Theology and arts reflection paper - Essay Example

Theology and arts reflection paper Approaches to Christian missions In his novel “Silence”, Shusaku Endo posits a proselytism missionary approach, which is predestined at the conversion of the ethnic Japanese cultural and religious identity into a Western European culture. The proselytism aspect of the missionary work in Japan is demonstrated by the conflict between the Japanese ethnicity and Christianity due to the rejection of the latter by the former’s conservatism as an alien and foreign adulteration of their ethnic identity.

Priest Christovao Ferreira and his compatriot foreign missionaries together with their Japanese Christian converts suffer debilitating persecution at the hands of the Japanese government. This is due to their perceived insubordination to the government, which is attributed to their subscription to an alien Westernized culture. Apparently this culture is synonymously equated with the Christian faith (Endō and Johnston 31). The persecution of the foreign missionaries alongside their Japanese Christian faithful is thus traced back to the Japanese emperor’s concern about the Christianized Japanese inequality loyalty.

This is in favor of the foreign Christian emissaries and to the defiance of the government’s directives. In addition, Japanese cultural ethnicity had a cognitively entrenched religious identity in form of Buddhism, which formed part of the Japanese ethnic identity (Endō and Johnston 18). Contrarily, Christianity challenged some of the religious ordinances of the Japanese tradition such as Buddhism due to their contravention with Christianity dogma teaching against idolatry. This was subsequently viewed as an attempt by the Japanese ethnic conservatism to obliterate and substitute Japanese ethnicity with Western European identity.

On the other hand, the film “Mission” posits a purely evangelization missionary approach aimed at spreading Christianity as an integral part of the South American Gulani community cultural identity. The evangelism aspect of the missionary work amongst the Gulani community is exhibited by the mutual and harmonious coexistence between Christians and non-Christians groups. In addition, challenges to the Christian faith within the Gulani community exclusively come from forces outside the Gulani’s geopolitical locality such as the Portuguese.

This is accompanied with minimum or no resistance experienced within the community’s multiethnic groups (Morricone). Evangelism missionary approach amongst the Gulani community is thus directed towards the exclusive substitution of the pagan religious dogma of the community rather than the comprehensive overhaul and substitution of the Gulani’s cultural ethnicity. A couple of scenes from the film portray the sustenance of the indigenous Gulani’s ethnic identity in terms of the behaviors of those members who converted to Christianity.

Amongst this evidence is the sustenance of Medoza’s militarily instincts imbued in his ethnic identity as a warrior even after conversion to Christianity. This is as evidenced by his military led action against the Portuguese invasion. Father Gabriel’s Christian converts from the Gulani community are also readily conscripted into the military offensive against the Portuguese under the ethnically instilled military tutelage of Mendoza as their warrior king. Few key characteristics of a positive approach to Christian missions Shushaku Endo claim of the strife that characterizes Christian mission in Japan reflects his criticism of proselytism publicized missionary work.

This attempts to erode the ethno-nationalistic identity of an ethnically distinct society. Instead, Endo proposes an evangelization approach that aims at reorientation rather than substitution of an ethnic society’s religious beliefs and ordinances. In addition, Endo exclusively recommends the motivation of Christian evangelization to be purely targeted to the reorientation religious tenet of an ethnic society. This is contrast to the colonialism styled comprehensive erosion of their indigenous ethnicity.

The film mission also posits the efficacy of an evangelization approach to missionary work as opposed to the colonialism alienation of a society’s ethnicity. Father Gabriel’s evangelization styled mission work amongst the Gulani community thus flourishes until the colonialism coercion by the Portuguese expansionists. Works CitedMorricone, Ennio. The Mission. 17 May 2008. Web. 21 November 2012 .Shūsaku, Endō, and William Johnston. Silence. Michigan: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1999. Print