日本は完全に滅びるか？（英語）
Gary North is a very talented writer and the most important thinker in the world, whose influence is really great on reconstructionists the world over. I have read 12 books so far. But he tends to have rather grim views of the future of Japan and the world. Indeed, there seems to be almost no bright future with Japan, which has so few Christians and even fewer Reconstructionists. But as you know, it is said that Japan has ever persecuted and killed over 1 million Christians from the ancient to the modern era, and, in fact, it was not until 1850's that she began to permit us to worship God openly, still there have been four major challenges from God to Japanese: the Nestorian evangelism in 7th century, Roman Catholic in 16th, Protestant missionaries in 19th, and Macarthur in 1945. Besides, there seems to have been the coming of Jews and Judaism in B.C. 3 th, whose influence can be seen clearly on the Shinto shrines and Japanese traditional festivals (where they even carry an ark called Omikoshi on the shoulders, walking around the street and dancing, whose shape is quite similar to the Ark of Covenant, with both having a box on the two sticks), which fact even an Israeli Diaspora research institution formally admits. For more information, please see
http://www.ask.ne.jp/~remnant/isracam4.htm .
Why so many challenges have been from just Christianity? Why those who wanted to open this country were only Christians? We have never been invaded or challenged by non-Christian nations, such as Mongolian, Chinese or Marxist.
So, Japanese history can be characterized as one of the nations oscillating between Christianity and paganism.
Japanese Imperial family is deeply related to Christianity, and Emperors are all pro-Christians, hiring many Grand Chamberlains and workers in the palace who are Christians. Hirohito was raised in a Christian family and married his prince to a lady from Christian family (
http://www.path.ne.jp/~millnm/imp.famly.html) .Judging from these facts, I cannot but think God's intention consists not in complete abandonment of Japan but in transforming her to a Christian nation.
As the pagan Roman nation having so few Christians, persecuting them severely, and having no covenant with God, was not discarded completely but rather occupied by Christians and transformed to a Christian nation, so Japan will be and must be occupied by Christianity and made a disciple of Jesus.
Satan fears that Japan will be converted, knowing that she will be a great force for God's Kingdom.
Rushdoony personally said to me that Japanese reconstruction will be a "great Adventure", confessing that Japan is one of the most important nations in the world and her influence will be great on the whole world.
I don't think (and it seems to me that others don't think also) that the second largest Power in the world in economics, military, politics and other areas, will be in total lethargy and impotence.
Japanese recent rise in the world history has been by the impact of the culture of the West and Gary North also said so and that is true, I believe, but without national potential ability to make the impact utilized into practice there would have been no such a great progress in so short a time, i.e. just about 50 years, bringing herself up to the state of the world power.
I believe God is not so foolish as not to take advantage of such a nation as a tool for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. God has a greater plan than we can imagine.
The number of Christians and Reconstructionists does not count, I believe.
The important thing is whether we can truly believe God can really work and change this nation through us or not.
Though we have never had a comprehensive, sound and powerful Christian thought to this day, because the missionaries came to Japan with such half-impotent and otherworldly Christian persuasions as were tragically tainted by evolutionism, higher criticism, pietism, Arminialism, Dispensationalism and pessimillennialism, so average Japanese, who are mostly realistic, have never been fascinated by Christianity.
So our work is very important.
> I am glad that you love your country and
> nation so much. Perhaps there is hope yet!
>
> I regret that - in laying my attack on
> Japanese faults so thick - I gave the
> impression that the U.S. is somehow more
> righteous than the Japanese are.
>
> [ For who will be damned more: those who
> never knew the formal Law, or those who
> knew the Law, but hated it anyways?
> Jesus' parable in Luke 12:46-47 should
> make the answer clear.
>
> To look at another historical example,
> the Jewish pharisess feared God much more
> than the Romans did, but God judged the
> Jews much more harder in A.D. 70 than he ever
> did Rome. For Rome was just another pagan
> nation, but Israel was His chosen bride,
> the bride who became a harlot and refused
> to repent. Even killing the bridesgroom
> when he came to forgive her, and marry her
> anyway! ]
>
> The only reason I even mentioned all this
> was not in some claim of American superiority,
> but because the threat that Satan has against
> Japan is so comprehensive. For when America
> is judged - a judgement which is *certain*,
> by the way - she can expect much poverty and
> pain and a deep shame before the world. Indeed,
> much of her land will be taken from her and
> given to the Mexicans, and her old people - so
> hateful against God, so dependent on the
> (soon-to-be-bankrupted) fake-god government
> to care for them in their old age - will die
> in poverty and squallor.
>
> But it's quite possible that when Japan is
> judged, there won't even *be* any Japanese
> survivors! In America, there are maybe
> 300,000 or so classic Reconstructionists -
> not nearly enough to save America, but
> perhaps enough to make up a remnant large
> enough to rebuilt after the fall. But only
> 200 or so Reconstructionists, to plead
> before God to spare Japan?
>
> It scares me, Tomii. It really does.
>
> I pray that God will make your work fruitful,
> VERY fruitful, for God would prefer a living
> and repentant Japan to a dead nation. It
> would please me FAR more for Japan to be
> even more righteous, even more godly, than
> even the old America/Britain peoples was.
> Of course, that would mean that God would
> bless Japan with much more honour and wealth
> and respect than he ever blessed America
> with, but that isn't the point. What's
> important is that SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE,
> decided to choose life instead of death,
> and I will cheerfully rejoice if the
> Japanese is that someone.
>
> Someone must live, Tomii. Someone must
> tell the future generations the great evil
> that was done in our time, and how greatly
> it was punshed by the everliving Lord.
> And someone mush show how to live in a way
> that is blessed by God, instead of being cursed
> by God.
>
> God would be very pleased if a lot of those
> 'someones' were Japanese, for the Japanese do
> have certain gifts and strengths and blessings
> denied to other nations, even America. But will
> enough stand and bear witness? Will enough
> choose life over death?
>
> You and yours are the people who God has chosen to
> stand for Japan, and it is ESSENTIAL that you
> and yours do well: because there are so few of you,
> there is much less room for mistakes.
>
> As for me? Well, I am not actually not an American,
> but a Canadian. And Canada will be judged even more
> harshly than America: while there is a remnant of
> believers in the U.S., the remnant in Canada is only
> a little larger than it is in Japan. And the Canadians
> are far more compliant, more comfortable in their evil,
> and more deliberately, willfully hateful against God and
> His Law than the Japanese or the Americans.
>
> Trust me, Tomii, I envy your love for your people. For
> while there is a slim hope for Japan to repent, there is
> NO hope in Canada. And how can I even love my Canadian
> people who so deeply despise and loathe God? They hate
> everything that is just, everything that is true,
> everything that gives hope. Japan can at least claim
> ignorance: Canada can hide behind no such figleaf.