Authority and Obedience - Romans 13:1-7 in Modern Japan- Translated by Gregory Vanderbilt

Despite famously small numbers, Christians have had a distinctive presence in modern Japan, particularly for their witness on behalf of democracy and religious freedom. A translation of Ken'i to Fukuj ? : Kindai Nihon ni okeru R ? ma-sho J ? san-sho (2003), Authority and Obedience is "a personal pre-history" of the postwar generation of Japanese Christian intellectuals deeply committed to democracy.
Using Japanese Christians' commentary on Paul's injunction in Romans 13 : 1-7, the counsel to "let every person be subject to the governing authorities ; for there is no authority except from God...", Miyata offers an intellectual history of how Japanese Christians understood the emperor-focused modern state from the time of the first Protestant missionaries in the mid-nineteenth century through the climax and demise of fascism during the Pacific War.
Stressing verse 5's admonition to "conscience" as the reason for obedience, Miyata provides a clear and political perspective grounded in his lifelong engagement with German political thought and theology, particularly that of Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as he calls for a conscientious citizenry in his modern society. Showing both Christians' complicity with the state and the empire – including the formation of a unified church, the Nihon Kirisuto Ky ? dan – and their attitude toward Christians in Asia, and the complexity of the critical voices of Christians like Uchimura Kanz ? , Kashiwagi Gien, Nanbara Shigeru, and many others less well known – Miyata's work aims not at exposing cultural particularity but at showing how the modern Japanese Christian experience can give meaning to a theology and a political theory of how to live within the "freedom of religious belief".