Now, even as I write the title, I am aware of the danger of classifying something as “Japanese theology”, while I implicitly believe that there is no American theology or European theology…just theology. All theology is context bound, though that does not mean that all theology is incorrect or relative. But reading Kitamori’s “the Bible and Japan”, some comments he made regarding the unique contribution of Japanese culture to the understanding of the Bible and theology…I couldn’t help but recall many people with similar sentiments. That, all theology that has come to Japan is in part cultural imperialism and through self-theology, the Japanese church will become free.
There are many parts of this sentiment that I do agree with. There is a sense where the west becomes smug and seems to look down on other cultures. The attitude is that “if you want to learn real theology, you’ve got to come to us”, which is not congruent with a Biblical outlook (I should probably have some Bible reference here, but its late><). Also, much of the Japanese evangelical church has been somewhat bound by American and other missionaries, while 日本キリスト教団, (United church of Japan?) might be bound to Barth or Brunner or other western theologians…so, through self-theology, the church of Japan can better speak and live the Gospel of Christ.
At the same time, I sometimes feel that this “freedom from the west” is given too much emphasis so that the goal is not mainly ” to know Christ and preach Christ in Japan”, but rather to throw off shackles and ties to church in the west. When the emphasis is simply to create distance from other countries rather than to grow in proximity to Christ, theology becomes less about the pursuit of God and more about the pursuit of self. When God is the goal, then there may be incidental agreements between Japan and the west, which is no burden, since the goal is achieved. When one’s country is the goal, the agreement between other churches of the world is one only admitted begrudgingly and with quick asides to show the audience (whoever they are) that the friendship is not so strong. In a sense, disunity is lauded.
So that is one of my concerns that I see from time to time. Good night~
Quinby 