著者
松平 功
出版者
桃山学院大学
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 = St. Andrew's University journal of Christian studies (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.51, pp.3-43, 2016-02-18

More than fifty years, Rene Girard has developed a hypothesis which is alled the mimetic theory. According to this theory, human beings imitate each other, and this tendency spreads mutually among people and leads to rivalries. This mimetic also causes mutual conflicts in a community. Since the mimetic rivalry that develops from the struggle for the possession of objects is contagious, it leads to the threat of violence. According to Girard, such conflicts are partially solved by a scapegoat mechanism, but ultimately, Christianity is the best appeasement to violene. Girard believes that the gospel texts have instead acted as a catalyst that brings about the break-down of the sacrificial order. The evangelical "good news" clearly affirms the innocence of the victim, thus becoming, by attacking ignorance, the germ of the destruction of the sacrificial order on which rests the equilibrium of societies. The Old Testament already shows several turning points, and also exposes the mythic accounts with regard to the innocence of the victims. The Hebrew people were conscious about the uniqueness of their religious tradition. The gospels fully clarify this hidden system, and unveil the Satanic order which has continued since ancient time. The gospels also describe the foundation of this order as the murder in the account of the Passion. Medieval Europe showed the face of a sacrificial society that still knew very well how to despise and ignore its victims, nonetheless the efficacy of sacrificial violence has not decreased, in the measure that ignorance has receded. Girard sees the uniqueness and of the transformations of the Western society whose destiny today is one with that of human society as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to research about the mimetic theory and the scapegoat mechanism, and to provide a deeper understanding about a relationship between those hypotheses. Through criticizing Girard's concepts, this paper will provide an accurate recognition concerning the redemption.
著者
石川 明人
出版者
桃山学院大学
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.50, pp.113-138, 2015-03-23

Ayako Miura, the Christian novelist, once recalled that in her younger days, she was a militarist teacher. Indeed, the period of her youth spent as an elementary school teacher overlaps with Japan's wartime period. However, when Miura's autobiographical writings are analyzed in detail, it seems more accurate to say that she was not a militarist. This is because she did not consciously support militarism on the basis of sufficient knowledge or opinions about politics and the military during her days as a teacher; rather, she simply complied with and was swept along by the belligerent social atmosphere of the time. Miura's period as a "militarist" teacher can certainly be considered as a dark phase of her life. However, this does not mean that Miura's efforts within the education system of the wartime military state were either malicious or negligent. Conversely, at the time, she strove to accomplish her duties as a teacher in good faith, in the broad sense, with dedication, integrity, and sincerity. That in doing so she consequently became complicit to the evils of the war can only be termed as a lamentable paradox. Though Miura later became an outspoken opponent of war, this opposition was neither based on social scientific knowledge nor grounded in mere humanism; fundamentally, it developed as a result of her Christian faith. Through her wartime experience, Miura had become keenly aware of the fundamental weaknesses, miseries and follies of humanity as well as her own and, in her despair, turned to Christianity. In basing her opposition to war on her Christian faith, Miura failed to consider the classic quandary that religion may also be used to justify war. Nevertheless, her opposition to war is surely worthy of our attention even today.
著者
松平 功
出版者
桃山学院大学
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 = The St. Andrew's University journal of Christian studies (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.51, pp.3-43, 2016

More than fifty years, Rene Girard has developed a hypothesis which is alled the mimetic theory. According to this theory, human beings imitate each other, and this tendency spreads mutually among people and leads to rivalries. This mimetic also causes mutual conflicts in a community. Since the mimetic rivalry that develops from the struggle for the possession of objects is contagious, it leads to the threat of violence. According to Girard, such conflicts are partially solved by a scapegoat mechanism, but ultimately, Christianity is the best appeasement to violene. Girard believes that the gospel texts have instead acted as a catalyst that brings about the break-down of the sacrificial order. The evangelical "good news" clearly affirms the innocence of the victim, thus becoming, by attacking ignorance, the germ of the destruction of the sacrificial order on which rests the equilibrium of societies. The Old Testament already shows several turning points, and also exposes the mythic accounts with regard to the innocence of the victims. The Hebrew people were conscious about the uniqueness of their religious tradition. The gospels fully clarify this hidden system, and unveil the Satanic order which has continued since ancient time. The gospels also describe the foundation of this order as the murder in the account of the Passion. Medieval Europe showed the face of a sacrificial society that still knew very well how to despise and ignore its victims, nonetheless the efficacy of sacrificial violence has not decreased, in the measure that ignorance has receded. Girard sees the uniqueness and of the transformations of the Western society whose destiny today is one with that of human society as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to research about the mimetic theory and the scapegoat mechanism, and to provide a deeper understanding about a relationship between those hypotheses. Through criticizing Girard's concepts, this paper will provide an accurate recognition concerning the redemption.
著者
伊藤 潔志
出版者
桃山学院大学
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 = St. Andrew's University Journal of Christian Studies (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.51, pp.45-70, 2016-02-18

In Wittgenstein's diaries, manuscripts, and so on, he makes numerous references to religion. From this, we can see that Wittgenstein had a strong interest in religion, and that this interest continued consistently right from his `early phase' to his `late phase.' However, these are no more than fragmentary writings, and they do not go so far as to clearly indicate exactly what Wittgenstein's religious understanding was. In this paper, in order to pursue the essence of Wittgenstein's interest in religion, and to clarify the characteristics of his religious understanding, I focus on Tolstoy, who exerted a powerful influence on Wittgenstein. By considering Wittgenstein's religious understanding centered on the influence exerted by Tolstoy on him, we see that, for Wittgenstein, religion was truly an` issue of life.' Accordingly, Wittgenstein's religion can be called a `religion of life.'
著者
村瀬 寿代 Hisayo Murase
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 = St. Andrew's University Journal of Christian Studies (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.37, pp.19-43, 2001-03-01

Guido Herman Fridolin Verbeck, a native of the Netherlands, was one of the first Protestant missionaries sent to Japan by the Dutch Reformed Church in America. From the time he arrived in Nagasaki in 1859 he gave lessons in foreign languages, taught Western sciences and technology and introduced Western constitutions to young Japanese in Nagasaki. He even had Bible classes for certain inquirers in the hope of introducing Christianity rightfully and legitimately to Japan. He soon became popular among Japanese who desired to get modern Western knowledge. After spending about ten years in Nagasaki, he was invited to Tokyo to work with the Japanese Government and to help establishing the present Tokyo University. It was at this period of time that he contributed in various ways to the modernization ofJapan. Verbeck's life and work was first introduced in his biography, Verbeck of Japan, published in the United States in 1900 by William Eliot Griffis. Griffis himself was invited to Japan as a teacher of chemistry and science by Verbeck, and because he stayed with Verbeck for a while in Tokyo, he actually observed how Verbeck worked for and served Japan and her people. Although Vbrbeck of Japan is one of the most important documentations for research on Verbeck,its author Griffismade many historicalmistakes and in some parts misunderstood the facts. Many historians seem to believe almost all the things Griffis said in his book and do not seem to question his comments. In this essay, I use many other historical sources to correct Griffis' errors, point out the mistakes the researchers made, and offer a more accurate view. During the period Verbeck stayed in Nagasaki, he taught at the Saga School which was financiallysupported by Prince of Saga.It is said that establishing the Saga School in Nagasaki is both Okuma Shigenobu and Koide Sennosuke's idea and it was they who invited Verbeck to their school as a director.Yet the details of the Saga School do not seem to have been told so far by any researchers. I try to clarify when and how Okuma and Koide tried to estahlish the Saga school. Although Verbeck went to a Presbyterian theology school and was ordained as a Dutch Reformed missionary, he was educated at the Moravian school in Zeist in the Netherlands and belonged to the Moravian Church until he entered Auburn Theology School in America in 1856. In my opinion, Verbeck was affected in many ways by the Moravian Church,as can be observed from the way he conducted mission work and preached the gospel. Since the Moravian Church has never been introduced to Japan, there are very few researchers on Moravian Brethren and practically nobody has studied the relation between Verbeck and the Moravian Church. It is necessary to take his original denomination into consideration to understand Verbeck's way of engaging himself in missionary work.
著者
井本 英一 Eiichi Imoto
出版者
桃山学院大学総合研究所
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.40, pp.109-137, 2004

On New Year's Day Suwa-taisha Shrine has a ritual to make sacrifice of two frogs. Visitors to the Dual Shrines of Ise, Naiku Shrine and Geku Shrine, offer frogs of pottery on the rocky altar by the sea. Pilgrims to Santiago di Compostella have offered votive picture tablets of frog to the temple. Witches would give a dinner party at the night of Walpurgis on the mount Brocken at the beginning of May day.Frogs were main dish then.Witches were goddesses of pre-Christian period. Suwa-taisha's sacred pole with strips of white papers on top, Ise shrine's center pole with various color strips on top, and May pole with various color strips down from top are totem poles. Frogs were representation of ancestors or gods. Frog-shaped lamps of Roman, Coptic or Ethiopic Church were souls of ancestors or gods. Gods or goddesses ate the offering of frogs at the beginning of the year to make themselves resurrect.
著者
伊藤 潔志
出版者
桃山学院大学
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 = St. Andrew's University journal of Christian studies (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.50, pp.85-112, 2015-03-23

The purpose of this paper is to examine and elucidate the distinctive features of the religious aspects of Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophical thought. Few people generally regard Wittgenstein as a religious thinker, but research has been carried out on his views on religion and attempts have been made to apply his philosophical thought to theology. Wittgenstein's philosophical thinking is commonly divided into two phases ─ the early phase and the later phase ─ and even as it showed a certain consistency, it also underwent considerable transformation. Accordingly, in the early and later phases of Wittgenstein's philosophy there are both elements that are the same and elements that are markedly different. In this paper I will look at the early phase of Wittgenstein's philosophical thought, picking out certain ideas about religion that run throughout Wittgenstein's philosophy and elucidating the distinctive features of such ideas. Wittgenstein held that language has limits, and that accordingly there are also limits to thought. Further, he held that since language and the world exist with and through one another, the world also has limits. Accordingly, it is impossible to speak anything regarding what exists beyond the limits of language, and impossible to speak anything that lies outside the world. This means that though it is possible to speak of things when they have to do with facts, it is not possible to speak of things when they have to do with values ─ since values lie outside the world. Thus, it is not possible to speak things like religion, faith, revelations, and God (they are `unspeakable'). Nevertheless, Wittgenstein argues, even though it is not possible to` speak' these things, it is still possible to `show' them. According to Kierkegaard, `showing' is a particular state of affairs, and to `show' is a way of indirectly `speaking' something. We might perhaps call this showing a `religion of silence.' Wittgenstein was a philosopher who worked out a religion of silence, a religion that exists on the other side of the limits of language, thought, and the world.
著者
古畑 正富 Masatomi Kobata 河内長野市文化振興計画策定委員
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 = St. Andrew's University Journal of Christian Studies (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.41, pp.69-91, 2005-01-20

As to the Pazarcik stele, published by V.Donbaz, special attention has been paid to the figure of Sammuramat (Semiramis), Adad-n?r?r? Ⅲ's queen mother. As pointed out rightly (RIMA 3. A. O. 104. 3), such military-oriented character as Sammuramat is hardly to be explained by means of“normal”male lineage written in the Assyrian records. Because the military action of queen mother, who went with the king and the Assyrian army (task force) in the campaign to the west (805BC), was unusual in the first stage of the Neo-Assyrian empire. The purpose of this paper is to examine the position of Sammuramat in the Pazarcik stele against the background of the empire's localization. Considering the Assyrian politico-miliatry records relating to queen mother, we may conclude the following points. Such as: (1) It is highly probable that Sammuramat crossed the Euphrates with the Assyrian task force, but that the commander-in chief of it was the general named Nergal-il?ya. Sammuramat, therefore, was not a female warrior and did not participate in the real battle. (2) Presumably, Sammuramat was looking forward to a good news with her little son in the midst of mobile palace. Sammuramat was guarded by the“qurb?tu-soldiers (group) of queen mother”who were gathered from her private manor. In contrast to the qurb?tu-soldiers, there was the ordinary contingent called“kisir of queen mother”. But, we believe, it cannot be directly connected with the command of Sammuramat ( → indirect approach). (3) We get a strong impression that the empire’s localization, during the reign of Adad-n?r?r? Ⅲ, was making steady progress in terms of internal structure. From the logical point of view, it becomes clear that Sammuramat won broad support from the local power of the empire.
著者
野原 康弘 Yasuhiro Nohara 桃山学院大学経営学部
出版者
桃山学院大学総合研究所
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 = St. Andrew's University Journal of Christian Studies (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.44, pp.1-42, 2009-02-20

In UK, the death of Elizabeth II automatically should place her son Charles, Prince of Wales, on the throne. There should be no difficulty at all as to who inherits the crown; no civil strife between her children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. In the past, however, this peaceful state of crowning was not common, on the contrary, coronations often led to bloodshed; the first in succession to the throne did not always manage to mount the throne. When King Edward the Confessor died childless in 1066, a question, who should succeed the throne, occurred naturally. Edgar, who was the grandson of King Edmund, was one, Norwegian-Danish King Harald was also one, and Guillaume, the Duke of Normandy was another. Nevertheless Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, took a drastic measure: he had two services on the same day; King Edward's burial and his own coronation, which was extremely unusual even at that time, and which eventually aggravated the matter. The above three people appealed Harold's coronation. Edgar, however, was regarded too small to succeed the throne. King Harald from Norway invaded the north of England and occupied York temporarily but was finally defeated by newly crowned King Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Guillaume with a stronger claim against Harold was different from the two. He was waiting for the good time for a battle with Harold. Guillaume was born in 1027 at Falaise in Normandy, France, as an illegitimate child of the sixth Duke Robert of Normandy. King Edward's mother, Emma, was from Normandy, and Guillaume and King Edward were relatives. Guillaume made an invasion at Pevensey with a great fleet of warships in 1066. As is well-known, he completely beat King Harold's army at the Battle of Hastings. Nevertheless, it was more than two months before he crowned himself as William the Conqueror, King of England. This summer, I visited cities and towns in Normandy which were related to Guillaume, and also drove along the south-eastern coast of England. This means that I tried to follow the steps of Guillaume's conquest of England.
著者
松平 功
出版者
桃山学院大学
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 = The St. Andrew's University journal of Christian studies (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.48, pp.17-49, 2013-03-27

Although the environmental problem was once considered to be one of the important problems to affect the earth in the future, it has already now a critical issue for present people because of rapid environmental and ecological destruction. The most serious issue is the nuclear fuel problem, as we remember thedisaster of Chernobyl and of Three Mile Island, and the terrible accident that has been occurred at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan that was caused by tremendous earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. People now have to ask why the gl obal destruction and the environmental crisis has developed and who is the person responsible of this critical issue. No one will be able to deny that the influence of modernization from European and American society is the major factor. If so a question will arise. As Christian countries, what kind of role has Christianity played in order to solve the environmental problems in the European and American societies? Moreover, has Christianity made an effort to perform deterrent work of environmental destruction? If so, why is the environmental issue continuing at this moment? The primary purpose of this essay will be to research the historical and ethical relationship between the factor of environmental destruction and Christianity in the West through the standpoint of Sociology of Religion. This thesis will also attempt to analyze the social structure of the West at the time of the Industrial Revolution, and to pursue people' s concepts about the environment in those days.
著者
石川 明人
出版者
桃山学院大学
雑誌
桃山学院大学キリスト教論集 = St. Andrew's University journal of Christian studies (ISSN:0286973X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.50, pp.113-138, 2015-03-23

Ayako Miura, the Christian novelist, once recalled that in her younger days, she was a militarist teacher. Indeed, the period of her youth spent as an elementary school teacher overlaps with Japan's wartime period. However, when Miura's autobiographical writings are analyzed in detail, it seems more accurate to say that she was not a militarist. This is because she did not consciously support militarism on the basis of sufficient knowledge or opinions about politics and the military during her days as a teacher; rather, she simply complied with and was swept along by the belligerent social atmosphere of the time. Miura's period as a "militarist" teacher can certainly be considered as a dark phase of her life. However, this does not mean that Miura's efforts within the education system of the wartime military state were either malicious or negligent. Conversely, at the time, she strove to accomplish her duties as a teacher in good faith, in the broad sense, with dedication, integrity, and sincerity. That in doing so she consequently became complicit to the evils of the war can only be termed as a lamentable paradox. Though Miura later became an outspoken opponent of war, this opposition was neither based on social scientific knowledge nor grounded in mere humanism; fundamentally, it developed as a result of her Christian faith. Through her wartime experience, Miura had become keenly aware of the fundamental weaknesses, miseries and follies of humanity as well as her own and, in her despair, turned to Christianity. In basing her opposition to war on her Christian faith, Miura failed to consider the classic quandary that religion may also be used to justify war. Nevertheless, her opposition to war is surely worthy of our attention even today.