clear and almost musical sound. That was the 
 call to the people to listen. Another attendant 
 kept beating on the edge of a heavy bronze bowl, 
 which filled all the temple with its rich mellow 
 tones. That was the call to Buddha to hear. 
 
 The preacher began by repeating the words 
 now familiar to you from the worship at Asa- 
 kusa: Namu Amida Buttsu — Hail Eternal Bud- 
 dha. Not once or twice, but a dozen times ; and 
 at each repetition preacher and people bowed low. 
 There are some, the preacher said, in a sermon- 
 ette perhaps ten minutes long, who never say the 
 words, Namu Amida Buttsu ; and there are some 
 who often say the words but who are very remiss 
 about the daily duties of life. Neither class is 
 right; each forgets something of prime impor- 
 tance; one should do both. The sermon ended 
 with another repetition of the phrase; all again 
 joining in and all bowing low. Which was it? 
 Was it a thinking that they should be heard for 
 their much speaking? or, Was it a feeling after 
 God if haply they might find him ? Which was it ? 
 or. Was it not both? 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 21 
 
 The ancient religion of Japan was Shintoism. 
 According to its mythology, the emperor is the 
 descendant of the gods; and I fancy that the 
 patriotism of the Japanese, centering as it does in 
 loyalty to and reverence for the emperor, is 
 indirectly at least to some extent connected with 
 that old belief. The emperor is himself a Shin- 
 toist and there are many Shinto priests and tem- 
 ples ; but the mass of the people are Buddhists. 
 
 But while the nation as a nation is Buddhist, 
 the educated Japanese as a rule is Confucian in 
 his beliefs. He may on certain occasions go to 
 a Shinto shrine and take part in Shinto rites; 
 but when he is himself borne to the tomb, most 
 likely it will be with the funeral ceremonies of 
 Buddhism. But in his heart and life he is a 
 Confucianist. There may be another world ; there 
 may be a life of the world to come; but these 
 are things that he does not know ; that he cannot 
 know. The Hfe with which he has to do is the life 
 that now is. When the scholar asked the master, 
 "What is death?" Confucius answered, "We 
 know not life; how then can we know death?" 
 That is Confucianism in a nutshell. So far as re- 
 ligion is concerned it is thoroughgoing agnosti- 
 cism, with pantheism for a philosophy. There are 
 wonderful changes going on in Japan, and Bud- 
 dhism and Confucianism are not what they have 
 been. But they are still great forces; and their 
 influence upon the thinking and living of the 
 
22 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN I ARAN 
 
 people is wide and deep. No, the Christianiza- 
 tion of the nation is not to be accompHshed in a 
 day. Nevertheless, as I shall show you, there is 
 a sign in the sky ; and that sign is the sign of the 
 Cross. 
 
 But what of the people themselves ? The longer 
 one lives in Japan the less the disposition to 
 generalize with confidence and without qualifica- 
 tion. Still there are certain marks which will 
 strike most old residents as characteristic. 
 
 The ideals of a Japanese gentleman — often also 
 governing his bearing — are dignity and self-con- 
 trol. With a courtesy that is charming there is 
 sometimes a lack of consideration that excites sur- 
 prise. Exceedingly practical and expert in atten- 
 tion to details, the Japanese cares but little for 
 academic discussion. Of his ability to organize, 
 the world needs now no proof. With perhaps an 
 overregard for rules and red tape, few others are 
 more powerfully influenced by a personality in 
 which strength is joined to tact. The Japanese 
 is not given to telling all he knows, and not averse 
 at times to accomplishing his ends indirectly. The 
 "innocent face" is a common expression ; and yet 
 at times he is singularly outspoken. It is hardly 
 too much to say that compromise is a rule of life.. 
 No matter which side is right, commonly both 
 sides must yield something ; one's pride as well as 
 one's rights deserves consideration. With a read- 
 iness to toil or to battle, if needs be to the end. 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 23 
 
 there is to a peculiar degree a stoical recognition 
 and acceptance of the inevitable, when the inevi- 
 table is sure to be inevitable. One of the first 
 expressions picked up by every foreigner is 
 Shikati ga nai — there is no hope for it. It is often 
 said that the Japanese are preeminently fickle; 
 and the constant proof of this is the change after 
 change abundantly in evidence ; but this is a 
 superficial judgment. It must not be forgotten 
 that the whole nation to-day is in an era of tran- 
 sition; a transition involving government, laws, 
 education, commerce, manufactures, customs, 
 and religion. Of necessity, therefore, the era is 
 one of experiment and therefore of change. 
 Moreover it will not do to make a single genera- 
 tion count for everything and centuries for noth- 
 ing. If to-day there is a New Japan, there was 
 once and there is still an Old Japan, careful of 
 change, strongly influenced by precedent. And, 
 by and by, it is reasonable to think that the spirit 
 of Old Japan will reassert itself. 
 
 But the thing of all others which strikes the old 
 resident of Japan as peculiarly characteristic of 
 the nation, is the thing which strikes the mind of 
 men the world over. It is the ability of the nation 
 as a nation to accept, to adapt to its own require- 
 ments, and then to assimilate the products and 
 even the essential elements of a foreign civiliza- 
 tion. This is what we now see going on, and we 
 wonder at it. But what in some respects is per- 
 
24 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 haps the thing of greater interest in it all is some- 
 thing that has not been given the emphasis which 
 it deserves, — the fact that history is only now re- 
 peating itself. Once it was the civilization of 
 China; now it is that of Europe. 
 
 But two questions arise; questions of deep in- 
 terest to the world and of still deeper interest to 
 the Christian. Is Japan adopting only the ma- 
 terial products of the civilization of the West, 
 content to neglect the elements of higher value? 
 And to be still more particular. What is, and what 
 is still to be, her attitude as regards the religion 
 of Christ? 
 
 Shortly before I left Japan, I was invited to 
 call upon the Prime Minister. The reason why 
 I was invited was because he thought it worth 
 while to say something to a missionary going 
 home about the so-called yellow peril ; and at the 
 close of the conversation he asked me to tell the 
 Christian people in America what he said. By 
 arrangement with him I wrote an account of the 
 interview, and with his sanction published it in 
 Japan. A part of that account will supply his 
 answer to the questions raised : What is the atti- 
 tude of Japan toward Christianity? and. Is she 
 adopting only the more material products of the 
 civilization of the West? This is the substance 
 of what the Prime Minister said : — 
 
 "The argument against Japan is," said he, 
 "sometimes put in this form: Russia stands for 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 25 
 
 Christianity, and Japan stands for Buddhism. 
 The truth is that Japan stands for reHgious 
 freedom. In Japan a man may be a Buddhist, a 
 Christian, or even a Jew, without suffering for 
 it. That is a principle embodied in her Con- 
 stitution ; and her practice is in accordance with 
 the principle. 
 
 "There are Christian churches in every large 
 city, and in almost every large town, in Japan ; 
 and they all have complete freedom to teach and 
 worship in accordance with their own convic- 
 tions. There are numerous Christian newspapers 
 and magazines, which obtain their licenses pre- 
 cisely as other newspapers and magazines; and 
 as a matter of course. Christian schools, some of 
 them conducted by foreigners and some by Jap- 
 anese, are found everywhere. There are few 
 things which are a better proof of the recogni- 
 tion of rights than the right to hold property. In 
 many cases, associations composed of foreign 
 missionaries permanently residing in Japan have 
 been incorporated under charters allowing them 
 to 'own and manage land, buildings, and other 
 property; for the extension of Christianity, the 
 carrying on of Christian education, and the per- 
 formance of works of charity and benevolence.' 
 It should be added also that they are incorpo- 
 rated under the Article in the Civil Code which 
 provides for the incorporation of associations 
 founded for 'purposes beneficial to the public'; 
 
26 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 and as 'their object is not to make a profit out of 
 the conduct of their business,' no taxes are levied 
 on their incomes. The number of those profess- 
 ing Christianity is a large one, with a much 
 larger number who are Christian in their affilia- 
 tions; and the Japanese Christians are not con- 
 fined to any one rank or class. They are to be 
 found among the members of the national Diet, 
 the judges in the courts, the professors in the 
 universities, the editors of leading secular papers, 
 and the officers of the army and navy. There- 
 fore to say that Japan stands for religious free- 
 dom is simply to say what is patent to all; and 
 to abandon that principle, either now or in the 
 future, would be to violate the Constitution, and 
 would create deep dissatisfaction throughout all 
 Japan. What then becomes of the argument that 
 Japan stands for Buddhism? 
 
 "But sometimes the argument against Japan is 
 stated in this way: There is a general idea that 
 Japan holds in common with the West the great 
 fundamental elements of the civilization of the 
 West; but this is a very superficial view of the 
 case. What in fact Japan has done, so the argu- 
 ment runs, has been to adopt certain products of 
 the civilization of the West — the railroad, the 
 telegraph, the post office, the system of banking, 
 the battleship, and the quick-firing gun. On the 
 other hand, of those elements in the civilization of 
 the West which the West regards as of the very 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 27 
 
 highest importance Japan really knows but little, 
 and for them she cares still less. The truth is 
 that, underneath all, Japan stands for what may 
 be described as the spirit of the East against the 
 spirit of the West. But those who advance this 
 argument overlook things which cannot be over- 
 looked. 
 
 "Japan is an old country with a history which 
 it will always read with a proper pride; for the 
 civilization of what we now call Old Japan was 
 one of a high order, and comprised elements 
 which New Japan has no desire to change. For 
 reasons, which however need not now be given, 
 during a long course of years Japan thought it 
 wise to live an isolated life. Then came a period 
 in her history, little understood by most for- 
 eigners, when great internal forces were actively 
 at work bearing Japan on to a new era. It was 
 during that period that Commodore Perry came 
 to Japan ; and no doubt his coming, and the man- 
 ner of it, did much to give the movement direc- 
 tion; but it was not his coming that caused the 
 movement. Then came the Restoration; and 
 with the Restoration of the Emperor, the new 
 era, the Era of Meiji (enlightenment) ; and with 
 the Era of Meiji, the Great Imperial Pledge that 
 Japan should 'seek for knowledge throughout 
 the whole world.' Since then Japan has diligently 
 sought knowledge; and the knowledge that she 
 has gained she has made her own. The old tree 
 
28 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 still stands; but the new branches have been 
 grafted into the tree, and now belong to the tree 
 just as truly as the old branches which remain. 
 Nor is it true that Japan in her search for knowl- 
 edge has found nothing but the railroad, the tele- 
 graph, and the battleship. What then are some 
 of the elements of the civilization which Japan 
 now holds, and will hold, in common with the 
 West? 
 
 *'One of the essential elements of the civiliza- 
 tion of the West is the education of the West ; that 
 Japan has accepted with all her heart. Students 
 in Japan are taught precisely the same things that 
 students in Europe and America are taught, 
 except that little attention is paid to Latin or 
 Greek. This education is given through a system 
 beginning with the kindergarten and extending 
 to highly specialized university courses. It is 
 only for particular instruction that it is necessary 
 for a student to go abroad. There is not a village 
 in the empire without its primary school; the 
 towns are supplied with secondary schools ; at 
 convenient centers there are high schools which 
 may be compared with the smaller colleges in the 
 United States; in Tokyo and Kyoto are the uni- 
 versities; and besides these there are many tech- 
 nical schools. This is the system sustained by 
 the government. In addition to the government 
 system there are many private institutions; some 
 of them of a high grade. Every child in Japan, 
 
THE ENVIRONMENT 29 
 
 unless exempt for specified reasons, is required 
 to complete the primary school course. Educa- 
 tion is yeast; and the education of Japan is the 
 education of the West. 
 
 "Law, and the administration of law, and in 
 particular the rights of the individual under law, 
 constitute, as any thoughtful man will admit, a 
 dominant element in the civilization of the West. 
 Since the beginning of the Era of Meiji, Japan 
 has entirely remodeled her laws, both criminal 
 and civil. This was done after a most painstaking 
 study of the laws of Europe and America, with 
 the aid of foreign experts ; and Japan has no rea- 
 son to be ashamed either of her laws or of the 
 administration of them, even when judged by the 
 standards of the West. Japan also accepts her 
 place among the nations of the West as bound 
 by the principles of International law both in 
 peace and in war. 
 
 "But to mention only one thing more. Per- 
 haps there is nothing more peculiarly character- 
 istic of the civilization of the West than govern- 
 ment under a Constitution. Japan has a Consti- 
 tution which provides for an Upper and a Lower 
 House, through which the will of the people finds 
 expression. In one particular also the Constitu- 
 tion of Japan has in the eyes of Japan a peculiar 
 glory. It was not, as has been the case in many 
 countries, the fruit of a long struggle between the 
 nation and the throne. It was the gift of the 
 
30 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 emperor, freely given, gratefully received; a 
 sacred treasure which both alike will guard with 
 care. 
 
 "It is sometimes said that Japan stands eagerly 
 waiting to take the leadership of the East; and 
 that if she does so, it will be in the spirit of the 
 East against the West. Whether or not it is the 
 destiny of Japan to be the leader of the East re- 
 mains to be unfolded. But if ever that responsi- 
 bility shall be hers, of one thing the world may be 
 sure: She will not willingly retrace her own 
 steps ; and she will at least endeavor to persuade 
 the East to do what she herself has done, and 
 what she is trying to do more perfectly. 
 
 "It is in this nation — the Old and New Japan 
 — and at this era in its history that we are called 
 to lend our aid in establishing the Church of 
 Christ." 
 
Lecture Two 
 
 A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 
 
LECTURE II 
 
 A Bird's-eye View 
 
 I suppose that many, if asked the question. 
 What is the object of foreign missions? would 
 say, "The evangelization of the world." With 
 that reply I quite agree, if by it be meant the 
 more remote rather than the immediate object. 
 For the evangelization of the world, in whatever 
 proper sense the phrase be used — whether it be 
 the complete fulfillment of what we pray for when 
 we say, "Thy kingdom come ;" or whether it be in 
 a broader sense the Christianization of the world ; 
 or whether it be such a preaching of the gospel 
 as shall enable all men intelligently to accept or 
 to reject Christ — the evangelization of the world 
 is a vast undertaking. We are to disciple the 
 nations ; to baptize the nations ; to teach the 
 nations to observe all things whatsoever Christ 
 commanded. Furthermore, except in its begin- 
 nings, it must be done in every nation by the men 
 of that nation. No, it is not so easy a thing to 
 evangelize the world as some would have us 
 think; and those who think it easy have yet to 
 learn that it takes not only toil but time. It is not 
 an act, but a process ; and in that process time is 
 itself an essential element. 
 
 33 
 
34 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 The direct and immediate object of foreign 
 missions is, and should always be presented as, 
 the founding and establishment of the Church 
 of Christ within the nations where Christ is not 
 generally known. That is the method of God in 
 history; and it accords with the teaching of the 
 apostle who said that the pillar and ground of 
 the truth is the church of the living God. That 
 too is the true means to the ultimate end ; it can 
 be accomplished within a reasonable time; and 
 its cordial acceptance will prevent much disap- 
 pointment. You will understand then why I have 
 taken for my subject, 'The Founding and Estab- 
 lishment of the Church in Japan." 
 
 A course of lectures telling the story of the 
 entire Christian movement in Japan, if the story 
 were rightly told, would be one full of interest. 
 That however I cannot attempt. I must confine 
 myself almost exclusively to the church with 
 which we ourselves are connected ; and which for 
 historical reasons bears the name, The Church of 
 Christ in Japan. 
 
 For ten years or more, the first missionaries — 
 Dr. Hepburn and the others — could do little or 
 nothing toward the founding of the church. 
 They could hardly persuade men to serve them as 
 teachers of the language. One of these teachers, 
 now long a minister of Christ, tells how he once 
 carried concealed a short sword ready for defense 
 against the missionaries. But the missionaries 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 35 
 
 went on patiently picking out the language and 
 teaching the young men and boys who came to 
 them. For already young Japan was eager to 
 learn the learning of the West ; and the mission- 
 ary was then his best teacher. So things went 
 on for a number of years. But at last the Day of 
 Pentecost was fully come. Why it came just 
 when it did, no one could tell then and no one 
 can tell now. Suddenly there was the sound as 
 of a mighty rushing wind ; and it filled the house. 
 Christianity was still a crime punishable with 
 imprisonment or death; and it was still doubtful 
 whether the law would not be enforced. But an 
 invitation was issued, and a company of young 
 men and boys, drawn by an unseen power, assem- 
 bled together. Many years afterwards, one of 
 them telling the story told how each one was sur- 
 prised to find the others present. That was the 
 turning point in their lives. They had already 
 heard of Christ and Christianity from their teach- 
 ers; but then they became Christians, and for 
 days they were filled with a new joy. They could 
 not express themselves. At that time there was 
 only a meager collection of hymns; and all of 
 them translations over which they now smile with 
 a kindly smile. But that made no matter. Late 
 into the night they came together and sang. The 
 particular hymn which they sang over and over 
 again was the one beginning, "Jesus loves me, this 
 I know." That too, or a little later, was the time 
 
36 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 when a naval officer wrote of his feeHngs at see- 
 ing *'these Japanese pray." 
 
 Shortly afterwards, on March lo, 1872, there 
 was organized in the city of Yokohama, a church 
 — the first Protestant Church in the empire. It 
 framed a simple Confession of Faith, and called 
 itself the Church of Christ. That little group of 
 believers has now grown to be a synod with six 
 presbyteries extending from one end of Japan to 
 the other. There are about seventy-five churches 
 and more than a hundred congregations not yet 
 fully organized as churches. There are some 
 eighty ministers, and about thirteen thousand 
 communicants. The annual contributions amount 
 to about twenty thousand dollars. This is the 
 church with which we and all the other Presby- 
 terian and Reformed Missions in Japan cooperate. 
 It is a Japanese Church ecclesiastically indepen- 
 dent of all foreign churches ; and while it belongs 
 to the Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed 
 churches, as I have said, it bears the name, to 
 which it clings with old and deep affection, "The 
 Church of Christ in Japan." 
 
 Some six months after the organization of this 
 church, a convention of missionaries, for the most 
 part Presbyterian Reformed, and Congregational, 
 met in Yokohama. The primary object of the 
 convention was to arrange for the translation of 
 the Scriptures ; but passing events filled the minds 
 of all with the thought of the founding and 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 37 
 
 organization of the church, and a resokition was 
 adopted of which the following was the conclu- 
 sion : "We therefore agree that we will use our 
 influence to secure, as far as possible, identity of 
 name and organization of the churches in the for- 
 mation of which we may be called to assist; that 
 name being as catholic as the Church of Christ, 
 and the organization being that wherein the gov- 
 ernment of each church shall be by the ministry 
 and eldership of the same, with the concurrence 
 of the brethren." 
 
 For a short time all worked well and promised 
 fair; but before long it became evident that the 
 resolution had not been explicit enough to prevent 
 wide differences of interpretation, and the result 
 was as follows : The missionaries of the Reformed 
 Church were all cooperating with the Church of 
 Christ. Our own mission was divided ; a part co- 
 operated with the Church of Christ, and a part 
 with a presbytery organized in connection with 
 our General Assembly. Meanwhile the Congre- 
 gational missionaries had begun to organize Con- 
 gregational churches. It was a cloudy sky after 
 a bright sunrise. 
 
 But the gloom was not to last. The action of 
 the Congregational missionaries opened the way 
 for the Presbyterian and Reformed missionaries 
 to follow suit. Accordingly, in May 1876, the 
 Presbyterian Mission addressed the Reformed 
 Mission as follows: "We have long entertained 
 
38 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN lAPAN 
 
 the hope that a plan might be devised by which 
 our respective missions should become fellow- 
 v^orkers in a common presbytery, not connected 
 ecclesiastically with any foreign body, and which 
 would receive the warm approval of the churches 
 which we represent." 
 
 To this letter the mission of the Reformed 
 Church responded most cordially. A meeting 
 was held and an invitation addressed to the mis- 
 sion of the United Presbyterian Church of Scot- 
 land, which had reached Japan only a short time 
 before. This invitation was accepted, and the 
 three missions organized as a body which has 
 long borne the name of the Council of Missions 
 cooperating with the Church of Christ in Japan. 
 Then followed conferences with the Church of 
 Christ, and the presbytery organized in connec- 
 tion with our own General Assembly ; and at last, 
 after long deliberation, everything was arranged, 
 standards of government, doctrine, and discipline 
 were agreed to; and on October 3, 1877, in 
 the Kaigan Church in Yokohama — the build- 
 ing occupied by the mother congregation of 
 the Church of Christ — the new church was or- 
 ganized. For a time it bore the title, The United 
 Church of Christ in Japan; but later the word 
 united was dropped, and the original title re- 
 sumed. Ten or more years subsequently the 
 Council was joined by the missions of the South- 
 em Presbyterian, the German Reformed, and the 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 39 
 
 Cumberland Presbyterian churches. The union 
 thus accompHshed has now been in existence and 
 working for nearly thirty years ; and it may fairly 
 be said that its benefits have far outweighed any 
 disadvantages. I know of only two or three mis- 
 sionaries who would willingly give it up ; and they 
 are extremists. 
 
 It has tended to greater efficiency in the distri- 
 bution and employment of the various forces 
 available. In a marked degree it has proved of 
 value in the location of new missions. Take the 
 case of the Southern Presbyterians. Under other 
 circumstances they would have entered upon their 
 work with all the disadvantages necessarily at- 
 tending newcomers. What did happen was this : 
 The Council said: ''Here are two pieces of work 
 already begun. You may take your choice." That 
 gave them at once, with all the influence of 
 the Council and the Church to favor them, the 
 most promising field in all Japan. The vineyard 
 was given laborers, and the laborers were given 
 a fertile vineyard. Essentially the same may be 
 said as to the mission of the German Reformed 
 Church also. 
 
 But if the union has proved of value as regards 
 the missionary and the mission, its value to the 
 Japanese Church has been still greater. Without 
 it, there would have been six missions and six 
 churches — six little churches. Now there is one 
 church, with all the inspiration, all the variety in 
 
4o THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 unity, and all the practical advantages that belong 
 to such a body. Think also of the future, and 
 how such a union will tend to prevent the un- 
 necessary multiplication of churches that would 
 otherwise have been inevitable. Finally, may it 
 not be said that such a union accords with the 
 spirit of Christianity ? Doubtless times may come 
 when there must be division; but can any one 
 think that divisions in the church in themselves 
 are other than evil ? Especially too is it true that 
 in a land where Christianity is knocking for 
 entrance, so far as possible the Church of Christ 
 should be not only one in Christ, but also one 
 before the world. 
 
 As there are movements in the same direction 
 in other mission fields also, and as some of you 
 may be called to take part in them, it may be 
 worth while for me to refer to certain of the ele- 
 ments that contributed to the measure of suc- 
 cess attained in Japan. 
 
 First and foremost the time for it had come. In 
 various ways God had been preparing for it. I 
 see that now more clearly than I did at the time. 
 I am not quite sure that such a union could be 
 brought about to-day. In spite of doubts, and 
 fears, and difficulties, which some at home pre- 
 dicted, there was present a spirit of courage that 
 was willing to face the future and meet the prob- 
 lems of the future when they came. In all the 
 preliminary conferences, and during all the early 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 4i 
 
 years, careful attention was paid to all details; 
 and everything likely to occur was talked over 
 and out in sincerity and truth. It was perfectly 
 clear that such a union would at times involve the 
 sacrifice of mission interests; but it was also 
 equally clear that if ever the interests of a mis- 
 sion and the interests of the church should seem 
 to be at variance, the interests of the church 
 should have the first place. And finally there 
 was an element, seldom thought of at the time 
 and known to few outsiders now, but one of first 
 importance. Some of the men were older and 
 some younger, but they were all in sympathy ; and 
 among them was a group of warm personal 
 friends. It was in a marked degree a company 
 of Christian friends moved by a common purpose. 
 Some of them are still in Japan and some in 
 America, one is in Scotland and one in Australia ; 
 and three have gone to a better country. They 
 will never meet again until they meet in the pres- 
 ence of Christ; but they will never forget one 
 another, and they will never forget the days 
 when they formed the Council of Missions co- 
 operating with the Church of Christ in Japan. 
 
 The advance of the Church of Christ in Japan 
 during the first fifteen years of its history will 
 always be memorable in the annals of modern 
 missions; and the lessons which that history 
 teaches may be highly profitable for instruction 
 in other mission fields also. 
 
42 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 The interest in Christianity, or at least the 
 curiosity regarding it, was widespread. Invita- 
 tions to preach in cities and towns were so com- 
 mon that they ceased to cause surprise. It was 
 an easy thing to gather in a hall or theater an 
 audience of four or five hundred men and women, 
 who for a whole afternoon would listen to speaker 
 after speaker. The congregations in the churches 
 would sometimes assemble for a morning service, 
 and then remain until the afternoon service 
 engaged in Christian conversation. Men went 
 out to do the work of evangelists full of enthu- 
 siasm and followed by the prayers of the congre- 
 gations. In every three years the membership of 
 the church doubled; and had things gone on, as 
 they went on for ten years, the membership 
 would now have numbered a hundred thousand. 
 The congregations were growing so fast and were 
 paying their pastors such salaries that the prob- 
 lem of self-support was rapidly solving itself. The 
 condition of affairs was so promising that the 
 Council of Missions prepared a statement narrat- 
 ing the facts, and asking the Boards of Foreign 
 Missions to make "special effort for Japan a part 
 of their general policy." From that statement I 
 quote a single paragraph. "A century ago there 
 was heard once more a divine Voice, saying, *Go, 
 teach all nations ;' and men asked, Where can we 
 go ?' To-day a man stands on the shores of Japan 
 crying, 'Come over into Asia and help us.' And we 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 43 
 
 must go now. There is a tide in the affairs of 
 nations as well as of men. There is a time to 
 reap ; and it is into the harvest fields white for the 
 harvest that our Lord bids us to pray that labor- 
 ers be sent. Other nations may wait; but this 
 nation cannot wait. For he is not dealing so with 
 any other nation." The common watchword was, 
 Christ for Japan, and Japan for Christ. And 
 Christianity seemed to have within itself the 
 power of self-propagation. 
 
 Then came a change; at first gradually and 
 then more and more rapidly; the change that is 
 known in Japan as the Great Reaction. The gen- 
 eral interest in Christianity gave way to indiffer- 
 ence and overt hostility. The number of the 
 lapsed in the churches was so great that the con- 
 gregations not only failed to grow but even to 
 hold their own. Churches that had been self-sup- 
 porting ceased to be self-supporting. The enthu- 
 siasm for the evangelization of Japan that had 
 burned so bright began to burn low. As things 
 went on, the relations between some of the mis- 
 sionaries and some of the Japanese were becom- 
 ing strained. It was a time of criticism; and on 
 both sides, on the part of some, there was an 
 inclination to draw apart. Young men from 
 America, who had heard a tale of wonderful suc- 
 cess, and had come to Japan to take part in a 
 great Christian movement, found themselves 
 standing idle in the market place with no one to 
 
44 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 call them ; and some of them began to ask whether 
 they, had not been deceived. It was a hard expe- 
 rience for them. During the years of the advance, 
 the question was sometimes asked regarding mis- 
 sion fields where things seemed to be at a stand- 
 still, Can it be that the missionaries there are not 
 using the right methods? When the reaction 
 came the question was asked by some, Have not 
 we ourselves been using the wrong methods? 
 But the one question was as superficial as the 
 other. God was in the advance, and God was in 
 the reaction. 
 
 That was the reaction. What was the cause of 
 it? The fundamental cause was this: The na- 
 tional movement toward the civilization of the 
 West was running a strong flood tide ; and Chris- 
 tianity was recognized as one of the elements of 
 that civilization. Many therefore accepted it; 
 but in the case of many the acceptance was only 
 superficial, and with little or no personal expe- 
 rience of its transforming power. Therefore when 
 the birds of the air came they carried away the 
 good seed ; when the sun grew hot the stalks with- 
 ered; when the thorns sprang up the wheat was 
 choked. And the birds of the air did come; the 
 sun did grow hot; and the thorns did spring up. 
 
 The national Constitution was proclaimed and 
 the national Diet established ; and the minds of 
 men were filled with new thoughts. The daily 
 newspaper was a rival with which the Gospels 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 4$ 
 
 could no longer successfully compete. The en- 
 grossing talk and interest of the day was of 
 necessity political. Think what would happen in 
 America to-day if a radical change in the consti- 
 tution of the Government should be made. The 
 result was inevitable. There was no more room 
 for Christ in the inn. Then suddenly there sprang 
 up an anti-foreign spirit. A new attempt at 
 treaty revision had failed; and the nation was 
 irritated. Foreign customs, foreign ideals, for- 
 eign thought; were no more to the mind of the 
 people as they had been; and Christianity, as 
 something foreign, could not possibly escape the 
 influence. The cry was raised that the spirit of 
 Christianity and the spirit of Japan were antago- 
 nistic; that Christ was a rival of the emperor. 
 In the early days of the church the test of loyalty 
 was the burning of incense before the image of 
 Csesar. In Japan an attempt was made in some of 
 the schools to make the test of loyalty a bowing 
 before the picture of the emperor; but it was 
 not quite clear whether the bowing was simply an 
 expression of the loyalty rightly due or something 
 deeper. To all this must be added the incoming 
 of a highly rationalistic type of Christianity. It 
 is true that but few of its representatives were 
 found among the ministers of the Church of 
 Christ in Japan; but it was in the air; it was 
 breathed; and the effect was benumbing. 
 
 So the reaction came. Nevertheless those first 
 
46 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 fifteen years were wonderful years ; and they will 
 always hold a place of their own in the history of 
 the church. There was much chaf¥ with the 
 wheat; but there was much wheat also. There 
 were many men and women who accepted Christ 
 sincerely and have served him faithfully. Most 
 of the leaders in the church now entered it then ; 
 and the whole church to-day is the outgrowth of 
 those early years. 
 
 The majority of the members of the church 
 to-day, as has been the case from the beginning, 
 come from neither the highest nor the lowest 
 ranks in life. It is often said that they belong to 
 the middle class; but it would be more accurate 
 to say, to the lower middle class. At the same 
 time it is also true that there are in the church 
 men of position and standing in the community. 
 What the Prime Minister recently said is per- 
 fectly correct: ''The Japanese Christians are not 
 confined to any one rank or class. They are to 
 be found among the members of the national Diet, 
 the judges in the courts, the professors in the uni- 
 versities, the editors of leading secular papers, 
 and the officers of the army and navy." 
 
 As to Christian experience, in the case of most, 
 nothing beyond the ordinary should be expected ; 
 and nothing beyond that is to be found. In some 
 apparently perfectly commonplace way the major- 
 ity of those who seek admission to the church 
 have come within the sphere of Christian in- 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 4; 
 
 fluence and have been taught Christianity. Some 
 of them know its essential truths very accurately ; 
 and some of them very imperfectly. They 
 acknowledge that they need forgiveness, and that 
 they look for forgiveness through Christ; but it 
 is quite evident that they have no deep conscious- 
 ness of sin. That may seem somewhat strange to 
 you. You may think that the new light would 
 almost certainly make the shadows of the past 
 very dark ; but it is not so, and it is not strange. 
 The case of the Japanese and the case of Paul are 
 very different. Paul was heir to centuries of 
 the discipline of the law ; while hitherto there has 
 been in Japanese no word for sin. Christian the- 
 ology has been obliged to take the word for 
 crime, and read into it the thought of sin, i. e., 
 sin against God. What the Psalmist meant when 
 he said, ''Against thee have I sinned," is some- 
 thing new to the Japanese. But the applicants for 
 admission to the church desire to confess Christ 
 before men. They say they wish to live a Christian 
 life ; and they pledge themselves, as they shall be 
 enabled, to do their Christian duties. From week 
 to week they join in the worship of the congrega- 
 tion. They have Christian friends most of whom 
 live on much the same plane as themselves, with 
 here and there one who lives on a higher plane, 
 and whose walk and conversation are an inspira- 
 tion. They are beset with temptations ; and it is 
 very hard for them to keep from falling. Often 
 
48 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 they do fall ; sometimes never to rise again. Time 
 and time again there would be no hope for them 
 but for the words, "Neither do I condemn thee: 
 go, and sin no more." They tread slowly and fal- 
 teringly the same pathway trodden by myriads 
 out of every nation and tongue on their way to 
 the Celestial City; only for them the pathway is 
 often very rough, very thorny, and very slippery. 
 That I think is a correct description of the re- 
 ligious experience of most of the Japanese Chris- 
 tians. But there are also among them men and 
 women of deeper Christian knowledge and richer 
 Christian experience, Christians who are an honor 
 to the Christian name. I could speak of the liv- 
 ing ; but it will be better to speak only of the dead ; 
 and of these I select two who were known of all 
 as lights in the world. Kataoka was one of the 
 first fruits of Tosa and an elder in the church. 
 Imprisoned for a political offense, he spent his 
 year in prison in reading the New Testament, in 
 meditation, and in prayer; and there, he said, 
 learned Christianity as he never had known it 
 before. At the time of his death, and for a 
 number of years before, he was the Presi- 
 dent of the Lower House of the national Diet. 
 Once when some of his friends advised him 
 to resign his eldership, in fear that it might 
 prevent his first election to the Diet, he said, 
 *Tf I must choose between the two, I would 
 rather remain an elder in the church." From 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW Ag 
 
 time to time it was his custom to open his 
 official residence in Tokyo for Christian services 
 to which he invited men of influence. He was 
 also president of the Board of Home Missions of 
 the church and deeply interested in its work. As 
 he lay dying, with wife and children and grand- 
 children gathered about him, he asked them to 
 sing his favorite hymn, ''Jesus, thy love, it cheers 
 my heart." Shortly before the end there was 
 brought to him from the emperor the Decoration 
 of the Rising Sun ; and, as the funeral procession 
 passed from the house to the grave on the hillside 
 overlooking the city and harbor, the streets were 
 Hned with his fellow-citizens in silence and respect. 
 For twenty years his life was a constant witness 
 for Christ, and his memory is a precious legacy. 
 
 Admiral Serata was a graduate of our Naval 
 Academy at Annapolis; and on his return to 
 Japan, promotion followed promotion, and honor 
 honor in rapid succession. During the war with 
 China he greatly distinguished himself, especially 
 in the convoy of transports and the capture of 
 Weihai-wei. Twice he was assigned to service on 
 the general staff of the Navy. During his career 
 he received three different Orders of Merit; and 
 also two decorations, that of the Rising Sun and 
 that of the Golden Hawk, the latter one greatly 
 coveted and awarded only for notable services in 
 war. Had he lived, he would no doubt have been 
 given high command in the recent great conflict. 
 
50 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 Serata was a Christian boy when he went to 
 America, and a member of the church. When he 
 -returned, he was a Christian young man ; and his 
 interest in Christianity and the church continued 
 undiminished. His duties as a naval officer fre- 
 quently called him away from home; but when- 
 ever he could he taught a class of Christians con- 
 nected with the congregation in which he and his 
 wife were deeply interested. He also had a class 
 of young men who came to his house on Satur- 
 day afternoons, and a number of them under his 
 guidance became Christians. Like Kataoka he 
 too was a member of the Board of Home Mis- 
 sions; and he willingly gave his time and best 
 thought to its work. 
 
 As to many thoughtful men, and to none more 
 so than to thoughtful Japanese, a time came when 
 he found it hard to hold fast to some of the essen- 
 tial truths of Christianity. Particularly was this 
 so with regard to the Incarnation. But he gave 
 himself quietly and patiently to a careful study 
 of the question ; and there were few in Japan bet- 
 ter acquainted than he with Christian thought on 
 the subject. It may interest you to know that 
 one of the books which he carried with him on his 
 ship, during the war with China, was Canon 
 Gore's work on the Incarnation. Not long before 
 his death he told his pastor that his doubts were 
 all gone ; and just before he left home for the last 
 time he told him that he had come to feel that the 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW $1 
 
 truth which the Church of Christ in Japan needs 
 now to grasp, as it has not yet grasped it, is Paul's 
 teaching of justification in Christ. 
 
 The burial of a naval officer of high rank is a 
 scene that never loses its impressiveness : The 
 brilliant uniforms, the bronzed faces of the sail- 
 ors, the martial music, the gun-carriage covered 
 with the pall, the sound of the guns fired slowly 
 one by one, and, penetrating all, the thought that 
 sooner or later for every one the hour comes at 
 last when death reigns. That was the scene when 
 Admiral Serata was laid to rest. 
 
 At the service at the house, Admiral Uryu, a 
 classmate at Annapolis and life-long friend, read 
 a short sketch of Serata's life. The pastor spoke 
 of him as a man, a student, and a Christian. 
 "Counted by years," he said, "his life had been 
 comparatively short, but looked at in the light of 
 experience it had been a long one; for he had 
 seen much of men and of things, both in peace 
 and in war. But it was not this that most of all 
 had molded him. That which most of all had 
 made him what he was, was his life in Christ." 
 
 The service at the grave was very simple. Only 
 a prayer following the reading of a part of the 
 chapter in Corinthians. Very simple indeed it 
 seemed in the light of the setting sun shining on 
 all the pageantry of arms. Very simple, but very 
 grand also the words sounded over the grave of 
 the Admiral : "Death is swallowed up in victory." 
 
52 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 In the sketch of his life read by Admiral Uryu, 
 he was described as "calm and brave; gentle and 
 dignified in manner; easy of approach and kind 
 to all ; and his death a great loss to his country." 
 He was a man of refined literary tastes, well read 
 in history, political science, and theology. He 
 loved his home, his wife, and his children. That 
 is how he is remembered by those who knew him 
 most intimately. In the Church of Christ in 
 Japan he is remembered as a centurion who feared 
 God with all his house, who prayed to God 
 always, and who was not ashamed of the gospel 
 of Christ. 
 
 The majority of the ministers of the church, 
 as is so in every church, are good men doing a 
 good work, though without exceptional natural 
 gifts or acquirements. But as in other churches, 
 there is also another class; men of more than 
 common gifts and acquirements, and more than 
 common force. A number of them are well read 
 in theology and other studies; some of them ex- 
 ceedingly well read. To one who knows them, 
 who meets them in conversation or counsel, or 
 in the meetings of synod, they are men who can- 
 not but command respect. 
 
 Theologically their position is precisely what 
 might be expected. The new era in the national 
 life began with the Imperial Pledge that Japan 
 should seek for knowledge through all the world. 
 The attitude of the whole nation is therefore pecu- 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 53 
 
 liarly one of inquiry; and this is the attitude of 
 the more influential minds among the ministers 
 of the Church of Christ in Japan. They hold it 
 for truth that we know only in part ; that all coun- 
 cils may err and that many have erred. They are 
 therefore not unwilling to discern the signs of 
 the times. Nevertheless they stand, and they are 
 recognized as standing unflinchingly for the es- 
 sential truths of historical Christianity. 
 
 The work of the Japanese minister is essen- 
 tially that of the minister in any land, saving that 
 he must learn to find in the gospel of Christ an 
 answer to the particular problems of Japanese 
 life, with its own joys and sorrows, hopes and 
 fears, customs and ideals. His position is often 
 a trying one. It is hard, often very hard, for him 
 to make both ends meet. As a teacher of religion, 
 he sometimes knows what it is not to hold the 
 place in society that would otherwise be accorded 
 him. The congregations are often hard to guide 
 and not easy to please ; and frequently there is in 
 them much fertile soil in which to sow the seeds 
 of gossip and faction. In the large cities, espe- 
 cially in Tokyo, there is a special difficulty. The 
 preaching that once satisfied satisfies no longer. 
 This indicates, on the part of the congregations, 
 a growing familiarity with the things commonly 
 known among us ; but it also adds to the burdens 
 of the pastor. Country pastors, too, and evangel- 
 ists have their own trials. Yes, there are many 
 
54 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 shepherds over the flock of Christ in Japan, who, 
 when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, shall re- 
 ceive the crown of glory. 
 
 And now as to the present general outlook from 
 the Christian point of view and the thing to be 
 done now. 
 
 The evangelization of Japan is not to be accom- 
 plished by a charge of cavalry. The optimism 
 that thinks otherwise is the optimism of a zeal 
 without knowledge. The right figure to employ 
 is that of a siege. This fact is now fully recog- 
 nized by the Church of Christ in Japan. That in 
 itself is a sign of promise. The anti-foreign mood 
 which was one of the causes of the reaction has 
 now passed away. It passed away with the revi- 
 sion of the treaties. Especially as regards Eng- 
 land, her ally, and America, her old friend, the 
 national feeling is most cordial. As those nations 
 are both recognized as Christian nations, that 
 feeling cannot but open the way to a more and 
 more friendly hearing for Christianity. Ideas, 
 principles, movements. Christian in their origin, 
 and a general knowledge of Christianity itself, 
 are now gradually extending through the empire ; 
 and there is a growing confidence in the minds 
 of many observers that there is an increasing 
 open-mindedness toward Christianity on the part 
 of the people. The war which it was feared would 
 prove an injury to Christianity has on the con- 
 trary proved a help. The thousands of little 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 55 
 
 "comfort bags" as they are called, little bags con- 
 taining thread and needles and whatnot with tiny 
 little copies of the Gospels and Christian booklets, 
 sent to the soldiers and sailors by the girls in 
 Christian schools, have brought back many let- 
 ters filled with earnest thanks. Christian women, 
 Japanese and foreigners^ have found many ways 
 of ministering to the comfort and pleasure of the 
 sick and wounded sent to the hospitals in Japan 
 for recovery ; and the cup of cold water will not 
 be forgotten. The work of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association among the soldiers in Korea 
 and Manchuria has won the applause of all. Mer- 
 chants who are not Christians have contributed to 
 its support, and the emperor himself has made a 
 gift to it of five thousand dollars; a thing that 
 before the war would not have been dreamed of. 
 The new national self-consciousness is moving 
 among the churches; and the churches are 
 awakening to a new sense of responsibility which 
 is at once Japanese and Christian. It is the com- 
 mon belief, for which there is much evidence, 
 that many now in private are reading Christian 
 books and inquiring into Christianity. Thus there 
 is forming round the church an outer circle, 
 composed of men and women for one reason or 
 another favorably disposed toward Christianity. 
 This outer circle has been compared to the outer 
 circle in the days of the apostles; the outer cir- 
 cle that surrounded the synagogue. 
 
S6 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 These are the opportunities to be seized; and 
 the Church of Christ in Japan is endeavoring to 
 do its part to seize them. But notwithstanding 
 all its remarkable progress, in comparison with 
 the mass of the nation it is still only a little flock. 
 Therefore it still needs help. Not help of the 
 wrong kind, not help forever, nor help in super- 
 abundance, but help of the right kind, help 
 enough, and help long enough, to aid it through 
 the present stage in its history. Help that will 
 establish it in numbers, in leaders, and in Chris- 
 tian institutions. Help that as speedily as possible 
 will bring the day when there shall be no more 
 need of foreign missions for the evangelization 
 of Japan, because foreign missions have given 
 way to something better, — to home missions in 
 strength. 
 
 The history of the church in Japan is in many 
 ways wonderfully like the history of the church 
 in the New Testament. It has seen the new joy, 
 the new hope, the new enthusiasm, recorded in 
 the first chapter of the Acts. It has seen believers 
 scattered abroad preaching the word, and many 
 with one accord giving heed to the things that 
 were spoken. It has seen churches founded, as 
 at Antioch, and Philippi, and Corinth. But there 
 came a change in the church in the New Testa- 
 ment. The change to the condition of which we 
 see the shadow in Paul's letter to Timothy and 
 Titus, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in the 
 
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW 57 
 
 messages to the churches in Asia. The change 
 in the condition of the church at the close of the 
 first century. With certain marked differences, 
 that in many respects is the condition of the 
 churches in Japan to-day. 
 
 The thing to be avoided is the thing that fol- 
 lowed. Little companies of believers standing; 
 alone, and making such slow progress that for 
 two generations it is hard to trace out their his- 
 tory. At that time, so far as man's aid was con- 
 cerned, there was no help for it ; but it is precisely 
 in this respect that the position of the church in 
 Japan is in bright contrast with that of the church 
 at the close of the first century. The church in 
 Japan does not stand alone; there are other 
 churches in the world — great churches — that wor- 
 ship the same Lord and Master. Those churches 
 have already carried Christianity to Japan, and 
 they can still help the church in Japan; greatly 
 help it to a place of strength and conquest, to 
 which it can otherwise attain only with wearisome 
 slowness. This is the call to us. A call to help 
 the little Church of Christ in Japan — our little 
 Church of Christ in Japan — ^through the present 
 stage in its history. Then when that is done the 
 Church of Christ in Japan will help us in China. 
 
Lecture Three 
 
 METHODS OF WORK 
 
LECTURE III 
 Methods of Work 
 
 The meeting place in which a Japanese congre- 
 gation first assembles is commonly a Japanese 
 house, somewhat altered perhaps to meet the 
 necessary requirements. That however is not 
 permanently satisfactory; and after a time there 
 is a movement to build. A part of the funds 
 necessary is raised by the people ; sometimes half, 
 and sometimes more than half. The rest comes 
 from friends either in Japan or America. There 
 are among the churches a very few really good 
 buildings ; and a larger number that may be called 
 good, but plain to a degree. Most of the build- 
 ings are small and very unattractive. There is a 
 growing feeling that sufficient attention has not 
 been paid to matters of architecture; and espe- 
 cially to the care of buildings when erected. 
 
 On entering most Japanese churches the travel- 
 er from America is probably somewhat disap- 
 pointed. Everywhere else in Japan he finds the 
 picturesque, and naturally he expects to find it 
 in the churches also. What he does usually find 
 is a congregation seated and worshiping much 
 as at home ; except that everything is cheap, 
 and pretty much everything more or less shabby ; 
 6i 
 
62 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 and the sweeping, the dusting, et cetera, are by 
 no means up to the mark. The Japanese sexton 
 could easily give the most hardened American 
 sexton many points; and what more can I say 
 than that? 
 
 But it would not be right to say this and noth- 
 ing more. In many cases the congregation is 
 one doing the work of a congregation. There is 
 a real church life. The pastor is supported; the 
 children and many of the adults attend the Sun- 
 day school; the ladies have their various organi- 
 zations as in the churches at home ; and the envel- 
 opes in the collection boxes show that there are 
 those who contribute systematically. Here and 
 there in a pew, though unrecognized by the travel- 
 er, may be some one well known and respected 
 in the community. There are women too who 
 labor in the gospel, whose names are in the Book 
 of Life; and households like the household of 
 Stephanas. 
 
 Moreover, if the traveler be observing, his eye 
 will soon detect a local coloring in the scene be- 
 fore him. Commonly the men sit on one side, 
 and the women on the other. The service of 
 course is all in Japanese. Most of the tunes sung, 
 it is true, are the old tunes ; as most of the hymns 
 are the old hymns, only in a new tongue. But 
 sometimes he will hear a tune he never heard 
 before. It is a Japanese hymn set to a Japanese 
 air, now called to a new and higher service. If 
 
METHODS OF WORK 63 
 
 it so happen that the sacrament of baptism is 
 administered, he will see the babies dressed, not 
 in white, but in some bright color; and if it be 
 winter very likely wearing scarlet caps. When 
 the bread is broken and the wine poured out, the 
 thought will come into his mind that many of 
 those who gather at the table once worshiped 
 in the temples or never worshiped at all. And 
 so as the hour goes by, he will find himself repeat- 
 ing the words, *'Out of every people and nation." 
 
 The meetings of synod and the presbyteries 
 need little particular description. The docket, the 
 motion, the reports, the committees, the discus- 
 sions, the rules of order (except that the 
 Japanese rules of order differ in some particulars 
 from ours), are all the old story. Usually each 
 meeting of synod has its own question of special 
 interest; and the important report is generally 
 that of the Board of Home Missions, of which I 
 will speak by and by. The work is as well done 
 I think as it is at home ; and if there is danger of 
 making a slip, there are doctors of the law sitting 
 by, learned in ecclesiastical principles and prece- 
 dents, and not unconscious of their high calling. 
 
 But as in the case of the congregations, with 
 so much that is familiar, there is a local coloring 
 too: The pulpit is decked with flowers ^nd 
 grasses as one sees only in Japan. On the wall 
 hangs a great sheet of paper covered with the 
 statistics of the year. The dress too and the Ian- 
 
64 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 guage; the wooden shoes left standing at the 
 door ; and here and there perhaps a very seriously- 
 minded baby, with its head clean shorn except 
 for a ring on top or a tuft over either ear, survey- 
 ing the scene from its mother's back in rapt atten- 
 tion. These and many other little things proclaim 
 the land of tea and silk and lacquer. 
 
 Apart from the work done, the meetings of 
 synod especially are of high value to the mem- 
 bers personally. Old friends meet and new friend- 
 ships are formed. The coming together is an 
 opportunity to talk things over ; it keeps the mem- 
 bers in touch and is helpful to agreement; the 
 pastor or evangelist who has lived an isolated life 
 gains a new start. In order the better to accom- 
 plish these ends, it has been the custom for a 
 number of years to rent a tea house on the bay- 
 shore near Tokyo, where as many of the mem- 
 bers, as can, meet for two days before the synod 
 convenes. Papers are read and subjects discussed 
 much after the fashion in ministerial clubs in 
 America. At the last meeting that I attended, 
 among other things, one of the Japanese minis- 
 ters who had received the degree of Ph.D. at 
 one of the universities in Germany gave an ac- 
 count of German theological teachers as they 
 impressed him. 
 
 In passing too I should say that without at- 
 tendance upon a meeting of synod one will hardly 
 gain a true idea of the Church of Christ in Japan. 
 
METHODS OF WORK 65 
 
 For scarcely anywhere else will one find together 
 such a group of representative men ; and without 
 knowing its representative men one does not know 
 the church. To the older members, the meet- 
 ings of synod bring back scenes never to be 
 forgotten — times of hope and fear; times when 
 the whole future of the church seemed to hang 
 in the balance; times of the broken bread and 
 the falling wine. 
 
 It is usual to classify the various forms of work 
 done in a mission field as medical, literary, evan- 
 gelistic, and educational. This is a convenient 
 but not quite exact division. For in many cases 
 a particular piece of work might properly be 
 placed in more than one class; and the object of 
 every piece is the establishment of the church, 
 and the evangelization of the nation. But the 
 classification is convenient, and I follow it. 
 
 During the years preceding the first founding 
 of the church in Japan, and for some years after- 
 wards, the work of the medical missionary was 
 nearly or quite indispensable. It relieved suffer- 
 ing and commended Christianity to many as no 
 other work could have done. But the time is 
 now past when it is needed to gain an entrance 
 for Christianity ; and so far as the relief of suffer- 
 ing is concerned, there are many Japanese physi- 
 cians thoroughly trained and equipped. How 
 thoroughly, the present war has made evident. 
 For these reasons, medical work is no longer re- 
 
66 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 garded as necessary by the Council of Missions; 
 unless it be in the form of a sanitarium for Japan- 
 ese ladies, where they may be brought within the 
 sphere of Christian influence under circumstances 
 of peculiar promise. 
 
 The importance of really good Christian litera- 
 ture in Japan it is hardly possible to overrate ; and 
 already a beginning has been made. There is an 
 excellent translation of the Scriptures which is 
 a remarkable piece of work considering the time 
 when it was made, though by and by it will need 
 to be revised. A new Hymnal has recently been 
 published by a committee representing the 
 Church of Christ in Japan, and also the Congre- 
 gational, Methodist, and Baptist churches. The 
 work is well done, and during the past year 
 50,000 copies were sold. The Christian literature 
 in Japanese includes also a considerable number 
 of exegetical, historical, biographical, apologetic, 
 and theological works, as well as many small 
 books of various kinds and a great many tracts. 
 Some of these have proved themselves to be of 
 much value. For several years Sunday-school 
 lessons have been prepared by a committee com- 
 prising members of the Council of Missions, and 
 also members of the American Board, Methodist, 
 and Baptist Missions. There are also Christian 
 magazines and newspapers. Among the best of 
 the newspapers is the Tukuin Shimpo (Evangel- 
 ist), edited by one of the ministers of the Church 
 
METHODS OF WORK 67 
 
 of Christ in Japan, and which now more than 
 pays for itself. Regarding this, one of the mis- 
 sionaries of the council recently expressed what 
 is only the common judgment when he said: ''We 
 cannot be too grateful for a church paper so 
 sound in doctrine, evangelistic in spirit, and 
 thoroughly wide-awake and sensible. The Japan- 
 ese evangelists find it most useful for themselves 
 and their inquirers; and every missionary will 
 find his knowledge of the church, his interest in 
 it and love for it, greatly increased by a regular 
 reading of the Tukuin Shimpo/' 
 
 But while a beginning has been made, it must 
 be confessed that Christian literature in Japan has 
 not kept pace with either the general or the tech- 
 nical literature which is the outcome of the new 
 national life ; and this is a fact calling for careful 
 attention, for the Japanese are a reading people. 
 The daily newspaper goes everywhere; you see 
 it by the scissors of the barber and the steel of 
 the butcher. Especially too is it to be remem- 
 bered that without an informing and attractive 
 Christian literature, all those who cannot read 
 some foreign language are greatly straitened in 
 every attempt to grow in Christian knowledge. 
 Until it is provided, most Christian families can 
 have but little Christian reading. But the produc- 
 tion of a good Christian literature in Japanese is 
 no easy task. It is quite as hard to write a good 
 book in Japanese as it is in English; and if it is 
 
68 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 not good both in substance and in form it will 
 attract but few readers. There is of course a 
 field for translations; but to make a translation 
 that is really readable calls for a peculiar skill. 
 This is true of a translation from P'rench or Ger- 
 man into English; but translation from French 
 or German into English gives little idea of the 
 difficulty of translating English into Japanese. 
 But notwithstanding the difficulties to be over- 
 come in producing a Christian literature in Jap- 
 anese much more should and could be done than 
 has yet been done. 
 
 How are men and women brought into the 
 church ? How are companies of believers formed ? 
 What of the care of those at a distance ? 
 
 There is of course the work of the pastor in 
 his own congregation and the work of the con- 
 gregation as an organization. Besides this, 
 there is a constant work done by individuals 
 for individuals. Classes are held for students 
 in the government schools^ for soldiers in 
 the army and sailors in the navy, for policemen, 
 and for young men in business. Generally these 
 are taught the Bible in English. Many of them 
 come for the English, but that opens the way for 
 Christian conversation. I have already referred 
 to the conferences which Mr. Kataoka held at his 
 residence ; and to the class which met at Admiral 
 Serata's house on Saturday afternoons. Ladies 
 cultivate the acquaintance of Japanese ladies, and 
 
METHODS OF WORK 69 
 
 also visit the hospitals. From time to time special 
 opportunities present themselves of which advan- 
 tage is taken. During recent years, a number of 
 the missionaries have followed the plan of insert- 
 ing in the daily newspapers notices inviting pri- 
 vate correspondence with anyone desiring infor- 
 mation regarding Christianity. All inquiries are 
 given personal attention ; the writers are supplied 
 with suitable literature ; and if the correspondence 
 opens the way, they are visited. The most prom- 
 ising persons to approach are of course those 
 who are in a receptive mood (the object of this 
 plan is to discover such), and the plan has proved 
 to a considerable degree successful. Public meet- 
 ings are frequently held, especially in the larger 
 cities, at which addresses are delivered to students 
 and others. In Tokyo the building most frequently 
 used for this purpose is the hall of the Y. M. C. 
 A. There are also places where there is preach- 
 ing at regular times in the open air. The mis- 
 sion schools of course afford peculiar opportuni- 
 ties ; and many of the scholars become Christians. 
 Work of the kinds now named is going on con- 
 stantly. 
 
 New congregations of believers which ulti- 
 mately form churches are usually the result of 
 definite effort to that end originating in special 
 circumstances. Some town, or some section of a 
 city, is recognized as a promising place in which 
 to open work. It may be a place of strategic im- 
 
70 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 portance as a center; it may be one in a line of 
 places already held. Often it already has in it 
 a nucleus of Christians. Sometimes a special 
 invitation comes to hold services regularly in 
 the house of a Christian who will gather in 
 a company of friends or others. Cases of the 
 kinds mentioned lead to visits ; often to the 
 renting of a house and the location of a Jap- 
 anese evangelist; sometimes to the location of 
 a missionary. In all such work the value of a 
 capable wise Japanese evangelist cannot be over- 
 estimated. To which I add here, lest I forget it, 
 that notwithstanding the theories of some doctri- 
 naire amateurs, a congregation without regular 
 pastoral care always deteriorates. In some places 
 the work moves on successfully from the start ; in 
 some it starts fair and then declines; in some it 
 is uphill at the start and never anything else. 
 All this has a bearing upon the question of 
 the evangelization of the world within a definite 
 time. 
 
 There is another thing worth remembering, 
 for often the whole future of the congregation 
 will be molded by it: I know that the gospel is 
 to be preached to the poor; that there were not 
 many noble in the church at Corinth ; that it was 
 first the fishermen, and then the emperor. Never- 
 theless it is of great importance that the first 
 group of Christians in a town be men and women 
 of intelligence and standing in the community. 
 
METHODS OF WORK 71 
 
 Yon cannot always get them; but get them if 
 you can — some CorneHus or Crispus, some Lois 
 or Lydia, some Aquila and Priscilla. With such 
 men and women to begin with, the poor will come 
 in afterwards; and they will be welcome. But if 
 the first and controlling group be ignorant men 
 of no position in the place, Christianity will find 
 it hard to advance or even to gain a fair hearing. 
 To which I may add that the poor in this world's 
 goods are not always preeminently the poor in 
 spirit. 
 
 Many of the companies of Christians, and many 
 of the congregations, especially those in the coun- 
 try and smaller towns, are under the general care 
 either of a missionary or of the Board of Home 
 Missions; and this general care constitutes an 
 important part of the evangelistic work. 
 
 Many things can be attended to by correspond- 
 ence, but from time to time visits must be made. 
 These visits include preaching, the administra- 
 tion of the sacraments, special meetings, and the 
 consideration of difficulties and opportunities. 
 Not every missionary has the gifts requisite for 
 this kind of work ; just as not every one so gifted 
 has the gifts needed for other forms of work no 
 less important. These evangelistic tours are 
 sometimes very wearisome; but that is equally 
 true of the work of a faithful teacher in a Chris- 
 tian school. You will easily understand also that 
 the evangelistic tour, especially in pleasant 
 
^2 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 weather, has its pleasant side also. One gains a 
 particular knowledge of the country, and of the 
 ways and customs of the people. Sometimes the 
 visitor is met outside of the town and given a 
 welcome that cannot but be gratifying; and 
 sometimes there are interesting evenings in the 
 homes of the Christians. When the visitor is a 
 missionary, he is frequently accompanied by a 
 Japanese minister, whom he thus comes to know 
 better and to sympathize with more deeply than 
 ever before. Almost always one puts up at a 
 public inn, which is a little world of itself. 
 
 The last time I was present at a meeting of 
 the Board of Home Missions, one of the Japanese 
 ministers gave an account of an extensive tour 
 which he had just made through the Island of 
 Formosa. That was of course a tour of more 
 than usual interest; but the account has the 
 advantage of being a picture of actual experience. 
 
 The special object of the visit to the island 
 was the organization of another church, the con- 
 gregation paying the expenses of the journey; 
 but this special errand was made the occasion of 
 a general visitation of most of the places in which 
 the Board of Home Missions has work. 
 
 Mr. Nemura landed at Keetung, the port on the 
 northeast of the island, which reminded him 
 of Yokohama, when he was a boy, in its bustle, 
 its incongruities, and its things not to be named, 
 but with this great difference, that he found 
 
METHODS OF WORK 73 
 
 there a group of Christians awaiting his arrival, 
 who welcomed him and who would hardly let 
 him go without a promise to send them a pastor, 
 toward whose support they would raise ten dol- 
 lars a month. After two days there, he went to 
 Taihoku, a rapidly-growing city where there is 
 a self-supporting church. In Taihoku he spent 
 three days; and besides preaching in the church, 
 he lectured in the public hall — an interesting 
 meeting at which some three hundred were pres- 
 ent, and of which a full account appeared in the 
 daily papers. He also held two special meetings, 
 one for women and one for young men who 
 invited him to speak to them at their club. From 
 there he visited two other places in which the pas- 
 tor of the church at Taihoku has been carrying 
 on services regularly, one three hours distant by 
 rail and the other somewhat off the line. There 
 he found the people ready to contribute five dol- 
 lars a month. Taking ship at Tamsui on the 
 northwest coast he sailed south to Ampi, the 
 port of Tainau and a place beautiful for situa- 
 tion, stopping by the way at the Pescadores. At 
 Ampi, greatly to the surprise of both, he met an 
 old friend, a captain of gens d'armes, a Christian 
 man who invited him to his office where he ar- 
 ranged for a meeting with his men and others. 
 From Ampi he went to Tainau, his place of des- 
 tination. There he organized the church, which 
 promised ten dollars a month toward the salary 
 
74 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 of a pastor. He then returned north again to 
 Taihoku by a construction train, ending the trip 
 with a second visit to Tamsui, where he held a 
 meeting lasting late into the night. 
 
 It was a hard trip, and when it was over he was 
 nearly tired out, but there were two things that 
 constantly impressed him, and made him forget 
 his weariness. Everywhere he went men were 
 ready to listen. It was not that the natural man 
 ceases to be a natural man when he goes to For- 
 mosa; but in Formosa there are many intelligent 
 men of inquiring minds, who being without the 
 thousand and one things to engross their atten- 
 tion in Japan itself, have ears to hear. The other 
 thing that constantly impressed him was the 
 fact that wherever he went he met Christians. 
 Even on the treeless Pescadores he found a 
 little company. 
 
 During recent years a number of foreign evan- 
 gelists have visited Japan; and in some cases at 
 least their preaching has been reported as attend- 
 ed with marked success, signs and wonders fol- 
 lowing. More than once I have read, in papers 
 published in America, of a thousand serious in- 
 quirers as the fruit of a few weeks' work. I 
 would not willingly say anything to disparage 
 any sincere endeavor to aid in the evangelization 
 of Japan. But the difficulties in the way of one 
 accustomed for years to address only congrega- 
 tions familiar with the thought of one personal 
 
METHODS OF WORK 75 
 
 living God and its necessary implications, and 
 acquainted with the great out-standing facts of 
 Christianity, are very serious when he attempts 
 to put himself upon the plane of a promiscuous 
 assembly in Japan. To many of those who 
 hear him, the thought of one personal God is a 
 new or nearly new conception; to others, a con- 
 ception not new but in clear contradiction to all 
 deep thinking ; and so far as worship is concerned, 
 those who worship at all worship Kamis and 
 Hotokcs, ancestral ghosts, and imaginary foxes. 
 The speaker may have a respectful hearing. At 
 the close of his address, many may raise their 
 hands in response to an invitation to make a 
 pledge in its language full of meaning. He may 
 count them too and add the figures up correctly. 
 But this should not deceive him. To be of value, 
 such a response must be really intelligent. ''Spur- 
 geon would have failed in addressing promiscu- 
 ous assemblies in Japan; and so would Moody, 
 if he had made the addresses which he made in 
 Scotland and America," the Japanese minister 
 whose tour in Formosa I have just described, 
 once said to me. We often speak of the old and 
 simple story. In America it is old and simple; 
 in Japan it is still new and strange. It is certainly 
 the conviction of the most discriminating Japan- 
 ese, and of many missionaries, that the foreign 
 evangelist can speak understandingly only to 
 Christians, or to those already instructed in the 
 
76 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 truths of Christianity. There is also a signifi- 
 cance worth noting in the fact that while Mr. 
 Nemura's trip through Formosa was full of en- 
 couragement, it was accompanied by no sensa- 
 tional incidents, though no foreign evangelist 
 could approach Mr. Nemura in intelligently and 
 effectively presenting Christianity to an audience 
 in Japan. Remember too that the words of a for- 
 eign evangelist must squeeze their way through 
 the lips of an interpreter, who is not always an 
 expert by any means. So much on this subject it 
 seems to me worth while to say to you in passing. 
 
 Closely connected with the evangelistic work is 
 the training of theological students. There are 
 now two theological schools cooperating with 
 the Church of Christ in Japan: One in Sendai, 
 maintained by the mission of the Reformed Ger- 
 man Church ; and one in Tokyo — the Theological 
 Department of the Meiji Gakuin — in which our 
 mission joins with those of the Reformed (Dutch) 
 and the Southern Presbyterian churches. 
 
 The history of theological education in Japan 
 is a long story, and I must content myself with 
 a few general statements. One question never 
 yet settled is whether there should be two distinct 
 courses: One more brief and simple; the other 
 longer, more comprehensive, and including a 
 good reading knowledge of English. Some years 
 ago the experiment of two courses was tried, and 
 the experience was rather against it. For various 
 
METHODS OF WORK 77 
 
 reasons however the experiment is now being 
 tried again. Theoretically, the argument in favor 
 of a second and more simple course seems 
 promising: A number of men imperfectly edu- 
 cated, it is true, but nevertheless preaching 
 the gospel. In fact however it was formerly 
 found that those who took the simple course 
 did not wear so well; and the best of them 
 were not satisfied with their position. This 
 also is to be said : The more comprehensive course 
 is not too difficult a one ; it contains nothing more 
 than every minister should know ; and in the pres- 
 ent state of education in Japan it is highly and 
 increasingly important that the Christian minister 
 should not be professionally inferior in education 
 to the physician, the lawyer, or the soldier. 
 
 Another question presenting many difficulties 
 is that of the medium of instruction : How far 
 shall it be in Japanese, and how far in English? 
 Many plans have been proposed, and most if not 
 all of them have been tried. At present the lan- 
 guage of the class room is almost entirely Japan- 
 ese, though a few classes are taught in English, 
 and many of the text-books are in English. The 
 reason for this use of English is I think obvious. 
 The limitations of a minister in Japan without 
 access to a wide range of Christian literature are 
 so very great; and such access can be attained 
 only by the ability to read a foreign language. 
 
 The work of the theological schools in Japan 
 
78 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 has been one of many difficulties, and no doubt 
 many imperfections; but it will always deserve 
 kindly recognition. With few exceptions all the 
 ministers in the church received their early train- 
 ing in them; and out of the one hundred and 
 thirty-two graduates of our school in Tokyo now 
 living, nearly a hundred are still in the service 
 of the Church of Christ in Japan or of other 
 evangelical churches. 
 
 The number of theological students is now not 
 nearly so great as it was for a number of years. 
 For this there are several reasons. Attractive 
 openings for young men in other callings are 
 now much more numerous than formerly. There 
 is a new love of gold inspired by a nearer and 
 clearer vision of the kingdoms of the world and 
 the glory of them — the yellow peril for Japan, as 
 one of the Japanese ministers has called it. Then 
 too the difficulties and trials of the pastor and 
 evangelist are far more evident than they were 
 when the young men had for their watchword, 
 ''Christ for Japan, and Japan for Christ." But the 
 need for ministers, and especially for those having 
 the qualifications for leadership, is constant and 
 constantly increasing, and there are many who 
 are praying that God will speedily find and send 
 them into the vineyard. It may be too that there 
 is room for improvement in some of our methods. 
 
 Besides the theological schools for young men 
 there are training schools for Bible-women. As 
 
METHODS OF WORK 79 
 
 a rule those who enter these schools are women 
 in early mi Idle life but free from family cares. 
 The high schools for girls also give their pupils 
 a thorough training for Christian work ; and many 
 of their graduates also have proved themselves in 
 the highest degree useful. 
 
 But besides theological schools and schools for 
 the training of Bible-women, there are also other 
 schools maintained by the missions. There are 
 primary schools for boys and girls having some 
 twelve hundred pupils; a number of higher 
 schools for girls and young women, having some 
 eight or nine hundred pupils ; and three for boys, 
 with four or five hundred pupils. These schools 
 are of various grades, and each one has its own 
 work and history. It would take much too long 
 to set forth the facts necessary to a clear under- 
 standing of their character. I will therefore con- 
 fine myself to a few general statements regarding 
 Christian education in Japan, and then select a 
 single school for brief description. 
 
 The Council of Missions has always stood for 
 Christian education. What is meant by Christian 
 education is this: That the pupils shall receive 
 as good a general education as it is in the power 
 of the mission to give; that this general educa- 
 tion shall be accompanied with careful instruc- 
 tion in the truths of Christianity; and that no 
 pains shall be spared by personal endeavor to 
 establish the pupils in Christian character. To 
 
8o THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 take any other position is to forget history and 
 become the partisan of a one-sided policy in 
 missions. 
 
 But the question is sometimes asked, Why in 
 a country where the government is doing so 
 much for education, should the churches in 
 America be called upon to maintain schools, and 
 especially those of a high grade ? 
 
 No one would contend that the churches in 
 America should be asked to do the work of the 
 Japanese government, and to put the matter in 
 that way is simply to set up a man of straw. It 
 is true that the whole nation is being educated. 
 But it must not be overlooked that the national 
 system of education is one in which all teaching 
 of religion is prohibited. Not only is the system 
 nonreligious in principle, but under the adminis- 
 tration of some officials and some teachers it is 
 anti-Christian in its influence. Therefore un- 
 less Christian schools are provided, the children 
 of Christians, not to mention others, will be con- 
 strained to receive their education under influ- 
 ences seldom favorable and often adverse to faith 
 in Christianity. This situation calls for particular 
 consideration when it is remembered that Chris- 
 tian schools in Japan have now a large and grow- 
 ing Christian constituency. Of the two hundred 
 and twenty-three students in our institution in 
 Tokyo for boys and young men, between thirty 
 and forty per cent come from Christian famiUes 
 
METHODS OF WORK 8i 
 
 or through the influence of Christian friends. 
 Therefore, among other reasons, it is precisely 
 because the government is doing so much for the 
 secular, that is the nonreligious, education of 
 Japan, that Christian education is imperatively 
 called for. 
 
 But a second question is sometimes put. If 
 Christian schools are needed in Japan, why can- 
 not they be established and maintained by the 
 Japanese Christians themselves? 
 
 The question in Japan is not, as it may be in 
 some countries, one of carrying on an elementary 
 school in which a group of Christians may have 
 their children instructed in the rudiments of 
 knowledge. The whole country is supplied by 
 the government with good primary, middle, and 
 higher schools; and if Christian schools of the 
 same grade cannot be maintained, Christian edu- 
 cation must be given up. 
 
 As compared with the Christians in some coun- 
 tries, the Japanese Christians are no doubt well 
 to do. There are among them some persons rela- 
 tively of means, but the majority are from among 
 the poor. Many of the churches have not yet 
 attained to full self-support, their first duty, and 
 they carry on the work of their Board of Home 
 Missions only through constant effort on the part 
 of their pastors and others who are impressed 
 with a sense of the responsibility of the church 
 in the matter. 
 
82 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 Under these circumstances the Japanese Chris- 
 tians cannot be expected to bear the burden of the 
 Christian education requisite. The number of 
 those in America, with all its wealth, who are able 
 to make gifts to schools and colleges is com- 
 paratively small; in Japan it is far smaller, and 
 especially among those who are interested in 
 Christian education. Most of the students in our 
 American private schools and colleges pay for 
 their board and tuition, but that is all. Nine 
 tenths of the students in our institution in Tokyo 
 for boys and young men, for example, do the 
 same; and more than that cannot fairly be ex- 
 pected for some years to come. 
 
 There are other facts connected with Christian 
 education in Japan that deserve notice ; but I will 
 limit myself to one of them. In their early history, 
 the Christian schools were the best in the country, 
 and students flocked to them by a natural choice. 
 To-day they are in some respects actually better 
 than ever; but relatively they are not so. There 
 is nothing more marked in the progress of Japan 
 during the past twenty years than the steady im- 
 provement of the government schools. In certain 
 respects many of them, especially those in the 
 large cities, are better equipped than the Christian 
 schools. Their funds also, in many cases, enable 
 them to obtain a higher grade of Japanese teach- 
 ers, and the effect of this is what might be ex- 
 pected. Many students, who in the old days 
 
METHODS OF WORK 83 
 
 would certainly have gone to Christian schools, 
 are now drawn to the government's schools, or 
 to certain private institutions. This is a condi- 
 tion of which no one can reasonably complain; 
 but it must be met by the Christian schools if 
 they are to maintain their reputation; if they are 
 to get the most desirable students; and if they 
 are to do justice to their own Christian con- 
 stituency. This means that the appropriations for 
 the schools must be increased, and that at least 
 the two high schools in Tokyo — the one for 
 boys and young men, and the other for girls and 
 young women — should be endowed. I may 
 add that other missions have already begun to 
 move in this direction. 
 
 And now to speak more particularly though 
 briefly of one of the schools. For several reasons 
 I select Joshi Gakuin, our high school for girls 
 in Tokyo. I do this because I wish to emphasize 
 the value of high schools for girls and young 
 women, because I happen to be somewhat in- 
 timately acquainted with the work of the school ; 
 and because there is no school in all Japan 
 that ranks higher in character and achievement. 
 I must not omit to say however that I might 
 equally well have chosen Meiji Gakuin, our insti- 
 tution for boys and young men. 
 
 Joshi Gakuin is situated in one of the best 
 sections of Tokyo, not far from the Imperial 
 Residence. It has something over two hundred 
 
84 THE CHURCH O.F CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 pupils ; half of whom come from all parts of Japan 
 and live in the dormitories, and the other half 
 are day pupils from homes in the neighborhood. 
 Socially they belong to all classes. Some come 
 from families of rank or large wealth, and a few 
 are from the poor, for it always has been a prin- 
 ciple of the school that it shall not be exclusive. 
 The fathers of most are bankers, physicians, law- 
 ]^ers, ministers, teachers, officials, merchants, well- 
 to-do farmers, and officers in the army or navy. 
 The school has three departments: The Prepara- 
 tory, of four years; the Academic, also of four 
 years ; and the Advanced of two years. In grade 
 it is not excelled by any school for girls and young 
 women in Japan, either mission or government. 
 In age the pupils range from twelve to twenty- 
 two, and experience shows that the most promis- 
 ing years are those from sixteen upwards. Before 
 that the pupils are simply children ; but then they 
 grow serious and come to have a purpose in life. 
 The molding power of the school increases al- 
 most precisely in proportion to the length of their 
 stay. Particularly is this true of those who re- 
 main to take the advanced course. On the other 
 hand those who leave early, either to be married 
 or for some other reason, may be promising pu- 
 pils ; but as a rule their future is much more likely 
 to prove disappointing. They have not been suf- 
 ficiently established to overcome the environment 
 into which they enter ; and they exercise relatively 
 
METHODS OF WORK 85 
 
 little Christian influence over those about them. 
 Something of the same kind may be said of the 
 dormitory as compared with the day pupils. At 
 one time it was questioned whether day pupils 
 might not be more desirable than boarders. The 
 argument was that residence in a Christian school 
 resembles life in a hothouse, and that girls so 
 trained may not so well bear transplanting into 
 the open air of daily life. But the experience of 
 many years in Joshi Gakuin is all on the other 
 side. The proportion of women of sterling Chris- 
 tian character is far greater among those who 
 resided in the institution. 
 
 The school life is what might be expected in a 
 school whose traditions and spirit are in a marked 
 degree both Christian and rational ; and it reaches 
 out beyond the school, for the school is a center 
 of Christian work. On graduation many of the 
 girls for a time teach in Christian schools, or 
 become the assistants of ladies engaged in Chris- 
 tian work. Then, as it should be, they marry. 
 With rare exceptions they continue in touch with 
 the institution, to which the older ones are now 
 sending their own daughters. It is a constant 
 compensation to their teachers to know that so 
 many of them are living the lives of Christian 
 wives and mothers, and to see so many influential 
 for Christianity both within and without the 
 church. Thus, as an instrument for the estab- 
 lishment of the Church of Christ in Japan, the 
 
86 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 value of such an institution can hardly be over- 
 stated. The extent of its influence is often a new 
 surprise. 
 
 Some time ago I asked one of the ladies who 
 has known the inner life of the girls intimately 
 for years as to the religious experience common 
 to the school. In passing I should say that with 
 one exception all the graduates — not all who 
 have ever attended the school — are Christian 
 women by profession. As a rule, unless she comes 
 from a Christian home, a girl on entering the 
 school knows little or nothing of Christianity. 
 Sometimes she is prejudiced against it; but she 
 enters her class ; and, as a part of the regular work 
 of the day, is systematically taught the truths of 
 Christianity. Day by day passes, and before very 
 long she can say, "I believe in God, the Father 
 Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth." Months 
 come and go ; and by and by she can say, "And in 
 Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord." That takes 
 much longer. The seasons pass, and it may be 
 the years too, in slow procession. At last through 
 hopes and fears she comes to know the things of 
 Christ with a knowledge of her own ; and now she 
 can say: "And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and 
 Giver of life." She is a light in the world; a 
 daughter of the kingdom. 
 
 Yes, it takes toil and time to evangelize the in- 
 dividual soul, to teach it the things which Christ 
 commanded so that it can intelligently receive 
 
METHODS OF WORK 87 
 
 him as Teacher, Master, Saviour, and Friend. 
 This is commonly true even in the case of one 
 who comes within the sphere of Christian influ- 
 ence when the spirit is plastic and ready to re- 
 ceive the word in meekness ; and even in the case 
 of one of those of whom the great Teacher said, 
 ''Of such is the kingdom of heaven/' How much 
 more then, to evangelize the world ! Yes, toil and 
 time. "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the 
 end of the world/' 
 
Lecture Four 
 
 NOTABLE EVENTS IN THE HISTORY 
 OF THE CHURCH 
 
LECTURE IV 
 
 Notable Events in the History of the 
 Church 
 
 From time to time in the history of a church 
 there occur events of wide-reaching importance. 
 This fact is conspicuously illustrated in that of 
 the Church of Christ in Japan ; and a knowledge 
 of those events is essential to a knowledge of the 
 history. I have already spoken of the first found- 
 ing of the church, the organization of the Coun- 
 cil of Missions cooperating with it, the first 
 rapid advance and the reaction that followed it. 
 I will now speak as briefly as possible, of a num- 
 ber of other events peculiarly worthy of attention. 
 
 In the autumn of 1884, Count Itagaki, the 
 leader of the Liberal Party, was in Tokyo. While 
 there he met some of the ministers of the Church 
 of Christ in Japan, and through them became 
 interested in Christianity — not personally, but 
 as a statesman who saw in It a force beneficial to 
 the nation. Accordingly, he invited a delegation 
 to visit the city of KochI, his own home in the 
 Province of Fosa. Subsequently others followed ; 
 and before the end a large number of both Jap- 
 anese and missionaries were employed, for the 
 work went on for more than a year. 
 
 91 
 
92 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 Fosa has long been a province of mark in the 
 history of Japan. With Satsuma and Choshi it 
 bore the brunt in the struggle for the restora- 
 tion of the emperor. It always was, and is now, 
 the home of manly sports. There is to be seen 
 the game of dakyu, a kind of polo. Archery is 
 there practiced not only on foot, but on horseback 
 at full gallop. Nowhere else, not even in Japan, 
 has the sword been held in higher honor. A 
 sword once drawn could never be sheathed un- 
 stained; and in Fosa even the farmers were 
 swordsmen. There also etiquette and ceremony 
 reigned; and along with them was associated a 
 love for porcelain, fine lacquer, and painting. Be- 
 fore the Restoration, the province was noted for 
 its conservatism and distrust of foreigners; but 
 since then it has become a center of liberal ideas. 
 
 The first thing to be done was to get a fair 
 hearing; and this was accomplished through the 
 influence of Count Itagaki. Everything possible 
 also in the way of preliminary personal work was 
 done by the Japanese members of the company; 
 and when all was ready a series of public meet- 
 ings was held in a theater. These meetings com- 
 monly occupied a whole afternoon, and some- 
 times a whole evening also. Often as many as 
 half a dozen lectures were delivered in succes- 
 sion. This method of work has long since lost 
 its novelty; and it is no longer possible to gather 
 the old audiences. But at the time of the cam- 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 93 
 
 paign in Fosa, and for several years before and 
 after, it was an agency constantly made use of; 
 and often the buildings were packed to overflow- 
 ing. Some of those meetings will never be for- 
 gotten by those who witnessed them : The crowds, 
 the men holding their pipes in their mouths with- 
 out smoking, the silence unbroken except by the 
 voice of the speaker, or the whisper at times of 
 a mother hushing a child, and once I remember by 
 the tones of a temple bell floating across the city. 
 
 As was usually the case in such meetings, some 
 of the topics of the lectures had to do with reli- 
 gion and some had not. Education, the education 
 of women, the immortality of the soul, the impor- 
 tance of religion, the existence of God and his 
 personality, these were among the subjects 
 chosen. There was I think during the meetings 
 no scene of surpassing interest; but the object 
 sought was accomplished. The lectures were well 
 attended; the attention respectful; thought was 
 awakened and inquiry started. As a result, a con- 
 siderable number desired to meet the speakers 
 personally. These however were not all in the 
 same frame of mind ; and for each class a special 
 series of meetings was arranged. 
 
 One class was ready to come to meetings for 
 general conversation, without however in any way 
 committing themselves to an interest in Chris- 
 tianity. They met simply as a company of gen- 
 tlemen, and sought information on such matters 
 
94 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 as these: The relation of the President, Con- 
 gress, and the Supreme Court, to one another; 
 the functions of the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives; methods of taxation, free trade, and 
 protection; the pubHc-school system; the posi- 
 tion of farmers in America. The foreigners in 
 turn inquired as to the state of Japan at the time 
 when Perry arrived, the causes leading to the 
 Restoration, tenant rights, the prison system, and 
 the popular belief in possession by foxes. The 
 object of these meetings was personal acquaint- 
 ance, and so perhaps such a relation as would 
 enable one to meet another as a friend and say 
 to him, "Come and see." 
 
 A second class was ready to do more. They 
 were willing to attend meetings held in private 
 for inquiry and discussion regarding questions 
 of religion. Most of the men were Confucian in 
 their thinking; and some of them were more or 
 less acquainted with the agnosticism of the West. 
 Naturally therefore the following were among the 
 questions propounded: Has man a spiritual na- 
 ture ? You speak of God as Creator, but how can 
 you prove that matter is not eternal ? You speak 
 of God and of knowing him; but may not the 
 universe be an illusion; and if the universe, why 
 not God? You speak of God as infinite, and yet 
 as personal ; how can that be ? You speak of God 
 as good, yet the world is full of pain and sorrow. 
 You speak of conscience. What is conscience? 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 95 
 
 And after all, how do you know that you know ? 
 Questions of this sort necessarily made these 
 inquiry meetings almost exclusively apologetic; 
 and another series of meetings was therefore ar- 
 ranged for the direct study of the Scriptures. The 
 book selected was the Epistle to the Romans. 
 
 So far as the philosophical questions were con- 
 cerned the conclusion was reached that the an- 
 swers were sufficiently convincing to open the 
 way to a friendly consideration of Christianity. 
 The study of the Epistle to the Romans also went 
 on without serious difficulty until the third chap- 
 ter was reached. Then there was trouble. At 
 that point they saw clearly what up to that time 
 they had seen only dimly that the corner stone of 
 Christianity is the Incarnation, and at that they 
 drew back. They knew that it was a doctrine 
 accepted by many; but not they supposed by in- 
 telligent, educated men. A veritable incarnation 
 made Christianity to them as incredible as Bud- 
 dhism. That they could go no further was a mat- 
 ter only for regret; but in fact they did not be- 
 lieve, and they could not say that they did. 
 
 The time had now arrived when it was neces- 
 sary for the company then at work to return 
 home; and it parted from the inquirers brethren 
 beloved in the flesh, if not yet it might be in the 
 Lord. But before long there was another visit. 
 The personal greeting on arrival was as cordial 
 as ever, nor was there any diminution in interest. 
 
96 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 The consummation also was now at hand. The 
 Gospel of John was selected for study; the mys- 
 tery of the Incarnation was not minimized, but 
 the philosophical difficulties had lost their old 
 ascendency, and a door was opened to faith. The 
 hands that opened the door were the words of 
 Christ himself, and the experience of the church 
 from age to age. 
 
 A little more than a year after the first company 
 arrived eight persons were baptized, and a few 
 months later thirteen more. A church was organ- 
 ized which from that day to this has been one of 
 the strongest in Japan. From the beginning it 
 has been self-supporting; in liberality it has al- 
 ways ranked among the highest; it has given an 
 exceptionally large number of young men to the 
 ministry ; it has kindled lights in the surrounding 
 villages, and stood for Christianity throughout 
 the province. Its present membership is about 
 eight hundred. 
 
 The founding of the church in Fosa is I think 
 the most interesting piece of evangelistic work 
 that ever has been done in Japan. In many ways 
 too it is highly instructive. The way was pre- 
 pared by the influence of a man of high standing 
 who was not himself a Christian. The men who 
 formed the church were as a company excep- 
 tional. One of them was Mr. Kataoka, after- 
 wards for a number of years President of the 
 Lower House of the National Diet, of whom I 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 97 
 
 have already spoken. The result was accom- 
 plished by the concentration of a large force with 
 intervals of absence systematically at work for 
 more than a year ; and that result was not a large 
 number of men who accepted Christianity super- 
 ficially, but a little company who professed it only 
 after careful and intelligent examination. One 
 thing more. With all Japan to choose from, with 
 the men who did the work the better prepared 
 by the experience gained in the work, it was still 
 never possible in another place to repeat the work 
 in Fosa. These are things worth remembering. 
 
 Some years ago, as you may remember, the 
 Bishops of the Episcopal Church in America, and 
 a little later the Lambeth Conference, issued a 
 proposal looking toward the reunion of Chris- 
 tendom. About the same time, under the leader- 
 ship of the Bishop of the Church of England in 
 Japan, a like proposal was issued in Japan. 
 
 For a while the subject awakened considerable 
 interest and led to a long correspondence between 
 the Bishop and the Council of Missions; but the 
 correspondence ended where it began. The pro- 
 posal was accompanied with a sermon preached 
 by the Bishop, in which it was made clear that 
 the crucial question — the question of orders — was 
 to be counted among the things not to be shaken. 
 The correspondence established the fact also that 
 the Church of Christ in Japan could not be re- 
 garded as a church of Christ in the proper sense 
 
98 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 of the word. The proposal thus failed at the out- 
 set. It did not suffer shipwreck ; it simply never 
 crossed the bar. 
 
 But this proposal had hardly been laid aside 
 as impracticable, when the question was raised of 
 the possibility of organic union with the Congre- 
 gational churches. The interest excited by that 
 question was deep and prolonged. The leaders 
 in both bodies in many cases were personal 
 friends, and warmly favored such a union. It was 
 moreover a thing that had long been in the hearts 
 of many. Among some there was an old feeling 
 that only the presence of the foreigner had pre- 
 vented its accomplishment years before. This also 
 was to be said : As both the Church of Christ in 
 Japan, and the Congregational churches, were 
 either of them alone nearly, if not quite, as strong 
 as all the other Protestant churches combined, 
 the organic union of the two bodies would there- 
 fore have gone far toward preventing the waste- 
 ful multiplication of small churches throughout 
 the country. 
 
 The negotiations at the outset were full of 
 promise. It was cordially agreed that there must 
 be real concessions on both sides, and also that 
 there must be a consistent system of government 
 shaped by an underlying dominant principle. The 
 principle adopted was this : The separate congre- 
 gations, acting as separate congregations, were 
 to be regarded as the original source of eccle- 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 99 
 
 siastical authority. That was in accordance with 
 the Congregational principle of the autonomy of 
 the local church. For the sake however of the 
 advantages of organic union, the separate congre- 
 gations were to surrender certain of their powers 
 to the presbytery and synod. That was the con- 
 cession to Presbyterianism. Precisely what those 
 powers were was to appear in a constitution ; and 
 such powers as were not thus conceded were to 
 be retained by the congregations. Upon this basis 
 a constitution was written and rewritten and 
 written again. No time, no trouble, no patience 
 was spared, and the negotiations continued for a 
 year or two. But in the end the plan failed. 
 
 The majority of the Congregational mission- 
 aries were in favor of the union and some of them 
 did all in their power to bring it about ; but several 
 of them were strongly adverse to it, on the groimd 
 that it was a surrender of liberty. The influence 
 of Dr. Nishima also was quietly but persistently 
 exercised in opposition. Certain Congregation- 
 alists in America raised objections; and at a crit- 
 ical time a telegram from the American Board 
 was received counseling delay. But apart from 
 these forces, there was a difficulty which it was 
 hard to meet. Congregationalism has no body 
 like a synod with authority to speak definitely 
 and finally; and in the end the decision always 
 remained with the local churches. That was the 
 shoal upon which the ship grounded. 
 
100 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 But while the endeavor failed, the attempt is 
 not to be regretted. If it had not been made there 
 would have been a widespread feeling that a great 
 opportunity had been neglected. In various ways 
 also the experience was an education to the 
 church. In view of later developments there are 
 many who regard the failure to unite as a blessing 
 in disguise; but I am not quite sure that that 
 opinion is correct. No doubt there would have 
 been trouble, and possibly a division. But not a 
 division on the old lines. The outcome, I am in- 
 clined to think, would have been a church com- 
 prising the majority of both bodies, and represent- 
 ing the evangelical type of Christianity; and a 
 smaller church representing the rationalistic type. 
 That would not have been without its advantages. 
 The first Book of Government of the Church 
 of Christ in Japan was little other than a transla- 
 tion of our own book. Gradually, however, it 
 became evident that a revision was called for in 
 order to meet the conditions existing. Such a 
 revision was made by the synod in 1890, or 
 shortly after the negotiations for union with the 
 Congregational churches were ended. The work 
 was done with great care. 
 
 The first thing that strikes one on comparing 
 the new Book with the old one is the principle 
 of arrangement. The new Book is divided into 
 three parts: The Constitution, the Canons, and 
 the Appendix. The Constitution contains the fun- 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS loi 
 
 damental principles of the system; and can be 
 changed only by a process as carefully guarded 
 as that of our own book. The Canons are laws 
 based upon the Constitution, but which with due 
 notice can be changed by a two-thirds' vote of 
 the synod. The Appendix contains forms of pro- 
 cedure, added as helps to orderly administration, 
 but not enjoined as necessarily to be followed. 
 To illustrate : The office, powers, and duties, of the 
 elder are laid down in the Constitution; the law 
 that election to the eldership take place at a meet- 
 ing announced on two successive Sundays is one 
 of the Canons; while certain passages of the 
 Scriptures and a charge suitable to be read at 
 the time of his ordination appear in the Appen- 
 dix. This principle of arrangement was adopted 
 in order clearly to distinguish between things 
 essential and things only locally or temporarily 
 expedient ; and also in order to greater facility in 
 changing the written law so as to meet such exi- 
 gencies as may from time to time arise. It may 
 however be said that the general feeling of the 
 synod has been averse to change. 
 
 It would take too long, and is not worth while 
 to enumerate in detail all the differences between 
 the old book and the new. Two specimens will 
 suffice : — 
 
 The proper relation of the missionary to the 
 presbytery in the foreign field has given rise to 
 much discussion. Should he be only an adviser? 
 
102 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 or, Should he be a regular member? The old 
 book allowed a missionary, as a missionary — not 
 as a presbyter — to be a member of the presbytery 
 in full standing, while still continuing his mem- 
 bership in a presbytery at home; though he was 
 not under the discipline of the Presbytery of 
 Japan. According to the new book, he may take 
 his choice. He may bring his letter from home, 
 and become a full member of the presbytery in 
 Japan, or he may retain his connection with the 
 presbytery at home and become an advisory 
 member, with the right to speak, to introduce 
 resolutions, and to serve on committees, but with- 
 out the right to vote in presbytery. Advisory 
 members of presbytery may also be elected to 
 serve as advisory members of synod. I myself 
 chose the first alternative, and am a minister of 
 the Church of Christ in Japan. That was my 
 preference as well as the advice of our own 
 General Assembly. 
 
 One of the lessons of the work in Japan is 
 the one which Paul had learned when he wrote 
 to Timothy, *'Lay hands hastily on no man." It is 
 also clear that a church should not be organized 
 as a church until it gives promise of stability and 
 growth. What then is to be done with companies 
 of believers not yet ready for organization ? Un- 
 der the old book, such converts were made mem- 
 bers of some church, usually that of the minister 
 who baptized them; but the plan did not work 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 103 
 
 well. Owing to distance it often happened that 
 the converts were seldom visited; and some- 
 times it happened that difficulties arose from the 
 fact that they were members of different con- 
 gregations even though they resided in the same 
 neighborhood. Under the new book, all such 
 converts are enrolled in a register kept by the 
 clerk of the presbytery, and are put under the 
 care of an evangelist or lay preacher. The book 
 also gives to such companies of believers certain 
 rights. 
 
 The same synod that revised the Book of Gov- 
 ernment also adopted a new Confession of Faith, 
 the one, it is interesting to note, upon which the 
 church was received into the membership of the 
 alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed churches. 
 
 The story of the adoption of this Confession 
 runs back to the earliest days of the church. 
 From the beginning the Japanese were in favor 
 of a brief simple creed, though under the in- 
 fluence of the missionaries they accepted as stand- 
 ards of doctrine, the Westminster Confession, the 
 Canons of the Synod of Dort, the Shorter and the 
 Heidelberg Catechisms. Later, there was a move- 
 ment to limit the standards to one or both of the 
 catechisms; but again the influence of the mis- 
 sionaries prevailed. Ten years passed ; the church 
 had grown greatly in numbers ; and the situation 
 was this: — 
 
 The two catechisms had been widely taught and 
 
io4 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 a commentary on one of them was in general use, 
 but the Westminster Confession had failed to 
 gain a hold, and the Canons of the Synod of 
 Dort were hardly known by name. The leaders 
 of the church were now older in years and expe- 
 rience; and with most of them the feeling had 
 strengthened with the years that no one of the 
 standards was the Confession of Faith adapted 
 to the requirements of the church in Japan. Some 
 were in favor of writing a new Confession, but 
 the difficulties in the way of that were obvious. 
 Finally the committee — the same one which re- 
 vised the Book of Government — agreed, as the 
 thing most practicable, to recommend to the 
 synod the revision of the Westminster Confes- 
 sion then recently adopted by the Presbyterian 
 Church in England. Those Articles were there- 
 fore translated and circulated, along with a com- 
 mendatory statement, throughout the church, for 
 six. months before the meeting of synod. But 
 before the synod met it was quite clear that the 
 English Articles would not be accepted. There 
 were evidently many who favored the Apostles' 
 Creed instead; and shortly after the opening of 
 the synod a resolution to that effect was intro- 
 duced. 
 
 Then followed the most memorable discussion 
 ever held by the synod either before or since. 
 The argument in favor of the Apostles' Creed 
 was this: — 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 105 
 
 The church of Christ in every land and every 
 age should have a Confession suited to its own 
 peculiar needs. The church of the Nicene Age 
 formulated the Nicene Creed; the churches of 
 the Reformation, the Reformation Confessions; 
 the Presbyterian Church in England has just 
 adopted the English Articles; the Presbyterian 
 Church in America is revising the Westminster 
 Confession; and the Church of Christ in Japan 
 should follow in these footsteps. This being the 
 case, what should be the characteristics of the 
 creed of the church at this stage in its history? 
 
 Such a Confession should be brief and simple ; 
 not an elaborate system of theology. Such a 
 Confession should be one for the whole church; 
 not for ministers and elders alone, but for the 
 people also. This does not mean that the minis- 
 ter's knowledge of the truths confessed should be 
 no broader or deeper than that of the people. But 
 all belong to one church, and there should be 
 one Confession for all. A creed which all repeat 
 and which all understand. A confession of the 
 faith of the church. Such a confession should 
 be irenic toward all who bear the name of Christ. 
 The church in Japan is face to face with Bud- 
 dhism, Confucianism, agnosticism, and rational- 
 ism. Its Confession should therefore set forth 
 the great essential facts of Christianity; but it 
 should not be a symbol dividing those who wor- 
 ship Jesus Christ as Teacher, Master, Saviour, 
 
io6 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 and Lord. Especially is this seen to be true 
 when it is remembered that in Japan, counting 
 them all together, they are only a little band. 
 The Apostles' Creed meets these conditions. It 
 is brief and simple ; it is a Confession for minis- 
 ters and people alike; it sets forth the essential 
 facts of Christianity. In addition to this it is 
 the Confession of Faith of the Universal Church. 
 That was the argument in favor of the Apostles' 
 Creed. 
 
 The argument in reply was this: Admitting 
 the duty of a church to adopt a Confession suited 
 to its own peculiar needs, admitting also that 
 much may be said in favor of the Apostles' Creed, 
 it still remains true that the Apostles' Creed alone 
 does not meet the needs of the Church of Christ 
 in Japan to-day. There are truths of transcendent 
 importance which are contained in the Apostles' 
 Creed, if at all, only by implication : The atone- 
 ment, justification, and sanctification in Christ, 
 the need of the regenerating grace of the Spirit 
 of God, the supremacy of the Scriptures. These 
 are vital truths which are denied in Japan to-day ; 
 and therefore they should not only be believed by 
 the church, but proclaimed in its Confession. 
 
 In the afternoon of the second day further dis- 
 cussion was postponed, and all sat down together 
 at the Table of the Lord. The next morning when 
 the synod assembled, a Confession was presented 
 which it was hoped would meet with approval. 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 107 
 
 In form it was the Apostles' Creed, which was 
 what so many desired, with an introductory 
 statement containing the truths which it was gen- 
 erally agreed called for confession, and so cast 
 as to be suited for public recital. On hearing it 
 read, one after another expressed his approval. 
 It was then copied on great sheets of paper and 
 tacked on the wall behind the pulpit, so that all 
 might study it. This went on for two hours; 
 and then the Confession was adopted with deep 
 feeling. 
 
 It had been a time of great anxiety. Some had 
 even feared that the discussion would end in a 
 schism. The relief that followed a unanimous 
 decision can therefore be easily understood. The 
 senior member of the Reformed Church Mission 
 thus described the scene: "How great was the 
 joy and gratitude words cannot tell. The Modera- 
 tor offered a prayer of thanksgiving with a full 
 and overflowing heart. Sobbing was heard all 
 over the house; tears of sorrow were displaced 
 by tears of joy." The Confession is so brief that 
 I will read it: — 
 
 "The Lord Jesus Christ, whom we worship as 
 God, the Only Begotten Son of God, for us men 
 and for our salvation was made man and suffered. 
 He offered up a perfect sacrifice for sin ; and all 
 who are one with him by faith are pardoned and 
 accounted righteous; and faith in him working 
 by love purifies the heart. 
 
io8 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 "The Holy Ghost, who with the Father and the 
 Son is worshiped and glorified, reveals Jesus 
 Christ to the soul; and without his grace man 
 being dead in sin cannot enter the kingdom of 
 God. By him the prophets and apostles and holy 
 men of old were inspired ; and he speaking in the 
 Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is 
 supreme and infallible judge in all things per- 
 taining unto faith and living. 
 
 ''From these Holy Scriptures the ancient 
 Church of Christ drew its Confession; and we, 
 holding the faith once delivered to the Saints, 
 join in that Confession with praise and thanksgiv- 
 ing." (Then follows the Apostles' Creed.) 
 
 Nothing in the history of Christianity is more 
 clear than that in the end the evangelization of a 
 nation depends upon the church in the nation. It 
 was therefore of the highest importance that as 
 early as possible the Church of Christ in Japan 
 should be led as a church to feel its responsibility, 
 and at least begin the work seriously and system- 
 atically. The pathway along which this endeavor 
 has moved has been long, and at times has led 
 over rough places. To those interested in ques- 
 tions of missionary policy the story is highly in- 
 structive. It comprises four distinct periods, each 
 of which has features sharply distinguishing it 
 from all the others. 
 
 The first period began as long ago as 1879. 
 At that time, several of the churches which had 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 109 
 
 united in an attempt to carry on evangelistic work 
 requested the Presbytery, then the highest eccle- 
 siastical body, to organize a Board of Home Mis- 
 sions. This was done, funds were contributed 
 by a number of the congregations, and much 
 pains were taken both by Japanese and mission- 
 aries to carry on the work successfully. But the 
 funds available were so small that after four 
 years of trial the plan was given up and the Board 
 dissolved. That was the first attempt. 
 
 The second period may be described as that of 
 mission control and Japanese counsel. At that 
 early time, as could hardly have been otherwise, 
 the systematic evangelistic work was almost 
 wholly in the hands of the missions. It was 
 thought that their counsel would be valuable, and 
 that their interest in systematic evangelistic work 
 would be increased. These conferences were 
 very pleasant; but the Japanese had no real re- 
 sponsibility in the management of affairs, and 
 without that stimulus the ends hoped for failed 
 of accomplishment. The attempt was therefore 
 fruitless of results, saving in so far as it led the 
 way to something better. So small was its influ- 
 ence in the history of the church that many of 
 the younger missionaries and Japanese ministers 
 probably do not know that the plan was ever 
 tried. 
 
 The third period, beginning in 1886, may be 
 described as that of financial cooperation and 
 
no THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 joint control. At the instance of the Council of 
 Missions, the synod elected a Board composed 
 in equal numbers of missionaries and Japanese; 
 and each presbytery, a committee chosen on the 
 same principle. The powers of the Board were 
 virtually limited to the collection of funds and 
 their distribution among the presbyterial com- 
 mittees, the direct management of affairs being 
 intrusted to the committees. In favor of this 
 arrangement it was argued that no men are so 
 well qualified to manage the work in a particular 
 presbytery as the members of that presbytery. 
 On this basis the Council of Missions agreed that 
 it would contribute three dollars for every one 
 dollar raised by the church. Into this plan all 
 entered cordially, and for a number of years it 
 succeeded. The church contributed funds and 
 work was done. In some cases, much of the evan- 
 gelistic work that belonged to the missions was 
 really though not in name under the direction of 
 the presbyterial committees. But gradually inter- 
 est and confidence in the plan began to wane. 
 The chief argument against it, pressed with in- 
 creasing urgency by the Japanese, was that it 
 was not effective. There was too great a division 
 of responsibility; and they advocated instead the 
 appointment by the synod of a Board which 
 should carry on the work directly and without 
 the intervention of presbyterial committees. To 
 this plan a number objected as being character- 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS in 
 
 ized by too great centralization of power; and 
 this fundamental difference in opinion led to the 
 abandonment of the plan of financial coopera- 
 tion and joint control, and the adoption of the 
 one now in operation. 
 
 The fourth and present period, beginning in 
 1894, may be described as that of financial inde- 
 pendence and synodical control. A Board is 
 elected by the synod^, care being taken that all 
 the presbyteries shall be represented. This Board 
 has the general care of the work; but the direct 
 management is intrusted to an Executive Com- 
 mittee most of whose members reside in Tokyo 
 or the vicinity. A part of the income is derived 
 from the personal gifts of individual missiona- 
 ries; but only a small part. The funds come al- 
 most wholly from the Japanese Church, and for 
 the greater part from congregations not receiving 
 financial aid from the missions. During the first 
 year the income was only $281 ; during last year 
 it was nearly $4000. It is still a day of small 
 things, but not a day to be despised. There may 
 yet be given to this Board a place in the evangeli- 
 zation of the nation that does not yet appear. 
 
 To a considerable extent the policy of the 
 Board has been to select congregations of more or 
 less promise and bring them to self-support. In 
 this work it has certain advantages over a mis- 
 sion. Its more intimate knowledge with regard 
 both to places and to men makes it better able to 
 
112 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 select the right man for the right place. It can 
 approach and influence a congregation as few 
 foreigners can. The fact also that the most of 
 its funds come from the Japanese Church enables 
 it to bring a peculiar pressure upon those whom 
 it aids. 
 
 The most interesting work now carried on by 
 the Board is in the Island of Formosa, which 
 after the war with China became a part of Japan. 
 The greater part of the population are Chinese, 
 or the savage tribes in the mountains ; but already 
 there are some forty or fifty thousand Japanese 
 there, and the work of the Board for the present 
 is among them. So far as mere numbers are 
 concerned this may not seem impressive, but the 
 importance and promise of the field are to be seen 
 rather in the character of those flocking in and 
 in the general situation. New fields for enter- 
 prise are rapidly opening; and the men who are 
 entering them are men of energy. Along with 
 the new life there is everywhere apparent a break- 
 ing away from old ties and old prejudices. To 
 this it may be added that exceptional opportuni- 
 ties are afiforded in Formosa to meet with officials 
 and officers in the army, temporarily there on 
 duty, who will carry the knowledge of Christian- 
 ity wherever they may go. Already the Board 
 has a good work well begun. It has two churches, 
 one of which is self-supporting ; and besides these 
 a number of companies of Christians which give 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 113 
 
 every promise of soon growing into churches. 
 In April of the year 1900, at a meeting of the 
 EvangeHcal AlHance of Japan, it was decided to 
 make the beginning of the new century a time for 
 special evangelistic work throughout the empire; 
 and this decision was carried into effect with 
 much painstaking. 
 
 During the earlier years of the rapid advance 
 of Christianity, it was, as I have said, the custom 
 to hold great meetings in theaters. But circum- 
 stances had changed; and the plan in Tokyo at 
 least was to select special districts, one after an- 
 other, and to hold meetings every night in all 
 the churches in the district. In each church a 
 band of volunteers was organized, who pledged 
 themselves to special prayer, to attend all the 
 meetings, and to see that the various methods 
 adopted to attract persons to the meetings were 
 faithfully carried on. Thus the local church was 
 made the center of work. 
 
 In order to attract hearers to the meetings, 
 various means were employed. Placards were 
 posted in hotels, barber shops, bath houses, and 
 other public places. These placards were about 
 fifteen inches wide and twenty long ; and some of 
 them were very attractive. The one to my mind 
 the most so had two flags crossed, one of them 
 the Japanese flag, with its red rising sun in the 
 center, and the other having for its center a red 
 Greek cross. Besides a notice of the times and 
 
ii4 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 places of the meetings, was an invitation which 
 may be rendered thus: "How did you come into 
 this world? Why were you born into it? When 
 you die, where are you going? All who want to 
 know come to the meetings. We will tell you 
 very simply. Young and old, men and women, 
 come and welcome. We will show you how to 
 serve God, and how to serve man." Besides post- 
 ing the placards, invitations printed on red paper 
 were scattered far and wide ; in Tokyo alone more 
 than a hundred thousand. Some of the pastors 
 sent out large numbers of personal invitations to 
 persons known to have more or less knowledge 
 of Christianity, a plan which produced excellent 
 results. The attempt was also made by house to 
 house visitation to extend an invitation to all re- 
 siding in the neighborhood of the churches in 
 which the meetings were held. And to mention 
 only one thing more, processions were formed 
 which marched through the streets headed by 
 streaming banners. All this in a city where, 
 within the memory of many looking on, notice 
 boards were set up declaring Christianity a capi- 
 tal crime; and in whose public museum to-day 
 are exhibited the brass plates with raised figures 
 of Christ on the cross, worn almost smooth by 
 the feet of those who were required to trample 
 on them in proof that they were not Christians. 
 As a result the churches were filled. In some 
 cases people went away because there was no 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 115 
 
 more room; and with hardly an exception those 
 who came Hstened respectfully and attentively. 
 The character of the preaching was evangelical, 
 but not of any one particular type. God is our 
 Father ; Christ is a divine Saviour ; man is a sin- 
 ner; sin is debt, bondage, death; Christianity 
 offers atonement, forgiveness, a new life; man 
 should repent, should confide in Christ, should 
 go to God in prayer. One preacher laid emphasis 
 on one truth, another on another. Nor can it be 
 said that any one truth, or any one way of pre- 
 senting the truth was preeminently effective. 
 
 The methods followed in conducting the meet- 
 ings were the ones familiar to those who have 
 attended such meetings in America. In fact the 
 whole movement was modeled upon foreign 
 methods. At the close of the preaching those 
 willing to express a desire to become Christians 
 were invited to raise a hand or to stand. Such 
 persons were then formed into groups assigned 
 to leaders for personal instruction. The leaders 
 also took the names and addresses of the inquir- 
 ers in order that the church might keep in touch 
 with them. During this time of conversation the 
 Christians not so engaged gathered in front of 
 the pulpit for prayer. Arrangements were also 
 made for the further instruction of those who 
 were willing to receive it. 
 
 There were three classes of inquirers: Many 
 knew practically nothing about Christianity be- 
 
ii6 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 yond the name; a considerable number had a 
 very general knowledge of it; and some knew a 
 good deal about it. This knowledge had come 
 from the gradual spread of Christian ideas 
 through the introduction of foreign literature, 
 the press, and contact in various ways with the 
 civilization of the West; from the dissemination 
 of distinctively Christian literature in Japan ; 
 from the influence, direct and indirect, of Chris- 
 tian schools; and from occasional listening to 
 Christian preaching. By common consent the 
 questions asked by inquirers were as a rule less 
 crude, and the knowledge of Christianity pos- 
 sessed by them greater, than was the case with 
 those of the first movement toward Christianity 
 already described. 
 
 The work was carried on in many places, and, 
 as appears from the statistics afterwards pub- 
 lished, with numerically large results. The num- 
 ber of attendants upon the services is given as 
 359,275; of inquirers, as 15,440; of converts as 
 1,181. No doubt it is true that a number were 
 gathered in who before had known little or noth- 
 ing of Christianity ; and a still greater number of 
 those who had a greater knowledge of it. In 
 some cases also churches were permanently 
 strengthened. But the movement did not fulfill 
 the hopes which many cherished. In notable 
 cases churches which had taken the part of lead- 
 ers, and had received many by baptism, two years 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 117 
 
 later were apparently little stronger than they 
 were before the movement began; and the inter- 
 est in an attempt to revive and continue the move- 
 ment soon passed away. It was the right thing 
 to do at the time, and no doubt good was done by 
 it; but it would be a great mistake to exalt the 
 value of such methods to the injury of the 
 patient, quiet, systematic work of the Board of 
 Home Missions, the schools, and the churches. 
 It is the old story: There is no short and easy 
 road to the evangelization of a nation. If there 
 were, Japan would be evangelized to-day. We 
 are all familiar with the motto, "The evangeliza- 
 tion of the world in this generation." I myself 
 have seen evangelistic work carried on in Japan 
 for a generation; carried on by a strong force, 
 with great energy, and under exceptionally 
 favorable circumstances. Yet Japan to-day is 
 far from being evangelized in any sense of the 
 word worthy the name. The evangelization of 
 the world is by no means merely a question of 
 strong and loyal battalions, though strong and 
 loyal battalions are a necessary instrument. It 
 is no less a question of psychology; of the psy- 
 chology of the natural man; of the natural man 
 born and reared under the molding power of 
 Buddhism, Brahmanism, Confucianism, Ma- 
 hometanism, or some other system of thought. 
 Nor is it simply an abstract question as to what 
 God can do. The question as to what God can 
 
ii8 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 do immediately raises the question as to what God 
 in his wisdom will do ; and the question as to what 
 God will do, immediately asks, What has God 
 done? It is the will of God that all men be 
 brought to the knowledge of the truth. God is 
 a spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable, in his 
 power, wisdom, goodness, and truth. Yet nine- 
 teen hundred years have passed, and still the 
 world is not brought to the knowledge of the 
 truth. "Go ye into all the world, and teach all the 
 nations." That is the command, that is plain; 
 in the doing of it there is great reward ; and the 
 church has never yet done all its duty. But the 
 times and the seasons the Father hath kept with- 
 in his own authority. 
 
 There is still another event that well deserves 
 a place among the things to be remembered. 
 In August, 1899, there appeared in the Official 
 Gazette a notice from the Minister of Education 
 to the effect that no instruction in religion should 
 be given, and no religious services held, in any 
 government school or in any school sharing the 
 privileges of the government schools; not even 
 outside the regular course of instruction. 
 
 No one of course in a land which is the meeting 
 place of Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, 
 and Christianity, questioned the propriety of such 
 a regulation for schools maintained by public 
 funds. But it was felt to be a real grievance in 
 the case of those maintained by private funds; 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 119 
 
 and the notice put the Christian high schools 
 for boys in peril of gradual extinction. For it 
 was not to be expected that boys would long 
 continue to attend schools where they would have 
 to forego such privileges as those of the postpone- 
 ment of conscription and the right to enter the 
 institutions preparatory to the University, and 
 the University itself. 
 
 That was the situation; but the course to be 
 pursued was clear. The principle that schools 
 professedly Christian should be in fact Christian 
 institutions could not be given up ; and, with one 
 exception, those in charge of the Christian schools 
 for boys took action surrendering the government 
 privileges. Then began a long series of nego- 
 tiations with the Department of Education. 
 Those negotiations, together with a number of 
 interviews with leading statesmen in Japan, make 
 a story full of interest. But suffice it to say that in 
 the end patience and perseverance were crowned 
 with success. This success was made public 
 by a slight amendment in one of the regulations 
 for schools. "The world at large," says a recent 
 writer on the education of young men in Japan, 
 "took little notice of this brief announcement ; but 
 it marked the satisfactory conclusion of negotia- 
 tions extending over nearly five years, the solu- 
 tion of one of our most difficult problems, and the 
 opening of a new era in the history of missions 
 in Japan." It was in fact the establishment in 
 
120 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 Japan of the principle of religious freedom in 
 education in institutions maintained by private 
 funds. In the establishment of this principle the 
 Church of Christ in Japan did its full share. 
 
 In any thoughtful mind the great events in the 
 history of a nation, called to a place of precedence, 
 cannot but awaken the deepest interest; and of 
 none is this so true as of him who holds it for 
 foundation truth that God reigns. For the his- 
 tory of such a nation is in a peculiar sense a reve- 
 lation of God's presence in the world. And how 
 fast events of marked significance have followed 
 one another in the history of Japan ! We mission- 
 aries in Japan have seen strange things, and so 
 many of them. 
 
 This history of Japan during the past fifty years 
 has been a wonderful history. The opening of 
 the nation to the world after long and strict 
 seclusion; the Restoration of the Emperor; the 
 Imperial Pledge that Japan should seek for 
 knowledge far and wide; the introduction of the 
 railroad, the newspaper, the university ; the enact- 
 ment of new codes of law; government under a 
 constitution; admission to a place of equality 
 among the nations of the world ; the achievement 
 of singular prestige under circumstances calling 
 for a high degree of energy and wisdom ; the con- 
 clusion of a great war, in self-control and modera- 
 tion ; the founding of the Church of Christ. That 
 is a wonderful succession of events to be crowded 
 
NOTABLE EVENTS 121 
 
 into the short span of half a century; and now 
 Japan is entering a new stage in her own career, 
 and, what is of transcendent moment to all east- 
 ern Asia, a place preeminent for influence in 
 Korea and the vast empire of China. In all this, 
 is there no call to us? Are we to sit simply as 
 spectators idly gazing on the passing scenes of 
 a painted panorama? 
 
 There are nations and there are nations. There 
 are nations that are no nations, but mere races of 
 people, without achievements, without a history, 
 that in the drama of history of the world count 
 for nothing. The Malays are such a people. But 
 there are nations which are nations; nations of 
 great achievements; nations with a splendid his- 
 tory; nations which in the grand drama of the 
 world's history count for everything. The Jews 
 were such a nation; the Greeks were such a 
 nation, and the Romans. England is such a 
 nation, and this England of ours between the 
 oceans. And, unless all signs fail — signs in the 
 heavens above and signs in the earth beneath — 
 Japan is such a nation. An elect race, a chosen 
 people, a nation called; called to honor as a na- 
 tion, and called to service in the world — the great 
 wide world of Asia. And in all this there is a call 
 to us too. For we too are an elect race, a chosen 
 people, a nation called. Called to glory as a 
 nation; called to the far more excellent glory of 
 service to the world; and called to-day with a 
 
122 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 high caUing, at this momentous hour in her his- 
 tory, to do our best, our very best, to help Japan 
 to make her caUing and election sure. 
 
Date Due 
 
 -.«««^P: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 „,»k*dMmmmA 
 
 
 
 
 V )-ti' \ftLaf 
 
 V^f^ 
 
 
 
 im^*^ 
 
 TUDKJ 
 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 i ^-^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^^IMMMtfi 
 
 mmsmk 
 
 
 
 
 M. 
 
 
 
 JUim^^ 
 
 'JM. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
.i 
 
BW8603 .132 
 
 The Church of Christ in Japan; 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00018 9359