Essay Sample on The Origins of Christianity: A 1st Century Faith

Introduction

Christianity is a term used to describe the Abrahamic monotheistic religious faith that is founded on the basis of the life as well as the teachings of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Additionally, the adherents of Christianity are referred to as Christians and they profess that Jesus is the Christ whose coming to earth had been prophesized in the Old Testament of the Christian/Hebrew Bible. Historically, the Christian religion started in the 1st century After Death of Christ (AD) as a holy sect of the Jewish people that lived in Judea. Nevertheless, Christianity spread rapidly from Judea to other parts of the Roman Empire during the first century. Although being a new form of religion in both China and Japan in 1600-1800s, there was a great disparity of how Christianity was accepted and treated in both nations; the Shang Dynasty regime fully accepting it as a new form of religion from the West while the Japanese government abhorring the religion and to a significant extent persecuting converted Christians in the nation.

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Despite the early persecution/maltreatment of Christians, Christianity became the primary religion in the Roman Empire. Furthermore, in the middle ages, Christianity spread into Russia and the Northern parts of Europe. The focus of this research will be to determine the entry and spread of Christianity in China and Japan in the period spanning from the 1600-1820s. Although China and Japan are both Asian nations that supported religious practices in the 16th and 18th centuries, the acceptance of Christianity in the respective nations illustrated a substantial difference. Specifically, that is on the way the religion's adherents were treated by the rest of the public in both nations.

Christianity in China (1640-1820)

Entry of Christianity in China

The history of Jesuits' migration into China is considered to be a historical mark of positive relations that occurred between China and the Western nations between the 16th and early 18th centuries. Additionally, that is because the missionaries' efforts, as well as other works executed by the Society of Jesuits in the stated period, played a crucial part in facilitating the transmission of culture, science, and knowledge between China and Western nations. Moreover, the stated interaction between Jesuits and members of the Chinese society in the stated period also to a large extent influenced the Christian culture that can be evidenced in today's contemporary Chinese society.

The first introduction of Christianity in China was facilitated by the efforts of St. Francis Xavier in the mid 15th century. However, his followers played the core role of pushing the Christian faith into acceptance in Chinese society to a large extent in the 16th century. The 16th century Jesuits in China not only spread the teachings of Christian faith to the Chinese society members but they also introduced the Western academic courses/teachings in the nation. Particularly, the Christian Jesuits introduced Western Science, Mathematics, visual arts, as well as astronomy to the Chinese Imperial Court.

Subsequently, the Imperial Court in the 16th century China accepted and supported the new Western teachings by the Jesuits. Consequently, the undertaking resulted in a substantial intercultural as well as philosophical dialogue between the Jesuits and Chinese scholars who supported concepts like Confucianism in Chinese society. Additionally, at the peak of their influence, the Jesuits in Chinese society in the 16th and 17th centuries were considered to be the Emperor's chief and most trusted advisors. Furthermore, such Christian Jesuits held the most prestigious positions in the ancient 16th to 18th Chinese Imperial government.

Due to the Jesuits' influence in the Chinese society between the stated periods, a sizeable number of Confucian Law scholars and supports converted into Christianity. Additionally, such converted former Confucius supporters became top Christian priests as well as supporters of the Society of Jesus. Based on research that was executed by David E. Mungello, from the time Christianity was introduced in China to 1800, over 920 Jesuits were participating in China's mission (Mungello 37). Also, among the 920 Jesuits, 130 were French while 314 were Portuguese (Mungello 37). Additionally, around the early phase of the 18th century, there were over 240,000 Roman Catholics in Mainland China. Also, that is both the Chinese and missionary Jesuits from other nations.

Challenge the Jesuits Faced While Introducing Christianity in China

Despite the success of Jesuits in introducing Christianity in China, there were several challenges that they faced in the early 16th century before Chinese society could embrace the new religion. In this case, the Chinese society public members were reluctant to embrace Christianity because Jesuits and the entire Vatican prohibited the practicing of the ancestor cult. Additionally, the Christian faith dictated that all converts into Christianity could not keep or have concubines. Also, the Jesuits prohibited the worship of statues related to Chinese ancestor cults. Additionally, the Chinese public members believed that the Christian beliefs were sympathetic to the plights of rebellious persons that had been convicted as criminals by the local Chinese authorities.

Achievements of Jesuits/Christian Missionaries in China

There were several notable achievements that the Jesuits achieved through their introduction of the Christian faith in China. First, the Jesuits played a crucial role in introducing Western practices and beliefs to the West. Additionally, this was possible because the Jesuits learned how to speak Chinese fluently as well as how to write classical Chinese, which was the language that was being used at the time by the Chinese scholarly class. Through learning the Chinese language, the Jesuits successfully introduced Christianity in Chinese society from 1620-1800 (Mungello 37). Additionally, the Jesuits managed to introduce Western scholarly subjects such as Science and Geography to the Chinese scholars.

In respect to Geography, the Jesuits played a critical role in the art of map-making whereby they advanced the knowledge of the Ming cartographers on the information about the earth. Additionally, in the 16th century, Ming cartographers only had the geographical knowledge of the Indian and Southeast Asia subcontinents as well as the Arabian Peninsula subcontinent through Ming voyages that were headed by Zheng from 1405 to 1433 (Liu et al. 16). Nevertheless, through the involvement of the Jesuits in training the Chinese scholars about Geography, a publication by Rucci titled Mappa Mundi that was printed and revised in the 16th century (Elman 56). The stated publication made Ming's cartographers revise their overall understanding of the geography of the world.

Christianity in Japan (the 1600s)

History of Christianity in Japan

Christianity in Japan first arrived in the mid 15th century through missionaries from the West who wanted to spread the Christian faith to the Japanese society. Additionally, the stated introduction of Christianity in Japan spread through to the early years of the 16th century (Mungello 37). However, unlike other Asian societies like China that embraced the religion at that period, Christianity in Japan was abhorred and even banned for approximately 250 years in the nation. Additionally, the stated banning of Christianity in Japan occurred during the Edo Period, which occurred from 1603-1868 (Bektas, 2004). Subsequently, the banning of Christianity in Japan resulted in the persecution of Christians in the nation and it was also a major hindrance to the successful introduction of the religion in the nation.

The first group of Europeans that visited Japan originated from Portugal. Additionally, the stated visitors landed in Kyushu, Japan in 1542 and they were merchants of gunpowder and firearms (Lockard 491). Additionally, the Portuguese merchants were also accompanied by Jesuit missionaries and the Japanese society accommodated the visitors and also accepted Christianity as a new form of religion. In the early years of the 16th century, the Jesuit missionaries had managed to convert a sizeable population of people in West Japan into Christians and even a few members of the Japanese ruling class.

The banning of Christianity in Japan that became fully imposed in the early years of the 16th century was a result of the Toyotomi Hideyoshi's (a Japan leader) actions of 1597 (Kiester 62). In this case, Hideyoshi executed 26 Christians in a stadium at Nagasaki as a way of illustrating that he was against Christianity as a religion to be practiced or introduced to Japan by the Christian missionaries (Kiester 62). Furthermore, the leadership of Tokugawa Shogunate further intensified Japan's Anti-Christian policies whereby it accused Christianity as a religion that obstructed local authorities. Moreover, the Tokugawa Shogunate leadership also accused Christianity to be a religion that promoted an antisocial behavior among public members and a faith that had no tolerance to other religious denominations.

In 1612 Edo Shogunate made an order that forbids any form of propagation of the Christian faith (Kiester 62). Additionally, the orders by Edo Shogunate also sort to have major Christian churches that were situated in Japan destroyed. Moreover, in 1614, the Tokugawa shogunate made a decision to have a complete ban on Catholicism in Japan (Kiester 62). Later, in the mid-17th century, the Tokugawa shogunate made a ruling that sought to remove all European missionaries from Japan and all Christian Japanese converts to be executed (Kiester 62). Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the most powerful lords in the 16th century decided to expel Christians from Japan because he found it troublesome to his system of governance.

In this case, Toyotomi Hideyoshi felt that baptized Feudal Lords in the nation would commit acts such as ceding of territories to Christian missionaries without his permission. However, Hideyoshi's edict was not imposed fully because the European traders from overseas brought a substantial amount of revenue for Japan as a nation. Additionally, after Hideyoshi's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu took over the power of Japan's leadership. Moreover, at first, Ieyasu supported Christianity in the nation. Nevertheless, he ended up banning the practice of Christianity in the entire country while in his leadership position in Japan.

Comparison of Christianity in China versus Japan in the 1600-1800s

In respect to the featured analysis, it is evident that Christianity in China and Japan were treated differently in the 1600-1800s. In China, the Jesuits managed to convert a sizeable population of the Shang Dynasty society members into Christians while in Japan Christianity was banned in the nation for over 250 years during the Edo period (Bektas, 2004). Additionally, in China, Christian Jesuits had a great impact on introducing academic courses such as Science, Mathematics and Geography. Contrary, in Japan, the Christian missionaries from Portugal had an insignificant impact in society, which is primarily because the Japanese government banned the practice of Christianity in the nation. In China, the Christian missionaries were infiltrated even up to the government policy-making level, whereby they held prestigious positions in the Shang Dynasty and also considered to be close advisors to the Emperor (Mungello, 2012; Ooms & Yonemoto, 2004). Contrary, from the first years of Christianity entry in Japan, Jesuits were persecuted by the government on grounds that they disregarded/dismissed the local Japanese religious traditions and practices.