The Attitude of Japanese Christians towards the State

Although the palette of colours in the religious climate in Japan is the same as in China, Japan nonetheless has its own accent. We have already made references to Zen and Pure Land Buddhism, strongly influenced in Japan by early medieval thinkers such as Honen and Shinran. The Jodo-Shin (of the Sect of the Pure Land) school, established by Honen (1133–1212), teaches that good works and mercy (received by calling Amida's name) bring redemption. The Jodo-Shin-Shu (of the True Sect of the Pure Land) school of Shinran (1173–1262) maintains an almost Lutheran concept of sin. There is nothing in a human being that can bring him salvation – not even calling Amida's name. Salvation comes from the “beyond,” from somewhere else. Having to rely on mercy “outside of ourselves” (Luther would say: extra nos) causes all believers to be essentially equal. That is why Shinran sharply criticized the inequality between monks and “normal” believers in the Buddhism he knew. The parallels with Luther here are rather obvious. The Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886–1968) even speaks of the most “comprehensive and illuminating heathen parallel to Christianity” and considers this form of “Japanese Protestantism” to be the symptoms of the mercy and truth appearing in Jesus Christ.