"he went out of the city" - China and the End of the World

Keihin-Kyuko Railway, Tokyo

China and the End of the World

On December 26, 2004, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami occurred following an M9.1 earthquake off Sumatra Island, Indonesia, taking on 220,000 people around the Indian Ocean.

On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan tsunami occurred following an M9.0 earthquake off the northeast part of Honsyu Island, taking on 20,000 people.

On November 8, 2013, Typhoon Haiyan （Typhoon No. 30 in Japanese）, one of the greatest typhoons in history, attacked Leyte Island and other Philippines islands, taking on 4,000 residents.

So, in East and Southeast Asia, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians have been all hit by the great natural disasters.

Luke Chapter 21
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 

26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 

36 - Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Matthew Chapter 24
3 - And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 

29 - Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 

36 - But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

And these devastated regions really surround the Asian Continent a large part of which is occupied by China.

In other word, we may say that Heaven has given a warning concerning China.  China with population of 1,340 million can be a great threat to surrounding Asian countries, such as Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia, as it is aggressively invading, for example, the East China Sea and the South China Sea while unlawfully occupying Tibet and Islamic regions in Central Asia. 

China cannot be regarded as a Buddhist country, a Christian country, or a Islamic nation.  Confucianism or Taoism may work as underlying religious tradition, but most of the Chinese people do not practice spiritual rites regularly.  We have never heard that a Chinese family or a Chinese individual has or carries the Bible or any other holy books, though influences of Buddhism and Taoism can be occasionally seen in people's life.

So, there can be a war, a civil war, great social turmoils in China, so that the Chinese Communist Party will be purged and true freedom of religion will be introduced into China.  

The end of the world can be linked to a fate of China, since everybody in the world is watching China with a sense of disdain, distrust, and disbelief.

Indeed the Chinese national flag consists of some stars, while Japan uses the sun in its national ensign and Muslims like to use the moon as part of their symbol.   

Luke Chapter 21
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 

So, if China should start a war in the East China Sea or the South China Sea, it is not a surprise.  We had better continue to watch China, referring to the holy books.

Finally it will be a big incident if Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam should acquire newly 1.3 billion believers even after such a war, decisive domestic warfare, or any massive social and political upheavals.





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Mar 11:19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.
Mar 11:20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
Mar 11:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
Mar 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

"Every kingdom divided against itself " - Why 2000 Years Ago

Haneda International on Tokyo Bay

Why 2000 Years Ago

Once a man was born, he or she starts to his or her life, taking it as his or her own.

However, a man has too little knowledge about himself and this universe.  He doesn't even know why he had to be born at certain time in a certain environment.

No one can choose time and a place where he is to be born.  But once he was born, he starts to live as if his life were his own.

It is a big mistake.  There must be somebody that decides when and how who should be born.  Then life and a life of one who was born without knowing anything must belong to that someone.

Nonetheless, as Christ Jesus is God, He must have decided when and how He was born as a human being.  He is the only exception.  God decided one day to be born as Jesus in Israel 2000 years ago.  But why?  That must be the greatest theme of human study on history and religion.

332  Alexander the Great conquers the Persians, beginning the Hellenistic rule of Judea. 

167   Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) ransacks Jerusalem, prohibits Torah practice, sets up the
“Abomination of Desolation” in the Temple.  Maccabean revolt begins. 

164   Temple recaptured and rededicated. Origin of Hanukkah celebration (Jn 10:22). 

142  Hasmonean dynasty rules Jerusalem. 

63   Roman army under Pompey conquers Judea. 

40  Parthians conquer Judea. 

37   Herod regains Jerusalem. 

20  Herod begins reconstruction and expansion of the Temple. 

1      Birth of Christ. 

AD 

7      Caesar Augustus appoints Caponius Procurator. Removed judicial authority
from Judea: “The Scepter departed from Judah.” 

28-32   Ministry of Jesus. Crucifixion under Herod Antipas. The tragedy of all history
(Mt 23: 37-39). National blindness decreed (Lk 19:40ff;Rom 11:25). Destruction
of Jerusalem predicted.  The Diaspora begins (Lk 21:24). SEE LUKE 3:1 

37-41  Roman emperor Caligula attempts to have his image established in the Temple. 

66-73  Jewish revolt against the Romans. 

70  Fall of Jerusalem: Second Temple destroyed by Titus. Not mentioned in the Gospels
nor in the epistlesnor in the epistles; this would have been used in apologetic arguments; significant
evidence for being written prior to a.d. 66. Also, Qumran evidences, et al. 

73  Last stand of the Jewish revolt at Masada. 

90  Council of Jabneh (Jamnia) redefines Judaism. 

132  Bar Kochba revolt; destroys the 12th Legion; begin rebuilding the Temple. 

135  Romans crush the Jewish revolt. Hadrian orders Jerusalem plowed under. He builds
Aelia Capitolina on the ruins with a temple to Jupiter built over the site of the Jewish
Temple. Names Israel “Palestina.” 

313  Emperor Constantine legalizes Christianity throughout the Roman Empire; moves his
capital to Byzantium “Constantinople”). 

378  Emperor Theodosius makes Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire.

http://faithbibleministriesblog.com/2013/11/15/a-3500-year-chronology-of-israel/

Indeed without God's sending Himself as a human being to Judea 2000 years ago, Judaists should have been just dispersed in territories of the Roman Empire or to Africa and Asia.  They would have continued their faith in Yahweh, however, without any impact on other races and tribes.  In corners of the world Judaists should have survived just as a minor and rootless religious group.  In 2000 years they should have become minimal.

On the other hand, after the collapse of the Roman Empire expected at the time to happen some time in centuries after Caesar, Europe would not have had a binding factor, the Catholic Church, without the emergence of Christ Jesus.  So, various European tribes should have been divided without common religion.  They should have been sheer strangers to one another.  Cultural unification of Europe must have been impossible.  And, there would have been no Middle Ages, Renaissance, and eventually Industrial Revolution.

So, Christ Jesus came to this world at the right time among Judaists.

But Christianity failed.  So, Islam was given to Arabs and others.  And, it passed 1400 years since the establishment of Islam.  It must be enough.

So, I think something must happen today 2000 years after the birth of Jesus.

Anyway we have to realize that the sole owner of our lives is God.  Our lives are possessed by God.  We are living a life entrusted to us by God, though it essentially belongs to God.

So, we have to report to God how we have lived after our death.  And most of us would have to plead ignorance as our excuse for neglecting God in our life.  But I think God will not simply accept it.

Each of our lives is not truly ours but God's.  We have a duty to live a life according to God's will.


Incidentally, it seems that the ancient Greek Civilization was loved by God.  So, the God used Alexander the great to have him prepare some territories east of Jerusalem for expansion of Judaism, Christianity or, in case, Islam.  The history centering around the birth of Jesus must start directly from the era of Alexander the Great to the time when Christianity gained a sure foothold in Europe with the Roman Empire accepting it as its state religion.





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Luk 11:17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.

”God gave them the like gift” - Women Not in Faith

Shinagawa to Haneda, Tokyo

Women Not in Faith

One interest thing I felt when I read some American mystery novels was that they sometimes depicted a woman as a main culprit.

In most cases, such a female criminal was beautiful, attractive, or a creature who aroused sentiment.

In my theory, there can be a woman who knows she is very dangerous to herself and people around her as she is beautiful.  If she has faith in God, I suppose that she would not even try to make her look more beautiful.  Prettiness often invites evils accompanied by money and so on.  So, a beautiful woman in faith would not try to make her look more beautiful, thus making her poor.  But a bad and beautiful woman would try to make herself look more attractive, thus making more money.

Islam requests women to hide their hair or faces.

The Koran
The Light
[24.31] And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women; and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may be known; and turn to Allah all of you, O believers! so that you may be successful.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/koran/koran-idx?type=DIV0&byte=541486

The Catholic Church also recommends women and nuns to put on veils or wimples.

However Christ Jesus never mentioned these matters.  He only talked with a woman by a well, seeing that she had had some husbands and other men.  Indeed, if we can see how many husbands and other men a beautiful woman has ever had, her outlook would not matter; we would simply leave her in her troubles.

Anyway Christ Jesus never chose women as His 12 Disciples.  So, He never mentioned whether or not a woman should wear a veil.  But He said not to mind what to wear, though He told not to bring two shirts, shoes, or a staff for travel for a missionary.

Finally a woman is dangerous if she has no faith while minding what to wear.




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Act 11:15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Act 11:16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Act 11:17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?
Act 11:18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

"the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ" - Farewell Weapons

Shinagawa Station, Tokyo

Farewell Weapons

Human beings are only the animal that uses a sword for fight, attack, defend or showing his status.

The sword must be the first invention of mankind, though probably it was made of wood for use against other animals.  And then the second invention must have been the bow and arrow.  Armed with these weapons, mankind became the final winner on the animal planet.

When mankind started to make bronze or iron swords, the situation however changed drastically.  These metallic swords were clearly intended for use against other human beings.  Now the enemy of a man was not other animals but other men.  So, the fate of mankind started to become bloody and ominous.  Mutual destruction might have been destined mankind for.

Accordingly Christ Jesus told truth about a man and the sword.

Matthew 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Now handguns and rifles have become common hardware in the US and other regions in the world.

 In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm. 

In 2009, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 66.9% of all homicides in the United States were perpetrated using a firearm.[5] Two-thirds of all gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides. In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicide deaths, and 11,078 firearm-related homicide deaths in the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States

So, when you sell a gun to a client, you have to read for him or her the above passage of the Bible.

They that take a gun shall perish with the gun.

No more assassinations like the JFK killing, since Caroline Kennedy arrived at Tokyo today as the US Ambassador to Japan.

YURIKO NAGANO, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
POSTED: Friday, November 15, 2013, 2:49 AM 

TOKYO (AP) - Caroline Kennedy arrived in Japan on Friday to take up her position as U.S. ambassador with one important strength: She has the ear of the American president. 

"I bring greetings from President Obama," she said in a short statement after getting off the plane with her husband Edwin Schlossberg at Narita airport.
Japan hopes the 55-year-old daughter of late President John F. Kennedy will work closely with Barack Obama to tackle some urgent U.S.-Japan matters, analysts said. 

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world/20131115_ap_f665e96450504cd5ae38daf0cb403b43.html

Her grandfather was the US Ambassador to England while Hitler was rising in the German political circle.  He didn't contribute much to peace at the time.

But Caroline Kennedy has a great chance, since China and South Korea are still tenaciously attacking Japan for matters which happened during and before WWII.



*** *** *** ***


Rev 11:14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

"let him hear" - Beauty is Vain?

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Beauty is Vain?

In the Bible there are some descriptions about beauty:

Pro 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

So, the most important thing for a woman is neither being charming nor beautiful but being fearful of the Lord.

So, you had better know who your sister, your girl friend, or your wife is afraid of.  If it is God, you ca be relieved from various evils her worldly charm and beauty might invite.

http://rimaroom.jugem.jp/?eid=580





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Mat 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Mat 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
Mat 11:14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
Mat 11:15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

"the time of figs was not yet" - Godlike Moment

Tokyo International Airport

Godlike Moment

Today's lesson of the King James Version of the Bible is on a very strange scene.

It is Christ Jesus vs. a fig tree.  And the fig tree seems to have outflanked Christ.  The tree refused to provide its fruit for hungry Christ.  And Christ a sort of got angry, which was observed by His disciples.  It is very strange.

But Christ was living as a mere man but not as the God.  And an ordinary man sometimes meets an incongruous situation with his personal or inner integrity.  Matter in the universe moves according to conditions of the universe the God had set on His creation of it but not to the human ideal. No matter how holy or powerful a man or a woman is, he or she would have to face a very uncomfortable situation.  For example, a Pope might be treated as a criminal, and a queen must face a very mean incident of her family.  And Christ met with a rebellious fig tree.

As the God even created the Devil, He must have given a chance of existence to such a tree.

So, coming back to His holy sense, Christ as the God ordered the fig tree not serve anybody since it denied serving Christ who was the God in his inner nature.  Indeed if a subject refused to server a king, he is not allowed to serve anybody in the kingdom, in order to protect honor of the king.  So, it meant that Christ took back His authority as the God to a kind of save His face for Himself.

So, this episode is very human if He is a simple human being like us, but we have to probably say that this episode is very godlike since He is such God.

But all the 12 disciples there looked like misunderstanding something.

Although the Gospel states that Jesus "found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.", we should not read this passage as if it were a horticultural manual. As these events bracket the cleansing of the temple we are meant to see that the fate of the unfruitful tree symbolizes the character and fate of the magnificent temple of Jerusalem. Jesus expected the temple to be a house of prayer, for the temple authorities to conduct their affairs unobscured by commercial exploitation. As Jesus saw it, there is never an off season for the Temple. Yet the temple authorities failed to produce fruit. In the words of writer Joseph O'Hanlon: All leaves, and no figs.answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

http://iconsandimagery.blogspot.jp/2010_11_01_archive.html

Christ Jesus however did not abhor the fig tree especially, since He mentioned it in His teaching, giving a kind of credit to it:

Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 

So, the fig tree is, nonetheless, not far from Heaven.



*** *** *** ***


Mar 11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
Mar 11:12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
Mar 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
Mar 11:14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

"the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence" - Heaven and the Hell

Haneda Airport, Tokyo

Heaven and the Hell

There is one vivid story Christ Jesus told: A beggar was sitting by the gate of a rich man's house.

As time went by, both the beggar and the rich man died to leave this world.  Then the rich man came to God, asking Him to mitigate his pain and thirsty.  Indeed the beggar was in Heaven held by Abraham, looking so satisfied.  The rich man asked God to have the beggar give him water even using the tip of his finger.  But God said, "You enjoyed fine and nice foods, clothes, articles, houses, and so on.  But now the beggar is given everything he needs.  Between you and the beggar a deep crevasse you cannot jump over lies."

It is so simple.  A rich man who simply neglects the poor is condemned to falling into the hell.  A poor man who doesn't do any things bad but just sits before the gate of a rich house can be allowed to enter Heaven.

The key to understanding this story is existence of Heaven and the hell.  And it tells Heaven is a good place for human souls whether they are good or bad.  The hell is a place where human souls suffer so much.  And human souls cannot freely move between Heaven and the hell.  The fate is decided by God who takes into account a state of living of each man.

So, it is very strange that no schools in this world teach Heaven and the hell to children and students.  No serious professors study Heaven and the hell to present results of his study to make people who are stupidly trying to be bad and rich repent.

However, in old days, or specifically in the Middle Ages in Europe people were told about Heaven and the hell so often in homes, communities, and churches.  Accordingly, there must have been more people who entered Heaven in those eras than in today.      

Luk 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:  

Luk 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

Luk 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 

Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 

Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 

Luk 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 

Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

He said,

“I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.”

But Abraham said to him,

“They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.”

He said, 

“No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”

He said to him,

“If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.”

— Luke 16:19–31

http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2013/04/17/here-endeth-the-first-lesson/



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Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

"And Jesus entered into Jerusalem" - The Answer is the Devil?

Haneda International on Tokyo Bay

The Answer is the Devil?

One day the Devil, disguised as an Islamic angel, showed poor men in Islamic nations and rich people in the US to Osama.

The Devil asked Osama what he would do.  Osama answered that he would attack the US.  Then the 9/11 Terror was carried out in 2001.  The US Government sent military planes and ground troops to Iraq and Afghanistan to kill tens of thousands of Muslims, most of them were so poor.  President Obama finally sent a special attack unit to Abbottabad, Pakistan, to take on Osama in 2011.

In this way the Devil caused deaths for thousands of rich Americans and tens of thousands of poor Muslims in addition to rich Muslims such as Osama and President Hussein of Iraq.

The point at issue is that if Osama had been able to see that the Islamic angel was the Devil he would not have launched the 9/11 Terror.  And then there would not have been deaths of thousands of rich Americans and tens of thousands of poor Muslims in addition to rich Muslims such as Osama and President Hussein of Iraq.

But one day the Devil without disguising himself as nobody else, showed poor men in the US and super-rich people in the US to Wall Street guys.

The Devil asked Wall Street guys what he would do.  Wall Street guys answered that they would have poor Americans contract subprime loans in late 1990s.  Then in 2007 this scheme came to a dead end.  Total 7.5 million subprime loans were packaged into mortgage-backed securities (MBS).  The amount outstanding of subprime home mortgaging as of March 2007 was 1 trillion 300 billion dollars.  It triggered the Great Financial Crisis of the US which started in September 2008.

The point at issue is that if Wall Street guys had not been servants of the Devil, they could have avoided the 2008 Financial Crisis which is still making the US unemployment rate kept high.

Of course the Devil was talking for decades to Japanese elites in the nuclear industry, nuclear reactor makers, electric power companies, regulatory authorities of the Japanese Government, political communities, academic communities, media organizations, and so on that Japanese nuclear power plants were all safe and 15 meter tsunamis would not attack those nuclear plants which were however all built on seas.    

And on March 11, 2011, an M9.0 earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean 200 km off Honsyu Island where Tokyo is also situated.  It triggered huge tsunamis which rushed to several hundred kilo-meter coast lines northeast of Tokyo.  As a result the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was attacked by a 15-meter high tsunami, so that its three nuclear reactors got into a big trouble losing a power source for circulating cooling water.  Within a day, nuclear fuel started to melt down in Fukushima Daiichi, leading to huge leakage of radioactive substance.  This nuclear accident is not yet completely fixed even today.  Still radioactively contaminated waste water is flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the plant.

The point at issue is that if Japanese elites had not been brainwashed by the Devil, they should have built more robust and higher seawalls around the Fukushima No.1 (Daiichi) Plant to avoid such a critical nuclear accident at the level of Chernobyl.

So, it is the Devil that is making mankind suffer here and there.

We need more fighters against the Devil.  But who would be, facing terrorists and US troops, Wall Street greedy and arrogant executives, workers and clients, and big earthquakes, tsunamis and high doses?



*** *** *** ***


Mar 11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

"to him that knocketh it shall be opened" - The Japanese Koran

A Museum in Suburbs of Tokyo

The Japanese Koran

There are only three Japanese translations of Koran.

The most sold version of Koran in Japanese was translated by Toshihiko Izutsu.  In fact, the first Japanese Koran was a work of translation by Izutsu.  　

Toshihiko Izutsu (1914 – 1993) was Professor Emeritus at Keio University in Japan and author of many books on Islam and other religions. He taught at the Institute of Cultural and Linguistic studies at Keio University in Tokyo, the Iranian institute of Philosophy in Tehran, and McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He was fluent in over 10 languages, including Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Greek.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshihiko_Izutsu

Izutsu was a genius in language.  He once said that he had mastered English, German, French, Italy and other European languages, taking only three months for each.

It is because those European languages pose no resistance to learners.  But languages used in regions with longer history than Europe have a kind of resistance confronting learners, according to Izutsu.  So, he had to make more effort to master Arabic, the Hebrew word, Sanskrit, etc.

When Izustu was young, he studied Arabic day and night.  He studied various types of Arabic day and night.  He also taught Arabic to students.  But Izutsu learnt himself various aspects of Arabic, including the Koran and ancient Arabic poets, day and night.  However he had foreign teachers, too.  One of them was Musa　Bigiev (1875-1949), a Tartar, who visited Japan before WWII when Izutsu was a young scholar.  Musa　Bigiev was also called Musa Carullah.

Japanese Scholar Toshihiko Izutsu, has many books on the Qur'an and other subjects. He is believed to be a turning point in the field of Qur'anic semantics. His books are highly accepted by the scholars worldwide and translated into several languages. His masterpiece Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur'an was from his earlier books in the field of Qur'anic semantics. Professor Dr. Muhammad Khalid Masud, Izutsu's student in Canada, has translated this book into Urdu language in Pakistan with a very valuable introduction about İzutsu and his relations with several muslim scholars. Musa Carullah of Kazan, Izutsu's master in Arabic and Islamic sciences had very deep influence on izutsu. In his introduction to the translation Khalid Masud stresses on the Izutsu's method of understanding of the Qur'an: In fact Shah Wali Allah of Dehli was the first scholar who has underlined the importance of the study of Qur'an as a whole. But izutsu and some other schoiars such as Hamiduddin Farahi and Amin Ahsan Islahi have developed this method of understanding. This introduction tries to show Izutsu's relation with muslim scholars and muslim world and his importance in the field of Qur'anic studies.
http://www.islamiarastirmalar.com/magazine/tr-Izutsunun-ethIco-relIgIous-concepts-In-the-qur-an-adlI-kitabInIn-urduca-cevirisi-uzerine-151.html?page=archive           

Musa Bigiev had very excellent power of memory, which even Izutsu was surprised at.  One day when Izutsu was sick, Musa Bigiev paid a sympathy visit to Izutsu.  Then in a room where Izutsu stayed in bed, Musa Bigiev found many books.  He asked, "What do you do with these books?"  Izutsu replied that he would carry all these books with him to study them even when he was traveling.  Then Musa Bigiev said, "Don't be like a snail, carrying a bookcase!  You have to remember all the contents of these books!"

Indeed when Musa Bigiev asked Izutsu to get him a certain Arabic book, Izutsu found it to bring it to his Arabic teacher.  Then, a week later, Musa Bigiev returned it to Izutsu.  But Izutsu found that his teacher almost completely remembered contents of the 600-page book.

Even when Musa Bigiev was teaching contents of a certain classic Arabic grammar book, he remembered each word of the book without reading the 1000-page book, so that he could write and show its important sentences to Izutsu.  Musa Bigiev really looked like keeping contents of all important books in his head.

Izutsu read classic books of ancient Greek, Hebrew, Persian, Arabic, Hindi, etc. in original ancient languages.  Izutsu became not only a language expert but also a philosopher in this way.

Nonetheless there was also one Japanese whose support benefited Izutsu very much.  It was Shumei Okawa who was arrested as an A-class war criminal by the American military which occupied Japan after WWII.

Shumei Okawa (1886 – 1957) was a Japanese nationalist, Pan-Asian writer and Islamic scholar. In the prewar period, he was known for his publications on Indian philosophy, philosophy of religion, Japanese history, and colonialism. He is frequently called a "right-wing" writer, although he described himself as anti-capitalist and rejected the label "right-wing".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%ABmei_%C5%8Ckawa  

Shumei Okawa had once worked in the South Manchuria Railway Company, a Japanese national policy concern during and before WWII.  Okawa purchased some precious Arabic and Islamic books using a company budget.  But as the books were too difficult nobody read them.  So, Okawa invited Izutsu to come to the office of South Manchuria Railway to study these books.  It helped Izutsu greatly advance his knowledge in Arabic and Islam.

Anyway, only unique Japanese learn Arabic and Islam even today like before WWII.  But Japanese study on Arabic and Islam owes much to the Japanese genius in language Toshihiko Izutsu, the prodigious wandering Tartar scholar Musa Bigiev, and the politically unique Japanese Islamic scholar Shumei Okawa.

http://www.keio-up.co.jp/kup/izutsu/cw.html
Japanese Islamic Scholar Toshihiko Izutsu in an International Conference in 1979





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Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

"nothing common or unclean" - Great Reader Mao Tse-tung

Kanda, Tokyo

Great Reader Mao Tse-tung

A daughter of Mao Tse-tung or Mao Zedong (1893-1976) and his second wife, Li Min (1936-), wrote a book about her father: My Father Mao Tse-tung.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%8F%E3%81%8C%E7%88%B6%E3%80%81%E6%AF%9B%E6%B2%A2%E6%9D%B1-%E6%9D%8E-%E6%95%8F/dp/4773369698

In this book, Li Min revealed that Mao was an extensive reader.  In fact when Mao died, he left about 700,000 books in his house.

Mao's daughter wrote: "One day my father told me that once he had been reading a book while marching.  Then it started rain.  But my father never stopped reading.  Eventually a soldier walking behind him said to him that he had better put on a bamboo hat.  So, my father asked the soldier to go and buy a bamboo hat in a nearby village for him.  But the soldier said that Mao had one on his back."

Mao Zedong was a great reader.

One day he read a thesis a Japanese professor wrote in a specialty journal on socialism.  Mao said to the husband of Li Min, "This professor wrote a right thing.  Material can be divided into smaller parts infinitely.  Science develops through branching and dividing.  You have to study various fields of science but you must also learn from the real world."

However as is well known, Mao suppressed intellectual persons and cultural figures during the Cultural Revolution observed in China in the late 1960s and the first half of 1970s.  The then top leader of China Mao Zedong regraded professors, authors, artists, and other highly-educated people as the enemy of farmers and other less-educated Chinese people.  Mao even advised that Chinese people should not read much.      

Mao's strategy influenced Pol Pot (1925-1998) of Cambodia who executed more than one million intellectuals in the country.

Why did Mao try to destroy communities of Chinese intellectuals?  It is thought that Mao was afraid that learnt men would be more influenced by the Soviet Union.  Mao Zedong knew that the USSR was more advanced than China in terms of modern culture, science, and technology.  He must have thought that the more Chinese people learnt, the more they would respect Russians.  But farmers who could not fully read and write would never be enchanted by advanced science of the Soviet Union.

Probably Mao thought that he would lose power if those who studied Western culture and mastered modern technology took key positions in the Chinese Government and the Chinese Communist Party.  Mao Zedong who never studied abroad had no confidence in his ability to lead the nation and at the same time save his face in handling Western cultural works.  Mao must have looked like a fool who was just good at Chinese cultural heritage but so poor in understanding the modern science and economy.  Accordingly, he must have suppressed intellectuals and professors in China to prevent a possible coup.

Mao read and studied Western cultural works enough to be able to judge that he was not a master of Western culture.  But he could not lead other Chinese leaders in advancement of the nation along with Westernization or the Russian style technological development.  So, Mao decided to eliminate those intellectuals who could replace him in progress of the society.

Eventually no Chinese politicians became associates with or spies of the Soviet Union.  No critical civil war took place in China.  Soviet influences as well as Western influences on China were prevented.

Only a great reader such as Mao Zedong could understand power of books, so that he would try to stop people from reading books to secure his status and his ideal state of the nation, provided he had dictatorial power.

Today, however, China has become an industrial power, though through great import of modern and Western culture and science via Japan, since Mao Zedong never regarded Japan as a real enemy.



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Act 11:7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
Act 11:8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
Act 11:9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

"What went ye out into the wilderness to see?" - Everybody Can be God?

Mt. Fuji and a City North of Tokyo 

Everybody Can be God?

"Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

"Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."

"Luke 6:40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master."


When I read the Bible in past, I always tried to find any evidence or proofs that support the idea or the belief that Christ Jesus was the Son of God and ultimately the God.

For instance, if He had changed the day to night instantly before the public at His will at any time, there would have been no doubt about his divinity.  If He had floated in the air at His will at any height at any moment, there would have been no doubt about his divinity.  If He had called angels from Heaven at His will at any time, there would have been no doubt about his being the God.  If He had made any persons who had died before come back to life at His will at any time, nobody would have doubted that He was the God.  But Christ Jesus performed only humble miracles, such as turning water to wine in a wedding ceremony.

If Christ Jesus is the God, He must be immortal, continuing to live even to date for 2000 years.  But as you know, He was killed, though He came to life again, according to the Bible.

In reality Christ Jesus did not win conflicts with rotten rabbis to govern Israelites and finally win war against Romans.  He was trapped by bad rabbis and arrested by Roman soldiers to be executed.

However, of course, there are other ways for a person to prove Himself to be God.  It is the essence of the Gospel.  In fact by living such a life as depicted in the Gospel He proved that He was God.

So, there must be words of Christ Jesus in the Gospel that have the same effect as the act of turning the day into night and night into the day at any time.  Probably most of readers of the Bible would come to think that Christ Jesus can be God when they find those words.

Or, there must be a way to express one's divine nature through living a daily life like an ordinary man.  And the way must be also recorded in the Gospel.

In order to prove that Christ Jesus is God, He must have used the least necessary words and acts without calling an army of angels from Heaven.  It means that He lived as an ordinary man 100%.  He did not use ability higher than that an ordinary man could exercise.  Conversely, it reveals that an ordinary man can prove that he is God, too, by delivering the same words and performing the same acts Christ Jesus used to prove His godhood.  Then, logically, we can be God.

Truly, Christ Jesus told His disciples to be complete or perfect as He was.  But one who is complete or perfect is the God only.  It means that Christ Jesus asserted that each of human beings could be God, to our surprise.  And such a thing can be only said by the God.  And only the God must know this astonishing truth or secret between a man and the God.

In other words, if a man could let all of his DNAs and genes work fully, he might look like a god.

Anyway, you had better ask any believer in what words and acts of Christ Jesus he or she finds deity of Christ Jesus.

Jesus: A Perfect Example of Love (1 John 3:16–17) by James Stuart Bell and Tracy Sumner

"So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion — how can God's love be in that person? (1 John 3:16–17). 

From the very beginning of his life, Jesus, John tells us, is our perfect example of love. While it is highly unlikely that any individual believer is going to have to die for another, it is a certainty that we all will have opportunities to "give up our lives for our brothers and sisters" by demonstrating the kind of compassion Jesus demonstrated every day. 

Study Questions
What should it mean, practically speaking, to the believer today to love as Jesus loved when he was on earth? 

Why do you think Jesus spent so much time meeting the physical needs of people through his many miracles when his ultimate mission was to save people's souls?
http://www.netplaces.com/bible-study/first-john-a-life-of-love/jesus-a-perfect-example-of-love-1-john-31617.htm

http://stupiddynalearns.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/psalm-11-the-only-refuge-we-can-trust/jesus-n-peter/



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Mat 11:7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

"as Jesus had commanded" - Men Possessed by Ill Spirits

Pacific Ocean 120 Km Northeast of Tokyo

Men Possessed by Ill Spirits

There is a strange episode in the Bible.

Christ Jesus met a wild and mad man chained in tombs.

Christ drove out demons from the mind of this horrible man.  Then the guy came to himself.  But he did not follow Christ Jesus.  We don't know what became of him afterwards.

Christ Jesus told people to live with faith in God and love for God and neighbors.  He cured the sick and taught how to think and pray.  And He drove out ill spirits from suffering people.

Probably 2000 years ago, those haunted by devils must have been clearly identified.  Such people must have horribly shouted, hurt others and themselves physically, and looked so devilish.  As today we seldom see such people, the episode looks so strange.

Today those possessed by evil spirits must not horribly shout, hurt others and themselves physically, and look so devilish.  They might work, say, in Wall Street, as ordinary persons.  But an evil inside the mind of such a person must really have a terrible influence on him.  The evil would make him arrogant and greedy.  Consequently such a Wall Street guy would not realize how sinful it is for him to earn such a big reward for his manipulation of financial goods.  While there are so many poor people in the US and the whole world, those guys never arouse their compassion to those poor people.

So, if demons are driven out from their minds, half of greedy workers in Wall Street might repent and stop working in the financial district.  But others might not change their behaviors.  In this case, they must become devils themselves.  Even Christ Jesus would not be able to bring them to their senses.

Of course, an ordinary man must be under the influence of a devil to a various degree.  If he wants to be free from the devil, he can rely on Christ Jesus whose power can expel the devil out of the victim.  But a man so completely linked to a devil might be tough enough to survive.

So, when the end of the world should come and devils should leave victimized persons who would follow Christ Jesus, such 100% devilish guys will still walk around Wall Street like devils.

Now how can we avoid being possessed by evil spirits.  It is said that prayer is effective.  While we are praying, our mind doe not float and is not attracted by money and worldly luxury.  So, it is reasonable for us to pray five times, 10 times, or 20 times a day.  At least, while we are walking in Wall Street, we had better chant words of prayer all the time.    

The life and death of Jesus were one long fight against the powers of evil. He fought disobedience with obedience unto death, pride with humility, hatred with love; and behind the relatively feeble attempts of human beings to be evil, an evil mitigated by an apalling ignorance of the things of God, Jesus saw a reflection of Satan's presence: he saw it in human sin and even in human illness and death, and he set out to save humankind and to utterly conquer the devil. 

http://fatherdavidbirdosb.blogspot.jp/2010/08/cross-of-saint-benedict.html

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Mar 11:4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.
Mar 11:5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?
Mar 11:6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.
Mar 11:7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

"because of his importunity he will rise and" - God of Mankind

Around Tokyo Railroad Station

God of Mankind

Judaism is not a pure monotheistic religion.

When Abraham lived around Ur or on the the Euphrates, he admitted that every city or every tribe had its own religion.  Though Abraham and his clan had only one God, every other clan had its own God.  It is because one clan had to survive in competition with or through battles against other clans in environment they were living in those days.  If one clan had been defeated by other clan, members of the conquered clan would have to be slaves of the winning one.  Then, those slaves must have abandoned their God and obeyed ex-enemy's God.  So, a god that could protect a house was the God of the house.

Christianity claimed that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of Israelites and all the other tribes, including Romans and Greeks.  So, Christianity is a pure monotheistic religion.

But it has a great difficulty: The God sent the Son of God to the human world or specifically to Israelites.  The Son of God had human parents, brothers, and sisters.  Christ Jesus is God or the Son of God according to situations.  However the fact that Christ Jesus had publicly no wife and children stopped the matter from becoming more complicated.  Anyway, as the God is so great, it might be reasonable that mankind, so small and negligible, cannot appreciate the difference between the God and the Son of God.  Put simply the God can easily disguise Himself as His own Son.

Islam is a quite pure religion in terms of monotheism.

Islam taught Muslims to forget about Judaism and Christianity but to concentrate on the God alone.  The spiritual sphere of Islam does not include a final war between good and evil or the God and the Devil.  This religion judges that mankind has failed in this spiritual conflict.  Men could not please the God by believing in Him despite any attempts by the Devil.  So, the God is angry.  This anger of the God is one of the strongest underlying features of Islam.  Islam does not allow for one god for each tribe or the intermediate step where the Son of God was sent to the world to gently guide mankind to the true religion.  Islam sternly and simply requests each man to believe in the God who is angry at poor faith in the God of mankind.  
  
Nonetheless, the three religions have survived and grown together or in parallel in these 2000 years.  

Now as I discussed before, mankind has actually other virtual religions today: America and Modern Science/Technology.

Though I don't define that the God of America is money, it is a little difficult to grasp the core of the American Civilization.  America is too rich concerning its natural resources and its natural environment.  Freedom such material abundance gives citizens can be easily misunderstood as a divine benefit.  But freedom related to religion, ideology and convention must be holy merit leading to establishment of a new religion called America.  We may regard the spirit of American democracy as an important element of the religion America, though American Dream is so often meant so badly to be material success.

Anyway, America started to influence the majority of human beings in history since around 1500 when Columbus left Europe for India or Japan.

The Industrial Revolution and its development have really established its influential power on every aspect of human living in any regions on the globe.  Science and technology are great benefits for human being making every effort to increase their living standard.  Science and technology are the great source of high quality of welfare and a healthy life.  But they are more used and abused for creating material wealth.  Indeed, without this religion of Modern Science/Technology, even no Nazism and communism should have emerged.

Anyway, both those who believe in the God and those who do not would love science and technology.  They often present great or harmonious products of physical laws the God designed for and gave to mankind.  They satisfy most of human minds, accordingly.

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/ssssssss01/e/554165feaececc48c3b8fc3a04c106fb
Is a Lamb an Idol or the God?





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Luk 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luk 11:6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Luk 11:7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Luk 11:8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

"the Son of God might be glorified thereby" - No More Holy Books

Meiji Shinto Shrine, Tokyo

No More Holy Books

If Israelites or ancient Judaists had believed in Christ Jesus so as to make full efforts to contain Christianity within their religion Judaism as one school, the human history should have been so different.

Suppose if Judaists had admitted that Christ Jesus had been a member of their religion, and then we can think that there should not have been persecution of Jews.  Even no Holocaust should have occurred.  In this case today we must not have the special religious group called Jews.  Then the situation in the world must be very different.

Similarly if Islam had been established as a school of Judaism or Christianity, there must not be serious armed conflicts today between Israel and Islamic nations as well as between the US and some Islamic states and groups.

So, the relationships between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are crucial conditions in the past global incidents and present international relationships.  If these three religions were actually one, we could see only different and expanded versions of Judaism all over the world, including Europe, Israel, the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, Americas, and the Asian Pacific region.  In this religiously united world, we would find more peace.

But the fact is that Judaists and Muslims do not accept the belief that Christ Jesus is God, while Judaists do not regard Muslims as their relatives in faith.    

But I think if a certain condition is fulfilled, these three religions could be integrated, and the world will be more peaceful without armed conflicts  between Israel and Islamic nations as well as between the US and some Islamic states and groups.

But what is the condition?  Of course it is about handling of the holy books adopted in each religion.

They advanced their religions by writing, reading, modifying, expanding, translating, and relying on their own holy books rather than believing in their common God.  But if those believers complete the era of writing, reading, modifying, expanding, translating, and relying on their own holy books, they should be able to leave the holy books.

In other word, if there was king of the world who forbids use of holy books by Judaists, Christians, and Muslims, the three religions would be soon united.

So, in this case, ironically the best Judaists, Christians, and Muslims would even forget contents of their holy books so as to only rely on the concept of the God.  They might rather look like Abraham than rabbis, the Pope and the likes, or imams.  

"Forget about the holy books and just love the God" must become a new creed.

http://www.worldreligions.psu.edu/maps-christianity.htm
Spread of Christianity

https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/WestTech/xislam.htm
Spread of Islam





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Joh 11:4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.