The name William Clark probably doesn’t ring a bell for most Americans, but he’s big in Japan – or at least, a few of his words are. William S. Clark was a native of New England, born in Massachusetts in the first half of the 19th century. He went on to join the Union Army and had a meaningful influence in the Civil War. However, perhaps his most meaningful influence came not in physical warfare in the United States, but in spiritual warfare in Japan. During the late 1800s, Japan was intent on modernizing the country and invited a variety of academics from across the globe to help towards that…
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Learning Grace From The Japanese People
Often times, when you’re focused on a mission, it can be easy to forget how that mission is perceived by others. What seems obviously true and objectively important to you may appear as questionable and only of subjective value to those around you. For those of us who are saved, we see the gospel through spiritually illuminated eyes as “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:18-25). But for many, our faith is but another viewpoint in a sea of religions. In Japan, there is an old adage that goes something like: “many different roads lead to the top of Mt. Fuji.” As a religiously syncretistic…
