The Image Of Jesus In Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s Works

The image of Jesus as well as the images of Saint Mary, saints, devils and other figures all created by Akutagawa Ryunosuke co-constructed Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s vast world of literature. By sorting out and researching the changing process of the image of Jesus, we could get better insight into Akutagawa’s complicate exploration and thinking under the impact of exotic Christian culture and native culture.On the basis of deep reading for the text, taking the change in Akutagawa’s attitude towards Jesus as the cut-in point, the author divided the changing process of the image of Jesus into three stages, namely a passionate stage, an antagonistic stage and a friendly stage. Therefore the author had a macro grasp of the image of Jesus in Akutagawa’s works. By identifying the writer’s intention and the specific characteristics presented in the text as the starting point, the author divided the image of Jesus into four types. Firstly, this type of Jesus acted as a spectator, appearing in believers’ prayer of the text, was not described and evaluated concretely and just played a role in pushing the development of the plot, such as Tobacco and Devil; Secondly, this kind of Jesus was a judge, he decided the plot and the ending of the story. Akutagawa made a detailed description of Jesus, so that we could clearly perceive the core of Christianity and the integration of both humanity and divinity possessed by Jesus, like Wandering Jew; Thirdly, this kind of Jesus was on behalf of the mixed culture, which was not entirely consistent with the image in the traditional Western Christian culture, but to some extent, it was compatible with the elements of other religion or culture, such as The Devil; Fourthly, “My Jesus” in “Akutagawa’s Gospel”, as the son of the Holy Spirit and Mary, was the highest comprehension of the image of Jesus through Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s entire life.The image of Jesus in western Christian tradition was complicated and changeable. The author carefully combed the image of Jesus in the Apostolic Age, the Patristic Age, the Middle Ages, the Age of Enlightenment and the twentieth century. No matter how the image changed, we could always find the image of Jesus in the Gospels: the Messiah, the servant, the Son of Man and the Son of God. It was necessary to compare the image of Jesus in Akutagawa’s works with the image of Jesus in the Gospels. There were three innovations in Akutagawa’s works. Firstly, Jesus as the Son of God was silent and helpless. Secondly, the kind of Jesus that was on behalf of the mixed culture and religion was special. Thirdly, “My Jesus” in “Akutagawa’s Gospel” was not the Son of God and exhibited the maternity.Finally, on the basis of relevant theories of psychology and life experiences and feelings of Akutagawa, the author elaborated the motive of “Akutagawa’s Gospel”. On the other hand, comparing “Akutagawa’s Gospel” with Gospels, we could find the differences existed in Jesus’ s relationship with nature, people and God. More importantly, the author revealed the Japanese view of nature, religion and collective subconsciousness implied in the text and further explored Akutagawa’s cognition of the Christian spirit.