General Conference Bulletin, vol. 1

JAPAN

J. A. BRUNSON

(Discourse in the Tabernacle, Tuesday Evening, February 26.)

MRS. BRUNSON having already spoken somewhat minutely as to certain features of Japanese life, their religion, and customs, I shall speak more generally of Japan as a mission field, and I do this the more cheerfully because as a Christian people, burdened with the duty of carrying the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited world, we are deeply interested in Japan. In my humble judgment, Japan is one of the most interesting and encouraging missionary fields on the face of the globe, because of the spirit of progress that permeates the empire. The present emperor is undoubtedly one of the most progressive monarchs in the Orient. GCB March 3, 1895, page 430.5

Until a few years ago, the people had no voice in making their laws; but the emperor freely, and without solicitation, caused a liberal constitution to be prepared and promulgated, and now the people who once had no voice in government affairs have certain constitutional rights and privileges granted to them. Conspicuous among these is the palladium of freemen’s rights, and the elective franchise. The law-making power is now vested in a Diet. This Diet consists of an upper and lower house, somewhat corresponding to our own Congress, — the Senate and House of representatives; or, more correctly speaking, to the English Parliament, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The members of the Upper House receive their seats by inheritance and by appointment from the emperor. The members of the Lower House are elected by popular vote. GCB March 3, 1895, page 430.6

The Constitution’s deliverance in respect to religious freedom is of great interest. It declares that any man of any country, whatever may be his condition, has a perfect right in Japan to teach and preach any religion that is not detrimental to the interests of good government. Now that means a good deal. Twenty-five years ago this was not so. At that time there was still posted along the highways and thoroughfares of Japan that ancient decree interdicting the Christian religion. No man was allowed to preach, or even believe in, Jesus Christ. There are missionaries living to-day who saw that decree posted along the highways. I have seen and talked with a missionary who is now doing good work in Japan whose teacher was apprehended in the middle of the night and delivered to prison, and there confined until death released him, his only crime being that he had believed in Jesus Christ, and assisted in translating the gospel into the Japanese language. Now all that has changed. Religious freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution, and every man has a right to believe and to preach according to the dictates of his conscience. GCB March 3, 1895, page 430.7

How were these changes wrought? Not by violent revolutions, but by evolutions. There were simply infused into the people the spirit of liberty, the sentiment of progress, and gradually these changes were wrought in and of themselves. The liberties which we have, which we enjoy, and which we should sacredly defend, were bought by our forefathers with the price of their lives. But with the Japanese, the liberties that they have were granted to them by a liberal and progressive emperor. And for that reason, then, I declare that the Japanese are ready for the gospel to be preached among them, and their country promises to us a most encouraging field for missionary labor. And I do most sincerely hope that arrangements may soon be consummated whereby someone of our people will be found ready to go to Japan, and preach to them the Third Angel’s Message. GCB March 3, 1895, page 431.1

Fifty years ago Japan was just as much a hermit nation as Korea. She was both exclusive and inclusive. She excluded foreigners from her shores, and prohibited her own people from leaving the country. But now, within the last few years, she has concluded treaties with all the leading nations of the world, and is now engaged in extensive commerce. In consequence, we see English, American, German, and French merchants conducting business in her territory. GCB March 3, 1895, page 431.2

And by reason of the improvements there we have all the conveniences of civilization. And then as to her internal improvements: she has her railroads, her telegraphs, her cotton factories, her post-offices, her steamboats, her navy, her armies - and by the way, those of you who have been reading the papers lately see that her armies are able to do good service. GCB March 3, 1895, page 431.3

Speaking more minutely now of these improvements, she has nearly two thousand miles of railroad, and upward of two thousand miles of telegraph wires. These are all operated by natives. You can send a telegram even in Japanese, as intricate as the language is. Her postal service is more perfect than ours. In Japan we have free delivery throughout the entire empire. If a farmer chooses, he can subscribe for a daily newspaper, and receive the same every morning at his door, delivered to him by the mail carrier. And her cotton factories promise to do a great deal in competing with the same industry in other countries. This becomes apparent when we consider the density of the population of the empire and the consequent cheapness of labor, the manual dexterity of her workmen, their ingenuity, patience, and industry, and her proximity to the cotton fields of India. They can manufacture cotton goods now almost as cheaply as we can. Now all this has a bearing upon the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which makes its greatest progress and most thorough conquests among a living, acting, earnest, wide-awake people. GCB March 3, 1895, page 431.4

We have there all the facilities for communication that can be found in any country. I have mentioned the telegraph and the postal service, and in addition to these there is the jinrikisha, a vehicle for transportation. The significance of the term is as follows: Jin means “man,” riki means “strength,” and sha means “vehicle.” Hence jinrikisha means a vehicle operated by the strength of man; or, as some one has very practically remarked, a Japanese pull-man-car. If it is not a Pullman car, it is certainly a “pull man.” It might properly be termed a little top sulky. It has a pair of shafts, and between these stands a Japanese man, without any harness or trappings at all. He simply takes hold of the shafts with his hands, bids the passenger to take a seat in the jinrikisha, and away he trots. One of those Japanese men, drawing a full-grown man, will trot forty miles a day very comfortably; and he will go fifty, and even sixty miles a day, if you will give him a few extra pennies. I have ridden forty miles a day, day after day. I have known a Japanese man to trot one hundred and twenty miles in three days, drawing a man weighing one hundred and sixty pounds. He probably would have gone on with us, but we came to an arm of the sea, and took boats. He seemed to show almost no fatigue at all. GCB March 3, 1895, page 431.5

The jinrikishas can be found on almost every street corner, and at almost any time of the day or night. When a man is out at night, and loses his way, all that is necessary is for him to say “rikisha,” and there will come three or four, maybe, offering to take him to his destination. He gets into the vehicle, calls out the name of the place to which he desires to go, and if the rikisha man does not know the way, he inquires as he trots. When he has landed his passenger, ten or fifteen cents satisfies him. The missionary, without his jinrikisha in Japan, would almost be as a man without his right arm. When I came back to this country, it did seem somewhat strange not to see a jinrikisha somewhere. GCB March 3, 1895, page 431.6

All of this is simply a preparation for the gospel. All of these improvements that I have referred to, have been utilized, and are now utilized, in the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now the question naturally arises, Has Japan’s religious progress kept pace with her industrial development? No; by no means. It is true that a great deal has been accomplished in Japan, but there remains yet a great deal more to be done. It is true there are a great many missionaries on the field, but there is room for more. I shall be within the limits of truth when I say that there are upward of 400 missionaries in Japan of all denominations. Japan is one of the most denominational-ridden countries in the world, except America. All shades of differences, all manner of creeds, are propagated there. Do you wonder that a spirit of skepticism is prevailing there? Do you wonder, when they see so many divisions of Christianity, each of which declares itself to be right, — do you wonder I say that they are puzzled beyond measure? GCB March 3, 1895, page 432.1

As I said, a great deal has been done. Christ has been preached. The Bible has been translated, and a superficial knowledge of Christianity extends throughout the country. The Japanese are an intelligent and reading people, and readily acquaint themselves with Christian literature. Bible agents, ministers, and colporters from all of the churches have done good work. Thank God for that! but a great deal remains to be done there yet. The type of Christianity that prevails may be classed as intellectual and rationalistic. I say advisedly, without meaning to cast any reflection upon those who are now working there; for among the missionary force of Japan there are devoted men and women, with deep love for Jesus Christ. But many seem to have only an intellectual apprehension, without a heart comprehension. They appear to be destitute of deep, rich experiences of grace, having the form of godliness without the power, and of course propagate a religion after their own kind. If I believe in and practice a rationalistic type of Christianity, of course I will propagate just that kind; but if, on the contrary, I am one who lives close to Jesus Christ, my Master, if I have imbibed deeply of his Spirit, and my trust is in him and in him alone, then I propagate a true spiritual type of Christianity. GCB March 3, 1895, page 432.2

Now because there is this intellectual kind of Christianity among the missionaries, we find it also among the natives. Moreover many of the leaders of thought in Japan were educated in this country in New England, or in England or Germany. They learn a great deal that is, and a great deal that is not, true. As “Bill Arp” used to say: “It is better for a man not to know so much, than to know so much that aint so.” These men coming here and imbibing this spirit, go home and disseminate it among the people, and we see rationalism in Japan to an alarming extent. It is very common for them to say they have no religion of any kind, no creed, no cult. GCB March 3, 1895, page 432.3

Well, now there is but one remedy for all this, and that remedy consists in preaching and living Jesus Christ in their midst. The living Christian is the proof the power of the gospel. I say, Christian; I do not mean simply a nominal professor, but one whose life is hid with Christ in God. The Bible speaks to us of the power of the Holy Spirit. It teaches us to believe that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Now when one of these natives hears the preacher speaking of the power of the Holy Spirit, and hears of the experience of a new life, he demands, and justly too, the truth of the assertion that the Christian is making; and the only thing that can convince him fully is the living of a godly life before him, that he may see the power of God. GCB March 3, 1895, page 432.4

What was it that convinced the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, when Elymas the sorcerer sought to overthrow the works of Paul? — It was the power of God in answer to the prayer of Paul, that smote the man with blindness, and Sergius Paulus saw that Paul’s God was a living one, and that he was in Paul and working through him for the accomplishment of his glory. Do you wonder that the record says, Sergius Paulus was astonished and believed? So I say that a life in which the power of God is manifest is the most satisfactory of all proofs of the reality of the religion of Jesus Christ. GCB March 3, 1895, page 432.5

If we as a people, — if all the professors of Christianity should act in accordance with the teachings of God’s word, and when God speaks to them, yield implicit obedience, and display to the world that their trust is in God, the very stronghold of infidelity would fall, and the devil would be considerably nonplussed as to what plan next to devise to deceive mankind. GCB March 3, 1895, page 432.6

There are in Japan a great many followers of Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin, and others. Inasmuch as these philosophical teachers are referred to there, we need to send among this people those who believe that Jesus Christ is not simply a dead Jew, but the living Redeemer of man, — one who is capable of reaching down his mighty right arm, and taking hold of man with all his weaknesses and iniquities, and making him meet for the kingdom of God. That is the only thing that will save the people, either of that country or of any other. GCB March 3, 1895, page 433.1

Now, then, I repeat: What we need is to go in and out among the people and live before them the teachings of our Master in the religion that we profess. I believe that it is mentioned in that celebrated apology of Theodore Christlieb, “Modern Doubt and Christian Belief.” in the discussion of the miraculous way the work was opened up in Greenland, that the missionary there, Hans Egede, was teaching the people of Jesus Christ, and his power in man’s behalf. He taught them the power of Jesus Christ to heal diseases, and those Greenlanders demanded a visible proof of the teaching. Well, what could he do? He felt so burdened for them that he went back into his house, and wrestled with God Almighty in prayer. He besought the Lord God to heal the sick that were brought to him; and when he went out, his prayer was answered, and all the sick that were brought to him were healed. GCB March 3, 1895, page 433.2

That is the kind of religion that we want. That is the kind we want to profess; and that is the kind we want to live and preach. Jesus Christ is just as able to-day as he was when he was here upon the earth. His ear is just as ready to hear the cry of his people to-day as he ever was. That is the religion for Japan. And I hope, I most earnestly pray, that God will lay his hand upon someone, and say, “Go!” and that one will say, “Lord, here am I, send me.” And I hope that one will go, trusting not in his own strength, or in anything that he possesses; but that trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ he will go, and in that name, conquer! GCB March 3, 1895, page 433.3