Friday, January 3, 2024

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

It is the 3rd of January 2025 Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

A quick New Year note because the power of AI is doing some math for me- we are coming up on 2,000 shows between the weekday shows and the Weekend edition since 2021. This is almost 3 million words written and read and about 10,000 hours of work…and those numbers all pale in comparison to the downloads, so thank you!  I read you need 10,000 hours to get good at something, so- thank you for listening to this show! I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren't for the constant support from listeners like you and the work of 1517- of Scott Keith and our tireless team of fundraisers that let me do this- please consider supporting us this year!

Over the past few months, I have been contacted by many of you regarding the curious history of Christianity in Japan- in part because of a number of shows I’ve done on this history; I’ve spent time in Japan on two different occasions working with churches and schools. That, and the popularity of the recent television adaptation of James Clavell’s historical fiction Shōgun, have led to thinking and reading about Japanese Christianity and today’s date- the 3rd of January on our calendar (and the calendar they would soon adopt) in 1868, and it was a momentous day.  

The 3rd of January marks the beginning of the coup that led to the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate- itself hostile to Christianity- and gave way to the Meiji Restoration, a kind of Japanese “Enlightenment” that would eventually offer inroads to the faith.

On this day, a group of Samurai and other nobles seized the capital, then Kyoto, from the Tokugawa shogunate and restored authority to Emperor Mutsuhito, who took the name “Meiji” or “Enlightened Rule.” While Mutsuhito was open to the West, he was initially reticent about allowing persecuted Christians to worship openly. The memory of the Shimabara rebellion—the 1638 rebellion of Japanese Catholics—had led to the official banishment of the faith.

Initially, the new regime proclaimed the Five Public Notices- an official proclamation that, among other things, left the ban on Christianity in place as it was believed that one could not be both pro-Japan and pro-Christian; it was, in effect, a condemnation of a kind of Christian nationalism.

The Meiji Restoration would attempt to reintroduce Shinto- the ancient Japanese religion that blended with Buddhism in the 6th century. The Emperor attempted to decouple Buddhism with Shintoism for a particularly Japanese nationalistic religion. But a “closing off” from other religions would not suit a new Japanese government that wanted friendly trade relations with the West.

Within three years, the old Shogunate's class distinction would be dissolved, trade would be opened, and compulsory education would be introduced.

By the early 1870s, the Emperor allowed religions other than Shinto to self-regulate if they could prove that they were not detrimental to the state. It was still an open question whether Christianity would be compatible with the new government, but a combination of native converts and outside pressure eventually led to the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar and a kind of limited freedom of religion in the Meiji constitution of 1889.

The decline of Christianity in Japan, despite initial success and growth, was a factor of many things, including the Uchimura Kanzo episode when a Christian teacher had to resign after refusing to bow to the emperor… that seems like a good Weekend edition in this new year- remind me if I forget).

Today, we remember the beginning of the Meiji Restoration in Japan and the developing relationship between the church and the people of Japan in 1868.

  

The last word for today from the daily lectionary and Psalm 72 good for the run up to Epiphany: 

Endow the king with your justice, O God,
    the royal son with your righteousness.

May he judge your people in righteousness,

    your afflicted ones with justice.

May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,

    the hills the fruit of righteousness.

May he defend the afflicted among the people

    and save the children of the needy;

    may he crush the oppressor.

May he endure as long as the sun,

    as long as the moon, through all generations.

May he be like rain falling on a mown field,

    like showers watering the earth.

In his days may the righteous flourish

    and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

May he rule from sea to sea

    and from the River to the ends of the earth.

May the desert tribes bow before him

    and his enemies lick the dust.

May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores

    bring tribute to him.
May the kings of Sheba and Seba

    present him gifts.

May all kings bow down to him

    and all nations serve him.

  

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 3rd of January 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who wonders if it was hard for them to remember the difference between the kings of Sheba and Seba… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who thinks “may his enemies lick the dust” goes pretty hard (and it's the same in translations from the King James to the Message). 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.