The Samurai and the Cross

Abstract

This book explores the encounter of Christianity and premodern Japan in the wider context of global history. The first part examines how the Jesuit missionaries sought new ways to communicate their faith in an unfamiliar linguistic, cultural, and religious environment. Their aim was to ‘re-invent’ Christianity in the context of samurai Japan. They developed an original ‘moral casuistry’ or ‘cases of conscience’ that responded to the specific dilemmas faced by Japanese Christians. The second part situates the European missionary ‘enterprise’ in East Asia within multiple political contexts. China and Japan resisted the presence both of foreigners and their beliefs. The Spanish Jesuit Alonso Sánchez argued for military intervention in China to guarantee the freedom to preach. This provoked a fierce debate in Europe, South America, and East Asia. The principles of ‘just war’ and the ‘law of nations’ formulated by the School of Salamanca were employed to argue both for and against compelling the Chinese to accept the missionaries. The third part turns back to Japan, where the Jesuits were facing persecution in the midst of civil war. They debated whether they could intervene in military conflicts by providing advice and arms to Japanese Christian lords to protect local communities. Some even advocated for the establishment of a ‘Christian republic’ or civil protectorate. In 1614 the shogunate prohibited Christianity amidst rumours of foreign plots to conquer Japan. But more than the fear of armed invasions, it was the ideological threat—or ‘spiritual conquest’—that the Edo shogunate feared the most.