Friday, November 8, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show *** 

It is the 8th of November 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

There is a popular miniseries based on the James Clavell novel “Shogun.” the miniseries of the same name is historical fiction depicting the interactions between a westerner and a fictional Japanese Daimyo around the year 1600.

But we needn’t do “historical fiction” here on the Almanac because the story of “East meets West” happened- and the fictional Japanese Daimyo Toronaga is based on Tokugawa Ieyasu, the great unifier of Japan and enemy of the Christian faith.  

The “Westerners” who first made their way to Japan were the Jesuits, led by Francis Xavier, who landed in Kyushu in the summer of 1549.  

Xavier would die in 1552, the same year that our character- Takayama Hikogorō was born. Hikogoro was the eldest son of the Samurai Tomoteru, who converted to Christianity. As his heir, he was baptized at 11 and took the name “Justus” or “Justin” after Justin Martyr… little did he know then…. 

He was known for his samurai skills, and a few minutes of the show Shogun will show you why this was especially valuable in this era of warring factions vying to control the island.

Justus Takayama, as he was known (sometimes with Ukon added as a designation of respect) was not initially interested in the faith of his father but at some point decided to not only fully adopt his Christian faith but to blend the practices of the Samurai and Christianity, besides being adept with a sword he was also a master of the tea ceremony. The Jesuit Tea ceremony is a peculiar ritual that, in some ways, mirrors the Mass, more on that on another day.

Takayama became popular with the Jesuits as one of the most high ranking and popular of the samurai who adopted the Christian faith. He spent time with the Jesuit Alessandro Valignano and helped Valignano with his then-radical ideas that the Japanese church should be led by the Japanese themselves.

Takayama had worked to establish a Japanese seminary in Azuchi, where Oda Nobunaga- Takayama’s Daimyo lived. Nobunaga was no friend of the church but allowed Takayama to openly profess his faith. But Nobunaga would commit Seppuku (a shame-induced suicide) and became a vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who would not allow Takayama to openly profess his faith. After 6 years of wandering, he was made a vassal again, but these were dark days for the Christian faith. In 1597, 26 Christians were crucified and burned alive as a warning to any others who would abandon the hereditary religion of Japan (called Shinto for ease). Still, hundreds of thousands were baptized and claimed to be Christians despite its unpopularity.

Soon, Tokugawa Ieyesu, an old colleague and friend of Nobunaga, came to power (Ieyesu is the one the main character from Shogun is based on).  Part of Ieyesu’s plan to unify Japan was to outlaw Christianity altogether. When the question is asked, “What happened to Christianity in Japan?” the short answer is Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Tokugawa persecution.

Takayama’s friends believed that he would rebel against Tokugawa- but he would not. He wrote:

"I do not strive for my salvation with weapons, but with patience and humility, according to the doctrine of Jesus Christ that I profess.”

And so he was imprisoned and sentenced to exile. It was on this, the 8th of November in 1614, that Justus Takayama and a few hundred other Christians boarded a ship to the Philippines where the Spanish governors would fete him as a hero.

Unfortunately, the toll his body took from punishments wore on him, and he died the following year in 1615.

Justus Takayama’s story remained popular in the Philippines, where today, there is a statue of him in front of the Catholic university in Manilla and one in a popular town square.  

He was recognized by the Catholic Church as a “servant of God”, the first step towards sainthood, and in 2016, he was beatified by Pope Francis, some 402 years after his exile to Manilla on the 8th of November in 1614.

  

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary and Psalm 127:

Unless the Lord builds the house,
    the builders labor in vain.


Unless the Lord watches over the city,

    the guards stand watch in vain.

In vain you rise early

    and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—

    for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Children are a heritage from the Lord,

    offspring a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

    are children born in one’s youth.

Blessed is the man

    whose quiver is full of them.


They will not be put to shame

    when they contend with their opponents in court. 

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 8th of November 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite samurai? Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man whose favorite Samurai? C’mon- the mysterious Kendo Nagasaki- I’m  Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.