1912 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

America. Today theJapanese minds, likethe minds of theirEuropean and Americancousins, are fullof interrogationpoints. In otherwords, the spirit ofagnosticism is moreand more prevalent.It is affecting theMissions and theirwork, and also affectingBuddhism andShintoism. AlthoughBuddhist temples, recentlybuilt, are gorgeousaffairs, andalthough a milliondollars has just been raised to build a new Buddhisttemple near Yokohama, nevertheless, it is admitted thatBuddhism is on the wane--that the number who attendthe temples to pray and worship are fewer than formerly,and generally of the more ignorant classes.The present trend of the Japanese religious sentimentis toward infidelity, doubt and atheism. An inquiryas to the religious sentiment in three of the Japaneseschools (University of Tokio) recently showed the followingreligious census:Christians, 4; Buddhists, Confucians and Shintos, 17;noncommittal, 46; atheists, 60; agnostics, 282; total, 409.This is a terrible picture, true also, we fear, of many collegesin America and Europe.Christianity in Japan is in much the same conditionas in America and Europe, in two respects. (1) A certainnumber are true worshipers, devout believers, butthey are few. (2) A larger number associate for theadvantages they gain in one way or another--as, for instance,the privilege of night schools, Y.M.C.A. gymnasiums,etc., etc. There is considerable sympathy forChristianity amongst those who are at heart agnostics,and who class Jesus as a great teacher along with Confuciusand Buddha, but who see nothing and know nothingrespecting His redemptive work. These realize thatChristianity has been helping on in the work of Japanesecivilization, and would be sorry to know of anythingcalculated to hinder the work of the Missionaries. Christianityand all other religions in Japan are on thedefensive.JAPANESE DEMAND PROOFS BEFORE ACCEPTING DOCTRINESThe active minds of the Japanese know thatBuddhism cannot answer their questions respecting Godand the future, and they come to the Missionaries andnative Christians with questions, for which they have as