Discussion On The Japanization Of Christianity In Endo Shusaku’s Novels

Endo Shusaku,known as the representative of Japan’s “Daisannoshinzin” after the world wars,is an important Japanese Christian writer.Born in a Catholic family,he was converted to Catholicism at a young age under the influence of his mother.However,as he was growing up,he came to realize the irreconcilable contradiction between Christian monotheism and Japanese pantheism,thus embarking on active explorations on the Japanization of Christianity.In this thesis,his exploration course was analyzed based on his five novels,namely The Sea and Poison,Silence,The Life of Jesus,By the Dead Sea and Deep River.The thesis falls into three parts,namely introduction,main body and conclusion,and the main body includes three chapters.The first chapter is a discussion on the inner world of Japanese who lack faith and guilt living in the pantheistic tradition.Endo’s exploration of the Japanization of Christianity was originated from the natural distance between Japanese and Christianity.He believed it was difficult for Japanese lacking guilt to accept the dignified paternal Christian image,so he set out in search of a Christian image suitable for Japanese.The second chapter expounds the formation,development and maturity of the maternal Christian image,and analyzes its causes based on psychological characteristics of Japanese and personal experiences of Endo.The maternal Christ,an image closer to the psychology of Japanese,is more acceptable because it narrows the distance between Christianity and Japanese.The third chapter focuses on the formation of Endo’s multi-religious view.His theory of "the role of God" reinforces the effect of God on human but downplays its existence form,which dispels the exclusivity and transcendence of Christianity and demonstrates his diversified understanding of religion.Influenced by religious pluralism in his later years,Endo unified various religions into "religiosity" with an inclusive multi-religious view in which Christianity lives in harmony with other religions.Endo’s exploration of the Japanization of Christianity went through the process of identifying the distance,solving the contradiction and moving towards harmony,during which Endo also experienced the conflicts and reconciliation between identity and belief.Now facilitating the harmony among religions has become a significant way to mitigate religious conflicts and safeguard world peace.Therefore,such an exploration of Endo not only provides a direction for Japanese to understand Christianity,but also responds to the call of the times.