JAPAN ANJ) SOME OF ITS PROBLEMS^ RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 35 



of the late Emperor's life I was stayini,' at Xikko, a sacred centre, 

 where many ancient shrines, both Shinto and Buddhist, side by 

 side, recall a brilliant past. It was a touching sight to see the 

 people of all degrees, and also classes of children led by their 

 teachers, coming thither all day long, singly and in groups, to 

 offer their prayers to the unknown spirits on behalf of the 

 dying Mikado. From the roofs of some of the temples there 

 hung long strips of white cotton, inscribed with prayers, so that 

 each passer-by might pause for a moment and make the 

 petitions his own. 



Underneath their light-hearted manner, it cannot be doubted 

 that still in the heart of man}^ a Japanese there is a yearning 

 for something higher and better than he can find on earth. The 

 patch of paper on which he has written his name, and sticks 

 upon the wayside image, or the little grove beside some 

 country temple with hundreds of tiny paper flags covering the 

 ground, on each of which has been written a name, perhaps of 

 some loved one lost, all speak of souls groping in the dark after 

 some unknown good, and are a silent challenge to Christians who 

 can tell those who put them there what they so need to know. The 

 problems which face the Japanese and their friends are very 

 complex, but one or two facts stand out which, from the Christian 

 point of view, are absolutely certain. (1) It is not a new 

 Gospel, a message accommodated to the prejudices of the non- 

 Christian mind, but it is the same message that once conquered 

 Pagan Britain which alone will save Japan. There are, how- 

 ever, grave dangers arising from the defective way in which the 

 Christian message is often given and taken. A Christ, who is 

 little more than another Buddha, a Christ without the cross or 

 the resurrection, without the promise of eternal life, will never 

 enter deeply into any human heart. A Bible, dissected by 

 however skilful a critic, will never become food for hungry 

 souls. A Missionary of many years wide experience writes that 

 he has " never seen or heard of any individual, or any body of 

 Christians, brought nearer to Christ, and made more earnest or 

 intelligent workers in His Kingdom through the influence of 

 Modern Criticism. On the contrary — it is the consensus of 

 opinion among the most earnest workers that, wherever it comes, 

 it brings blight and paralysis into the Churches. The present 

 condition of weakness and lack of evangelistic zeal and devotion 

 can unquestionably be traced in some large degree to its 

 desolating influences.''* 



* Missionojy Joys in Japan, by Paget Wilkes, p. 318. 



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