Japan and "The God Delusion"

[John Dillinger]

Because of a crisis of faith ongoing since February, I've read Bart D. Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus and am currently reading Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion.

What has been the Japanese reception of The God Delusion?

[6810]

Christian Japanese are a massively small minority in Japan.

Why would they care?

God these days seems to be a predominantly American phenomenon...

[Mulboyne]

Dawkins is better known in Japan as a scientist rather than as an atheist. The Japanese translation of "The God Delusion" has just been released. There appear to be no customer reviews yet on Amazon.

[james]

Christian Japanese are a massively small minority in Japan.

not to mention, in my experience at least, a rather weird one.

[FG Lurker]

not to mention, in my experience at least, a rather weird one.

And this is different from holier-than-thou Xtians in other countries?

[Mulboyne]

I came across the Makuya the other day.

The word "Makuya" is the Japanese translation of the Hebrew phrase Ohel Moed the meeting place between God and man, the dwelling place of God's Shekhinah (Ex. 29:42-43), and refers to an indigenous Japanese group of Bible Believers, strongly identified with the cause of Israel.

Makuya was founded in May 1948 by a charismatic leader, Abraham Ikuro Teshima (1910-73), who was then a successful businessman and ardent Christian believer. He emphasized the importance of the personal encounter with the Spirit of God and the return to the dynamic faith of the original Gospel of early Hebraic Christianity, as opposed to the dogmatic, institutionalized, European-dominated churches.

He tried to revive the devastated spiritual condition of postwar Japan by proclaiming the words of the living God (Amos 8:11). He said "The Bible is the light to all peoples and the biblical faith perfects all religions. Even today the God of Israel is living and vividly intervenes in the human society with his abundant goodness and mercy."
----------------
A commentator on the Bible and prolific writer, Teshima maintained that deeper understanding of the Jewish faith, its people and history, is essential to the full comprehension of the Bible. The religious thinking of Rabbi A. H. Kook, Martin Buber and Abraham Heschel are among the cherished elements of their belief. Their fervent love of the Bible and firm attachment to Zion brings hundreds of Makuya pilgrims annually to Israel. Over 250 Makuya students have been sent to Israeli kibbutzim to work together with the people of the Bible, and to study Hebrew and the biblical background. Some of them continue their academic studies in universities. They have published their first Hebrew-Japanese dictionary.