Yoshikazu Makita
(Adviser of Van Ruler Translation Society Japan, Pastor of Yamada Church, Reformed Church in Japan, Pre-principal of the Kobe Refomed Theological Seminary)
"Van Ruler in Japan". This topic probably attracts the interest of and arouses curiosities of the readers of "De Civitate". Van Ruler had never visited Japan. Then, how can we talk over "Van Ruler in Japan"?
Even though Van Ruler himself had never been in Japan, some of his theological works came over to Japan as translated versions in English and in German. Now we also have his "Theology of the Apostrate (Theologie van het Apostolaat)" and "I Believe (Ik geloof)" in Japanese, though regretfully both of them were translated from German versions. These and also the theological books of J. Moltmann and R. Bohren, in which the theological thoughts of Van Ruler play an important roll, have made Japanese theologians acquainted with the theology of Van Ruler. Recently many theologians in Japan are greatly interested in Van Ruler's theology. Therefore, now we can talk over "Van Ruler in Japan".
On February 20, 1999 this society of Van Ruler-study started. We have currently 47 members. We are engaged in translating Van Ruler's theological articles from Dutch to Japanese via Internet. Through this medium we are not only engaged in translating but also holding a theological discussion over the ideas of Van Ruler. Sometimes prof. dr. F. G. Immink of Utrecht and prof. dr. P. R. Fries of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, who submitted the doctoral dissertation on Van Ruler to Utrecht in 1979, give advises for our translating work and discussion. We are very grateful to them.
We have already translated the following articles of Van Ruler to Japanese: "De waardering van het aardse leven (The Appriciation of the Earthly life)", "Preekdefinities (The Definition of Preaching)" and "De betekenis van de mozaische wet (The Significance of the Mosaic Law)". We are planning to publish the collection of articles in Japanese. On September 3, 2001 we'll hold a theological symposium on the theology of Van Ruler at the Sonoda Reformed Church located close to Osaka.
Probably you'd like to ask what is the significance of Van Ruler for Japanese churches. We are no fanatics of Van Ruler. Rather we find such problematic elements in the thoughts of Van Ruler as those of "messiaans intermezzo (Messianic Intermezzo)", especially the taking off of the humanity of Christ in the New Jerusalem, the relatively independent pneumatology, speculative tendency of his thinking, etc.
But we are convinced that the theology of Van Ruler has a great value for churches in Japan. We live in the middle of the Buddhistic world. Buddhistic thoughts have a strong affinity with gnosticism. The churches in Japan is much influenced by such a Buddhistic-gnostic thinking. It means people may take the Christian faith here in Japan only as a spiritual, individual and private matter. And also it may lose its historical character. In short, we could say that the nature of Christianity in Japan is Anabaptistic.
In such a spiritual environment, Van Ruler's eschatological-trinitarian theology of kingdom is of great value for us. It gives us perspectives for the history, the field of tension between proton and eschaton (the beginning and the end, origin and completion, edit.), the synthesis of the redemption with the creation, a unique roll of the pneumatology in the synthesis, and also a strong accent on the creation, accordingly the evaluation for the earthly life, etc. Here we can find a important key to overcoming the weaknesses of the Christianty in Japan.
We would like to have a international cooperation concerning the study over the thoughts of Van Ruler. We heartily hope that a theological symposium on international level over the theology of Van Ruler shall be held in the future. Probably we shall meet each other at that symposium and be joyfully talking over "the Theology of Joy" of Van Ruler.
Translated by Takao Kiyohiro
