October 20, 2008

• Stained Glass Elegies by Shusaku Endo

  Next Endo book on the list...  Why do I do this to myself?  The man is a bit morose, but as a supposedly Christian Japanese writer, I feel the need to try to get inside his head and figure some things out.  My biggest question for him is did his Christianity fail him and why?

  Edit:  I finished this collection of short stories and need to read it again before making any comments because there is so much to think about.  One selection had me laughing out loud.  Some shrunken doctors were swimming around doing an operation on a lovely young lady and got lost inside.  They finally found their way out, but had to battle many, um, obstacles including intestinal worms along the way.

  Later edit:  I am beginning to have my doubts as to whether Endo was actually a Christian or not.  He claims to have been baptized as a Catholic as a child, but it was really not his choice to go through the ceremony that supposedly guaranteed his entry into heaven.  His mother sought solace in religion after her divorce from her husband in Manchuria and embraced Christianity in the form of Catholicism, and it is obligatory for children of a Catholic parent to be baptized as Catholics as well.  The ceremony of baptism, however, is meaningless if there is not also an accompanying baptism and rebirth through the Holy Spirit.  The outer ceremony alone cannot and does not save.  One cannot depend on one's ancestry for salvation either.  Other than her teaching and prayer influence, Endo's mother choice to believe and be baptized makes no difference as to whether her son receives faith, forgiveness, rebirth and salvation.  These are things that each individual receives as a free gift from God, and they cannot be given or forced on one fallen human being by another fallen human being.  Endo may have attended mass as a duty, but as the old saying goes, I can stand in a garage all day long, but that does not mean that I am a car.

  Endo sometimes wears his Christianity like a suit that does not really fit him, and in one of his short stories expresses that he is envious of a friend who decided to become a Christian, because unlike Endo, the friend actually made the choice himself.  Is it possible to truly become a Christian through the choice of another?

  Perhaps Endo had a head knowledge of the answers to the questions that he learned in chatechism, but in his writings I see little love for Christ, but rather only a tolerance of Him, like one tolerates a miserable stray dog that stubbornly persists in following from afar.  (I believe that Endo actually left a black dog behind in Manchuria when his parents divorce, and the look in the abandoned dog's eyes seems to haunt him.)  In "Deep River," Jesus is continually referred to as an emaciated man on a cross.  Jesus did not starve to death, he was in the prime of life.  Of course Jesus suffered, but to look only at the suffering is out of balance.  We grow and are strengthened through suffering.  The Bible even says that we are perfected through it.  Through his suffering and death Jesus gained victory over sin, suffering and death for us.  We are credited with Christ's holiness, the holiness of God himself, and given eternal life.  Christ rose as glorious, victorious King and Lord, but Endo never mentions anything in this vein, and is seems unable to see beyond the veil of human flesh.  

  I get the impression that Endo thinks he is doing Jesus a favor by not casting Him aside.  I get little or no sense of thankfulness to God for grace extended.  Endo seems to prefer the kind, motherly image of Mary, and says in other writings that God seems like an angry judgemental father.  Endo's relationship with his own father was not the best, and perhaps this makes it difficult for him to understand or relate to God as his father.

  Another question that bothers me:  Endo actually did research Sade while in France.  Why would a Christian want to make such a sordid character as Sade the object of study?  How would study of Sade bring pleasure or glory to God?  Is this choice of topic a type of rebellion or attempt to throw off the ill fitting suit?

  Endo talks much of suffering, but not of the perfection that is achieved through suffering, which is clearly a common theme in Scripture.  He speaks of "that Man" suffering on the cross, but not of the victorious, reigning Christ who rose from the dead and now lives to intercede for us before the throne of God and who sends us the promised indwelling Holy Spirit.  Endo seldom touches on sin.  Jesus came to suffer with man, but in Endo's world that is as far as it goes.  The Bible teaches that Jesus suffered to reverse the effects of sin and the fall of man.  Jesus did not come merely to sit with us in our mud of suffering.  He came to reverse the effects of sin and suffering and to make all things work to the glory of God as they indeed should.  If Endo does discuss sin, it is never the fault of the sinner, but rather a weakness for which the sinner cannot really be held responsible.  The sin is blamed on the historical setting, or is something that "just happened."  Endo seems to view sin is to be understood and overlooked, not repented of and forgiven through the blood of Christ.

  I fail to see fruit of the spirit in Endo.  He is not joyful or at peace, but morose and uncomfortable.  He does not seem to find any pleasure in the relationship with God that was forced on him at a young age or in the salvation that he supposedly gained during his ceremonial baptism.  I wonder how many people he encouraged to become Christians, or how many have become Christians through his writings.

  I am also continually troubled that Endo seems to reach the conclusion that it would be all right to step on a fumie to escape suffering in this world.  This is a very difficult dilemma, and as one who has never been forced to make a choice to deny Christ or face torture and death, it would be very easy for me to give the pat answer that  Christ should never be denied under any circumstances.  Scripture, however, would seem to support this view.  I read of no instances of anyone being commended or excused for denying Christ.

  Endo seems to divide the Christians of the Edo Period into two categories:  The strong martyrs and the weak apostates  Those Japanese who apostatized escaped physical pain, but then endured an unbearable spiritual pain for the remainder of their lives on earth.  But is not spiritual pain the result of having done something that ought not to have been done?  But should the church in Japan have been allowed to go out of existence by all of the Japanese Christians being martyred?  The apostates created a kind of underground church that survived the persecution, although Endo says that some elements of Buddhism and other native religions were added.  But is this the true Gospel?  Is an altered Gospel better or worse than none at all?  I respect Endo for not being satisfied with easy answers and will continue to explore his thoughts on this important subject.

  I am not in the position to judge the salvation of another.  That is for God who truly knows the hearts and minds of all to do.  I would really like to believe that as one who holds the title of a great Catholic Christian writer, that Endo is with Christ in Heaven.  I hope that he now realizes that as Peter, those who deny Christ can be given a second chance, and that those who do not deny Christ are given eternal places of honor and glory.

  • 05:02
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