"except they wash, they eat not" - Proof that Islam was from God

Around Tokyo

Proof that Islam was from God

It is interesting that Judaists and Muslims or Arabs regard Abraham as their father, the origin of their races.

More importantly the founder of Islam admitted that Abraham was his ancestor.  But Hebrews and Arabs were already separated when Islam was established in the 7th century.  The founder of Islam had no need to respect Abraham Judaists regarded as their ancestor who lived around 2000 BC.

Or why did not the founder of Islam set the foundation of his religion outside the traditions of Judaism and Christianity?  Why did not the founder of Islam launch a new Bible that had nothing to do with the holy books of Judaism and the Old Testament?

The answer must be that Allah and His angel who spoke to the founder of Islam said directly to the founder of Islam that Allah is the God of Abraham and thus of Judiasts and Christians.

Because it looked more reasonable and convenient for the founder of Islam to proclaim that his God, Allah, had nothing to do with the God of Judaists and Christians.  But he did not do that.  Instead he claimed that he was the last prophet in a lineage of prophets of Judaists.  It is so disadvantageous, but he attached himself to the extension of Judaism and even Christianity.

The fact that the founder of Islam did such an unfavorable thing to himself suggests or means that the founder of Islam was really talked to by Allah and His angel.  It is a proof that Islam is a true religion.

Indeed, the Old Testament implies that one of Abraham's son became Arabs.

Gen 16:6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
Gen 16:7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Gen 16:8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
Gen 16:9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
Gen 16:10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Gen 16:11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
Gen 16:12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
Gen 16:13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
Gen 16:14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Gen 16:15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
Gen 16:16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

So, it looks like Arabs, descendants of Ishmael, have become wild men whose hands are against every Judaist and Christian or even against other Arabs.

If we admit holy authenticity of the Old Testament, Judaists are positioned No. 1, Arabs No. 2, and others, including Europeans, No. 3 or lower.

However, Christ Jesus said:
Mat 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

Therefore, in the realm of faith in Christ or in the kingdom of God, no superior positions of Judaists and Arabs can be claimed.

But in the seventh century when Islam was emerging, this relationship between Arabs, one of whom was the founder of Islam, and Judaists must have been important, since Arabs needed proof that Islam was from God.  



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Mar 7:4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
Mar 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

"with what measure ye mete" - Miracullously Too Little Water on the Earth

The Pacific Ocean west of Tokyo

Miracullously Too Little Water on the Earth

The moon is a very unique secondary planet.  It is too large compared with other secondary planets moving around primary planets.

The prevalent theory on how the moon was created is as follows:

The giant-impact hypothesis, sometimes called the Big Splash, or the Theia Impact suggests that the Moon formed out of the debris left over from a collision between Earth and an astronomical body the size of Mars, approximately 4.5 billion years ago, in the Hadean eon; about 20 to 100 million years after the solar system coalesced.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant-impact_hypothesis

But, this birth of the moon had various crtitical influences on the earth.  One of them is that it allowed formation of continents or lands above the sea level of the earth.  It is because the earth lost a huge amount of water due to the collision that led to the formation of the moon.

The energy of the impact would be so vast that much of the water of the Earth would boil off into space, and very little would settle back onto the remnant of Mars. Last time it happened we ended up with a very dry Moon, and the Earth's surface was red hot for many thousands of years.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=255423


Conversely, without this gigantic impact on the earth, the earth should have kept more water than it has today.  So, all over the surface of the earth must be covered by the sea.  There must be no landmass.  Accordingly, the human species must not have been created on the earth.

The ratio of weight of sea water against the total mass of the earth is just 0.02%, which looks too small.  But as the sea water is so little on the earth than is expected from scientific theories, continents and islands were formed to allow evolution of living things up to the human species.

According to a study by Japanese scientists, water that accounted for 16% of the earth mass penetrated into the core of the earth and trapped there mainly in the form of hydrogen, thus reducing the temperature of the mantle and lowering the sea level.  It means that originally the earth had the amount of water 80 times more than the sea water that today exists.  But why could such a huge amount of water penetrate into the core of the earth?  It must have been caused by the the giant-impact that produced the moon.

Indeed, if the sea water was twice as much as it is today, only mountains higher than 4,000 meters could be above the new sea level.  Then, no evolution of species could be possible.

Put simply, when the earth was created by collision and combination of many meteorites and asteroids about 4.6 billion years ago, there was water about 100 times more than it is on the earth.  But, through the gigantic impact, which resulted in formation of the moon, the earth lost much of its water or some water penetrated into the core of the earth.  As a result, only water with weight of 0.02% of the earth mass was left on the surface of the earth.  It made possible formation of continents and islands, paving the way for biological evolution.

Without the gigantic impact, all the surface of the earth today must be covered by the sea.  And in the sky, there must have been no moon.

So, this earth is a product of miracle.  The earth was created according to the design of God.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant-impact_hypothesis




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Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

"Judge not, that ye be not" - Britain, the EU and the Islamic World

A mountain area around Fukushima City, Japan

Britain, the EU and the Islamic World 

The more you are given, the more you are requested from.

Today, everybody knows what is going on in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Gaza, etc. as we have TV sets and Internet-connected devices.  But in older days, people could not see what tragedies were happening in foreign countries.  People living centuries ago were not requested to think about the global peace because they were not given TV sets and Internet-connected devices.  But people living today are given such technological means to see wars, armed conflicts, and other tragedies happening in foreign nations, so that they are responsible for all these situations.

The issue at point is: if we do not fulfill the request, what will happen to us?

According to the teaching of Christ Jesus, if we do not, we will be deprived of what was given to us.

Indeed, Isrealites who lived around Jerusalem in the first century was given the Messiah but did not meet requests posed to them.  So, Jerusalem and their home land were taken away from them.  What was left was Judaists wandering through the territory of the Roman Empire which later became part of Europe.

Truly, the Roman Empire was given the great territory around the Mediterranean and as far as the Great Britain and the Rhine.  Even Christianity was given to the Empire.  So, what was requested of them must have been so great.  But they did not meet the request, so that the Empire collapsed.  And what was left was the Vatican, a pure religious organization dedicated to Christianity.

Today, the EU is going to be deprived of the UK while the UK is going to be deprived of the EU.  Both must have failed to respond to what is requested of them, while they have been given one of the most prosperous economic markets in the world.

So, the British people and the continental Europeans must reflect on what has been given to them and what they have given in return.

One of key factors must be of course the ever increasing number of Islamic refugees coming from Islamic regions to European nations.

In this context, God seems to request Europeans to help those Muslims fleeing from danger in their war-torn countries, since prosperity of Europe has been based on relationships with those Islamic regions.  And, maybe, as their responses have not been enough,  the EU is going to be deprived of the UK while the UK is going to be deprived of the EU.

So, it is not simply a matter between the UK and the EU, but among the UK, the EU, and the Islamic world.



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Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

"Solomon in all his glory" - God and the Fates of the World

Tokyo, Japan

God and the Fates of the World

The big difference between the human species and animals is the ability to think about God or spiritual entities including so called gods and spirits.

But what is God to mankind?  He is the source of everything, including men's fates and the nature.  God creates and controls everything, including men's fates and the nature.

But did God decide how everything exists, moves, and changes beforehand?  There are some scientific theories that ultimately we cannot know everything at one time.  Physical phenomena only follow their probabilities of existence, movement, and change.

For example, we cannot even tell where an electron, the most important elemental particle for human science and technology, is in an atom of hydrogen, one of the most important atoms.  We can only tell that an electron is here or there around the proton of the atom at a certain probability.  But, God must know where it is precisely at any moment in the domain with the size of 10 to the minus 10th power meters.

Our cells in the brain or  nerve cells in the head function with existence, movement, and change of electrons around various types of atoms.  That God knows exactly where and how any one electron exists and behaves means that He knows every work of our minds.

And the total work of all the human minds make up this human world.  Therefore, God must know how the human world would change in future.  Or, God can manipulate it perfectly.

But, we assume and believe that we have free will.  We can change our lives by ourselves based on free will.　　But, are electrons and atoms in our brains the sources of our free will?

Here, we have to assume the existence of the spiritual world.  And, there also God governs everything.

It means if in the long future mankind obtains ability to perfectly control any electrons and atoms in this universe, like a kind of God, still we are powerless against the spiritual world.

Therefore, we have to obey the God who can control everything including our fates in this world and sources of our free will, our souls and our spirit in the spiritual world.

So, God has made the Englishmen choose leaving the EU beyond expectation of any learnt men in the world just to make human beings more humble.   But for what has God allowed Hillary and Trump to be presidential candidates?  And, why did God allow Hitler take power in Germany before WWII?

To think about God and the fates of the world He set must be the ability that only the human species has in this world different from other living things.







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Mat 6:29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

"can add one cubit unto his stature?" - Nations against Nations

Fukushima City, Japan

Nations against Nations

Christ Jesus said that nations would stand against one another when the end of the world came near.

Of course in the past of the human history, nations fought one another so many times.  But it was in the 20th century that wars called the world war occurred: WWI and WWII.  So, we may infer that the end of the world came to emerge in the 20th century.

In deed, in the end of WWII, nuclear weapons were invented and exercised on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945.  The scale of their devastating power really alarmed the world.  Just one atomic bomb can wipe out a big city.  Even 100 of nuclear war-headed missiles would destroy all the major cities of the US.  The mankind has really obtained the ultimate weapons to destroy one another in a global scale.  It tells that the end of the world became realistic.  Although the Cold War ended without catastrophic nuclear warfare, some countries in the world have today totally thousands of nuclear war heads.

This era after the Second World War has been still full of cases of wars between nations.  Russia still relies on its military power to address its diplomatic issues; China is clearly leaning to the course of military expansion over the South and East China Seas; Some Islamic nations in the regions from Libya to Afghanistan have been in states of civil wars or domestic armed conflicts; and Some African nations south of those Islamic regions are also in civil wars.

And facing a great number of Islamic refugees fleeing their countries toward the EU nations, the English people have decided to leave the EU and apply strict control on immigration control.

It can be seen as one episode on the trend of the world to the state of protection of each country by itself, rather than by relying on international cooperation.

Rich men in the world have been pushing globalization of economy.  But a great majority of non-rich citizens in each country have found that globalization of economy is making rich men richer, although some developing countries like China and India have improved their economy due to the economic globalization.

The UK's situation on staying or leaving the EU, is deeply rooted to the current global situation of global economy from which the Islamic terror is derived.

Indeed as the UK has suddenly decided to leave the UK in the middle of the progress of economic globalization, the end of the world might suddenly come closer.

But Christ Jesus said that those who held fast on their faith till the end would be saved.  



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Mat 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Mat 6:28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

"the king was exceeding sorry" - Rich Englishmen Don't Mind

Around Tokyo

Rich Englishmen Don't Mind

Christ Jesus said to be kind to foreigners since ancestors of Judaists or Israelites had been once immigrants or foreigners in foreign countries.

Therefore, it is not bad for the UK to accept many immigrants from other countries.  But, there might be too many immigrants to the UK.

• The latest net migration statistics show that in the year ending December 2015, net migration to the UK was 333,000.

http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/statistics-net-migration-statistics


The UK has population of 63 million, but those who were born outside the UK account for 13% (7.9 million).

Maybe it is time for the English or the general public of Britain to think about what their nation is.

Probably rich Englishmen must have already decided that they could accept poor immigrants as many as possible, since they would not become threats to them but rather they provide cheap labor force.  For them, poor immigrants would just constitute another social class far below their class.

But poor and old Englishmen must face a difficult situation with an increasing number of non-friendly immigrants to them, though they are expected to be kind to foreigners by Christ Jesus.

Ironically, rich Englishmen who don't mind an increasing number of immigrants look like following the teaching of Christ.



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Mar 6:26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
Mar 6:27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
Mar 6:28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.

"woe unto you that are rich" - The Man on the Cross beside Christ's

Nuclear waste bags placed in a mountainous area near Fukushima Daiichi Plant

The Man on the Cross beside Christ's

Once an ex- elite bureaucrat of the Japanese Government got ill and hospitalized, because he was old.

It was found to be a fatal illness.  So, he returned to his home from a hospital to spend his last days with his family.  Then, a nursing woman was dispatched from the hospital to take care of him.  She took care of him so well.  Moreover, she helped his family in various ways.

As she was a Christian, the old man asked her to read the Bible for him.  He thought that the reason why she behaved so brightly and kindly was she had faith.  So, he wanted to learn Christianity.

The old man gradually came to understand the teaching of God.  But one day he said to her, "I should have learnt Christianity before.  Now I am old, so that it may be too late for me to be accepted by Heaven.  I have no time to learn Christianity enough, since I feel my death is not so far."

Then the woman said, "You don't have to worry.  The Bible says that one of criminals who was crucified with Christ Jesus was promised by Christ that he would enter Heaven with Him, because the criminal expressed his faith on his cross.  So, only such a small time on the cross is enough for a man to be promised to be accepted in Heaven.  You have enough time."

With this help, the old man spent his last days on the earth peacefully and faithfully.

This story also tells that in Japan, an inherently Buddhist country, even elite bureaucrats with good educational backgrounds and cultural experiences, usually do not read the Bible or think about Christianity in their career lives.

So, the man on the cross beside Christ's must be the luckiest man in the history, since he was with Christ Jesus so near till his death.




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Luk 6:24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

"they willingly received him into the ship" - Interview with Castro on JFK Assassination

Around the Imperial Palace, Tokyo

Interview with Castro on JFK Assassination 

According to a book concerned with the Warren Report about the JFK assassination of 1963, the Warren Commission sent a person to the sea off Cuba to have an interview with Fidel Castro in 1964.

The person chosen by the Commission was a black lawyer who was the first black lawyer in the US history that was employed by a major law firm.  He had sometimes met with Castro in New York as the future Cuban revolutionary leader sometimes visited New York in late 1940s and 1950s while the black lawyer was at the time working in a law firm in New York.  They had been a kind of friends since they had met each other in a special place where black men could enjoy black musicians playing at midnight after they had played in clubs where only whites could enter.

The black lawyer flew to Florida and got into a government boat or the like to sail to the sea off Cuba.  Then a boat came to approach from Cuba.  The lawyer got into the Cuban boat where Castro was waiting for his old friend.

They talked for three hours.  Castro denied any involvement in the JFK assassination.  Rather Castro indicated his good will to JFK, though he knew that deceased US President overlooked an CIA plan to assassinate Castro in a tie up with the Mafia.

Afterwards, the black lawyers was strictly forbidden to reveal this secret mission.  He kept it in secrecy and even did not mention it when he wrote his autobiography in the 21st century.

This episode is very American.

It also tells how serious Castro took the matter.

It led to a theory that some CIA and Mafia members who had been trying to kill Castro changed their target from Castro to JFK, since there was a good decoy named Oswald and a handy man named Jack Ruby who once traveled to Cuba for some Mafia business.




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Joh 6:20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.
Joh 6:21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.
Joh 6:22 The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone;

"treasures in heaven" - Complete Charity

Tokyo

Complete Charity

The more you are given, the more you are requested to contribute.

This teaching of Christ Jesus gives an answer to the question why God let the gap between the rich and the poor expand in human society.

If you earn $1, you have to contribute $1 to the society.  If you earn $100, you have to contribute $100 to the society.   If you earn $1 million, you have to contribute $1 million to the society.  If you earn $1 billion, you have to contribute $1 billion to the society.  For this premise, God allows men to be rich momentarily, since they would soon become as poor as others after such contribution.

But the underlying condition is love to others.  Without love to neighbors and the society, rich men will not contribute as much as possible to the society.

Being rich means to see the poor suffering due to a lack of money.  While they have money, they have to see the poor suffering due to a lack of money.  If a rich man has love to human beings, he or she would help the poor.  If he or she gives money to the poor but he or she is still engaged in a social system that generates poor people, his act is useless.  So, a rich man who has love to the poor would stop sustaining social structure and systems that allow him or her to become rich but make some others poor.

So, the true charity is not donation of 10% of one's wealth but 100% of one's wealth.  If a rich man become truly poor after donation or dispensation of charity, he is following the teaching of Christ Jesus.

It also applies to businesses.  Complete charity is what is required for them.



APPENDIX: Ranking of Countries in Terms of Added Values in their Financial Sectors

1. US
2. China
3. JAPAN
4. UK
5. France
6. Germany
7. Brazil
8. India
9. Italy
10. Canada
11. Australia
12. Russia
13. Spain
14. South Korea
15. Switzerland
16. Netherlands
17. Mexico
18. Argentina
19. Taiwan
20. Singapore
21. Saudi Arabia
22. South Africa
23. Indonesia
24. Belgium
24. UAE
26. Turkey
27. Jordan
28. Thailand
29. Malaysia
30. Ireland
  




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Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

"bound him in prison for Herodias' sake" - Know God is the Answer

Tokyo

Know God is the Answer

There are many people living in this world.

Each has his or her own internal world and existence conditions.  Each is unique, since each person occupies different space and is put in different time conditions, an age, timings for specific incidents, etc.

But there are some rules, laws, and truth that apply commonly to all the human beings, such as the fate of inevitable death, needs for foods, desire to satisfy pride, inclination to something attractive, etc.  Religion is related to it.  But money more strongly applies to everyone.

In study of the universe, scientists think about how the universe  was born.  They think with focus on the early stage of development of the universe to understand the truth of the universe where we live.

Like that, we have to think back the history of human beings to understand truth of the human species.  Maybe there is a certain time point in the history of the earth when the human species was definitely established, probably 250,000 years ago in Africa.

However, there is no need to take our eyes back to such a long past.  It is because it was just 2000 years ago that Christ Jesus appeared.  We must think about how human beings lived 2000 years ago.  It must show truth of human life that is buried in this modern, complex, and diversified world.

Though we can only refer to the Gospels, it tells what are essential elements in living conditions of human beings that can be found in any men living in any situations today.

And we can see the overwhelming theme for the mankind as is revealed in the Gospels: the relationship between God and a man.

All the other elements depicted and implied in the Gospels converge to this issue: the relationship between God and a man.  What Christ Jesus preached was all concerned with this point.  And from this condition, millions and billions of living conditions of human beings have been generated all through the history.

But it is natural, since it is God that created human souls and human beings.  Life of every member of the mankind was conditioned by God from the beginning.  Therefore, we have to live along the teaching of God.  Then we can address every problem and challenge in our lives.

We were directed and oriented by God from the beginning.  For us to live better or righteous, it is essential to learn the teaching of God and practice it.  This is the essence of the teaching of Christ Jesus.  Accordingly His teaching effectively applies to any men living in any different conditions in any countries in any era of the history..

Know God then we can understand ourselves and truth of our problems.  In other word, "Know god" is the answer to your specific and unique problems.

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Mar 6:17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.
Mar 6:18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.

"if ye forgive not men their trespasses" - While We Can Understand the Gospels

Tokyo

While We Can Understand the Gospels 

Christ Jesus spoke and preached to people living 2000 years ago in a very specific part of the world.

But His words sounded so real even today.  His teaching did not miss the point even today.  It is as if He had been speaking to us directly.

In these 2000 years, the world changed so much.  Technology and science have developed so greatly.  Social systems and customs have changed drastically in any parts of the world.  But still his voices issued 2000 years ago touched our minds and heats so real.

In other word, there are some parts in the mankind that have not changed over a period of 2000 years.  For example, our DNA seems not to have changed in these 2000 years.  Apparently, the core of human minds and hearts has not changed.  Our attitudes to death must be the same as it was 2000 years ago.  Our concepts to God and Satan must be the same as before.

However, the Vatican has come to lose its influential power.  Many churches in Europe are losing believers.  Churches in the US have been influenced by commercialism.

In these 2000 years, human beings have kept the same fundamental spiritual structure, so that we can understand situations, words, and teachings of Christ Jesus depicted in the Gospels as real.  But, due to too fast progress of technology, we come to live in a too different mode of human life compared to the world where the Gospels were written.

Products and systems produced by application of modern technology have made it unnecessary for us to rely on God to fulfill our wishes.  We will not pray to God for foods, medicines, or any other necessities, but we will think about how we earn money.  Because our modern society will give everything we need if we pay prices with money.  In this context, this modern economy is a god for us.  We can obtain almost anything we wish if we have enough money.

If science and technology continue to develop at an ever faster pace, most of people living in the advances societies might have loose reasons for praying to and asking help from God.  Such a way of living must have an influence of DNA and the core of human minds and hearts.

Put simply, in this century, people living in the advanced nations might be evolving to a different type of the human species.  They might lose some ability to understand the Gospels, since they will have no need to pray to God or ask help from God.

In the long future, the breakthrough will come when development of science results in revolutionary longer life of human beings.  Human science will be concentrated to conquest of death.  And, people might cease to think about God.

Though we are not yet at such a level of advancement, we are moving toward the direction.  So, the question is whether such progress is authorized by God.  If not, a catastrophe must happen in the process of the progress.

While we can understand words and teachings of Christ Jesus and background situations depicted in the Gospels, we have to review our development of science and society.  It is because we are entering a new era where there is a possibility that God will be lost gradually or drastically from our civilization.

For this reason, we have to all the more put God at the core of our minds and heats but not power of money.





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Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

"king Herod heard of him" - Removal of Tokyo Governor Masuzoe

National Parliament (Diet) Bldg., Tokyo

Removal of Tokyo Governor Masuzoe

In Japan, the biggest news item in these days is not the Orlando shooting but the state of the status of Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe.

Due to his irresponsible handling of public money and apparently illegal use of political funds, Tokyo voters, the Media, and other parties concerned are demanding his resignation.  However Governor Masuzoe is refusing to resign partly claiming that he has to attend the Rio Olympics stadium to receive Olympic flag as Tokyo is to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

For the Tokyo metropolitan parliament to pass the official dismissal of the governor, the largest ruling party, the LDP, should join the opposition parties and another ruling party, the Komeito, that have already decided to fire Governor Masuzoe.

However, finally, around 11:45 P.M. of June 14, Tuesday (Japan Time), the LDP decided to join all the other parties for dismissal of Governor Masuzoe.

So, the Tokyo metropolitan parliament will pass votes of no confidence on the governor on Wednesday.



(Preceding Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose was also forced to resign two years ago for illegal money handling.  After Inose, Masuzoe was elected as governor with crucial support from Prime Minisiter Shinzo Abe of the LDP.)


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June 15, Wednesday (JAPAN TIME):

This morning Governor Masuzoe has reportedly decided to resign voluntarily.  He is expected this morning to submit his resignation note to the chairman of the Tokyo metropolitan parliament.  He has finally yielded to millions of people who have requested his resignation through the Media, the Internet, direct calling and facsimiles to the Tokyo Metropolitan office.

In July or August at the latest, election for Tokyo Governor will be held.

Yoichi Masuzoe (1948-) was an ex-assistant professor of the University of Tokyo who however quit the university to be a popular critic and a conservative politician in 1990s.




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Mar 6:14 And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
Mar 6:15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.

"Jesus said, Make the men sit down" - Nobunaga and Jesuit Missionaries to Japan

A Tokyo Subway Station

Nobunaga and Jesuit Missionaries to Japan

One of the most popular or interesting historical characters of Japan is Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582).

Oda Nobunaga was a powerful daimyo of Japan in the late 16th century who attempted to unify Japan during the late Sengoku period. 

The goal of national unification and a return to the comparative political stability of the earlier Muromachi period was widely shared by the multitude of autonomous daimyo during the Sengoku period. Oda Nobunaga however, was the first for which this goal seemed attainable. Nobunaga had gained control over most of Honshu (see map below), before his death during the 1582 Honnō-ji incident, a coup attempt executed by Nobunaga's vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide. It is not certain if Nobunaga was killed in the attack or if he committed seppuku. The motivation of Mitsuhide's betrayal was never revealed to anyone who survived the incident, and has been a subject of debate and conjecture ever since the incident.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oda_Nobunaga

The era Nobunaga lived in was at the end of the age of provincial wars in Japan.  At the time, since the samurai class had taken political power from the imperial court, more than 300 years had passed.

The first samurai regime, the Kamakura feudal government, collapsed in 1333、and then the second samurai regime, the Muromachi feudal government, established in Kyoto in 1336, came to lose ruling power since the end of the 15th century.  Samurai feudal lords, called daimyos, independently occupied local territories while the emperor and the Muromachi shogun in Kyoto had no political power.  Japan had no unified power center, and this era was called  the age of provincial wars.  The concern was who among powerful daimyos would unify Japan again with his military power and become a new shogun, a kind of king of the samurai class.

In this situation, the first daimyo who looked like having power to unify Japan again was Oda Nobunaga originally from a region near Nagoya.  Nobunaga adopted, in a large scale, harquebuses or primitive rifles sailors of a wrecked  Portuguese ship brought to Japan.  His army defeated troops of rival daimyos one after another.  Nobunaga actually occupied Kyoto, which was going to pave the way for establishing his hegemony all over Japan.  He had already occupied most of the regions east of Kyoto, which is called the central Japan today, but some powerful daimyos with territories in west of Kyoto would not surrender to Nobunaga.  So, Nobunaga decided to launch a big military campaign with tens of thousands of samurai troops equipped with thousands of harquebuses.

But at night before starting from Kyoto, he was attacked and killed by one of his generals who mobilized 15,000 soldiers to surround a temple near Kyoto where Nobunaga happened to stay with just 150 entourage samurais.

So, though Nobunaga did not unify Japan or did not become a shogun or a top leader of all the samurais, his remarkable success of having occupied almost half of Japan by his military power made him a hero in the history, though he was originally a daimyo with a small territory around Nagoya.  It is also because almost for preceding 100 years no daimyos had come so close to unification of Japan like Nobunaga.

His popularity also came from his unique personality.  Nobunaga was so revolutionary in his way of thinking and behaviors.  That is why he adopted, in a large scale, the fire arms newly introduced to Japan by Europeans.  Nobunaga was also interested in Christian missionaries who started to come to Japan at the time.  Those Catholic missionaries brought some unique or advanced products to Japan in addition to information of the world.  Nobubaga loved them.  So, he allowed European missionaries to be engaged in their missionary work in his territory.  In fact, some Christian churches were built even in Kyoto of the 15h century under protection of Nobunaga.

Some missionaries wrote about Nobunaga in their diaries or letters as they were also so impressed by this rising future samurai king.  But as they came to know Nobunaga more, they started to be worried by strong samurai leader Nobunaga.  He loved Western products and liked to get information of the world from European priests, but he did not believe Christianity.  He was not even interested in the teaching of the Bible.  He was a kind of abusing Catholic missinaries.

So, according to one theory, some Jesuit missionaries found evil force in Nobunaga.  They decided to kill Nonbunaga.  And, eventually, they worked behind the scene of the assassination of Nobunaga in Hon-noji Temple in 1582.  But their plan was carried out so secretly.  Even Akechi Mitsuhide, one of Nobunaga's general who attacked and killed Nobunaga, did not realize why and how he could get a chance to take over power from Nobunaga who had sometimes insulted Mitsuhide enough to incur Mitsuhide's hatred.

The tragedy that Nobunaga was assassinated while he was about to seize hegemony all over Japan contributed to his popularity.  He looks like a kind of tragic hero.  He looks quite different from any other heroes in the Japanese history.  There is something in Nobunaga that appeals to the minds of Japanese people.  He was revolutionary in his mind set though he was so cruel in battle fields.  He must have looked very differently to different people even while Nobunaga was living.  And to some Jesuit missionaries, Nobunaga might have looked so dangerous to their future mission in Japan.  Maybe they worked secretly for the assassination of Nobunaga.

Even in Europe, in the late 16th century, the Vatican tried to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I who executed Mary, Queen of Scots.

Indeed, the world was so bloody in the 16th century.  So, Oda Nobunaga, the rising samurai daimyo in Japan who was abusing Catholic missionaries, might have been assassinated with involvement of Jesuit priests, though there has been no concrete evidence so far.



Oda Nobunaga
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B9%94%E7%94%B0%E4%BF%A1%E9%95%B7



A book on Nobunaga and Missionary Luís Fróis
https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%AE%8C%E8%A8%B3%E3%83%95%E3%83%AD%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B9%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%8F%B2%E3%80%882%E3%80%89%E4%BF%A1%E9%95%B7%E3%81%A8%E3%83%95%E3%83%AD%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B9%E2%80%95%E7%B9%94%E7%94%B0%E4%BF%A1%E9%95%B7%E7%AF%87-2-%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%AC%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E3%83%AB%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B9-%E3%83%95%E3%83%AD%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B9/dp/4122035813?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0



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Joh 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
Joh 6:10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Joh 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

"what things ye have need of" - Mongol Invasion against Japan vs. Zen Buddhism

Around the Imperial Palace, Tokyo

Mongol Invasion against Japan vs. Zen Buddhism

In 1274 and 1281, Kublai Khan　(1215-1294), the Mongolian emperor of the Yuan dynasty of China, tried to invade Japan, sending more than 30,000 troops by 900 ships in 1274 and more than 150,000 troops by 4,400 ships in 1281.

These incidents are called Mongol invasion attempts against Japan.

At the time, Japan was governed by the first samurai regime led by the quasi-shogun from the Hojyo clan (the real shogun had no actual power).   The quasi-shogun, Hojyo Tokimune (1251-1284), was not intimidated.  He resolutely stood against the then super-power Yuan, calling for samurais all over Japan to come to Kyusyu, the closest area of Japan to the Korean Peninsula, and prepare for war.

Eventually, Yuan troops, consisting of Mongolians, Chinese and Koreans, were defeated twice.  The strongest nation in the world at the time could not occupy any part of Japan.  Since then no Chinese dynasties tried to invade Japan.

But what made Hojyo Tokimune so bravely encounter Mongolians?   Especially, in the second invasion, Emperor Kublai mobilized overwhelmingly larger troops than in the first invasion.  But, Tokimune was so determined to fight them.

It was one Chinese Buddhist priest who came to Japan to teach Zen Buddhism that supported Tokimune.  This priest Mugaku Sogen (1226–1286) himself had encountered Mogolian troops when he was still in China.  It was when Mongolians invaded southern China and Mugaku Sogen took shelter in a temple.  But, Mongolian soldiers came in the temple and tried to kill him.  However, as Mugaku Sogen chanted some Buddhist creed, soldiers were impressed and left the temple without killing him.

Afterward, Mugaku Sogen was invited to Japan by Hojyo Tokimune who expelled the first Mongolian invasion of 1274.  Mugaku Sogen  came to Japan in 1279 to settle in Kamakura, the capital of the samurai regime, and teach Buddhism to many samurais.

Before the Yuan dynasty started the second invasion of Japan, Mugaku Sogen predicted the coming war to Tokimune, saying to go ahead without looking back.  Encouraged by this word, Tokimune bravely mobilized samurais, made them prepare for the world strongest Mongolian troops, and took command of them.

Though it was true that a strong typhoon attacked Mongolian ships off the coast of Kyusyu and destroyed many of them, Japanese samurais successfully defended an area around Hakata Bay, the main battle field, of northern Kyusyu courageously for two months against hundreds of thousands of Yuan troops.  And, Hojyo Tokimune ascribed his victory to the spiritual support from Mugaku Sogen rather than to the typhoon.

Put simply, 150,000 troops Emperor Kublai Khan dispatched to Japan were defeated by one old Chinese Buddhist monk who helped Japanese samurais.

After the war, Hojyo Tokimune built a temple named Enkakuji as part of memorial services for fallen samurais.  And, Mugaku Sogen became the chief priest of Enkakuji Temple to live in the temple till his death.

Accordingly, Zen Buddhism became popular among Japanese samurais as well as in the general public.

But if Japan had been conquered in 1281 by the Yuan dynasty established by Mongolians in China, the history of Japan should have been quite different.  For this reason, Buddhism and especially Zen Buddhism became an essential part of Japan.




 .http://inoues.net/ruins/genkoh.html




The Mogolian invasion route from the Korean Peninsula to Kyusyu.  They also came over the East China Sea.  Red dots show Hakata, Kyoto, and Kamakura from the left.
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/mqhdq538/62996264.html


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Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

"he marvelled because of their unbelief" - An Episode about Tokyo Founder in the 15th Century

Around the Imperial Palace, Tokyo

An Episode about Tokyo Founder in the 15th Century

Tokyo was originally developed around the Edo castle that is now used as the imperial palace.

The present imperial palace was built in the  premises of the Edo castle that was, generally speaking, built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the leader of samurais who governed Japan and started the Tokugawa regime, in 1590.  However, the story was not so simple.

Well before Tokugawa Ieyasu, samurai Shigetsugu Edo first set his residence in the place where the imperial palace is today placed in the 11th century.  And, afterwards samurai Ota Dokan built a castle in the same place in 1457.  However, the Ota clan could not prosper and his castle was used by other samurais.  And finally,  150 years later, Tokugawa Ieyasu occupied it and expanded Dokan's Edo castle.

So, 400 years ago, Tokyo was neither a big city nor a big farming area.  In the coastal area facing Tokyo Bay, only old Dokan's castle stood.  Historically, the Kanto Plain in which Tokyo is situated was first developed in the northern area connecting to mountainous areas since the 6th century.  The coastal area of the Kanto Plain was not suitable for farming, or especially rice cropping.

But, Tokyo (then called Edo) started to become the largest city in Japan when Tokugawa Ieyasu set the capital of Japan there after he seized political power all over Japan in 1603, though the emperor still continued to live in Kyoto.

In the era of Ota Dokan, about 40 km inland from Tokyo Bay there were two key castles used by the samurai lord to whom Ota Dokan belonged.  And these castles were connected to Tokyo Bay through rivers.  Ota Dokan built a castle at the middle point between the estuaries of these rivers on Tokyo Bay.  This castle was expanded by Tokugawa Ieyasu more than 150 years after it had been used by other samurai lords who came to occupy the area after Ota Dokan.

When Tokugawa Ieyasu came to Edo, the area around Tokyo Bay had just one small town around the castle.  But, after 1603 when Ieyasu chose Edo as the capital of Japan, Edo expanded rapidly with population of 150,000 around 1603 to over 500,000 in the middle of the 18th century and more than one million in the early 19th century, though London had less than 900,000 population at the time.

When the Tokugawa clan was defeated by imperial samurais in 1868, Tokugawa shogun handed the Edo castle to the imperial samurais.  Then, the emperor moved from Kyoto to Edo that was renamed Tokyo.  Subsequently, Westernization and modernization of Japan started, putting an end to the samurai age.

So, the history of Tokyo virtually started with a samurai castle built by Ota Dokan in the middle of the 15th century.

When samurai Ota Dokan was travelling through the Kanto plain to his father's house, a rain suddenly started to fall.  Then he found a poor farmhouse.  Dokan wanted to borrow a straw raincoat there.  But when he asked a straw raincoat from the family, a girl of the house just presented a branch of yellow Japanese globeflower (called yamabuki in Japanese) to Dokan.  He was puzzled, receiving the flower and leaving the poor farmhouse.

Later, Ota Dokan told this episode about the strange girl to one of his subjects.  However, the subordinate samurai said, "The girl implied an old poem from an well known anthology:

The yamabuki flowers are flourishing,
double-flowered or more, though  
making me sad just with no fruits."

(Double-flowered Yamabuki produces no fruits.  And the Japanese word fruit is "mi" while the Japanese word for a straw raincoat is "mino." The girl indicated that her family was so poor that they had no "mino," by showing the yamabuki flower to Ota Dokan on the assumption that Dokan knew the above poem.  And she put her sorrow in referring to the poem.)

So, Ota Dokan felt shame that he did not even know the anthology of waka poems called the Goshui-wakasyu (compiled in the 11th century by an emperor).  Since then, Dokan started to learn waka or Japanese poems.  And, finally he became one of the representative writes of Japanese poems in the era.

But the end of Dokan's life was tragic.  The samurai lord whom Dokan served doubted that Dokan might someday attack him to seize the territory, since Dokan performed so well in battles against rival samurai lords.  So, the samurai lord invited Dokan to his castle, and accordingly Ota Dokan was foully murdered.

However, many Japanese still know that the imperial palace in Tokyo was originally a castle built by Ota Dokan in the middle of the 15th century, though it was expanded by Tokugawa Ieyasu around 1600.



Ota Dokan and a girl holding forth yamabuki flowers in the rain
http://www.kiku.com/electric_samurai/cobweb_castle/samurai_gallery/dokan.html



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Mar 6:5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
Mar 6:6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
Mar 6:7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

"Lord also of the sabbath" - Confucianism and Samurais

Around the Imperial Palace, Tokyo

Confucianism and Samurais

Samurais of Japan were not simply warriors, though the sword was a symbol that proved a samurai status of each samurai.

They were originally from guards of the imperial court in Kyoto.  But they gradually took over power from the imperial court and the noble class to set up their own regime in the 12th century.

Since then, the samurai class governed Japan till 1860s when the last samurai regime led by the Tokugawa clan fell.  As leaders of the nation, they had to acquire some culture ranging from Japanese and Chinese classics, Buddhism, Confucianism, Shintoism, and various types of art.  As samurais also became bureaucrats in the central government and officials in office of local samurai lords, they also learnt financing and technology.

In the samurai era of Japan, intellectual persons belonged to the noble class living in Kyoto, the samurai class, Buddhist monks or Shinto priests, or rich merchants or farmers.  Especially in the Edo period of Japan (from the early 17th century to 1860s), 100% of samurais could read and write while 50% of other people, including farmers, could also read and write, since small private schools and temple schools were set up in almost every village and town.


A small private school for children of farmers, craftsmen, and merchants in the Edo era
http://www.edojidai.info/sikijiritu.html

When the Tokugawa clan seized political power and hegemony all over Japan after the age of provincial wars that lasted for one and half centuries, Tokugawa shogun adopted a school of Confucianism as de facto national learning.  They spotlighted an aspect of Confucianism that put emphasis on the relationships between the ruler and subjects, masters and servants, parents and children, and men and women to strengthen social order.  They put samurais at the highest position in the social hierarchy, farmers at the second position, craftsmen at the third position, and merchants at the fourth.  The Tokugawa shogun is situated at the top of the social structure almost in parallel with the emperor.  They used teaching of Confucianism to establish and fix the class society in Japan governed by samurais of various clans.

So, before Westernization and modernization of Japan that started in 1860s, Japanese had been cultivated by Confucianism in addition to Buddhism in terms of spiritualism.  Though Christianity was openly introduced to Japan after Meiji Restoration of 1868, this religion could not prevail due to deeply rooted Buddhism and Confucianism.

What is a point at issue is that Japanese samurais and especially the last samurai regime governed Japan not only by swords but also by Confucianism, though it was one unique school of Confucianism.

So, the moral code of the Japanese people of even today is rooted in Confucianism.  However, influences of Confucianism are different among China, Korea, and Japan.  So, these nations have not necessarily kept good relationships.  Yet, Japanese are spiritually closer to Chinese and Koreans who are also historically under influence of Confucianism than Europeans and Americans who have nothing to do with Confucianism.    

One of popular teachings of Confucius among samurais is: Masters should behave like masters; subjects should behave like subjects; fathers should behave like fathers and children should behave like children.

Of course, men should behave like men and women should behave like women.

Indeed, the Son of Man, Christ Jesus, behaved like the Son of God.

In addition, samurais were expected to die like samurais, so that they sometimes commit a suicide by disembowelment or perform hara-kiri (seppuku) if a need arose.

Incidentally, it seems that descendants of ex-samurais interestingly account for a majority of Japanese Christians of today for some reasons.



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Luk 6:5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

"a feast of the Jews, was nigh" - A Symbol of the Battle of Okinawa

The National Diet (Parliament) Bldg. of Japan, Tokyo

A Symbol of the Battle of Okinawa

The Battle of Okinawa was fought in the last stage of WWII between March 26 to June 23, 1945.

Okinawa Island situated between the mainland Japan and Taiwan has a length of 107 km and a width of 31 km.  The population was a little less than 600,000 before WWII.

To defend the Okinawa Islands, Imperial Japan deployed 116,000 troops while the US dispatched 548,000 army and navy soldiers.  The Battle of Okinawa took 200,000 Japanese lives among which 94,000 were Okinawa citizens.  Through the Battle, 12,500 US soldiers were also killed.

After WWII, the US occupied Okinawa.  It was in 1972 that administrative right on Okinawa Prefecture was returned to the Japanese Government.  For this reason, there are today still many US military bases in Okinawa whose total area accounts for 10% of all the area of Okinawa Prefecture.

Okinawa is the only prefecture of Japan where ground battles were fought between Imperial Japanese troops and US troops.  And, the scale of damage and the number of civilian deaths were so large that Okinawa people have been critical to the central government of Tokyo.  They still remember that in the Battle of Okinawa they were expected by the Imperial Japanese military to commit suicide before being captured by US troops.  Accordingly, most of Okinawa citizens were prepared for death when the US started to invade Okinawa Island by mobilizing 1,500 ships.

The battles were actually ended on June 23 with the collapse of the headquarters of the Japanese garrison troops on June 23, but some isolated Japanese soldiers continued fight.  Even Okinawa citizens hiding in caves and the like hesitated to come out.  Most of houses, buildings, and utilities of Okinawa were demolished through three-month fierce fight.

But on June 25, a seven-year old girl suddenly appeared from a devastated field near the shore.  She was alone walking among other citizens who were walking to American troops for help now that the battles were over.  A US cameraman paid attention to her and took some pictures of her because she was carrying a white flag.  She looked like symbolizing the tragedy of the Battle of Okinawa.



http://boyaki-555.at.webry.info/200910/article_3.html



http://blog.goo.ne.jp/musshu-yuu/e/418cd021c4cf3bddd4e904565153c3e7

These pictures were included in some American picture books issued after WWII.  And, decades later, an Okinawa woman who happened to find one of the books in a book shop saw herself in these pictures.  But she did not come forward to claim that the little girl carrying a white flag was herself.

However, as time went by, these pictures came to be widely known among Japanese and Okinawa people, resulting in various rumors and stupid stories circulated.  So, in 1987, Tomiko Higa wrote a book to tell the true circumstances about the picture.

Tomiko's mother had been dead already before the Battle of Okinawa. When the Battle started, her father left their home to join some activities to support Imperial troops.  He said to his four children (three girls and one boy), "When you die, show your smile to the enemy!"  The children never saw their father since then.  Tomiko was the youngest children of the family.  She was following her siblings to run away from battles.  But her brother died as a stray bullet hit him.  And in a turmoil and confusion, Tomiko was separated from her elder sisters.

So, Tomiko alone wandered through battle fields and safe shelters that were mostly caves.  She was sometimes rejected when she entered a safe cave as too many people were in it or Japanese soldiers did not like to protect civilians.  So, she alone moved around battle fields and demolished villages to eventually come to a half-hidden cave near the shore.  She met two old people there, an old man who lost his hands and legs and a blind old woman who was taking care of him.  Tomiko was allowed to stay there with the poor old couple.  Weeks passed, but they did not realize that the battles were actually ended on June 23.

But on June 25, American soldiers found the cave where the three hid and lived.  They shouted to the cave, "Come out! If you don't come out, we will blast this cave!"

The old man said to Tomiko that he and the blind woman were determined to die there in the cave but Tomiko must live.  The disabled old man had the blind woman make a white flag from his underwear and tie it to a stick of wood.   Tomiko asked the old man to allow her to stay with them and die together.  But the old man scolded her: "You must live.  Life is precious.  This white flag is a universal symbol of surrender.  American soldiers would not shoot you."

So, seven-year-old Tomiko alone came out of the cave carrying the white flag tied to a stick.  She looked impressive to an American cameraman accompanying US troops, since there were no such children carrying a white flag to surrender.  He took pictures of Tomiko who realized it.  She thought that she might be shot.  And she remembered that her father had told to die with smiling to the enemy.  So, Tomiko smiled and waved to the cameraman.


https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BD%E6%97%97%E3%81%AE%E5%B0%91%E5%A5%B3


And, this picture became well known after WWII as a kind of symbol of tragedy of the Battle of Okinawa, though the little girl was not covering her face from fear but was smiling and waving as she expected to be shot to death by an American cameraman.




https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%96%E7%B8%84%E6%88%A6


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa


Note: The Imperial Japanese military virtually forbade its soldiers surrender, which meant to fight till death.  Accordingly, it was unthinkable that white flags were used for surrender by Japanese troops.  This paradigm was apparently forcibly applied to Okinawa citizens during the Battle of Okinawa.  White flags were what should not be used even by a poor little Okinawa girl.



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Joh 6:4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
Joh 6:5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

"the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?" - Traditional Formality in East Asia

Fukushima Station, Japan

Traditional Formality in East Asia

Formality and etiquette were major factors in the Chinese imperial courts that were first established in the Xia dynasty (called Ka in Japanese; c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC) and continued till the fall of the last Chinese classic empire Qing dynasty (called Shin in Japanese; 1644 to 1912).

It is thought that they were introduced for the king of Xia to manage noble people.  And then, they were developed as means to govern other tribes around the nation Xia.  They became a main theme in the teaching of Confucius and other schools of Chinese philosophy.

Influences of respect for formality and etiquette can be even today seen in China, North and South Koreas, Japan as well as Taiwan.  They are still a unique feature in East Asia since the region has been strongly influenced by ancient Chinese culture and philosophy.

However, Europe, the Middle East, India, and South East Asia, in addition to Africa, have no such a high degree of respect for formality and etiquette as is observed in East Asia.

So, God might have chosen an ancient Chinese man instead of Abraham or an East Asian tribe in lieu of Hebrews.  But the fact that God chose Abraham and Hebrews must mean there is something more important than formality and etiquette having been observed in ancient Chinese courts and subsequent East Asian societies.

Yet, to understand East Asians, it is important to learn the spirit that has supported this tradition in East Asia, though modern China looks like abusing this tradition while modern Japan moderately keeps it in its social system with the imperial family at its center.

Traditional formality deeply rooted in the minds of Japanese is also mixed with mildness of the Japanese natural climate, resulting in formation of  Japanese composition as it is observed.  However, it lacks austerity of monotheistic religion like Judaism, Christianity or Islam.

Therefore, the formality Muslims observe when praying to God looks uniquely impressive to the eyes of the Japanese people.  Maybe most of Japanese people might respect Muslims, though cultural aspect of Islam is so foreign to the Japanese.




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Mar 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
Mar 6:4 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

"certain of the Pharisees said unto them" - A God of Baseball Coming Down

Around Tokyo

A God of Baseball Coming Down

Baseball was first introduced into Japan by an American who was teaching in a school in Tokyo in 1871.  The school later developed to be the University of Tokyo.

The most powerful player in the history of the Japanese professional baseball is Sadaharu Oh who delivered total 868 home runs, though his nationality is Taiwanese (he had been born in Japan between the Japanese mother and the Chinese father in 1940).

Oh, who played in the Tokyo Giants all through his career, became a superstar in the Japanese professional baseball since he hit 55 homers in 1964 when one season had 140 games.  Since then, many pitchers avoided confrontation with Oh by giving him a walk.  For example, in the 1966 season, Oh was given a walk 41 times in addition to drawing a walk 142 times.  But not all the pitchers of opposite teams took these safety measures.

In one game in 1968, an American pitcher hired by an opposite team beaned Oh, since Oh looked in very good conditions though he always looked so at bat in those days  The ball did not hit Oh.  But a coach of the Giants got angry and into a scrimmage with the American pitcher with other players joining the clash.  Finally, the coach and the American pitcher were ordered to leave the ball park.  But a Japanese pitcher who took over beaned Oh, too.  This time, the ball hit the head of Oh who fell over and was soon carried to a hospital from the ball park by ambulance.

The whole ball park was thrown into an extraordinary and eerie atmosphere.  The rivalry between the Giants and the opposite team was always so tense, since the Giants represents Tokyo and the opposite team, the Tigers, represents Osaka, the biggest rival city of Tokyo. .

The next batter was Shigeo Nagashima, who is the most popular and loved player in the history of the Japanese baseball.  Nagashima was a kind of big brother to Oh in the team.  And the spectators got nervous, though in quite silence, since the pitcher who had struck the head of Oh with bean ball was still on the pitching mound.

The dangerous pitcher threw a ball at Nagashima who hit it over the fence into the bleacher seats.  Then, all the spectators felt relived, giving Nagashima a great cheer.

At the moment, some news reporter felt, as he wrote later, a god of baseball coming down to the ball park.

Shigeo Nagashima made this kind of drastic performance many times in his career as the leading batter of the Giants along with Oh till he retired in 1974 (Oh retired in 1980).  So, Nagashima became the player who represented the Japanese professional baseball.  Even today, he enjoys a good name and reputation not only in the baseball community but also in the whole nation.

Anyway, this episode of a baseball game in Japan in 1968 is one of examples where some Japanese feel a god coming down from Heaven to the ground.




Scrimmage in the 1968 baseball game between the Giants and the Tigers with Oh, the fourth from the left 
http://column.sp.baseball.findfriends.jp/?pid=column_detail&id=001-20160314-16


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Luk 6:2 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
Luk 6:3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him;

"the will of the Father" - Proof of Existence of God?

Tokyo

Proof of Existence of God?

God created this universe, including the sun, the earth, and the moon.

God set various physical conditions in the structure of the universe and physical laws that work in the universe so that life would be created on the earth and living things evolved ultimately to the mankind.  And God sent spirit from Heaven to each human being so that human beings could be different from other species and behave like angels in Heaven.

But, if you cannot accept this theory, you would live in a manner against the teaching of God.

If there is no God, you can deny existence of Heaven.  You can even deny existence of the hell.  You will surely deny life after death.  Then, you will concentrate on living in this world.  You will think that life is only once and there is nothing after your death.  So, you will try to be rich as much as possible using basically any means.  You will have no compassion to the poor.

You would think that this universe was created only by chance.  The sun, the earth, and the moon were created all by chance.  And, you think that you were born only by chance as a member of the human species that happened to have intellectual ability.  You would even think that your mind happened to emerge.  And you think that there is no God that punishes you if you don't follow the teaching of God.

To be against God, you use your mind and the ability of thinking you think that you happen to possess.  But, you cannot explain how you have come to your mind and the ability of thinking.  You think that they were created all by chance.

However, all these things those who do not believe existence of God think cannot be proved.  It cannot be proved that all these things have really happened by chance.  You cannot prove that your mind was created by chance.  You cannot prove that you came to exist in this world by chance.  You cannot deny that all these things have been all created and arranged by God.

A simple proof that God exists is that even a human being like you with a limited level of ability and intelligence can exist or enjoy living, God with a much higher level of ability and intelligence must be able to exist or enjoy living.  At least you, an entity at a lower level, cannot deny God, an entity at a much higher level.  Even you with limited ability can happen to achieve living; then God with unlimited ability can surely achieve living.

As you now absolutely exist, God can absolutely exit.  And you cannot deny that you are allowed to live by God.  To believe existence of God and assume that God gave life to you is more natural than suppose that you happen to exist all by chance.  "Natural" means having a higher possibility.

The moment you accept existence of God or a great possibility of existence of God, you cannot be rich, since God or Christ Jesus teaches that men cannot serve both God and Mammon.

Most of rich men feel existence of Satan that recommends them to do evil things to be rich.  If they believe existence of Satan, they implicitly admit that God exists,  Then those rich men have voluntarily decided to become enemies of God.

Incidentally, the possibility that this universe can have such physical characteristics and constants as assure the formation of galaxies, stars, the sun, the earth, and living things on the earth is almost zero.  And the possibility of life on the earth evolving to the human species is also almost zero.  This universe and the mankind were apparently created by God for some mysterious special purposes.  We do not exist on the earth by mere chance.

Anyway, how can you deny existence of God, or why do you deny existence of God?




This equation cannot be established by mere chance.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/legacy-of-e-equals-mc2.html



APPENDIX: The Universe Tuned by God

The fine-tuned Universe is the proposition that the conditions that allow life in the Universe can only occur when certain universal fundamental physical constants lie within a very narrow range, so that if any of several fundamental constants were only slightly different, the Universe would be unlikely to be conducive to the establishment and development of matter, astronomical structures, elemental diversity, or life as it is understood...

If, for example, the strong nuclear force were 2% stronger than it is (for example, if the coupling constant representing its strength were 2% larger), while the other constants were left unchanged, diprotons would be stable; according to physicist Paul Davies, hydrogen would fuse into them instead of deuterium and helium.[9] This would drastically alter the physics of stars, and presumably preclude the existence of life similar to what we observe on Earth. The existence of the diproton would short-circuit the slow fusion of hydrogen into deuterium. Hydrogen would fuse so easily that it is likely that all of the Universe's hydrogen would be consumed in the first few minutes after the Big Bang... 

Epsilon (ε), a measure of the nuclear efficiency of fusion from hydrogen to helium, is 0.007: when four nucleons fuse into hydrogen, 0.007 (0.7%) of their mass is converted to energy. The value of ε is in part determined by the strength of the strong nuclear force.[13]If ε were 0.006, only hydrogen could exist, and complex chemistry would be impossible. According to Rees, if it were above 0.008, no hydrogen would exist, as all the hydrogen would have been fused shortly after the big bang.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-tuned_Universe

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Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

"thy whole body should be cast into hell" - Material Body vs. Spirit

Tokyo

Material Body vs. Spirit

The human body is all made of cells.  A cell is made of molecules and atoms.  Physically or materially, there is nothing else in human bodies.

But, each mass of cells or molecules and atoms, that is, a human body, has a mind and a heart.  And its brain functions to generate self consciousness or sense of self.  And, the mind works to make a man live not only in the material world but also in the spiritual world.

Although no matter what a man thinks in his brain in the spiritual world, its results are linked to the material world, a man's mind is linked to the spiritual world where Heaven and the hell exist.

So, human beings are entities that are shifting from the material world to the spiritual world by their work in their minds.  Therefore, we have to think about the spiritual world more.  And, the teaching of Christ Jesus is intended to guide human beings correctly through this path from the material world to the spiritual world and eventually to Heaven.

Indeed, Christ Jesus said that God is spirit.  And spirit is coming down from Heaven into the mind of a person.  It also means that human minds can sense spiritual entities.  Traditionally, human beings assumed that there exist some spiritual entities that are not fixed in material bodies.  Those entities have been also called ghosts that have no material bodies but possess spiritual minds that work like human minds.

The human minds can sense the spiritual world, but if a man becomes greedy and always tries to satisfy his material desire, he will lose the ability to sense the spiritual world or receive an influence from Heaven.

And the degree of how much one is materialistic and far from an influence of the Heaven can be measured by how rich he is.  Because money and wealth are used to satisfy owners' material desire.  The more one enjoys riches, the less one can be influenced by Heaven.

That is why rich men must not be leaders in a community, a society, and a nation.  But in reality, poor men cannot be a prime minister, a president, or a king in the human world.  So, that is why this world is always full of problems, troubles, tragedies, conflicts, and wars.

It also tells why financial, monetary, and economic policies cannot be solutions in the world.

But can all the men abandon all of their material desires and live under influence of Heaven as God wishes?  Probably no.  Therefor souls of most of men go to the hell when their souls are separated from their physical bodies after their death.

Human beings are made of molecules and atoms that are material parts.  But, they are given spirit to their minds by Heaven.  While they are living, they develop their souls which are spiritual.  After their death, souls are separated from the material bodies.  And there are only two places for the souls to go: Heaven and the hell.

When material civilization was not so developed 100 years ago, 1000 years ago, or 2000 years ago, people had more time to think about spiritual matters.  But modern people busy manipulating smart phones have less time to think about the spiritual things.  And people who do not have enough contact to the spiritual world might do any evil things to satisfy their desire.

If science and technology continue to evolve more rapidly in future, human beings without enough faith in God might do very terrible things to themselves using advanced scientific knowledge.  One of advanced products based on advanced science is nuclear weapons.  And another may be gene engineering.



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Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.