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The Psychology of Oriental Religious
Experience
A STUDY OF SOME TYPICAL EXPERIENCES
OF JAPANESE CONVERTS TO
CHRISTIANITY
A THESIS
PkESENTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY OF
ARTS AND LITERATURE
THE GRADUATE DIVINITY SCHOOL
(RELIGIOUS EDUCATION)
BY
KATSUJI KATO
Sllie Qlol'egitrte jjjrrss
GEORGE BANTA TUBLISFING COMPANY
MENASHA, WISCONSIN
1915
®h? ImnerHttg of GUjtraga
FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
The Psychology of Oriental Religious
Experience
A STUDY OF SOME TYPICAL EXPERIENCES
OF JAPANESE CONVERTS TO
CHRISTIANITY
A THESIS
PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY OF
ARTS AND LITERATURE
THE GRADUATE DIVINITY SCHOOL
(RELIGIOUS EDUCATION)
BY
KATSUJI KATO
SUje Collegutie Press
GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY
MENASHA, WISCONSIN
1915
•BR l/o
Copyright 1915 by
Katsuji Kato
Chicago, Illinois
QC *
ANALYSIS
Chapter I Introduction
1 The Statement of the Problem 1
2 The Method of Investigation 3
3 A Survey of the Field 5
Chapter II The Religious Life of the Japanese
1 The Japanese Mind 11
2 The Religiosity of the Japanese 12
3 The Religious Beliefs of the Japanese 14
Chapter III The Psychology of Conversion
1 The Definition of the Term 20
2 The Religious Training of the Japanese Converts 20
3 The Intellect in Conversion 32
4 Social Processes in Conversion 39
5 Conversion as a Psychological Crisis 46
6 Rebirth as the Post-Conversion Experience 52
Chapter IV Theoretical Deductions
1 The Psychology of the Christian Apologetics 58
2 The Supernatural Element in Conversion 66
3 A Psychological Criterion of Morality and Religion 72
Chapter V Practical Deductions
1 A Problem in Christian Missions 80
2 Religious Education of the Japanese 87
Chapter VI Conclusion and Summary 94
355:j6-i
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE :
A STUDY OF SOME TYPICAL EXPERIENCES OF JAPANESE CONVERTS
TO CHRISTIANITY
CHAPTER I
Introduction
1. the statement of the problem
Individuality in ethnic as well as in personal experience seems to
have been recognized by various writers in the psychology of religion.
Thus, after a detailed and original study of the religious experience
of some remarkable individuals, James was forced to raise an important
question as to individuality in religious experience: "Ought it to be
assumed that in all men the mixture of religion with other elements
should be identical? Ought it, indeed, to be assumed that the lives of
all men should show identical religious elements? In other words, is the
existence of many religious types and sects and creeds regrettable?" 1 To
this question he offers a decidedly negative answer, for he has found at
least two opposing temperaments involved in the psychological analysis
of the religious consciousness. With reference to the child's capacity
for religion, Ladd says, "Tribal and racial differences appear, although
in a somewhat vague and baffling way, as we study the subject from the
points of view of ethnology and comparative psychology. Indeed, the
capacity for religion is a function of race-culture; and race-culture is
itself profoundly modified by the degree and kind of religious develop-
ment which, at any particular time, enter into it." 2 The same motive
is voiced in Tawney's suggestion of two lines of investigation as to the
time of conversion, viz., first, an elaborate series of investigations car-
ried out in different lands among persons of different religious belief
for the purpose of comparing the religious experiences of people in
different countries, climates and civilization; and secondly, a series of
investigations carried out by teachers and ministers of different persua-
sions in Christian countries for the purpose of determining the times,
the conditions and the nature of conversions to Christianity, and to
other types of religious conviction. 3 Baldwin also argues for the neces-
1 Varieties of Religious Experience, London, 1902, pp. 486 f.
2 The Child and Religion, edited by Th. Stephens. New York, 1905, p. 150. Cf. also J. R. Angell:
Chapters from Modern Psychology, New York, 1912, p. 237.
3 G. A. Tawney: "The Period of Conversion," Psychol. Rev., Vol. XI, pp. 210-216.
2 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
sity of studying the variety as well as the unity of religious experience; 4
and such studies as given by Begbie 5 are important contributions to the
psychology of religion in this respect. From the unanimous opinions
of these writers it seems evident that a clear understanding of the psy-
chological grounds for the existence of individuality aids us materially
in explaining many perplexing problems both theoretical and practical.
The mind of man, wherever we happen to meet it, manifests uni-
form possibilities and is practically the same in its essential nature, and
yet the physical and social factors of a race mould its mentality in the
matrix peculiar to itself as distinguished from that of other races. The
characteristics thus brought into prominence may be designated as
"ethnic individuality" which usually forms the basis of all scientific
discussion pertaining to any given race and furnishes us with the point
of departure in our attempt to analyse any human behavior religious
or otherwise. Thus, M. Taine, 6 in his psychological interpretation
of English literature, was compelled to begin his treatise with the ethnic
traits of the Saxons, as determined by their geographical and atmos-
pheric conditions, and the same motive defines the problem of the
present thesis. We aim at the psychological interpretation of the
phenomenon of conversion and various phases of religious experience
attendant upon it, as seen in a group of arbitrarily selected Japanese
Christians who, in many cases, had been brought up in a non-Christian
environment. Our attempt is, therefore, intended to be a contribution
to the general subject of the variety of religious experience and its bearing
upon a few practical problems.
That such an investigation is imperative both from the standpoint
of the theoretical psychology of religion on the one hand, and that of
the practical problems of missions and religious education on the other,
needs no elaboration. The failure to recognize the importance of the
problem has led many students of comparative religion to unnecessary
confusion and inadequate generalization; and the disregard of its princi-
ples in the practical propaganda of the Christian religion has caused
many missionaries to wonder at their meagerly rewarded earnestness. 7
4 J. M. Baldwin: Fragments in Philosophy and Science, New York, 1902, p. 327.
6 Harold Begbie: Twice-Born Men, New York, 1909; In the Band of the Potter, New York, 1911; etc.
6 H. A. Taine: History of English Literature, translated into English by H. Van Lann, 1873, pp. 33 S.
7 One of the acutest critics has the following statement, significantly pointing out the fact in question:
"One cause of the failure of mission work is that most of the missionaries are entirely ignorant of our his-
tory — 'What do we care for heathen records' some say — and consequently estrange their religion from the
habits of thought we and our forefathers have been accustomed to for centuries past. Mocking a nation's
history? — as though the career of any people — even of the lowest African savage possessing no record —
were not a page in the general history of mankind, written by the hand of God himself. The very lost
races are a palimpsest to be deciphered by a seeing eye. To a philosophic and pious mind the races them-
INTRODUCTION 6
But the saddest of all shortcomings is that many goodly teachers of
Christianity, whether professional or voluntary, are woefully ignorant
of the real situation and, by imparting the Christian truths in ways
obviously unpedagogic, are leading the young into useless labyrinths
of exotic dogmas and creeds. Such a situation should no longer be
tolerated now that we have every reason to believe that religious educa-
tion has some valid principles and methods — not a cluster of sophis-
ticated aphorisms, but a decidedly scientific and pragmatic formulation
which can be utilized to advantage in the practice of religious education.
2. THE METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
The materials that form the bases of our study were accumulated
partly from a series of private, confidential conversations carried out
between the writer and the subjects, and partly from the biographies
and confessions either in print or written upon request. The fact that
the materials to which we had access are comparatively limited in
number and therefore the conclusions that are drawn therefrom are
tentative rather than absolute, needs perhaps no apology. We are to
contribute only a portion to that great field of comparative psychology
of religious experience. The published biographies and confessions are,
with the exceptions of Nos. 7, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15, printed in the Japa-
nese language, and the present writer is responsible for all the transla-
tion into English. The following is the list of our subjects:
1. Taro Ando, president Japan Temperance Union, who relates
the story of his conversion in a small pamphlet entitled, "My Conver-
sion Experience in Hawaii," Tokyo, 1910, rev. ed.
2. Kaku Imai, formerly a Buddhist priest, now a Baptist minister
in Tokyo, who gives his experience in "Why I Left Buddhism and Be-
came a Christian," Tokyo, Christian Literature Society of Japan, 1914.
3. Tomijiro Kobayashi, a Christian manufacturer, whose conversion
experience is given by N. Kato in: The Life of Tomijiro Kobayashi,
Tokyo, 1911.
4. Torasaburo Koki, a Congregational minister: Christian World,
No. 1180.
selves are marks of Divine chirography clearly traced in black and white as on their skin; and if this
simile holds good, the yellow races form a precious page inscribed in hieroglyphics of gold! Ignoring
the past career of a people, missionaries claim that Christianity is a new religion, whereas, to my mind,
it is an 'old, old story,' which, if presented in intelligible words, — that is to say, if presented in the vocabu-
lary familiar to the moral development of a people, — will find easy lodgment in their hearts, irrespective
of race or nationality." Inazo Nitobe: Bushido, The Soul of Japan, 11th ed., New York, 1900, pp. 179 f.
4 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
5. Y. Hiraiwa, Bishop of Japan Methodist Churches: Christian
World, No. 1183.
6. Mrs. Hirooka, whose article on her conversion is translated by
Susan Ballard in The East and the West, Vol. X (1912), pp. 306 f.
7. Hiromichi Kozaki, a Congregational minister, whose experience
is printed in a Japanese pamphlet, "My Experiences of Twenty-five
Years," Tokyo, 1905.
8. Shunkichi Murakami: Christian World, No. 1183.
9. Yasutaro Naide, an Episcopalian rector: Christian World, No.
1180.
10. Joseph Hardy Neesima, founder and first president Doshisha
University, whose religious experience is reported by his colleague,
J. D. Davis: A Maker of New Japan, 1894. Also A. S. Hardy: Life
and Letters of J. H. Neesima, Boston, 1892.
11. Paul Sawayama, a Congregational minister, whose conver-
sion is written by J. Naruse in Modern Paul in Japan. An Account
of the Life and Work of the Rev. Paul Sawayama, Tokyo, 1893.
12. Ushio Sugita, a Congregational minister: Christian World,
No. 1180.
13. Kanzo Uchimura, editor of The Biblical Study, Tokyo: How I
Became a Christian, Tokyo, 1910. Also The Diary of a Japanese Con-
vert, New York, 1893.
14. K. Yamamoto, secretary Tokyo Y. M. C. A., whose statement is
reported by John DeForest in The Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom,
rev. ed., New York, 1909, p. 171.
15. Heishiro Yokoi, a scholar, whose experience is described by
W. E. Griffis in the Homiletic Review, Vol. LIX, pp. 352 ff.
The above is the list of the printed biographies and confessions, but
the following are the subjects who have contributed to our study by
verbal statements supplemented by their own writings to insure accuracy
of thought and its expression:
16. S. M., 29 years, a college student. Graduated from a Metho-
dist academy in Japan, and a teacher of English for four years before
coming to America.
17. K. Y., 28 years, a theological student. Graduated from an
American high school and a college.
18. S. T., 32 years, once a newspaper editor.
19. M. H., 28 years, a college student. Graduated from English
Department of Doshisha University.
INTRODUCTION 5
20. Y. B., 28 years, a theological student. Graduated from a mis-
sion school in Japan.
21. T. U., 31 years, a college student. Once a government official
and a teacher for six years.
22. T. H., a theological student.
23. M. Ka., 25 years, a college student.
24. K. W., 27 years, a student in dentistry. Graduated from an
agricultural college in Japan.
25. K. T., 29 years, a college student. Graduated from an American
high school.
26. H. S., 32 years, a theological student. Graduated from a
mission school in Japan and a teacher for eight years.
27. Y. I., 24 years, a college student. Graduated from a mission
school; worked in a bank for two years.
28. S. S., 32 years, a theological student. Graduated from a mission
school in Japan; assisted Japanese Y. M. C. A. work in Hawaii; an evan-
gelist among Japanese in California.
29. Y. O., a theological student.
30. R. H., a theological student. Graduated from an American
university.
31. M. K., a college student.
32. H. T., 23 years, a preparatory student. Graduated from a
grammar school in America.
33. K. M., 26 years, a college student.
34. Sh. Mu., 25 years, a theological student. Graduated from a
mission school in Japan.
35. M. S., 36 years, social and religious worker. Graduated from a
mission school in Japan, and from an American theological seminary.
3. A SURVEY OF THE FIELD
Before we enter upon the main discussion, it is necessary to review
briefly the results of the previous investigators and thinkers on the
general subject of religious conversion. The literature, however, is
chiefly concerned with the ordinary conversion process, either sudden
or gradual, and not particularly with its comparative or ethnic aspect.
With the exception of a few writers on comparative religion, our problem
has not been worked out adequately from a psychological point of view. 8
8 The religious experience in general, chiefly based upon oriental materials, has been treated by some
psychologists. The latest example is that of G. M. Stratton: Psychology of the Religious Life, New York,
1912. A more or less popular treatment of the subject is abundant in missionary literature. For bib-
liography, consult W. I. Thomas: Source Book for the Social Origins, Chicago, 1909; also Bibliography in
Students and the World-Wide Expansion of Christianity (Kansas City Convention Report of the Student
Volunteer Movement, 1914), pp. 671, 696.
6 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
As to the history of the psychology of conversion as such, we need not
go into its details. 9 The fact of conversion is, perhaps, as old as race
itself, as may be seen clearly from the religious practices now still extant
among primitive peoples, indicative of this interesting phenomenon. 10
Among the ancients, we possess the records of their conversion experi-
ences in the writings of Lucretius, Augustine, Justin Martyr, Constan-
tine the Great, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Paul, and many others, 11 and
more recently we find the cases of John Bunyan, John Newton, Jonathan
Edwards and others. 12 The numerous cases of conversion phenomena
have hitherto been mainly interpreted by philosophers and theologians
from metaphysical and ontological points of view. 13
The study of conversion from a purely psychological standpoint is
comparatively a new phase in the history of religions, for as late as in
the year 1896, Leuba writes: "It is true that a great deal of historical
and philosophical work bearing on the religious problem has been done
during the past decades, but no researches, from the standpoint of modern
psychology, on the subjective phenomena of religious life have ap-
peared." 14 It is with the work of Leuba, stimulated perhaps by G. Stan-
ley Hall, that we can directly trace the beginning of the psychological
study of conversion. 15 His first article appeared in 1896, in which he
9 For history, consult J. B. Pratt: "The Psychology of Religion," Harvard Thcol. Rev., Vol. I, pp.
430 ff.; E. S. Ames: The Psychology of Religious Experience, pp. 3 ff. ; and F. G. Peabody: "History of the
Psychology of Religion," Unitarian Rev., Vol. XIV (1880), pp. 97-109, and 193-211.
10 Cf. article by A. H. Daniels: "The New Life: A Study of Regeneration," Am. J ourn. of Psychol.
Vol. VI, pp. 61-106. Some accounts of conversion are found in the Old Testament, viz., Job, Jacob,
Samuel, Isaiah. The contention of Carlyle is more literary than scientific. He says, " Blame not the word
(conversion); rejoice rather that such a word, signifying such a thing, has come to light in our modern
Era, though hidden from the wisest Ancients. The Old World knew nothing of Conversion; instead of an
Ecce Homo, they had only some Choice of Hercules. It was a new-attained progress in the Moral
Development of man: hereby has the Highest come home to the bosom of the most limited; what to
Plato was but a hallucination, and to Socrates a chimera, is now clear and certain to your Zinsendorf,
your Wesleys, and the poorest of their Pietists and Methodists." Sartor Resarlus, Bk. ii, Ch. 10.
11 Consult W. A. Heidel: "Die Bekehrung im klassischen Altertum, mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung
des Lucretius," Zeits. f. Rel.-Psy., Bd. Ill (1910), S. 377-402. Conversion of Church Fathers is given by
James Stalker: "Studies in Conversion," Expositor, Vol. VII (7th Series), pp. 118-125, 322-333, 521-534;
Vol. I (8th Series), pp. 549-561; Vol. II (8th Series), pp. 52-61, 173-182. Cf. also article "Conversion"
by J. Strachan, Encyc. of Rel. and Ethics, Vol. IV.
12 The actual cases are collected by J. H. Leuba: "A Study in the Psychology of Religious Phe-
nomena," Am. Journ. of Psychol., Vol. VII, pp. 309-385. Also W. James: Varieties of Religious Experience,
London, 1902.
13 E. g., Pfleiderer: The Philosophy of Religion, Vol. IV, p. 128; Theological Writings of Benjamin
Jowett. edited by L. Campbell, New York, 1902, pp. 239 ff.
14 "A Study in the Psychology of Religious Phenomena," Loc. cit., p. 310.
15 Prior to the appearance of this article, there were three articles which might be regarded as being
in the field of the psychology of conversion. These are: G. S. Hall: "The Moral and Religious Training
of Children." Princehn Rev.,N.S., Vol. IX (18S2), pp. 20-45; W. H. Burnham: "A Study of Adoles-
cence," Ped. Sem., Vol. I (1891), pp. 174195; and A. H. Daniels: "The New Life: A Study in Re-
generation," Am. Journ. of Psycho!., Vol. VI (1895), pp. 61 193.
INTRODUCTION 7
studied empirically the experience prior to conversion and the crisis
and the mental state subsequent to such a change. 16 Starbuck published
his book on conversion in 1899, in which he expressed his conclusion as
to the psychological view of conversion. 17 In another connection he
made the statement that "much depended upon temperament", 18 and
this has been elaborated by Coe who shows that there is a great individual
variation, due primarily to temperamental difference. 19 In the Gifford
Lectures at Edinburgh in 1902, James has a lengthy account of con-
version, and his psychological explanation is chiefly found in the theory
of the subconscious, which to his mind is the sole avenue of human fellow-
ship with God. 20 This view of James, however, is combated by Prince
who bases his criticism on the change of personality observed in the
case of Miss B., which closely resembles that of Ratisbonne, of which
James makes mention. 21 Ribot admits the subconscious element in
conversion and his conclusion emphasizes what he calls the inversion
of values. 22 Granger comes to the conclusion that "conversion is, in
its essence, a change of intention; and this may be directed either upon
intellectual or upon moral objects." 23 The nature of conversion pro-
duced in the emotional subjects is explained by Murisier on the basis
of imitation, after a preparation which consists in increasing the sug-
gestibility of the subject. 24 The phenomena of conversion and revival
are exhaustively studied by Davenport, and his conclusion is that con-
version is more incidental than purposive, and that the cases of the so-
called lapsed, the backsliders, those who have fallen from grace, are
simply the victims of powerful force of suggestion and imitation, and the
conversion of these people is not to be taken very seriously. 25 Some-
what different from the conclusions of Granger and Davenport is the con-
tention of Pratt who regards conversion as taking place spontaneously
18 Loc. cil.
17 The Psychology of Religion, pp. 156 5. The parts of this work had previously appeared in Am-
J own. of Psychol., Vols. VIII and IX.
18 Am. Journ. of Psychol., Vol. IX, p. 110.
19 The Spiritual Life: Studies in the Science of Religion, New York, 1900, pp. 109-150.
20 Varieties of Religious Experience, London, 1902, pp. 236-237.
21 "The Psychology of Sudden Religious Conversion," Journ. of Abnorm. Psychol., Vol. I, pp. 52-54.
This view of James is also criticized by Irving King: "The Differentiation of the Religious Consciousness,"
Psychol. Rev. Monog. Supple., Vol. V, No. 4. The operation of the supernatural factor in the subsconcious
has been denied by Peirce, Jastrow, and Hall.
22 La logique des sentiments, Paris, 1905, pp. 85 ff.
23 The Soul of a Christian: A Study of the Religious Experience. New York, 1900, p. 77.
24 Les maladies du sentiment religieux, Paris, 1901.
25 Primitive Traits in Religious Revivals, p. 246.
8 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
and independent of social pressure or even of imitation, and characterizes
the process as "a new feeling of communion with a greater life which
fills the mind and colors the entire field of consciousness." 26 A very
lengthy treatment of the subject of conversion is given by G. Stanley
Hall, in which it is viewed as purely spontaneous, — "a natural process
of a higher order," as Lipsius would say. 27 In France, Henri Bois of
Montauban studied twenty-five or thirty conversions, from St. Paul
to those of the nineteenth century, and showed how far theological
beliefs would explain the experience of conversion. 28 Gaston Frommel
of Geneva is said to have made some observations on the cases of Chris-
tian conversion. 29 Tawney agrees with James and Starbuck in the main
by adhering to the idea of shifting of the center of gravity in the con-
version experience. 30 The mechanism of conversion is explained by
Nacke as the reinforcement of past memories by the sudden emotional
experience, which is so powerful that it comes to the full focus of con-
sciousness, submerging and inhibiting the previously existing ideas,
thus completely shifting the point of view of the individual. 31 Begbie,
who studied the cases of sudden conversion among the London poor,
adopts the Jamesian definition of conversion and says, "It produces
not a change, but a revolution in character. It does not alter, it creates
a new personality. The phrase 'a new birth' is not a rhetorical hyper-
bole, but a fact of the psychical Kingdom." 32 Cutten also agrees with
James and insists on the difficulty of endeavoring to isolate it from the
rest of the experience. 33 Galloway points out the all importance of
feeling as a factor in religious conversion, but he links it to the ideational
life. 34 Ames agrees with Starbuck in recognizing the three stages in
the process of conversion, quite similar to those found in the case of a
person working out a problem under intense pressure. 35 Cornelison
thinks that conversion is an effect produced by natural causes, and is
not, either in whole or in part, the product of direct supernatural agency,
26 The Psychology of Religious Belief, New York, 1907, pp. 222 ff.
27 Adolescence, Vol. II, pp. 349 ff.
58 Reported by Jacque Kaltenbach: "Psychology of Religion in France," Am. Journ. of Rel. Psychol,
and Educ, Vol. I, p. 92.
29 Also reported by J. Kaltenbach, Loc. cit.
30 "The Period of Conversion," Psychol. Rev., Vol. XI, pp. 211 ff.
31 "Zur Psychologie der plotzlichen Bekehrungen," Zeits.f. Rei.-Psy., Bd. I, S. 233 ff .
32 Twice-Born Men, New York, 1909, pp. 17 f.
33 The Psychological Phenomena of Christianity, 1908, p. 235.
34 The Principles of Religious Development, London, 1909. pp. 124 f.
36 The Psychology of Religious Experience, Boston, 1910, pp. 2583.
INTRODUCTION 9
is not a miracle in the soul. 36 Hocking says, "Conversion is in part at
least the grasping of an idea; such an idea as can thereafter infuse itself
with peaceful dominance through the system of conduct and belief." 37
The religious experience of St. Paul at the time of his conversion was
studied by Royse who concludes that it was due to his hysterical nature; 38
and Gardiner explains it as being led up to by many experiences and
thoughts, and not by sudden mental insight. 39 McDougall attributes
the subconscious element in conversion to the experiences which have
played upon consciousness in one's previous days, and which once
formed essential factors in his knowledge, interest and character. 40
Insisting upon the same principle, Bavinck says, "Conversion which
brings us into fellowship with God (i. e., genuine regeneration) never
happens immediately, but is always connected with representations and
impressions which we have received at some time, shorter or longer,
previously. It always takes place in connection with historical Christi-
anity, which in one or another form exists before and without us, and
now enters into harmony with our own soul." 41 The importance of the
previous experience in influencing the conversion experience is again
emphasized in the case of Christ himself by Forrest. 42
The age of conversion has been a subject of investigation by many
workers in religious psychology, although strictly speaking the enquiry
is more physiological in nature than psychological. It, however, has an
important relation to the problem of mental development in general,
and consequently possesses some degree of pertinence. Lancaster found
that out of 598 cases, 518 showed new religious inclination between the
ages of 12 and 25, and mostly between the ages of 12 and 20. 43 His
average age was 15.6 for boys, and 14.6 for girls. Gulick investigated
the class of 526 officers of the Young Men's Christian Association in the
United States and Canada, and found that 16.5 was the average age of
conversion. 44 Starbuck studied the religious experiences of 776 gradu-
ates of Drew Theological Seminary, and found that the largest number
was converted at 16, and the average age was 16.4. 45 Coe found the
36 Natural History of Religious Feeling, New York, 1911, pp. 102 (.
37 The Meaning of God in Human Experience, New Haven, 1912, p. 73.
38 "The Psychology of Saul's Conversion," Am. Journ. oj Rel. Psychol, and Educ, Vol.11, pp. 148 f.
39 The Religious Experience of St. Paul, New York, 1911, pp. 31 ff.
*° Psychology: The Study of Behavior, New York, 1912, pp. 2191
41 The Philosophy of Revelation. Princeton Lectures, 1909, p. 238.
42 The Christ of History and of Experience, Edinburgh. 1897, p. 288
"Ped. Sem.. Vol. V. p. 95.
44 "Sex and Religion." Association Outlook, Dec. 1897. p. 54.
45 Am. Journ. of Psychol.. Vol. IX. pp. 79 i
10 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
average age of decisive religious awakening to be at 15.4 for 84 men and
16.4 for 272 members of Rock River Annual Conference. 46 Eby col-
lected answers from over 1,500 believers as to the age and time of con-
version and found the great majority of cases to occur between 10 and
25, and also more frequently and earlier in girls than in boys, although
the maximum age in both is 14. 47 From these and other minor and less
known results of investigations, we are led to think that conversion is
decidedly an adolescent phenomenon. Nevertheless, it is also true that
it is not a single and once-for-all act, but often repeats itself with the
advance of years, as Strachan says, "Conversion plays too important
a part to be exhausted in a single decision." 48 Conversion taking place
in mature age has been recognized in many instances. 49
There is one more consideration before we leave this brief summary
of the literature on conversion, and that is the fact of normal religious
development. The investigations of conversion have chiefly been based
on the sudden and striking cases. This is due to the fact that the gradual
type cannot properly be called a conversion, as James would think,
or else it is not novel enough to deserve any extended study. But it
is commonly agreed that there are cases which show no sudden trans-
formation of character and yet the religious experience is equally genu-
ine and intense, and the facts and interpretations of sudden conversion
are applicable to this type of slow, normal and steadfast religious de-
velopment. James himself remarks, " they are as a rule
less interesting than those of the self-surrender type, in which the sub-
conscious effects are more abundant and often striking
Even in the most voluntarily built-up sort of regeneration there are
passages of partial self-surrender interposed; " 50 The
same note is sounded by Leuba, " in the main, the con-
clusions reached by the study of sudden conversion apply with equal
exactitude to slowly progressing regenerations." 51 Thus we are to
understand that the same principle may be applied in explaining both
the sudden and the gradual types of conversion.
44 The Spiritual Life, pp. 43 S .
""Conversion in Relation to the Sunday School," Baylor University Bull., Vol. X, No. 5 (1907)
48 Encyc. of Rel. and Ethics, Vol. IV, p. 107. This fact is recognized by evangelists; e. g., John
Watson: The Inspiration of Our Faith, pp. 77 ff.
49 Romanes has a statement concerning this fact: Thoughts on Religion, 6th ed., p. 102, quoted by
Strachan, Loc. cit.
60 Varieties oj Religious Experience, pp. 207 f.
51 Am. Journ. oj Psychol., Vol. VII, p. 312.
CHAPTER II
The Religious Life of the Japanese
1. the japanese mind
Between the Japanese mind and the Occidental mind it is frequently
questioned whether there is any difference. Volumes have been written
by students of ethnic psychology and their answers to this query assume
both affirmative and negative forms. The question was recently put
forcibly before the reading public by George Kennan who answers it in
an emphatic negative. 52 He makes a number of very interseting quota-
tions from books written by supposedly competent scholars and observ-
ers of the Japanese mind, who emphasize the marked difference in the
mental constitutions between the Eastern and the Western people, point-
ing out the gulf which is well-nigh impossible to be bridged by mutual
understanding. 53 It is true that in many mental traits the Japanese
present peculiarities not manifest in the Western mind. It has been
repeatedly pointed out, for example, that the Japanese are imitative
to an extraordinary degree, that they are deficient in originality, that
they lack the logical and philosophical faculties, that they are of senti-
mental temperament, that they are quick in sense perception, that they
are strong in will power, etc. 54 But we must admit that these traits
are not altogether absent in the Occidental mind. Recent experimental
results on the psychology of individual difference and of mental types
have clearly shown us that there exists a variety of mental traits in any
given group of individuals. The curves of distribution of mental traits,
in other words, are the same whether they are obtained from a group of
Japanese or of Americans. The mere statement of seeming differences
between any two groups of people is not in itself an explanation; we
must rather seek such explanation by correlating various mental traits
in any given race with the environmental factors which are chiefly
responsible for the creation of the so-called racial mind.
The fundamental assumption, then, in the discussion of the psy-
chology of the Japanese mind must not involve any notion of mental
""Can We Understand the Japanese?" The Outlook, Aug. 10, 1912, pp. 815-22. Cf. also Dr.
Hamilton W. Mabie's article in the same magazine.
53 These authorities are: W. P. Watson: Japan: Aspects and Destinies, London, 1904; Sir Ian
Hamilton: Staff Officer's Scrap-Book; Henry Norman: The Real Japan; Homer Lea: The Valour of Ignor-
ance; L. Hearn: Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation; Horace Fletcher: "Home Life in Japan," in the
Good Health, Feb., 1910.
54 Cf. G. Verenne: "Essai sur la psychologie ethnique de quellques races asiatiques (psychologie
normal)," Arch, intern, d. neurologie, T. I, lOme Ser., pp. 25-40; also A. Marie et G. Verenne: "Notes de
psychopathologie ethnique (races jaunes)," Ibid., T. 1, pp. 69-82, 150-162.
12 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
difference which deceives even the most trained observer under the guise
of social inheritance. It is undoubtedly true that the mental develop-
ment is essentially social and any peculiarities that are found in the social
environment will find their counterpart in the psychic life of the people. 55
The validity of our discussion depends upon the distinction we can
discern between the social and the mental or rather biological elements
involved in the religious experience of the Japanese. From our stand-
point, then, the mental inheritance is more or less a constant, a known
quantity, while the social inheritance is a variable, an unknown quantity.
We must first see that this variable social inheritance exists in the case
of the Japanese religious life, and only after such study shall have been
completed, are we in position to understand the inheritance of these
two elements in one's religious consciousness. 56 Hence, our immediate
problem is with reference to the religious inheritance of the Japanese,
under whose influence their religious consciousness is given birth and
matured.
2. THE RELIGIOSITY OF THE JAPANESE
The question of the religiosity of the Japanese has also been raised.
The suspicion foremost in the mind of Occidental scholars is as to whether
the Japanese are religious in the sense that is ordinarily understood
by the term. The full discussion of this subject would lead us too far
afield for our present purposes. The solution of this problem seems to
depend upon the view of the racial mind which has just been noted.
The opinions on this point, however, vary among different writers on
the religious life of the Japanese, but the majority of them take the
negative attitude in regard to the problem. Chamberlain speaks of
the Japanese as "essentially an undevotional people," 57 Munzinger
says they are "highly ethical, not highly religious," 58 Walter Denning
concludes they are "unable to understand the intense interest taken
55 On this point a notable work is that of Sidney L. Gulick: Evolution of lite Japanese: Social and
Psychic, New York, 1903. John Stuart Mill is said to have remarked that "Of all vulgar modes of escap-
ing from the consideration of the effect of social and moral influence on the human mind, the most vulgar
is that of attributing the diversities of conduct and character to inherent natural differences," quoted
by W. P. Watson: The Future of Japan, New York, 1907.
88 The analogy of individual and racial differences is not as conclusive as some may think. It makes
one think that such an analogy could be absolutely used, but it has very little weight as we see it stated
often, e. g., "It seems that there is a residuum of 'race-mind' not amenable to the power of 'social and
moral influences,' and from this might be suggested by the analogy of the dissimilarities of individual
mind and character — the probability, namely, that these are 'inherent natural differences' in the mental
constitution of races." Watson: Op. cit., p. 207, footnote
87 Things Japanese, article "Religion."
88 Die Japaner, p. 187.
THE RELIGIOUS LEFE OF THE JAPANESE 13
by the people of the West in ethical, religious and philosophical ques-
tions, '' 59 Pfleiderer is said to have remarked in 1897, "I am sorry to
know that the Japanese are deficient in religious nature," 60 Percival
Lowell said in connection with Japanese religious practices that 'sense
may not be vital to religion, but incense is," 61 and finally an eminent
missionary to Japan concludes in favor of the non-religiosity of the
Japanese by saying:
" Allowing liberal room for exceptions, which certainly exist, the average
Japanese is not a man of deep religious conviction Bearing in mind the
religious eclecticism which has prevailed in Japan for centuries, the absence, in general,
of deep religious convictions causes no surprise; the two are mutually destructive
that the religious life, as well as the intellectual life, of the Japanese,
is marked by superficiality, is one unfortunate result of the historical development
of the religious life of the nation The influence of Confucianism upon
the educated class of Japan — that it has had a benumbing influence could only be
expected from a system which is, at the best, uncertain as to the existence of a personal
Supreme Being, and knows nothing of penitence and mercy. Religious indifference is
certainly characteristic of the educated class." 62
Watson's statement in this connection is very significant: "In the end,
however, it is clear that the Japanese people are without religion as
it is understood in the West. They seem to have the capacity for reli-
gious devotion — a capacity universal as the human mind itself, but it
fails to envisage objects which Europe would regard as truly sublime,
or truly religious — objects, that is to say, truly deserving the service
of their religious devotion." 63 This situation, as Watson would explain,
is due to the deficiency in imagination which is so important a factor
in idealizing the objects of religious worship. 64
From the foregoing opinions on the question of the religiosity of the
Japanese, we may wonder if it is possible to find any trace of religious
consciousness among them, and if the study of such a phenomenon
is at all relevant. It seems clear, however, that the history of religions
in Japan unmistakably points to the mental capacity of the Japanese
for religious devotion. 65 It may be true that many Japanese have not
yet found the truly idealized Supreme Being, because of the lack of
imagination, but this will not deprive them of religious devotion. The
59 Quoted by Chamberlain: Things Japanese, p. 258.
60 Quoted by Gulick: Evolution of the Japanese, p. 286.
61 Occult Japan, p. 23.
62 G. W. Albrecht: "Religious Life of Modern Japan," Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. LXII, pp. 13 n*.
63 The Future of Japan, p. 161.
M /£i'<f.. pp. 196 ff.
66 See T. Ishigami: A Study in the Psychology of Religion (in Japanese;.
14 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
present thesis endeavors to throw some light on this question also,
for our data comprise the cases in which the idealizing process has func-
tioned and the subjects have found the truly idealized Being.
3. THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE JAPANESE 66
The religious life of Japan presents a most complex situation. Some
scholars would analyse it and find many constituent elements, while
others would treat it as a composite whole. 67 But in any case, we must
have a fairly clear conception of the fundamental nature of each com-
posing element. In this section we are not concerned with the detailed
analysis of Japanese beliefs; we are rather concerned with the psycho-
logical significance of the ethnic religions of Japan.
The religious atmosphere of Japan has at least five important
elements: primitive belief, Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism and Christi-
anity. 68 The first of these belongs to the ancient period, 69 the remains
of which are still evident in the fundamental conceptions of Shinto.
By some it is called "nature worship," or "religious Shinto" as distin-
guished from "state Shinto." 70 It is characterized by a vague sense
of primitive adoration for things wonderful, and can hardly be called a
religion, as Chamberlain rightly says: "The first thing that strikes the
student is that what, for want of a more appropriate name, we must call
the religion of the Early Japanese, was not an organized religion." 71
Knox has a more psychological statement: "It is not superstition, nor
is it mere custom, nor is it simply the arousing of the aesthetic nature.
It is the beginning of religion, adoration, and dependence, praise and
prayer, faith and rite; 'not knowing what it is,' but only that in the soul
there is a sense of a greater than self which we joy to worship, a more
powerful than self on which we must depend." 72 It also believes in the
divine descent of the sovereign who commands absolute obedience and
88 The subject has a field of its own, and to go into it in detail is to encroach upon the area of com-
parative religion. It is only necessary here to review, as it were, some of the more significant literature
in the light of our problem.' Of all the general treatises on the subject, the most satisfactory from our
point of view is that of Professor G. E. Knox: The Development oj Religion in Japan, New York, 1907.
President T. Harada's lectures on The Faith oj Japan, published in New York; 1914, is also helpful. W. E.
Griffis's book on The Religions oj Japan is a very useful description of the ethnic religions.
67 T. Harada regards the religious life of Japan as an organic whole by calling it "The Faith of Japan."
See Op. cit., p. 2.
68 These five are by no means exhaustive nor always distinctly analysable. As to the other minor
sects, see infra, p. 16, note 79.
69 As recorded in the two ancient books: Kojiki (712 A.D.) and Nihongi (720 A.D.).
70 The Christian Movement in Japan, 1913, Appendix V.
71 The Kojiki, translated by B. H. Chamberlain, Translator's Introductory, Section V, p. Iv.
72 Op. cit., p. 44.
THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE JAPANESE 15
true loyalty from all his subjects. This is the underlying idea of modern
patriotism and nationalism which so strongly binds together the entire
nation. "It came to be the strongest force in the history of the nation,
a sacred principle inherited from 'ages eternal' It has
begotten the Yamato Damashii, the proud spirit of Japan, shown in
absorbing devotion to emperor and country, being the supreme force
of the nation's life and progress, the 'Soul of Japan'." 73 Psychologically
interpreted, this represents a stage of infancy, and early childhood
perhaps, in the genetics of religious belief. It is called "primitive
credulity" by Bain, which is elaborated by Pratt. 74 It is a period of
fetishism, of hero-worship, of the vague sense of dependence on the feeling
of something bigger than self, and more wonderful than ordinary natural
phenomena, which is void of all rational content. It is impulsive and
sentimental, and its rites greatly resemble the magic dances of the lower
races. 75
Shinto is not entirely free from equally primitive traits which we
have seen to be the characteristics of the Yamato religion. The literal
meaning of the term Shinto is the "Way of the Gods," 76 and its funda-
mental ideas are identical with those of the ancient primitive cult,
but it represents a step higher in the evolution of the ethnic religious
consciousness. The basic principle is the notion of the supremacy of the
god-born ruler who exhibited his power by mighty conquest. Herein
lies the explanation of Shinto, for it "is the natural religion of the people
reorganized and completed as myth — that is, as stories with an object,
and this object is the support of the Imperial house and power." 77
It exists today chiefly as an official cult, and assumes an air of being the
national religion, for it fosters the spirit of loyalty and patriotism by
appealing to the sense of national solidarity and performing rites in
memory of the divine ancestors of the emperor and great subjects.
Psychologically viewed, Shinto represents the stage of myth-making,
for myth "is that body of traditions among a given people which is most
73 G. E. Albrecht: Loc. cit., p. 2.
74 J. B. Pratt: The Psychology oj Religious Belief, ppr 34 ff.
76 Dr. I. Nitobe, in bis lecture, speaks of this religion as follows: " Our simple faith
was known as Kami-nagara, a word which defies exact translation, since the first of the component terms,
Komi, commonly rendered god or deity, fails to convey the meaning originally attached to it; and as to
second term, Nagara, which literally consists of naku and aru, 'to be and not to be,' and which can be
approximately rendered 'being like gods' or 'being in a state of godhood,' implies the original innocence of
man." The Japanese Nation, 1912, pp. 122f.
76 The meaning of the term Shinto is given by Motoori, the great Shinto theologian, (1730-1801).
See Aston: Shinto: The Ancient Religion of Japan, pp. 6f.
77 Knox: Op. cit., p. 47.
16 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
closely associated with their ceremonials. Such mythology moves
quite at the level of associative trains of imagery without rational form,
yet furnishes the psychological milieu within which the dramatic action
lies." 78 It is, too, full of the spirit of hero-worship, for the object of
worship was not a moral personality, but anything distinguished by
extraordinary strength or power, and not by moral quality. 79
Buddhism represents psychologically a still higher stage of religious
development; yet in Japan, the change from Shinto to Butsudo (the
Way of Buddha) was not a gradual one as in the case of the development
of Shinto out of the primitive religion. Professor Knox remarks on
this very point that "we do not study in this change a slow evolution,
by means of 'resident forces,' but a conversion — not growth, but regen-
eration — for thus may man's nature respond to external influences
and more will be accomplished in a generation than otherwise in cen-
turies." 80 Buddhism came from the mainland of Asia in the sixth
century, not as a religion as such but as a present from one sovereign
to another, (it prospered tremendously because of its plasticability
to adjust itself to the varying conditions and classes of people. 81 The
distinctive feature is its complexity in ceremonials, canons, creeds and
principles. Its principal belief is in the impermanence of material
things, and the transmigration of the human soul. It distinguishes two
selves: the self of our senses, intellect, emotion and will; and the self
which has the world beyond as its objective. The salvation of man is
attained when this latter self is realized by meditation and suggestion.
The great aspiration of a devout Buddhist is to become nothing, —
unoccupied with things of the present world, — and be transformed into
a
Buddha. 'A Thus it appeals to intellect instead of to senses, and finds
there a true realization of the Absolute. The grave defect of Buddhism
is the absence of any definite object of worship, that is, it has no true
78 E. S. Ames: The Psychology of Religious Experience, p. 166.
79 There are certain degenerate forms of Shinto, which are by some called sub-sects. These are:
Kurozumi, Shusei, Taisha, Fuso, Taisei, Jikko, Shinshu, Mitake, Miharai, Shinri, Kinko, Remmon and
Tenri, the last of which is the most popular. For the exposition of these sects, see Otis Cary: Japan and
its Regeneration , 1899, pp. 49 f.; articles by D. C. Greene and Arthur Lloyd in the Traus. Asiat. Soc, Vol.
XXIII and XXIV, and by 0. Cary in the Andovcr Rev., June 1889.
*°0p. cit.,p. 82.
81 This plasticity of Buddhism is best illustrated in the formation of sects and sub-sects, especially
after the Civil War, namely, in the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries. Practically all of these sects
exist still today, and at least twelve sects and forty-nine sub-sects are distinguishable. It is also note-
worthy that there were distinguishable after the Civil War three forms of Buddhism, namely, monastic
Buddhism, Bushido, and Amidaism. The first was the religion of the monk, the second that of the
warrior, and the third that of the common people. Cf. an article by Arthur Lloyd: "Religion of Japan,"
The Times, Japan Edition, 1910, pp. 283 f.
THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE JAPANESE 17
conception of God; and owing to its intellectual nature, it fails to reach
the rank and file of common people who are usually incapable of under-
standing the true spirit of Buddha. This leads to idolatry which is often
styled Amidaism, in which the representation of Buddha is held to be
the incarnation of the divine personality. It requires no knowledge and
no works to attain salvation. Belief and trust in Amida is the sole
condition of blessedness and peace.
Confucianism came from China in the fifth century with an inestima-
ble wealth of moral and philosophical teachings. It can hardly be
called a religion, as its central idea is a perfectly disciplined gentleman
who educates himself by learning and self -improvement. The funda-
mental virtue is filial piety. The rules for conduct are given by Confu-
cius himself: "A noble-minded man has four rules to regulate his conduct:
to serve one's parents in such a manner as is required of a son; to serve
one^s sovereign in such a manner as is required of a subject; to serve
one's elder brother in such a manner as is required of a young brother;
to set an example of dealing with one's friends in such a manner as is
required of friends." 82 According to Knox, Confucianism represents
the highest point in the religious development of the Japanese. It
found the Eternal behind the temporal, the Changeless in the midst of
change. "All nature was bound together with a golden Chain of life,
and man in his spiritual and moral nature was its representative. . . .
This eternal changeless principle, without name or definition, was not
conceived as pure being or as substance, but it was described as righteous-
ness." It is not realized through metaphysical contemplation, but in
actual conduct of man and in his social relationship. 83
From the standpoint of psychology, this stage represents a very
interesting case of self -consciousness or personal relationship in the realm
of social interaction. Man, in the course of his development, becomes
social by the interplay of objects and his self. But the concept of the
personal-social, rather than the ideal-social, is the necessary precursor,
after the stage of primitive credulity has passed away. In the ancient
Yamato religion, we saw what corresponds to the stage of early infancy
when objects are vaguely personalized and revered with a spirit of
dependence and adoration. In Shinto we have a myth-making stage
and the legends are gradually accumulated, which later became a code
of ethics and articles of faith. In Buddhism the intellectual develop-
ment is foreshadowed and the Absolute is found in the universe and this
82 Quoted by Pung Kwang Yu: " Confucianism," World's Parliament of Religions, Vol. I, p. 4 15.
83 Op. oil., pp. 193 f.
18 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
is worshipped by contemplation. In Confucianism we have a system
of thought which makes the perfect human relationship as its final
goal, indicating thus a step further in the process of socialization and
maturity. "Thus did man in Japan pass through successive stages
from the recognition of that which is immediately perceptible as the
highest and noblest, to the apprehension of ideas conceived only by
the mind as constituting the Absolute, and finally to the worship of
benevolence, righteousness, and truth, made known to us through con-
science, and realized in the family, in society and the state." 84
As to the place of Christianity in the religious life of the Japanese
it is needless to waste any space here, for this is partly the task of the
present treatise. Historically it is the youngest of all religions, as it
was in the sixteenth century that it came in the form of Roman Catholi-
cism which flourished for fifty years or more and then was suppressed
on the ground of disturbing the integrity of the Empire. Protestant
Christianity came only at the beginning of the new era of Meiji, and,
though its progress is not remarkable, it is gradually gaining ground
in the spiritual life of the nation. It has played an important part in
introducing modern methods of philanthropy, education, and various
forms of social service; it revolutionized the thought life of the nation
and gave a sound world view and a proper perspective in regard to human
life and the universe. The great contribution of Christianity to Japan,
however, is the clear conception of a personal God which alone, as we
shall endeavor to prove in a later section, can be regarded as the ultimate
criterion of a true religion. The attainment of the conception of such a
personal being in the realm of the spirit is the idealizing process carried
to its last degree, and represents psychologically the highest stage in
mental development. 85
After having reviewed briefly the essential elements of the religious
life of Japan, we may reach a tentative conclusion as to the religiosity
of the Japanese. Perhaps the most striking deficiency, we may say,
is found in the conception or rather the misconception of deity that the
Japanese have entertained for centuries past. There is no distinct
element of monotheism in which personality is predominant. While
they have an abundance of moral concepts and philosophical ideas,
true religious ideals seem to be lacking. The socializing process, in other
84 Ibid., pp. 194 f.
85 For the history of Christianity in Japan, see Otis Cary: A History of Christianity in Japan, New
York, 1909, 2 Vols.; E. W. Clement: Christianity in Modern Japan, Philadelphia, 1905; the annual reports
entitled Christian Movement in Japan. The periodical published in Japan, The Japan Evangelist, is very
important in this connection.
THE RELIGIOUS LITE OF THE JAPANESE 19
words, has not yet reached the point of idealization where the personal
deity is made the object of worship. Their conception of god is always
in terms of providence, of Kami, of virtue, of strength, etc., where the
personal element is absent. Count Okuma characterizes Japanese
religiosity as follows:
" the Japanese conception of deities — if that term be properly applicable
— does not, as is the case with the supreme beings of religions in general, involve the
idea of obedience imposed by external authority, for instead of rites of sacrifice and
prayer, whereby the devotees of other cults invoke blessings for themselves, the
Japanese offer to their ancestors in thanksgiving the first fruits of the harvest, the
members of each family assembling in their invisible presence and joyfully commemo-
rating their own callings in life." 86
Again President Harada remarks:
" Japanese have had no clear conception of a personal God, nor even
of the personality of man himself. It follows that they have never attained to an
adequate conception of the worth of the individual. Sometimes the idea of duty has
been confused with the idea of submission to authority, blessedness has been identified
with happiness, and sin has been confused with crime." 87
From our standpoint, then, although Japan is not lacking in systems of
religions, the general religious consciousness is not yet mature, and this
is precisely the reason why so many students of the Japanese people
were forced to maintain the non-religiosity of the people. This, however,
applies only to the general situation and not at all to individual cases,
for there are many individuals who have attained that idealizing stage
which is the true test of religiosity. In the light of this rapid review
of the religious life of Japan, then, it becomes evident that Christianity
has a definite message to deliver, and to the consideration of this message
in its psychological setting we must now turn.
86 Fifty Years of New Japan, edited by Count Shigenobu Okuma, Vol. I, p. 4
87 International Review of Missions, Vol. I, p. 85.
CHAPTER III
The Psychology of Conversion
1. the definition of the term
The term conversion is generally used to denote a sudden change,
largely emotional in character, that comes about in one's religious life.
In this thesis, however, it is employed to mean a change merely from the
ethnic religious devotion to Christian belief, whether emotional and
sudden or otherwise. It does not mean for us then that the pre-conver-
sion experience is necessarily anti- or non-religious. Our subjects,
with the exception of a few cases, had some definitely religious experience,
grounded upon appropriate instruction in religious practices and beliefs.
For some reason or other, they had been forced to abandon their earlier
beliefs and to seek a new faith which is embodied in Christianity. Our
purpose now is to study the reasons underlying such a conversion experi-
ence.
The phenomena of conversion present a variety of types, but only
the two extremes are usually noted, namely, "volitional" and "self-
surrender" types, according to the terminology employed by Starbuck.
As a matter of fact, however, there is an endless number of cases which
cannot strictly be classed with either of these two types, and these
unclassifiable cases will be found, upon careful examination, to lie
somewhere between them. In brief, the cases of conversion present a
gradation of types from the slowly maturing process to the sudden
alteration of interests and ends of life. James is mainly concerned with
cases of sudden religious conversion, and his sole reason for neglecting
the other types is that they are less interesting, or perhaps more likely
because they do not fit in with his theory of the subconscious element
in conversion. 88 The cases collected in the present study, on the con-
trary, are chiefly those of gradual transition from ethnic faiths or merely
ethical training into the faith and belief in the religion of Jesus Christ.
2. THE RELIGIOUS TRAINING OF THE JAPANESE CONVERTS
Starbuck, in his study of pre-conversion experience, found the follow-
ing factors, both physical and mental, to be predominant: se nse of sin,
feeling of estrangement from God, desire for better life, depression,
restlessness, helplessness, earnestness, prayer, tendency to resist con-
viction, doubts, loss of sleep or appetite, nervousness, weeping, affection
88 Varieties of Religious Experience, pp. 207 ff.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 21
of sight, hearing and touch; and he says: "The result of an analysis
of these different shades of experience coincides with the common desig-
nation of this pre-conversion state in making the central fact in it all
the sense of sin, while the other conditions are various manifestations
of this, as determined, first, by difference in temperament, and, second,
by whether the ideal life or the sinful life is vivid in consciousness." 89
We shall see, however, that in the majority of our cases, the conclusion
reached by Starbuck holds only partially true, for the average Japanese
is reared in a religious atmosphere which does not always emphasize the
sense of sin, 90 and hence it is absent from the experiences of our subjects.
It seems probable that the sense of sin is a product of the surroundings
which emphasize it. 91
The best account of early religious training is given in the following
case:
"My family belonged to the warrior class; so I was born to fight, — vivere est militare, —
from the very cradle. .... To no one of them (parents and ancestors) do
I trace the origin of my 'religious sensibilities' which I early acquired in my boyhood.
My father was a good Confucian scholar, who could repeat from memory
almost every passage in the writings and sayings of the sage. So naturally my early
education was in that line; and though I could not understand the ethico-political
precepts of the Chinese sages, I was imbued with the general sentiments of their
teachings Side by side with these and other instructions, not inferior, I
sincerely believe, to those which are imparted to, and professed by, many who call
themselves Christians, I was not free from many drawbacks and much superstition.
"The most defective point in Chinese ethics is its weakness when it deals with
sexual morality But no retrospect of my bygone days causes in me a
greater humiliation than the spiritual darkness I groped under, laboriously sustained
with gross superstitions. I believed, and that sincerely, that there dwelt in each of
innumerable temples its god, jealous over its jurisdiction, ready with punishment to any
transgressor that fell under his displeasure. The god whom I revered and adored most
was the god of learning and writing, for whom I faithfully observed the twenty-
fifth of every month with due sanctity and sacrifice. I prostrated myself before
his image, earnestly implored his aid to improve my handwriting and help my memory.
Then there is a god who presides over rice-culture, and his errands unto mortals are
white foxes. He can be approached with prayers to protect our homes from fire and
robbery, and as my father was mostly away from home, and I was alone with my
mother, I ceased not to beseech this god of rice to keep my poor home from the said
89 The Psychology of Religion, p. 58; cf. also table IX on p. 63.
90 Nitobe speaks of Shinto for example as follows: "Shinto has no sympathy with the doctrine of
original sin, and, therefore, with the fall of man. It has implicit faith in the innate purity of the human
soul In fact, Shinto did not teach us to pray for forgiveness of sins, but for the sweet things of
life, for happiness, but not for blessedness." The Japanese Xation, pp. 123 f. Shinto recognizes the
evil of life, but it is rather an accident than an inheritance.
91 A good example is found in the classical incident in the Edwardean revival, when Edwards preached
a woeful sermon, "On Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
22 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
disasters. There was another god whom I feared more than all others. His emblem
was a black raven, and he was the searcher of man's inmost heart. The keeper of his
temple issued papers upon which ravens were printed in sombre colors, the whole
having a miraculous property to cause immediate hemorrhage when taken into the
stomach by anyone who told a falsehood. I often vindicated my truthfulness before
my comrades by calling upon them to test my veracity by the use of a piece of this
sacred paper, if they stood in suspicion of what I asserted. Still another god exercises
healing power upon those who suffer from toothache. Him also did I call upon, as I
was a constant sufferer from this painful malady. He would exact from his devotee
a vow to abstain from pears as specially obnoxious to him, and I was, of course, most
willing to undergo the required privation One god would impose upon
me abstinence from the use of eggs, another from beans, till after I made all my vows,
many of my boyish delicacies were entered upon the prohibition list. Multiplicity of
gods often involved the contradiction of the requirements of one god with those of
another, and sad was the plight of a conscientious soul when he had to satisfy more
than one god. With so many gods to satisfy and appease, I was naturally a fretful,
timid child. I framed a general prayer to be offered to every one of them, adding,
of course, special requests appropriate to each, as I happened to pass before each
temple. Every morning as soon as I washed myself, I offered this common prayer
to each of the four groups of gods located in the four points of the compass, paying
special attention to the eastern groups, as the rising sun was the greatest of all gods.
Where several temples were contiguous to one another, the trouble of repeating the
same prayer so many times was very great; and I would often prefer a longer route
with less number of sanctuaries in order to avoid the trouble of saying my prayers
without scruples of conscience. The number of deities to be worshipped increased
day by day, till I found my little soul totally incapable of pleasing them all. But a
relief came at last." 92
The above experience points out the existence of struggle in the mind
of the young religious devotee, but not the sense of sin. This situation
is somewhat common among the less educated class. The interpretation
of the phenomenon of the divided self, as given by James, 93 finds its
fitting application in this case. Practice of a similar sort is found in
still others. Naruse speaks of his early religious customs as follows:
"The first duty of the day was to worship the gods. In the morning I used to
worship the god of heaven and earth, the god of water, the god of the mountain, the
god of the clan. This I did standing outside the house. Then coming in I worshipped
the spirits of my ancestors with the god of the household. We had not only gods of
agriculture, medicine, etc., but a god to care for each particular member of a man's
body; such as a god of the eyes, a god of the teeth, etc. In all, we believed in several
thousand gods. But we regarded the god of heaven as the king of all the gods and the
ruler of all things. But, of course, the idea of God was very dim; we conceived of the
invisible world of gods or spirits as an organized society, like human society. As a
king has many officers, so there are many gods of every kind and degree, all doing
the bidding and performing the work of the God of Heaven. We thought of the spirits
92 K. Uchimura: Bow I Became a Christian, 1895, pp. 3-9.
93 Op. cit.,Lect. VIII.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 23
of these gods as scattered throughout nature, and as having their individual dwelling-
places in various objects, such as the sun, the moon, the temple, the idol." 94
Again, religious devotion similar to the above is seen in the case of
J. H. Neesima. He writes of his mother and her sickness as follows:
"One day she was sick in bed; I was very anxious for her, and wished to procure
some remedy, though she had something from the doctor. So I went to the temple
and prayed to the god that he would cure my mother; I bought a little bit of cake,
which was a portion of the morning offering, and gave it to her for a remedy, hoping
earnestly that it might do some good to her. I knew not, indeed, whether nature
cured her, or whether her will or faith in the god made her whole, but she became
better soon after she received that cake. She truly believed that the god had granted
my earnest request for her, and restored her health so soon. I had done the same
thing for my neighbors, and was often successful in curing them." 95
Regarding the early instruction by his parents, he makes the following
remarks:
"I was obedient to my parents, and, as they early taught me to do so, served
gods made by hand with great reverence. We strictly observed the days of my ances-
tors and departed friends, and we went to the graveyards to worship their spirits.
I often rose up early in the morning, went to a temple which was at least three and a
half miles from home, where I worshipped the gods, and returned promptly, reaching
my home before breakfast. I did that not only because I expected some blessing from
the gods, but that I might receive praise from my parents and neighbors." 96
Subject M. H. relates his experience as follows:
"My home was on the average level of any country home, and our family religion
was a queer combination of Buddhism and Shintoism. My grandmother and aunt
were especially devoted to these sects, and the fact that they observed regularly the
rite of worship every morning seems to have had a considerable influence in my religious
life. Among many gods, their favorite deity was the Tenman-gu (the god of learning),
and during the period of examination in the elementary school, they prayed to this
god that my marks might be high. This being the case, I became much devoted to
this god. I do not remember clearly the good lessons in morals that our elementary
school teacher used to give us when I was about thirteen years of age."
Subject J. K. has the same type of experience :
"My family belonged to Shingon Sect on the Buddhistic side, and on the Shin-
toistic side we were devoted to all sorts of gods. In one corner of the house was a
small shrine, and on festive days, there shone a number of candles. Near our house
was a shrine of Inari, the guardian god of the district, around which the semi-annual
festivity was observed. Such a coexistence of Buddhism and Shintoism was not a
peculiarity of our family alone, but,, was common among all families of the district.
My people had no definite religious conception about their piety; their religion was
more of a traditional and superstitious nature. My mother did not allow any of
94 Jinzo Naruse: A Modern Paul in Japan, 1893, p. 22.
95 J. D. Davis: A Maker of New Japan, 1894, p. 16.
**Ibid., pp. 16 f.
24 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
us to eat, until she had finished the morning offering of sacrificial meal to the deities.
On the New Year's day we had to visit three or four temples, and on the day of semi-
annual festivity, we invited all of our relatives to observe it, and to my childish mind
religious festivities were occasions of unusual joy. When we had any sickness in our
family, my mother used to consult the Shinto priest, in whose counsel she had great
confidence. The fact which I still now remember with unusual vividness is that she
prayed to her god for three years, totally inhibiting her smoking habit for the welfare
of my eldest brother. When her wishes were granted her joy knew no bound. The
Shinto priest used to visit my home at least two or three times every month, and when
we wanted to initiate a new enterprise, he used to consult the oracle for its probable
outcome. Thus the family in which I was reared was full of religiously rich influences,
though much of them was merely traditional."
Subject T. M. says:
"The religion of my early days was Shintoism; the moral influence was summed
up in the phrase : 'self-control.' My father was a believer in Shintoism, with, however,
a little inclination towards Confucian teachings, while my mother was a Buddhist.
The majority of my relatives were Buddhists."
Subject S. T. says:
"Buddhism, Shintoism, Ancestor-worship and polytheism were all the elements
which entered into my early religious life. There was no unity in the matter of the
objects of worship in our home. I was influenced by polytheistic belief unconsciously
and came to know that that was the only form in which one can become pious. I
was blindly reverent."
Subject K. W. remarks:
"My father was a Shinto believer, pious, prayerful, faithful in observing religious
ceremonies, and honest in his business. My mother was a Buddhist, somewhat
unsophisticated, but very earnest in invoking the blessing of the gods particularly
upon her deceased ancestors. In such a vaguely defined religious atmosphere, I early
came to feel the power which was beyond human apprehension, and which was govern-
ing our lives, punishing the wicked and rewarding the righteous. This conception
greatly influenced my daily conduct and persuaded me of the necessity of religion."
The above cases clearly indicate the dependence of early religious
training upon polytheistic superstition of a very primitive type. The
more refined religious culture of early childhood consists in the Buddhis-
tic training. One of our converts from Buddhism relates of his training
as a Buddhist priest as follows Rev. K. Imai:
"When I entered the Myooji (a temple in the province of Kawachi belonging to
the Shingon Sect), I was only twelve years old and had just finished my elementary
school, but on the day following my entrance, I began the study of Chinese classics
which contributed toward my general culture, and in the afternoon I spent my time
in studying the Buddhist scriptures. I almost forgot to eat and sleep, for I studied
very earnestly and hard. In February of the following year, when my parents and
other relatives visited me in the temple, I was initiated into the order of Buddhist
discipleship, by shaving the hair on my head and donning for the first time the priestly
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 25
gown From this time on, I was busy with my Buddhistic training,
consisting in the study of the scriptures, the practice of Zazen, Kwanbo, Gyobo, etc.,
until, when I was seventeen years of age, I was chosen as a fellow to study in the mon-
astery at Koyasan. As I was fully prepared, I was able to pass all the examinations
at the completion of one year's work, whereas others were required to stay at least for
five years before they are entitled to examination. I returned once more to the
Myooji and continued the study of the Shingon philosophy Later I
studied the secret teachings of Shingon for three years in Kyoto, and still later I
studied Immyoron (Buddhist logic) in Nara "
The above is the professional training of Buddhism, but the more
popular training consists in giving to the child such parables as the one
our subject K. Y. relates:
"During my early life I was influenced greatly by Buddhism. My great-grand-
parents and grandparents were both exceedingly religious. My father was the danto,
that is, the head of the lay members, of the temple of the Zen Sect. My mother
was also an earnest Buddhist. While my grandparents taught me how to worship
the images of Buddha and the minor gods, my parents explained to me some typical
sermons and parables of Buddhism, emphasizing the moral principles of life. One
of these parables was the story of the Dry Well which runs as follows:
" 'While a traveler was crossing a desert, he encountered a wild elephant which
began to chase him. Greatly frightened the traveler ran, but he could find neither
house nor tree which would serve as protection. A little later, however, he came to a
dry well. As he looked into this cistern, he saw an ivy twisting about over the inner
wall of the well and he hurriedly clung to it. Meanwhile, the angry elephant stretched
his trunk and tried to get hold of the poor traveler. The man lowered himself down
by means of the ivy, but as he looked down at the bottom of the well, he saw there a
gigantic snake! The trunk of the elephant was above his head and the tongue of the
monster snake under his feet. With fear and trembling the poor man turned his
eyes to the interior of the wall; and there he saw a field abloom with innumerable
varieties of beautiful flowers. The only hope for this unfortunate man was the ivy.
But alas! Two mice — one black and one white — emerged from the crevice of the
wall and began to gnaw the ivy to which he was so faithfully committing the destiny
of his life.'
"Interpreting this parable, my parents would say that we all are chased by Satan
and the grave is awaiting us. We are clinging to the ivy which is called 'life,' but, like
the black and white mice, night and day are shortening unceasingly the limited span
of our life. Worldly flowers are, of course, blooming enticingly along life's pathway,
but we should not take delight in them. My parents strictly prohibited the use of
strong drink, tobacco and card playing. They insisted that we should look up to
Buddha who, with a golden crown upon his brow and his holy limbs attired in the garb
of Indian silk, is ever ready to help man in the dry well, by outstretching a bamboo
stick to his rescue. Thus I lived in an exceedingly religious atmosphere during my
early days."
A similar Buddhistic training is seen in the case of S. M.:
"I do not remember as to the religiosity of my father, but if my recollection is
correct he was an earnest Buddhist believer. But later he became indignant over the
26 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
fact that his priest neglected some sacramental practice to our ancestors, and was
converted to Shintoism. As to the religion of my mother, it was more of a traditional
affair and nothing conscientious on her part. When I became heir to the valuable
possessions of my family, I discovered to my great delight that my family was of
Samurai origin. Then I used to hear of my ancestors who were earnest followers of
Buddha, and of their achievements in copying the manuscripts of the Buddhistic
canon and in carving some images for the benefit of the thirty-three temples in the
western provinces. Whenever I heard of these facts, I felt something mysterious and
wonderful and profound in the teachings of Buddha But the man who
led me into the faith in Buddha more than anyone else was my brother-in-law, who
showed me some really effective examples of Buddha's power. Immediately after his
marriage he used to leave his wife and go to Kyoto for the sake of practicing Zazen, or
to contemplate quietly in his own study, or to read very quietly some passages from the
sacred writings and religio-ethical poems of To-so. Whenever I noticed such prac-
tices indicative of his religiosity, I used to feel in my mind an inclination to enter into
the Ways of Buddha, and often I was wont to study tenaciously the catechism of the
Zen Sect, and at times I contemplated even becoming a Buddhist priest "
Another example is the experience of T. Kobayashi, as narrated by
N. Kato:
"Mr. Kobayashi seems to have had a favorable inclination toward religion from
the time of his boyhood. His father was a Buddhist believer of Shin Sect, and Mr.
Kobayashi may be said in a way to be a born Buddhist. This is confirmed by his
ability to reproduce with ease some of the important Buddhist literature which he
had learned while still tender in age and memory. At twelve years of age, he was
seriously troubled with his eyes, and was almost on the verge of losing his sight. He
then frequented a temple in the distant mountain and prayed earnestly for his recov-
ery. But such a form of religious practice he soon came to feel inadequate. He had
very little patience with superstition and was eager to find a true faith to satisfy his
religious longing. It is evident that the religious customs of the Shin Sect was a
preparation for a higher form of worship in later years." 97
A case of liberal Buddhistic atmosphere is seen in subject M. Ka. :
"My family belonged to the Shin Sect which was known as the least formal of all
Buddhist sects. My father was exceedingly liberal and hated all hypocritical religious
ceremonials. The chief incident responsible for his assuming such an attitude was
the death of my mother, which occasioned him severe trial. Moreover, he had really
no time to waste upon religious formalities. Therefore, I was brought up entirely
free from the odor of any incense. Moreover, my father was strict to the last degree,
and had little sympathy with the laissez-faire mode of living, but, as I recall, he had
an abundance of paternal affection toward me."
Subject R. H. remarks:
"My father was a devout Buddhist, not of dogmatic but of pragmatic type, and
used to have visions of Yakshi Niorai; our family belonged to the Shin Sect but my
father used to attend a Tendai temple. He was sentimental and paganly pious.
I was his favorite son; consequently his influence was great. My innocent childhood
97 N. Kato: The Life of Tomijiro Kobayashi, Tokyo, 1911, Ch. IX.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 27
was spent in pagan culture, devoutly worshipping at any temple, — reverence and the
spirit of worship being largely induced by my father's influence. At the age of eleven
or twelve, I once heard an itinerant Christian preacher in the village. The impression
was so slight that I remember nothing about his sermon, but I well remember a beau-
tiful card he then gave me. It was a picture of doves and flowers with a verse: 'God
so loved the world ,' which I used to mumble without knowing its
meaning."
Subject Y. B. says:
"My family was of the Shingon Sect, but the relation to the temple was very
slight. We only contributed our offerings two or three times a year, and the priest
used to visit our home to offer prayers and read the scriptures. Thus the religious
influence of my home was merely nominal. My grandmother was a pious woman
and used to take me to temples and shrines while I was very young and my religious
inclination began to arise about this time. But my religion was little more than the
prayer for the prosperity and happiness of my home; and I never passed by a temple
without having a spirit' of reverence. After entering the grammar school, I visited
temples less frequently. From this time on I believed in Monju-Bosatsu and Uji-
Gami, and prayed for the advancement of my study and learning. My uncle was a
priest of the Shingon Sect, but his influence upon me was very slight. The moral
instruction I received in the grammar school made me see the necessity of relating
one's faith to his conduct, for I used to know a pious man who was immoral. At
the same time I came to know that God would not listen to prayers of evil-minded
believers. When I was twelve years of age, my mother died, and my father followed
her three years later. At that time I used to look up to the priests and committed to
memory the scriptural passages they used to teach. What made me somewhat
impatient, however, was the fact that they did not give me a word of comfort. My
great sympathizers were the friends and relatives, and I began to regard the priests
as useless creatures."
Subject T. H. says:
"My parents and my relatives were all Buddhists, and my early religious training
was decidedly Buddhistic. I used to repeat the Buddhist scriptures without under-
standing their meanings."
Subject K. T. remarks:
"I was born in a Buddhist (Shingon Sect) family. My grandmother was very
religious, but the rest of the family were somewhat indifferent. My grandfather
looked at all religious formalities with contempt."
Still another type of religious atmosphere is where the Confucian
influence predominates, and this is usually fostered by the more educated
class. The majority of eminent Christian workers in Japan today
come from these surroundings. We may here make some lengthy
quotations from various sources. A very thorough description of the
ethical instruction based on Confucian teaching is given by J. Naruse
in his biography of Paul Sawayama:
"The morality of the time was a somewhat peculiar one, which came from an
alloy of Japanese Shintoism and Confucianism and Buddhism which were imported from
28 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
China The first duty was the religious one — to obey the decrees of heav-
en, and to serve the spirits of ancestors. The most familiar obligation was that of
obeying the decree of heaven : 'What heaven had conferred is called nature; an accord-
ance with this nature is called the path of duty; the regulation of this path is called
instruction.' The next duty was that of 'Gorin,' or the duty of five relations. These
five relations were, first, the relation between master or prince and servant; second,
that between father and son; third, that between man and wife; fourth, between
brethren; fifth, that between friends One sentiment which from child-
hood we were taught to repeat was this: 'What you do not want done to yourself,
do not do it to others' Our chief negative commandments were: Do
not lie, do not steal, do not covet. And the training which we received in the keeping
of these was constant and emphatic We were taught that if we spoke
a lie we would receive punishment from God in this world, and in the next world our
tongues would be cut out of our mouths I will say in a word how we were
taught to examine our hearts and to keep our conscience active. When I was tempted
to sin in the darkness, I repeated these words: 'Heaven knows, as I know, and earth
knows; I cannot escape from a net of heaven; there is nothing more visible than what is
secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute; therefore, the superior man is
watchful over himself when he is alone.' Such precepts as the following were helpful
in our efforts to examine ourselves, and repent of our faults: T daily examine myself
on three points: whether in transacting business for others I may have been unfaithful;
whether in intercourse with friends I may have been insincere; whether I have mastered
and practiced the instruction of my teachers " 98
The boykood of Rev. H. Kozaki is very full of Confucian trainings:
"From the beginning, I was trained in Chinese classics, and when I was fifteen
years old, I was quite conversant with Shisho, Gokyo, Saden, Shiki, Rekishi-Kokan,
Tsukan-Konwku, etc The words of Shonan Yokoi, which he gave as a
note of warning to his two nephews on their departure for America, embodied the
ideal of that period :
'With full apprehension of the ways of Gioshun and Koshi,
Learn the arts of Western civilization.
Why content with our own enriched land and efficient arms?
We must extend our righteousness to all the world.'
The Confucian ethics and the Occidental learning, if we possess these two, constituted
the basis of firm belief that there can be no better combination for spiritual equipment.
Thus, though we studied the physical sciences of the West, we never thought of adopt-
ing its ethics or religion. On the contrary, we even attempted to Confucianize the
Occidentals, and more than once, we argued with Captain Janes with the weapon of
Confucian precepts." 99
Subject Sh. M. relates of his Confucian training as follows:
"My family religion was the Shin Sect of Buddhism. My father was the retainer
of the Mori family, and of staunch Samurai blood. His idea of educating his children,
however, was influenced by Confucianism. When I was seven years old, I was taught
the Daigaku, and by the time I reached the sixth grade, I advanced to the Shiki
98 J. Naruse: A Modern Paid in Japan, pp. 17, 19-22.
99 H. Kozaki: My Experiences of Twenty-five Years.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 29
The teachings of Confucius and of Buddhism left on me a tremendous impression,
though unconsciously, on my boyish brain. Regulations regarding conduct and
etiquette were often so painful that I could hardly bear them. My mother had
passed away to the world beyond when I was only five years old and consequently
I have no knowledge of maternal affection. I had no religion of my own, but I was
deeply moved while listening to the priest reading the Gobnnsho written by Shinran."
As distinguished from the training which is apparently religious, some
young men were brought up in a non-religious or even anti-religious at-
mosphere:
"I was brought up in a non-religious environment. The only principle which
was entertained by my immediate friends was Bentham's Utilitarianism. Thus
religion was to me a synonym for superstition, and I never took an active interest in
anything related to religion." 100
" I have as a whole no scholastic attainment, but in the course of
my life, I have become conversant, more or less, with current philosophical thought,
both Oriental and Occidental. From the standpoint of character, I was a victim of
sensuality, and had no such virtue as self-control. I was very unfavorably disposed
towards all forms of religious belief, and especially was I hostile towards the Christian
religion." 101
"In my boyhood days, my parents, having no definite religious inclination, I
did not receive religious education of any kind. The moral atmosphere of my home
was that of the ancient song:
The god blesseth
Not him who prayeth,
But him whose heart strayeth
Not from the way of Makoto. 102
From six to fifteen, I received education under a scholar in Chinese classics, and I
thought the function of man was to aim at peace in society and in the state. My
boyish ambition was to regulate my personal conduct, to place my home on a peaceful
basis, and to administer justice in the world by mastering the teachings of the ancient
sages." (Subject H. S.)
" I did not receive any definitely religious training. The moral instruction was an
informal one. I was reared in a decidedly Japanese atmosphere, and the educational
influence which surrounded my boyhood was to mould a typically Japanese character.
In it were the elements of 'loyalty to the sovereign,' of 'filial piety,' and of 'duty.'
The stories relative and illustrative of these elements were very effective in my early
days, and aroused in me a high aspiration. Strictly speaking, my parents were irre-
ligious, but in a broad sense, they had their own religion, and that religion was the
spirit of 'self-confidence.' It was the Kokoro, the conscience, as the moralist would
style, which was honored as the criterion of righteousness. This may seem primitive,
but it was fundamental from their point of view." (Subject T. U.)
100 Yasutaro Naide, in the Christian World, No. 1180 (1906), p. 9.
101 Taro Ando: The Slory of My Conversion in Hawaii, Tokyo, 15th ed., 1910, p. 2.
102 A Japanese couplet written by Michizane. The term "Makoto" means literally truth or reality,
i. e. the essence of things. It forms the very foundation of moral concepts.
30 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
Sometimes the atmosphere assumes an intellectual and moral aspect,
and this necessarily takes from the home life all practices and customs
of religious devotion. Subject Y. O. says:
"My grandparents were of the thorough-going Samurai class, and my parents
were trained in a knightly atmosphere. They were, however, very liberal and did
not adhere to any religious sect. My father was responsive to the call of modern
liberalism, and educated one of his sons in Russian, while my younger brother and I
were taught English. My family descended to the rank of the common people, and
traveling through America and China, championed the cause of liberalism. My
mother was an efficient home-ruler in the absence of my father; and we children
spent our youthful days in an affectionate home environment, but we do not remember
our attending church or temple services. I only recall, though very vaguely, frequent
visits to temples accompanying my grandmother. I do not know anything of my
parents' religion. I only heard of my mother's adherence to the Hokke Sect of Budd-
hism."
"I had no particular religion in my childhood. My training was more of Bushido
than anything else. The moral precepts that my mother used to give me were those
of Buddhism, for my parents were Buddhist believers." (Subject H. T.)
Occasionally, among the converts, we find cases where home and other
social surroundings of their youthful days were permeated with Christian
influence. Among these subjects, the sudden religious awakening is
almost absent. The gradual development is the more frequent
experience.
"My home condition was different from the average Japanese family. My father
has been a minister of the Gospel for the last forty years. Although I was not com-
pelled to go through the routine of moral instruction or training, I grew up in a Chris-
tian environment, and my religious views had developed gradually and naturally."
(Subject M. K.)
"When I was seven years old I began to go to the Sunday School where I received
my Christian training until I left for America. I used to assist in the work of that
Sunday School by teaching a class at times. During this period I encountered much
opposition and persecution, which originated from my older friends and school-
mates. Some of them refused to associate with me and others exercised physical
violence upon me. In midst of all these oppositions, my mother alone was on my
side and comforted me in those days of my boyish faith, and I attended the Sunday
School without ceasing. This practice had a great influence in strengthening my
faith. In matters of moral discipline, my father was very strict, and this had a good
effect in developing in us a good manner in speech and behavior. He had no religion
of his own; he followed Confucian teachings, not for their religious merits but only
for their moral usefulness. My mother was a woman of many paradoxes. While
she encouraged her children to be influenced by Christianity, she herself was a jealous
adherent of the old traditional view of life. She was of the opinion that it is below
human dignity to know anything about calculation of money. Thus, if she had to
purchase vegetables or fish in front of her children, she would simply ask the vender
to give her the goods desired and promise to pay later when the children were not the
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 31
spectators of the bartering act. Again, I remember on one festive day, I made fun
of a drunkard on the street. At first he was of good humor, but our continued ridicule
caused him to chase us and I was finally caught in front of my house. I apologized
and begged his pardon in order to escape any violent revenge from his hands. As
my mother watched this scene, she was greatly disappointed, for she would tell me
it is not worthy of a Samurai's son to beg the pardon of a street drunkard." (Sub-
ject Y. I.)
"My parents were Buddhist believers, though not very devoted. They were
reared in the atmosphere of Bushido, and they had a profound regard for the teachings
of Confucius and Mencius. Their taste for literature and art was excellent and had
a habit of cleanliness and good house-government. I was greatly influenced by their
ways of life and received good training from the precepts of Confucius and Mencius."
(Subject S. S.)
In examining the data given above of the early religious and moral
training which the Japanese converts had experienced, we are impressed,
first of all, by its somewhat unnatural completeness, reaching in some
case almost to a degree of precosity. It may be said, however, that the
average Japanese parent had very inadequate ideas as to the develop-
ing organism of the child, and it was not uncommon to see difficult
Chinese classics and moral codes, written by such masters as Confucius
and Mencius, forming at least a part of the curriculum of home educa-
tion. In the second place, we are to note a queer combination of diverse
elements that go to make up the religious and moral atmosphere of
Japan. There are very few families where any one religion enjoys
the undivided devotion of the household members. This may be
explained on the basis of the long cultural history that these component
religions have had in Japan. They are so ingrained in the minds of the
Japanese that they are not able to separate them entirely one from the
other. There is, in the third place, an agnostic element in the early
surroundings of the Japanese youths, and this shades off into the decidedly
anti-religious trend. But, in the fourth place, we note the Christian
influence that is slowly creeping into the religious life of the Japanese.
From the point of view of moral training, we note that the predominant
spirit is that of Bushido, the Soul of Japan. Confucian influence in
moral conduct has much weight, together with the ethnic habits of
cleanliness, strictness, politeness, etc. With this rather rapid analysis
of the youthful days of our converts, we will now turn to the change
that comes into their lives.
32 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
3. THE INTELLECT IN CONVERSION
It is now a well known fact that the religious experience involves
the totality of the psychic life, and that no single element can be detached
to account for any of the products of the religious consciousness. 103
Yet it is an undeniable fact that individuals differ in the matter of
choosing the avenue through which they enter the sacred precinct of
religious life. The aim of the religious psychologist in treating the
subject of intellect is not to find evidence for the place of intellect in
the religious consciousness, but rather to find an explanation for the
fact that it involves the intellectual element in more or less degree. It
is with this purpose in mind that we Venture to undertake the discussion
in this section.
It has been argued frequently that the psychology of mental types
explains the predominance of intellect in one set of individuals and the
lack of it in another. This, however, is not wholly satisfactory. Only
very recently, Professor Dawson launched an ingenious scheme of
classifying the religious consciousness of individuals according to the
two types and their subdivisions. 104 The two types that he finds in his
investigations are the object-minded and the subject-minded. The
former divides itself into the sensory-motor types and the sensory-
reflective-motor or the balanced type; the latter is divided into sensory-
reflective and the reflective-motor types. Applying this system of classi-
fication to the facts of religious life, he says:
"The objective-minded individual conceives of God, Heaven, the soul, righteous-
ness, salvation, etc., under their more concrete and dynamic aspects; while the sym-
bolic-minded (subjective) individual conceives of them under their more abstract
and static aspect. God and the human soul, for the objective-thinker, are essentially
immanent. Such a thinker finds it hard to understand the transcendent conception
of these great entities of human thought. On the other hand, the symbolic thinker
conceives of God and the human soul as essentially transcendent, and considers the
object-minded thinker's disposition to relate God to the forces of nature, and
the human soul to physiological processes, as pantheistic and materialistic. Right-
eousness, sin, and salvation, for the object-minded religionist, are qualities of dynamic
character; for the symbolic-minded religionist, they are rather forms of adjustment
to religious standards, and have, to a greater or less degree, a symbolic meaning.
Religion, in short, for the object-minded individual is a mode of life; while for the
symbolic-minded individual, it is primarily and essentially a mode of belief, faith or
feeling. The symbolic-minded individual, in his religious experiences, worships
the Word; the object-minded individual, the Deed." 115
103 E. S. Ames: The Psychology of Religious Experience, pp. 279 ff.
104 G. E. Dawson: "Suggestions for the Inductive Study of the Religious Consciousness," Journ. of
Rel. Psychol, and Educ., Vol. VII (1913), pp. 50-58.
106 Pp. 55 f.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 33
Dawson applied this scheme to the Japanese students he studied and
concludes: "Every Japanese student in my classes, thus far tested,
has been predominantly object-minded, both in the experimental analysis
made of him and his reactions to religious and philosophical problems
discussed in the class."
From such a statement as this, it might be assumed that the Japanese
are all object-minded; but we should doubt the validity of this proposi-
tion, without much further proof. Again, one of the most prominent
thinkers of modern Japan has said:
"To us Orientals, who depend more upon our sight than upon logic for the estab-
lishment of Truth, the philosophy that I was taught in my New England college is of
comparatively little use in clearing up our doubts and spiritual phantasmagorias.
I believe nobody made a greater mistake than those Unitarian and other intellectually-
minded missionaries, who thought that we Orientals are intellectual peoples, and hence
we must be intellectually converted to Christianity. We are poets and not scientists,
and the labyrinth of syllogism is not the path by which we arrive at the truth. " 10 ^
And yet Professor Stratton who quoted this statement adds: "A Japa-
nese who has obtained distinction in his native land once told me that
in his young days he found a kind of Bible in Mill's Logic!"
In spite of the fact that some writers have attempted to demonstrate
the unintellectual nature of the Japanese people, we must see some
indications of its existence in the cases we have collected in the present
study. Mr. T. Ando, who began to study the Bible, relates his intel-
lectual struggle as follows:
"First I was initiated in the genealogy of Jesus, which caused me much trouble
because of numerous proper nouns, followed by Joseph's dream, and the coming of
three doctors from the East. (Such a story seems as if it had been patterned after the
ordinary Oriental myths.) But patience compelled me to proceed, but alas! I had
to give it up by all means, for I found therein the same old miracle stories. Then I
said to myself: 'If this book were free from such foolish stories, I would have been
able to read it through at least once!' But I thought it over again and endeavored
to continue reading it, and asked for a suggestion or two from one of the American
missionaries who let me take a small anonymous pamphlet entitled, Philosophy of the
Plan of Salvation. This pamphlet explained the importance of Christianity for the
following reasons: (1) Man is a religious being, and must worship something.
(This, however, persuaded me to the contrary.) (2) Worship implies utter subjec-
tion on the part of the worshipper to the object of worship — arguing thus the inferiority
of idolatry and advancing the hypothesis of the superiority of Christian God; and
(3) Christianity has a convincing argument against atheism. (The argument was
very minute and logical to me.) I, of course, had believed in a mysterious power
which governs and transforms the universe, but I conceived of it as something different
from what the Christian would call God. When one attains a perfect understanding
106 Quoted by G. M. Stratton: Psychology of the Religious Life, 1912, p. 23.
34 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
of the nature of God, he attains a real enlightenment of his soul and all difficulties
and mysteries of the world would be solved, as if a huge engine begins to move when
the steam is sent through its pipes. But in order to have a perfect knowledge of God,
one must believe in God who is all-wise and almighty, invisible, omnipresent, loving,
pure and honest and possessing all other divine qualities; and also believe in all the
revelations, precepts, prophecies and laws. But in the Bible, the one thing which
greatly hindered my faith was the so-called miracles, — the decidedly irrational factor,
and this made me abandon the notion of the divine revelations. This pamphlet
contained a number of reasonable and plain accounts of the miracles, and I was con-
vinced thereby that the reason why we cannot understand perfectly the miraculous
element in the Bible was because I did not clearly recognize the divine as distinguished
from the human. Just as the lower animals could by no means understand perfectly
the behavior of human beings, so we as human beings would never completely appre-
hend the divine purposes. Such was the general trend of argument as presented
in that booklet. Undoubtedly there would be no end to the discussion on the subject
but the general course of reasoning seemed to be fair. After an extended reference
and contemplation, I at last came to my own conviction that human wisdom is insuf-
ficient for a perfect understanding of the divine wisdom; and with this conviction I
resumed the study of the Bible. The miracles which had formerly been the obstacles
in my procedure, lost their seeming irrationality and gradually I was led to believe
that the value of the Bible lies to some extent in the presence of the miraculous. But
such a discovery was attained only after a long period of intellectual struggle." 107
In the above case, we have a type of intellectual conversion which,
for the lack of a better term, may be called intellectual self-surrender.
The human intellect often attempts to know the unknowable, but when
the limit comes, there ensues a great struggle and yet the unknowable
remains unknowable for the average intellect. The only way of over-
coming this struggle is to surrender the finite to the infinite. This is
the situation which is so excellently narrated by Mr. Ando. Rev. H.
Kozaki's experience adds further light on the subject:
"It is of little doubt that God exists, and the doctrine of immortality is a com-
paratively easy matter to believe. Especially as to the existence of God, my attention
was first called in the course of my study in astronomy and geology, and thought
of the universal design, and I came to believe in Him. But as to the divinity of
Christ, salvation and miracles, I could not solve the riddles. I contemplated on these
themes, conferred with others, and consulted the books on apologetics, but all in
vain Once I thought of abandoning entirely my attempt at religious
inquiry, but this I never could do. And yet, I could not believe in it. Thus, in the
state of semi-doubt, I spent my weary days more than a year. The pains of worry and
doubt during this period seem to find no analogy anywhere. As a result my nervous
system gave way, and I became an inmate of a hospital for over a month. About
this time, Messrs. Ebina, Yokoi and Kanamori used to visit me frequently and we all
engaged in the discussion of religious matters. Ordinarily I could easily put up an
argument not inferior to theirs, but, during this period of doubt, I could not match
107
Story of my Conversion in Hawaii, pp. 8-20, (abridged).
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 35
them in debate. And often when I called on Captain Janes, I was in a state of great
anxiety for fear he might ask questions regarding my faith, to which I felt I could offer
no answer. This state of mind is well expressed by the writer of the Epistle of James,
'For he that moveth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed
a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.' (James 1:6-8) But one evening
I called on Captain Janes in order to receive illumination on my doubts. He quoted
a verse, 'For what man knoweth things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in
him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God.' (I Cor.
2:11). He said that a horse or a dog would not comprehend things of the human
kind, and even among the human kind, the less learned would not fully understand
the actions of the more learned; and so the human can never completely understand
things belonging to Almighty God. At this simple advise, a new light dawned in my
mind; I was mistaken, for I tried to measure God's mind by the human. There is
no possibility of full comprehension; God's mind must be measured by the God's
spirit. On the same day, Mr. Ebina called on me and advised me to pray. Hitherto
I had been of the opinion that we may thank God, but should never pray and ask;
but from about this time I came to realize that matters religious must be compre-
hended by receiving the spirit of God." 108
Mrs. Hirooka, one of the active Christian women of today, has the
following experience:
" As for Christianity, I rather despised it. I felt strongly the
importance of education, and especially of woman's education, and I did all in my
power to help in the establishment of the Woman's University; and, feeling the need
of more learning for myself, I attended lectures and read. Though only in a slight
way, I studied ethics, philosophy, psychology, and sociology, and my knowledge of
practical difficulties made them very interesting to me. I felt as if my heart were a
ploughed but yet unsown field, into which seed was being sown. I rejoiced in attain-
ing to knowledge, and yet my spiritual life was not satisfied I was per-
plexed to know where I should find spiritual life. Should I seek for it in Buddhism,
of which I had heard a good deal, or in Shintoism? I had looked upon Shinto as an
ethical system; and as for Buddhism, though one can conquer the desires of this world
through it, yet I felt that it did not help me in my longing for the Infinite. I had rather
despised Christianity, but I now thought that I would like to study that of which I
knew, so I applied to the pastor, Mr. Miyagawa, for teaching. At the beginning I
asked him to teach me theology, and I brought forward my own questions and wished
them answered. At first I was very argumentative, and then I became silenced;
each time I was taught I, more and more, realized the ideal personality of Christ, and
at last I had the joy of feeling that through the living personality of Christ I came in
touch with Truth. The self that had relied on its own powers became abhorent, and
I realized with humility that I was nothing more than a helpless and ignorant child.
Not only so, but the personality of Christ became to me as the longed for light of the
sun. If I could only gaze at it, surely even my miserable self would be drawn upwards.
But I have not yet attained to the childlike living heart that can say Abba Father, and
though with my brain I can understand Christ's prayer on the cross for His enemies,
yet in my heart I cannot imitate it. Through it, however, I have come to realize
108 My Experiences of Ttventy-five Years, (somewhat abridged).
36 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
the transcendent personality of Christ. Among the four world-teachers (Christ,
Buddha, Confucius and Socrates) I can best understand the life and teaching of
Confucius; from my own experience when facing death, I feel that I could attain to
the attitude of Socrates, who was in no way dismayed when drinking the poison;
Gautama, reflecting on old age, sickness, death and poverty, trampled under his feet
the desires of this world: this I might do; but Christ's heart of love which had pity
on His enemies seems to me to be the heart of God, and I sorrowfully realize that I
cannot attain to it. I have, however, come to realize the joy of quiet prayer, and with
prayer and reading of the Scriptures I approach the Living Personality and earnestly
desire to feel the Spirit of God descend upon me." 103
Here the same type of intellectual sej f-surrender is seen as in the first
case.
Another consideration of the intellectual element in conversion leads
us to the psychology of meaning as applied to the conversion phenomena.
We give first the cases and afterwards attempt an interpretation. Rev.
U. Sugita remarks:
"The motive for my belief in Christianity is based on the fact that it is the religion
of civilized people and that its teachings are rational and its morality practical. Later
in my religious development, I consulted books on Apologetics and came to understand
the existence of God, but never had the experience of coming in touch with the per-
sonality of God. In the spring of the seventeenth year of Meiji (1884), I realized
that God was the Father of all mankind; then I felt as if I was being embraced in
the warm hands of this Father and found the real rest in life. I had lost my earthly
father long ago, but I found in God a greater Father who was the source of a real
comfort to me. This experience gave a new meaning to the Scriptures and a sense of
pleasure to prayer, and taught me that there was nothing that can 'separate me
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.' And this has been the governing faith
of my life ever since." 110
Somewhat similar experience is given, in his own words, by J. H. Nee-
sima : lu
' 'A day I visited my friend, and I found a small Holy Bible in his library, that was
written by some American Minister in China language and had shown only the most
remarkable events of it. I lend it from him and read it at night. I was afraid that
savage country's law, which if I read the Bible will cross (i. e., crucify) my whole
family ' The opening sentence of this book was, 'In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth.' He says: T put down the book and look around
me, saying, who made me? My parents? No, my God. God made my parents and
let them make me. Who made my table? A carpenter? No, my God. God let
trees grow upon the earth; although a carpenter made up this table, it indeed came
from trees; then I must be thankful to God. I must believe him, and I must be upright
against him.' He at once recognized his Maker's claim to love and obedience, and
began to yield them; "
109 "How I Became Interested in Christianity," East and West, Vol. X (1912), pp. 306, 307.
110 Christian World, No. 1180, p. 9.
111 This quotation of Mr. Neesima's actual wording is taken from J. D. Davis: A Maker of New Japan,
1894, pp. 20 f.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 37
This, however, was only the beginning of his conviction; the later develop-
ment is still interesting:
"While they lay on the steamship Wild Rover in the harbor of Hongkong,
Mr. Neesima found a New Testament in Chinese; he thought that he must have it,
but how should he get it, since he had promised to ask the Captain for no money?
He thought of his sword, and he finally sold it and bought the New Testament. . .
. . During his life of a year on the Wild Rover, he began to read his New Testament
in the Chinese language, but he began at Matthew and read on in course through
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and in the midst of the voyage he came to the 16th verse
of the third chapter of John: 'God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,'
and this made a very deep impression upon him, and he felt that this was just such a
Savior as he needed." 112
The intellectual type does not as a rule receive impetus from social
pressure. It works out on its own accord. Affection and other religious
sentiments evolve after an intelligent study of the religious literature.
The case of H. Yokoi is in point:
"Born in 1809, Yokoi became, in the forties, a keen and critical student of religion
and ethics. The Confucian philosophy and its various schools of exposition, formed,
of necessity, his culture. The issue was an ardent exponent of Oyomeiism — so much
like Stoicism and the pragmatism that identifies knowledge and action; in a word,
whatever be the limitation of space or mind — the dominant idea in Greek thought and
its Christian theology. Invited to become a lecturer at Fukui in Echizen, he held,
thrice a month, in the castle hall, a service, attended by the Daimio, or baron, and his
chief men, which in outward form and solemnity, held by reverend men in their best
garb was much like our Sunday. Hearing of 'the new teachings' beyond the sea,
he sent to Shanghai, secured a copy of the Gospel in Chinese — the 'Latin' of Japan,
and read eagerly. He was amazed; in all literature he had never met with such a
character. Both brain and heart were stirred. He fell in love with Jesus, the Christ.
Without seeing a missionary or knowing of a church he became a Christian." 113
Bishop Hiraiwa speaks of his own experience as follows:
"My faith has grown gradually, and I never experienced a sudden religious awaken-
ing. The first entry was from the side of ethics; later I was interested in the study of
natural sciences, into which I used to project a religious significance; finally I studied
the relation of the evolutionary theory to the creation myth of the Bible. At last
I came to know the existence of the Great Law in the universe." 114
Our interpretation of the religious experience in its intellectual
aspect is found, partly at least, in the psychology of meaning and
understanding. The average Japanese has a certain degree of religious
consciousness which is a result of his natural training. But the process
112 Ibid., pp. 301.
113 " Christianity of Yokoi Heishiro, the Modern Proto-Christian Martyr." by W. E. Griffis, Horn.
Rev., Vol. LLX, pp. 352 ff.
114 Christian World, No. 1183 (May 3, 1906), p. 4.
38 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
of cognitive development urges him on to find still more complex reality
in the universe of meanings. In the course of such a development, he
meets with the religion of Jesus. His intellect at once begins to experi-
ence a series of reactions between his native intellect and the body of
truths given by Christianity. The process of successful relating of his
native intellect and the newly introduced body of knowledge means
apprehension of the situation. This process of reaction or the relating
experience is not always easy, and may involve a period of doubt or
other forms of struggle, which however, is only a step in the course of
full apprehension. Professor Dewey has made clear to us the rhythmical
character of the process of understanding. Our intellect progresses
by an interaction of the indirect and direct understanding. "We
reflect in order that we may get hold of the full and adequate significance
of what happens. Nevertheless, something must be already understood,
the mind must be in possession of some meaning which it has mastered,
or else thinking is impossible." 115
The average Japanese has an apperceptive mass of his own, a na-
tively trained intellect and a world of meaning which corresponds to it.
When he comes in contact with Christianity, he reflects upon it, in order
to interpret it in terms of the knowledge he already possesses. If he
succeeds in interpreting the body of knowledge given by Christianity,
he increases thereby the scope of his world of meaning, i. e., he truly
understands what Christianity is and becomes converted. The mecha-
nism of acquiring meaning, then, is a comparatively simple process.
It is the old experience going into the new. Religiously applied, it is
the ethnic religion finding a fuller and richer content in the religion
of Christ. That such a process, when once acquired, is more permanent
than a mere alteration of emotional life, needs perhaps no elaboration.
It may involve sometimes a severe struggle, but the end is bright. This
is the fundamental theory of religious education. If thought is a dis-
tinguishing mark of human beings as compared with brutes, then, in
the religious training of the human young, this phase of mental life
ought to receive an emphasis greater than any other side of human inter-
est. There is surely a need for educating the thought life for the sake
of religious development as much as for the sake of the inherent value
of thought itself.
Llf
John Dewey: Bow We Think, pp. 1 19 f.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 39
4. SOCIAL PROCESSES IN CONVERSION
We have seen that the intellect has played a prominent part in
converting some of our subjects to the logic of Christianity. We are
now to consider another important factor which brings about the same
experience. In cases where the intellect predominates, the process of
conversion is more or less a self -directed and self-conscious affair, i. e.,
the individual having some understanding of religious experience,
deliberates upon the newly introduced religion, interprets it in terms
of his own experience and finally accepts it. In the cases which we are
now to consider, the conversion experience involves an emotional element,
depending upon the process of imitation and suggestion in a social
atmosphere. The presence of the emotional factor in conversion has
led many thinkers to adopt the emotional theory of religious experience,
though some strongly object to identifying religion with any such arti-
ficially sliced piece of consciousness. 116 At any rate, we have here the
subjects who were converted under social pressure. The process is
almost always unconsciously carried out and at times against the will
of the subject experiencing, but such an unconscious and coercive step
proves later to be favorable in his religious development.
A singular case of social pressure brought to bear upon the convert
is that of K. Uchimura whose narrative is very illuminating:
"I was then a freshman in a new government college, whereby the effort of a New
England Christian Scientist, 117 the whole of the upper class had already
been converted to Christianity. The imperious attitude of the sophomores toward the
'baby freshmen' is the same the world over, and when to it was added a new religious
enthusiasm and spirit of propagandism, their impression upon the poor 'freshies'
can easily be imagined. They tried to convert the freshies by storm; but there was
one among the latter who thought himself capable of not only withstanding the com-
bined assault of the 'sophomoric rushes,' (in this case, religion-rush, not cane-rush),
but even of reconverting them to their old faith. But alas! mighty men around me
were falling, and surrendering to the enemy. I alone was left a 'heathen,' the much
detested idolator, the incorrigible worshipper of wood and stones.
"I well remember the extremity and loneliness to which I was reduced then.
The public opinion of the college was too strong against me, which was beyond my
power to withstand. They forced me to sign the covenant given below, somewhat in a
manner of extreme temperance men prevailing upon an incorrigible drunkard to sign
a temperance pledge. I finally yielded and signed it. I often ask myself whether I
ought to have refrained from submitting myself to such a coercion. I was but a
1,6 Irving King would say: "Since there is no such thing as a merely emotional reaction, it would
appear that the student of religious phenomena could never properly define religion as emotional or anything
else per se." The Development of Religion, p. 56.
117 President Clark of Sapporo Agricultural College is meant here, and not a man belonging to th"
gect of Christian Science.
40 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
mere lad of sixteen then, and the boys who thus forced me 'to come in' were all much
bigger than I. So, you see, my first step toward Christianity was a forced one, against
my will, and I must confess, somewhat against my conscience, too. The covenant
I signed read as follows:
Covenant of Believers in Jesus
'The undersigned members of S. A. College, desiring to confess Christ according
to His command, and to perform with true fidelity every Christian duty in order to
show our love and gratitude to that blessed Savior who has made atonement for our
sins by His death on the cross; and earnestly wishing to advance His kingdom among
men for the promotion of His glory and the salvation of those for whom He died, do
solemnly covenant with God and with each other from this time forth to be His faithful
disciples, and to live in strict compliance with the letter and the spirit of His teaching;
and whenever a suitable opportunity offers, we promise to present ourselves for exami-
nation, baptism, and admission to some evangelical church.
'We believe the Bible to be the only direct revelation in language from God to
man, and the only perfect and infallible guide to a glorious future life.
'We believe in one everlasting God who is our Merciful Father, our just and
sovereign Ruler, and who is to be our final Judge.
'We believe that all who sincerely repent and by faith in the Son of God obtain
the forgiveness of their sins, will be graciously guided to this life by the Holy Spirit
and protected by the watchful providence of the Heavenly Father, and so at length
prepared for the enjoyment and pursuits of the redeemed and holy ones; but that all
who refuse to accept the invitation of the Gospel must perish in their sins, and be
forever banished from the presence of the Lord.
'The following commandments we promise to remember and obey through all
the vicissitudes of our earthly lives:
'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with
all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.
'Thou shalt not worship any graven image or any likeness of any created being
or thing.
'Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, avoiding all unnecessary labor and
devoting it as far as possible to the study of the Bible and the preparation of thyself
and others for a holy life.
'Thou shalt obey and honor thy parents and rulers.
'Thou shalt not commit murder, adultery, or other impurities, theft or deception.
'Thou shalt do no evil to thy neighbor.
'Pray without ceasing.
'For mutual assistance and encouragement we hereby constitute ourselves an
association under the name "Believers in Jesus," and we promise faithfully to attend
one or more meetings each week while living together, for the reading of the Bible or
other religious books or papers, for conference and for social prayer; and we sincerely
desire the manifest presence in our hearts of the Holy Spirit to quicken our love,
to strengthen our faith, and to guide us into a saving knowledge of the truth!'
'S — March 5, 1877.'
"The whole was framed in English by the American Christian Scientist mentioned
before, himself a graduate of, and once a professor in, one of the most evangelical
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 41
of the New England colleges. His own signature was followed by those of fifteen
of his students, and my classmates swelled the number to over thirty. My name,
I suppose, stood the last but one or two." 118
On reading through such a covenant, we do not wonder that the act
of signing the name must have been one of blind imitation or coercion.
It is a psychological absurdity that a believer in many gods could sud-
denly forsake his old view and become convinced of the truth of many
doctrines such as incorporated in the above covenant. But, however
blind the initial step may have been, it later became a means of religious
growth. A similarly interesting case is found in the experience of
Rev. H. Kozaki:
"At that time there came to pass an incident which greatly moved my heart, and
that was the persecution which my schoolmates had to suffer. I had graduated from
the English School 119 in 1875, and served as grammar school teacher and later as
instructor in the state academy. I was not a student in that school, therefore, when
the said persecution took place. From the autumn of 1875 up to the beginning of
1876, a remarkable revival was witnessed in the school. Many Christian meetings
were held for the students, and many of the more devoted Christians attempted
to spend the entire night in prayer, and school work was sadly neglected. As a result
of this movement, however, the school turned out some fifty or sixty converts. Toward
the end of January, 1876, these converts resolved to take an oath of allegiance to a
definitely formulated creed. This movement was conducted entirely by the students
themselves, and even Captain Janes was not aware of it. The creed as thus formu-
lated comprised three articles of faith: (1) The believer must sacrifice his life for the
sake of his faith and country; (2) He must engage himself in fraternal intercourse
with cobelievers and realize mutual aid; and (3) He must properly conduct himself
as a believer, keep his repute unspotted, and suffer suspension in case of disorderly
conduct. Those who signed the above creed numbered about forty-five. I was
requested to attend the meeting when this creed was to be signed; but owing to my
doubtful situation, I declined the invitation.
"But when the news of such a movement spread among the parents of these
juvenile converts, a great commotion ensued. They were tremendously astonished,
and immediately summoned their converted sons to their side and forced them to
abandon their newly acquired faith. One was threatened that if he were obstinate
his mother would commit suicide; another received a sentence of confinement in a
cell for several months; stiil another was told that his father would butcher him and
was actually under the blade of a sword, but the converted youth was quite content
to be executed by his father, and on the expression of his courage and conviction,
the angry father was so moved that he failed to accomplish his act. I was in deep
sympathy with my persecuted schoolmates, and rendered them no small assistance
in private. My situation then was like that of Joseph of Arimathea or of Nicodemus
and, as I had not professed my faith openly, the parents of these schoolmates allowed
118 K. Uchimura: How I Became aChristian, 1895, pp. 11-14.
119 This school was in Kumamoto headed by Captain Janes, under whose instruction many present
day Christian leaders were reared
42 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
me to associate with their sons. But, as for me, this was an opportunity for great
encouragement and strengthened me in deciding to accept the Christian faith." 120
The spirit of hero-worship and evaluation of characters are some-
times the leading factors in bringing about the conversion experience.
T. Kobayashi had the following experience: 121
"In the year 1888, when he was an employee in a store in Kobe, he took a walk with
his friend one evening. As they were passing by a theatre, he noticed a bill-post in
front advertising a meeting that evening for the defense of Buddhism against Christi-
anity. Curiosity prompted them to enter. There they found a Buddhist priest of
some repute, making somewhat superficial and illogical statements of the case against
Christianity and creating a sense of disgust in their minds. But a few days later, it
was advertised that a meeting of Christian ministers was to be held in the same theatre.
As he was greatly interested in the combat of the two religions he attended it, expecting
to hear a similar sort of apologetic speeches. To his surprise, however, he found the
Christian audience to be exceedingly quiet, the preachers absolutely sincere and
humble, and their reasoning logical. Mr. Kobayashi was greatly impressed with the
speeches. This, he thought, must be a religion far superior in nature to Buddhism.
In the course of a speech by one of the speakers, Mr. Kobayashi noticed a young
Buddhist priest in one corner of the balcony, continuously trying to interrupt the
speaker — a fact which, to Mr. Kobayashi, seemed to be very ungentlemanly. The
continued attempt of the young Buddhist disturbed the peace of the meeting. At
this moment, however, a heavy tall man appeared from the back of the stage and
approached the young priest who was temporarily the center of public attention.
Then there arose a murmur in the audience: 'He is a teacher of Jiu-jitsu, and he
can force the priest out of the building.' Mr. Kobayashi was relieved somewhat at
this rumor, and was looking back toward the Buddhist priest in the balcony. But,
contrary to his and others' expectation, that big Christian man was seen bowing down
repeatedly before the ungentlemanly priest. He was entreating the Buddhist friend
to be quiet at least during the speech. At the sight of such an act, Mr. Kobayashi
was more than greatly moved. He saw the true greatness of the Christian religion,
which was shown in the behavior of that man, which the Buddhist could not even
imitate. He remembered neither the preachers nor the content of their speeches,
but the manly behavior of that Christian left an unforgettable impression upon his
mind. At the close of the meeting, he notified the chairman of the evening of his
desire to study further the truths of the Christian religion. Then, through an intro-
duction by a Christian friend, he began to pursue the study under Rev. T. Osada,
then the pastor of the Tamon Congregational Church, and at the same time he so ar-
ranged for some of his friends to join him in the study of Christianity."
Similar experiences are the following :
"At the age of twenty I went to Tokyo to study the Oriental classics at the Philo-
sophical Institute. About that time, as I remember, I began to hear of the Christian
religion and attended a preaching service in the home of a missionary. I was not
impressed by the sermon — the preacher was expounding the prophecy of Daniel,
which, however, gave a sense of the supernatural — ,but rather I was attracted by
120 My Experiences of Twenty-five Years, p. 6.
121 N. Kato: The Life of Tomijiro Kobayashi, pp. 44-47.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 43
his kind attitude to all, by the beautiful tunes of the hymns and by the warmth of
the room heated by a stove, which I had never experienced in the ordinary Japanese
home. (I remember it was in the winter.) Later I entered Aoyama Gakuin (Metho-
dist Academy in Tokyo) to study English. Some of the students in this institution
were self-governing and knew the value of the individual, and I was greatly moved
by the fact that they were cultivating individual morality by personal efforts. I had
hitherto been a mere passive imitator in matters of personal culture, but I became
ashamed of my past attitude. Again, the gentlemanly fashion in which the teachers
treated the pupils gave me a sense of self-respect and endeavor." (Subject S. M.)
"At last, after a long resistance, I attended the Bible class for once. There was one
thing which touched my heart, and that was the prayer of Captain Janes. Everyone
bowed down his head during the prayer, but I kept my eyes open, and watched intently
the captain's face as he prayed. He became more and more earnest, as he went on
praying, until at last tears of sincerity rolled down upon his cheeks, — a fact which
struck me with a great deal of emotion. I had listened to a number of scholars in
Chinese classics, but it was the first time that I came in direct touch with a man of
such earnestness. It was a wonder to me, and I thought Christianity must have a
wonderful power and at last I became a student of the Christian religion." (Rev. H.
Kozaki.)
"Then I came to America, — it was about nine years ago; I was twenty years of
age. I joined the Japanese Y. M. C. A., then located on Haight Street, San Francisco,
not particularly because it was a Christian institution, but because I happened to
stay there. I had not been there long, however, before I began to feel the Christian
influence that permeated that place, more exactly as expressed in the personality
of Dr. Sturge, the superintendent. In fact, from the very moment I met him, I had
already been impressed by his lofty, modest and infinitely kind character, though he
did not speak a word to me. I made up my mind to study English under him. I did
not learn the language much; but I did learn to respect and love him, and through
him the Christian virtues. He preached sermons too, and I always listened to his
words reverently, for what he spoke was, to me, the reflection of his noble character.
I began to be interested in the Christian religion for the first time in my life, — not
in the religion as such, however, but in the Christian virtues as exemplified in the
personality of Dr. Sturge." (Subject K. T.)
"In the year 1886, I was appointed by the government to become the consul
general of the Hawaiian Islands where I was ordered to stay for three and one-half
years. When I reached there, I found about three thousand Japanese laborers whose
conduct was astonishingly corrupt. I did my best to reform their mode of life by
giving them precepts and admonitions, but all in vain; their conduct grew from bad
to worse, until I found myself in great bewilderment About that time,
Mr. K. Miyama, a Christian missionary, came from San Francisco and preached the
Gospel among these laborers with the purpose of changing their personal behavior.
To my great surprise, his work resulted in the destruction of dice and wine glasses,
and everyone seemed to have experienced a sudden change in his mode of living.
When I witnessed such a remarkable fact, I was compelled to acknowledge the work
of the Christian religion in man's moral life and to pay respect to that once-hated
religion. This was really the beginning of my contact with Christianity." (Taro
Ando.)
44 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
"At fourteen years of age, I came to Kobe to study Chinese classics, Arithmetic
and English, and the teacher was a Christian. He asked me to go to the church, but I
would not. One evening there was a great Christian meeting in one of the large
theatres of the city. My teacher again asked me to attend and this time I did. I
had been brought up in a home where Christianity was a taboo; consequently I
despised all Christians and had no use for religious practices, especially such as
prayer. But from this time on I began to become unprejudiced towards Christianity
and I used to hear many Bible stories. Soon I went to Nagano to live with a rela-
tive who was a judge. His wife was an earnest Christian and she asked me if I were
a Christian. I became very much attached to this woman and Christianity as she
showed me seemed to be very different from what I had previouly conceived of. I
began to attend the Sunday School of the church of which she was a member. But
still such matters as prayer, God-experience and miracles were a profound mystery
to me. We used to discuss these subjects frequently. I also read the Bible. In
the meantime, it happened that her daughter died. She would say that her faith
was lacking and go out and kneel down beside the grave and pray. I used to accom-
pany her and pray too, for the first time. A little later I was a victim of typhoid
fever and this prompted my decision to become a Christian. And in December of
my fifteenth year I was baptized in spite of my mother's opposition." (Subject M.
s.)
"When I was about ten years old, I attended the Sunday School, conducted by
the Azabu middle school, though I did not continue very long. It was at the age of
twenty that I began to go to church. I was then in a state of exceeding loneliness,
after having lost both my parents and grandparents, and was seeking some sort of
comfort in life. I had the ambition of making something of myself and this hope was
the only source of solace to my lonely soul. But I had no inclination of receiving
any comfort by becoming a religious devotee. My ambition was of an entirely worldy
nature. When I was in such a state of mental distress, there was an English teacher
in our middle school who invited me one evening to a dinner. He treated me just
as if I were a member of his family, and this warm and sympathetic reception accorded
to me by a foreign teacher made a deep impression upon me, for I was hungry for a
wholesome home environment, and in such a warm Christian home, I was made to
experience in some degree the love of Christ. Although he was not a missionary, he was
a true Christian, and his home was filled with Christian love and sympathy. Thus
I did not listen to many sermons, nor consult many books; I only saw the light in the
true Christian love which permeated the home of this Christian teacher. I continued
to attend the church and about one year later I was baptized." (Subject Y. O.)
"When I was sixteen years of age, I came spiritually in touch with Christianity.
I was alone in a large city, away from my parents. Loneliness was the only word which
could adequately describe the state of my mind in those days, and even a small act
of love and kindness had a great influence over me. I was in a position to understand
Christian love. I experienced a great emotional upheaval, and the universe, the
society and all other objects under the sun seemed to have undergone a complete
change. I was filled with joy and became humble and the altruistic sentiment grew
stronger." (Subject T. M.)
"When I began to go to church, the Christians would say things that I desired to
say, and act in ways that I desired to act. This harmony of my mental inclination
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 45
with that of the Christians induced me to become one of their numbers." (Subject
H. M.)
"When I went to church, I was impressed with the friendship of the Christians
and with the spirit of love and sympathy which created its atmosphere. The more
important religious side of the sermon was somewhat unintelligent to me, but its moral
side was clear and a thrill of joy passed through my mind. I had no one who would
stop me from attending the services, and when I continued for about two months, a
Methodist preacher visited our church for a special evangelistic campaign. He
preached earnestly and effectively on 'The Love of God.' My mind had been pre-
pared, as it were, for this very occasion; I experienced a great emotional crisis, and at
last I knelt down before Jesus Christ." (Subject J. K.)
The above cases prove the presence of the spirit of hero-worship
and evaluation of character in the conversion experience. There is
another fashion, however, in which the leaders of young men influence
the process of conversion. This is rather involuntary on the part of
the subjects experiencing conversion, and therefore there is usually no
emotional excitement or sudden awakening. The subject M. K. says:
"It was when I was twenty -one years of age that I came to realize what Christianity
was and to devote my life to its cause. Prior to that time I was egoistic. The reason
for this turning was the consciousness of the earnest spirit of my father in his evan-
gelistic work which I had been noticing, and also of the moral decline of society.
I realized for the first time in my life that the devotion to the cause of Christianity
was the most precious way of living."
The gradual influence of the Sunday School in the case of our subject
Y. O. is as follows:
"Thus I have little to say concerning the real experience of conversion. I was
baptized at sixteen years of age; I did not jump suddenly, but gradually slid in, so to
speak."
A somewhat unusual case of social influence, together with the
birth of the sense of sin is found in our next subject, Y. B.:
"When I was very young, I used to hear of the persecution which the early Chris-
tian believers in Japan had suffered at the hands of the government. I used to know
some native converts of Greek Catholicism and their conduct was of the best moral
quality; consequently my impression of Christianity was very favorable. When I
graduated from the grammar school, one of my friends came to spend his vacation
in my home, who tried to persuade me to attend the same mission school that he was
attending. I consented. At first I held in contempt all those students in mission
schools, who called themselves Christians, for they were not brilliant in their studies
and appeared to me to be a sort of time-servers. One of my classmates (who was ahead
of me in school studies) was baptized and became a changed man, and I began to wonder
for the first time if Christianity had really a power to transform a man's life. I then
began to reflect upon my own character and conduct. I came in touch with some
refined missionaries, but they all failed to reach the very depths of my heart. (This
may be the reason why the majority of missionaries are doing so poorly in Japan.)
I struggled to live up to the moral ideal I then cherished, but failed repeatedly. The
46 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
pain of this failure to realize my ideal made me feel the terror of sin. I came to know
I gradually that the God whom Christ teaches is my Savior. I made up my mind
' definitely to enter into the new life in Him. I often prayed in the dead of the night,
alone with tears. I could believe that God would forgive my sins."
The foregoing study of the social aspects of the conversion experience
enables us to detect in it an e motional el ement, quite similar to that of the
revival phenomena. Though they lack that suddenness and abruptness
which characterize the experience of the evangelistic converts, yet the
process reveals to us the operation of suggestion and imitation and their
distinctively social nature. At times, it is almost a necessity for social
coercion to play upon the individual's mind, in order to bring about
the experience of conversion. Social coercion in the case of Mr. Uchim-
ura, as we have seen, proved to be a happy initiatory step in the Christian
career. This is undoubtedly a case of social crisis which influences
externally the individual under the influence of the mass and by the
strength of the social atmosphere. The externally induced condition
may often appear to be artificial, but it is genuine with some individuals.
Again there are cases where the social influence plays upon the reli-
gious development of the individual not in such an abrupt and artificial
fashion, but in a less striking and more natural way. This is frequently
connected with the youthful spirit of hero-worship and of the admiration
of the leaders whose lives arouse the feelings of respect and honor.
The religion of such leaders appeals to the youthful minds as true and
worthy. This following after the pattern is essentially a social process,
and conversion here is a phase of imitation in a more complicated aspect.
The evaluation of character and social pressure, then, are the two
main aspects that present themselves to us in the study of our cases,
and thus force us to conceive the process of conversion as essentially a
social one.
5. CONVERSION AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL CRISIS
Religion has often been regarded as an essential factor in the struggle
for existence. 122 By some religion has been viewed as a creation which
satisfies the needs of man as he lives and exists in the world. 123 That
such views are sometimes justifiable requires no elaboration. We have
among our subjects those whose religiosity took a definite forward
step when they encountered a serious crisis in their lives. Here is a
subject whose testimony reveals the fact that he has been brought up
122 J. H. Leuba: " Religion as a Factor in the Struggle for Life," Am. Journ. of Rel. Psychol, and Educ.
Vol. II, p. 307; G. B. Foster: The Function of Religion in Man's Struggle for Existence, Chicago, 1908.
123 E. S. Ames: The Psychology of Religious Experience, pp. 33 ff.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 47
in a non- or even anti-religious atmosphere, but became at once religious
and devoted when he experienced a severe blow upon his personal and
family welfare:
"When I was eighteen years of age, my mother's illness had suddenly changed
and become extremely serious. The physician said: 'All is over; Heaven determined
now her destiny!' When I heard these words, I felt a shiver passing through my limbs
like an electric shock, and I said to myself: 'If my mother's life is now in the hands
of Heaven, why should I not pray to Heaven with my true devotion?' But I knew
nothing about this mysterious Heaven; nothing explained to me the nature of Heaven.
The time sped on; I could not tarry any longer. I was led by something unconsciously
and ran out to the well just outside of the house. I divested myself of all garments
and poured three bucketfuls of cold water over my body and prayed, as if uncon-
sciously, for the possible recovery of my mother. I could not, however, pray to
Heaven, for I knew not what it was, and, therefore, I directed my prayer toward
some deity of whom I had heard once before. This was the first time I ever attempted
to pray. My prayer was not heard, but I could never forget this first prayer and the
question which arose in my mind at that moment as to the meaning of Heaven. From
this time on, I began to regard with respect even the practices of idol-worshippers
and to seek something religiously myself. After about a year, I received an invitation
from a friend to attend a Christian preaching service one evening. I accepted it and
walked miles to attend the meeting. Little did I imagine that this was the meeting
which gave me an opportunity to know of Heaven, of God, and even of the Lord of
Creation. I returned home with a profound impression, and I spent most of that
night in quiet meditation. The next day I called on the preacher and finally I found
what I had been seeking. This was the time when I saw God, the Heavenly Father.
My heart was filled with joy and gratitude, and I count this day as my spiritual birth-
day." 124
Subject K. Y. has this remarkable experience:
"In my last year, a little before graduation in the high school, a great change
took place in my house. The veneer factory which my father owned caught fire and was
totally destroyed. Owing to this unexpected disaster, I was informed that my father
could no longer pay my school expenses to send me to the college which I expected to
enter after finishing the high school. When I received this sad news from home I was
exceedingly discouraged. I sought words of encouragement from my classmates, but
could find and think of no true friend who would sympathize with me fully. I came
back to my own room and walked to and fro. As I failed to get any solace from my
comrades, I thought of Buddha and of the parable of the dry well. 125 I cried out to
Buddha for sympathy."
"It was when I was fifteen years of age that I came into contact with Christianity.
I became a clerk in a stock exchange firm and was appointed assistant to the treasurer,
and took charge of the bookkeeping and acted as the cashier on many occasions.
But owing to my youthful age, I was destined to experience a severe blow in my
business career. It happened that there was a crook among my business associates,
and he persuaded me to let him spend several thousand dollars and forced me to
m Yasutaro Naide: Christian World, No. 1180 (April 12, 1906).
125 For the allusion of the dry well, see supra, p. 25.
48 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
destroy all the books that might become evidence of his mischief, since he was unable
to return the amount. This fact, however, was finally discovered, and as the result
of a conference, the stockholders themselves were made responsible for the loss. There
was one person whose influence settled this event harmlessly, and that was the chair-
man of the trustees who believed in me and who was anxious for my future. I still
remember him and admire him as a man of lofty character. But this bitter experience
served to my mind as the beginning of a religious and moral life. About that time
I fell into a hard spiritual struggle in quest of peace and happiness. For two weeks
I could neither eat nor sleep, and it made me cry almost in the spirit of the man who
cried: 'What shall I do to be saved?' From this time on, I decided to live on religious
principles, and I found a Presbyterian divine who lived in our neighborhood and
began to attend the church. I determined to become an efficient merchant and after
graduating from a business school, I came to Tokyo and thence to Yokohama where
I was preparing to enter the Higher Commercial College. It was during my stay
there that I was baptized into a Presbyterian Church." (Subject S. S.)
Sometimes a physical disaster awakens a sense of sin and a desire
to atone for personal misconduct. Subject K. W. says:
"At the age of eighteen I was tempted by an evil acquaintance who led me into the
atmosphere of the brothel and prostitution. Unfortunately I became a victim of a
dreadful venereal disease, and for half a year I suffered tremendously. During this
period I felt, more vividly than I had ever dreamed, the evil of immorality, and that
the philosophy I then entertained was not sufficient to solve the problem with which
I was struggling. I had heard once that Christianity had excellent precepts particu-
larly in respect to sexual relations and I began to take interest in the study of that
religion in order to redeem my evil life and to attain to higher ideals. This was the
first and the greatest step toward my conversion experience."
The sense of distress, the feeling of unwholeness, the consciousness of
sin, etc., were found by Starbuck to be predominant as motives and
emotional concomitants of conversion. Our subjects, however, show
only in a limited degree the presence of such experiences. The phenomena
of vision, together with the sense of sin and unwholeness, are exhibited
in the following cases:
"The first step in the development of my religious experience was due to my
meditation on the state of my own self — namely, I was a small insignificant creature.
At this thought I became greatly vexed, for I knew not where I stood with reference
to the Great Laws of the Universe. At times, I fasted; at times secluded myself
in the mountains, and a feeling of oppression attacked my mind with unspeakable
vividness. I felt as if I was caught by something. When asleep, I dreamed fearful
dreams. In one of these dreams, I was surrounded by several armed men, and as I
was greatly alarmed and excited, I killed a few of them and then I ran and awoke.
Such dreams assailed me night after night. I frequently wiped the sweat off my
body when I awoke in the morning. Again, I dreamed of a sudden fall from a high
cliff. Each time I had a dream, a new feeling filled my mind. After the repetition of
several of these fearful dreams, and after my sense of fear reached its summit, I con-
sciously apprehended the meaning of the cross of Jesus, and came to know God through
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 49
Jesus Christ. The experience above narrated lasted for several years, from about
1874 to 1880." 126
"But in many ways, I was in the midst of evil habits which were in opposition to these
religious practices. I was in the grip of many sins. The consciousness of these
sins began when I was about six or seven years old and lasted until my twenty-first
year, — particularly between the ages of fourteen and twenty. But it was during
this period of my consciousness of sins that I was most religious, and I was greatly
attached to philosophical writings which to my mind were the best things one could
get." (Subject S. M.)
Kaku Imai 127 became interested in Christianity in Kobe where he
was recuperating after having served for three years as the
resident priest of a run-down temple in Hokkaido. He was broken
down both in heart and in health. As he was strolling around the
Ikuta Shrine one evening, his attention was called to a band of young
men who were advertising a big evangelistic meeting in the city. He
was somewhat in a receptive attitude; so he went to this meeting. Since
then he came repeatedly in touch with Christians, and each time he was
impressed with genuine personality of a Christian. He began to wonder
if Christianity had really a power to transform human personality.
And as he was longing for peace in his heart, he at last turned his inquisi-
tive mind to the claims of Christianity. He began to attend church
services and other evangelistic meetings, in the course of which he heard
effective messages from Rev. Miyagawa of Osaka, and from Rev. De
Forest of Sendai. Deeply moved by their appeal, he sought to study
the Bible. He had to overcome repeated temptations to regard it
unintelligent and primitive, being full of genealogies and miracles.
But when he came to the Sermon on the Mount, his attention was called to
a verse, "Blessed are the mourners, for they shall be comforted." This
caught his fancy for two reasons: first, he was in adversity and seeking
comfort and solace, and secondly, he could not interpret the verse
satisfactorily for himself. Then he went to Rev. Yoshikawa for the
elucidation of the text, and one of the pastor's explanations was to read
it, "Blessed are those who mourn over their shortcomings and weak-
nesses, for thereby they strive to be more perfect." This exactly is
what he wanted. Gradually there dawned in his mind a conviction that
his return to the original post as a priest in Hokkaido would only be a
repetition of the old way of hypocritical service, and he heard the voice
of Christ rebuking the hypocrite. He then committed all to God of
126 Bishop Hiraiwa, in the Christian World, Loc. oil., p. 4.
127 Rev. Imai's pamphlet, "Why I Left Buddhism and Became a Christian," is so full that we thought
it best to summarize the main events which led him to accept Christ, rather than to give scattered extracts.
50 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
Christ, and after prayer and meditation based on the study of the
Scriptures, he decided to abandon Buddhism and become a Christian.
Following his decision he experienced for the first time unspeakable
peace of mind and finally obeyed the call of God to devote his life to the
Christian ministry.
It seems to be true that a serious crisis in personal welfare is a very
natural cause of religious awakening. We might relate this with what
Starbuck calls "the sense of distress," when the nervous system is in the
state of instability. The victim of such circumstances often shows an
eagerness to get a hold of something permanent and stable. The actual
situation of distress in which the subject is placed vivifies the mental
imagery of a contrary nature, and when the object which satisfies such a
need is presented, it is jealously and greedily grasped. It is this mental
disturbance which causes visions and dreams, and heightens the sense
of personal imperfection. The process of acquiring the permanent, or
to speak in terms of neurology, the period of recovering from the state
of unstability to normal condition, sometimes lasts several years, as in
the case of Bishop Hiraiwa above cited. When the reality is seized and
the permanent found, then the mental disturbance comes to an end.
This same fact is emphasized by Cutten as follows:
"The struggle has continued until the ego seems to be almost rent asunder in
some cases; one or the other of the contesting factors must give way, and finally the old
self, the lower desire, gives up the battle and sometimes instantaneously, sometimes
gradually, the misery, worry and despair are changed to happiness, trust and confi-
dence; the unsettled, divided self, seems stable and united." 128
Again Coe speaks of the phenomena :
"Competition is going on for the mastery of life. You may call it, in theological
terms, a struggle between Satan and the Spirit of God; or you may call it, in biological
language, an effort to adjust ourselves to environment against unsocialized remnants
of the ape and the tiger nature." 129
The bitter experience of Uchimura in his conversion from polytheism
to Christian monotheism cited in sections 2 and 4, is a striking instance
of the divided self as being in the process of gradual unification. This
case clearly points out the process of growth from a heterogeneous
aggregate of lower habits into a unity of higher habits. 130 The old
habits were not necessarily contradictory and foreign to the new; they
were the very material out of which the new were evolved. Physiologi-
128 G. B. Cutten: The Psychological Phenomena of Christianity, p. 243.
129 The Religion of a Mature Mind, p. 114.
130 Cf. Bryan and Harter: "Studies in the Physiology and Psychology of Telegraphic Language,"
Psychol. Rev., Vols. IV and VI.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 51
cally speaking, the old habits occupied certain positions in the nervous
system, and the new ones came not to destroy all these nervous sets
already in existence, but only to fulfill, to unify and relate these diverse
nerve paths by forming a new association. There has come a new mean-
ing into the group of old habits, and each of these old ones found its own
appropriate function in the light of the larger system. The phraseology
of the convert himself in experiencing this state of gaining mental
equilibrium is suggestive of this point: "Oh, how proudly I passed by
temple after temple, with my head erect and conscience clear, with full
confidence that they could punish me no longer for my not saying my
prayers to them, for I found the God of gods to back and uphold." The
new system of habit mastered the old.
There is another point which seems to be of vast importance in con-
nection with the consideration of religious conversion as a psychological
crisis. We have been told recently that the religious attitude is geneti-
cally a "construct," determined in large measure by various objective
conditions of the life-process. "From such a point of view we shall be
led to say that there is no such thing, for instance, as a detached sense of
duty, or of sin, which is applied here and there as opportunity may offer
or render appropriate, but rather that these feelings represent certain
crises in action, and that the character of the preceding action has,
been of direct importance in the determination of the character
of the resulting conscious state." 131 We are in possession of some data
which go to show that some such explanation of the rise of the religious
attitude as given by King is the only legitimate one. The religious
instinct, if there is any, is a mere assumption in the immature life, or at
least it is a static statement which from a functional point of view is
an absurdity. We have had occasions to examine the actual experiences
of the Japanese converts, and they seem to indicate unanimously that
their definitely religious attitude had arisen when they encountered
crises in life, which from the standpoint of functional psychology, repre-
sent an act in life and must be interpreted by the subsequent states of
consciousness.
The religious attitude, then, seems to be a psychic state which
immediately accompanies any grave incident in life. It arises as an
attitude of conscious evaluation or interpretation of the life-process
which primarily consists of overt acts and practices, at first with no
definite significance or value. We are, therefore, to conclude that the
religious consciousness is only one of many conscious states that are
131 Irving King: The Development of Religion, 1910, p. 42 (italics mine).
52 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
built up on the basis of motor adjustments, and in this respect it does not
differ from other attitudes. We shall have an opportunity to see later,
however, that the religious attitude does differ from other conscious
states, not on the basis of its origin and nature of development, but on
the basis of its pragmatic content, i. e., on the ground of the function
that it serves in life.
6. REBIRTH AS THE POST-CONVERSION EXPERIENCE
In the foregoing section reference has been made to the nature of
unification that results from a victory in the mental struggle at a crucial
period of religious awakening. We are now to consider the final outcome
of conversion which may be called the state of rebirth. It has been
customary to differentiate conversion from regeneration, especially in
theology. Strictly speaking, these two terms simply indicate two sides
of one and the same experience, and therefore their distinction is justifia-
ble only to a limited degree. In fact in many cases, it is quite impossible
to distinguish these two aspects of the experience. From a psychological
point of view, however, we must prefer the term conversion to regenera-
tion, for it designates more approximately the human side of the seem-
ingly divine experience. Conversion, however, even from our point of
view, is characterized by a phenomenon known as "rebirth." We are
more or less familiar with remarkable cases of conversion, in which the
lives are completely changed, the low desire and affection are raised to a
higher level, the appetite for harmful objects is annihilated, the sinner
is made a saint, — in fact, the process of sanctification permeates the
whole personality of a convert. This is known as the regenerate life
or the state of rebirth. A more dramatic catastrophe which is de-
scriptive of such a state is reached by the subject K. Y. :
"I approached the screen door and opened it; it was an evening in spring. The
sun was sinking slowly and beautifully colored clouds were floating softly along the
western horizon. Silence seized me while I stood alone before the wonderful universe
of Jehovah. 'The Great Maker of the Universe,' cried I unconsciously, 'Why hast
thou destroyed my father's factory? He is a man of honesty and integrity. Why is
it that I was made to lose forever the opportunity to secure a higher education? Why
must I live in this dark, hopeless well?' Then I wept to my heart's content. As
I wiped the tears from my eyes, the sun had already sunk. A faint streak of crimson
tinged the western sky.
"The air was still. I was alone with the universe. I began to think of the
Christ of whom I had learned much from the missionaries and the New Testament.
I meditated upon his humble birth, upon his common and yet unspotted life, upon
his fearless and marvellous ministry, and upon his unselfish sufferings. I lifted up
my eyes and looked up to this new Savior. He was not born in the palace of India,
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 53
but in the manger of Bethlehem. He did not don the garb of silk, but wore the work-
ingman's garment. In place of the golden crown, he was crowned with thorns. Not
a bamboo stick did he stretch to save a man, but his own arm. 'Come unto me,'
sounded His tender voice within my heart, 'Ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.' In Him at last I found true and perfect rest."
In the realm of conduct and habits of life, conversion often changes
the course of the pre-conversion stage.
I came to discontinue my cigarette and drink habits and a great change took
place in my general behavior. The objective evidence is the surprise on the part of
my non-Christian friends at such a remarkable and complete change." 132
"The greatest struggle I encountered after my conversion was a moral one.
Although I had fought with all my might, victory was not an easy one. But I was
conscious of the fact that morally my conduct was greatly improved, and many a
friend marvelled at the change. I refused to accept alcoholic drink that even my good
father used to offer me. But I finally made him believe that I was right and my friends
recognized my uprightness as a young student. I also came to believe that God's
hand has guarded me through all my troubles and pleasures of the world, and I firmly
believe that He will lead me in the future. In view of the fact that our nation can
hardly afford to miss the influence of Christianity for her salvation, I decided to give
my life to the task of the ministry." (Subject Y. B.)
"After my conversion, I relied solely upon Christianity as my guide. My irregu-
lar conduct became regular." (Subject H. T.)
"With reference to the change of life, I experienced an unspeakable quietude and
contentment in my mind, and my world-view was considerably enlarged. This may
seem trivial, but it was not so with my own self." (Subject T. U.)
Of all the changes that result from conversion, however, the most
characteristic is that of the birth of the larger self, as we noted in the
previous sections, which has a soothing and quieting influence upon
the convert's mental life.
"After becoming a Christian, there has come, I believe, no change in my life as
far as conduct is concerned, but only in my ethical conceptions. Before I became a
Christian, my faith was in the self. For every action, the man alone is responsible.
It is I that do or undo. I alone can guide myself in my life's journey. I alone can be
trusted in all my personal conduct. But I came to see that there are many things
which I could not do. Man is weak; by faith, however, he becomes strong. I am not
what I will, but I am what God willeth me to be. I pray for his power constantly
so that I may become strong and fulfill the divine will. Formerly I believed in the
power within and that was my power; now I believe in the power from above which
acts on the external world through me. I do not believe God dwells at a certain
definite place. Indeed I do not know where He is and I do not care to know in so
far as I can feel the divine power everywhere, even in my own heart. It is the divine
nature of man that enables me to receive this power which is divine." (Subject
K. T.)
132 Shunkichi Murakami, in the Christian World, No. 1 183 (May 3, 1906), p. 4.
54 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
"In a word, my confidence, (that is, self-confidence in a more enlightened sense,
more in the order of courage), has considerably grown. 133 This, I believe, is due to
the birth of faith in Almighty Providence, that I am now with God. As to the change
other than this increase of faith, I feel as if I am greatly relieved of something. I
feel easy and comfortable. My conception of the world is broadened. Although
this seems a small matter, it is of great significance to my life. My native disposition
is subject to a comparatively small change, but the breadth of view which is born
in me is to me a great change indeed." (Subject T. U.)
Some converts experience a change in the vocational interest of life,
largely in an altruistic direction. The ministry is frequently chosen
as a result of conversion.
"About one year after my conversion I began to feel that God wanted me to become
a Christian minister, and now I am studying in a theological school in spite of the
opposition on the part of my parents and of the sacrifice on my own part. When I
was in the high school, I received the news of my father's death, and was asked to
return home in order to inherit his properties, but owing to my conviction that I
should remain in America to complete my education for the ministry, I declined the
offer and appointed my younger brother to the heritage. Since that time, I have
studied for seven years, but God has always provided for my needs. After I became
a Christian, my sympathy for my fellow men has grown deeper, and I have learned
to associate with them in a kindly and loving spirit. I trust all in Christ, and now
my life is free from all cares and I am happy at the thought that I can look forward
within a year from now for the time to engage myself actively in a spiritual warfare."
(Subject T. H.)
"After I graduated from the higher school, I was given a position as a teacher.
At that time I met a missionary who endeavored to persuade me to become a Christian
minister. I was then placed in a dilemma of the worldly ambitions on the one hand,
and of the realization of the suffering, hungering and thirsting millions, and the min-
istry to them on the other. I was in a state of great perplexity and could not decide
easily. But I prayed and finally I gave myself to the cause of service. Realizing
the inadequacy of my training, I entered a theological school and began to have charge
of a church. I had a severe struggle in that work but I was always happy in spirit.
I felt the need of studying the principles and methods of Sunday School work." (Sub-
ject. Y. O.)
"After my conversion, I was vexed as to the choice of my vocation. I had once
cherished an ambition to become a soldier, but abandoned it and decided to be a
Christian minister. Overcoming all the oppositions, I entered the Meiji Gakuin
(Presbyterian Mission School in Tokyo)." (Subject Sh. M.)
"After my conversion I was actively engaged, on the one hand, in the work of a
church by joining the Young People's Society, and on the other, worked hard to
accomplish my long-cherished desire. The result was a nervous breakdown, and I
was compelled to live quietly on the seashore. My association with beautiful nature
183 Cf. the statement of Renouvier: "Faith is but the self." Psychologie rationellc, iii, p. 80. "But
it is self in the widest and deepest sense, the self that includes the nation and reaches down to the base
and bottom of the moral law. Through a supreme act of will and of self-assertion, man rises to a hope
that can create from its own wreck the thing it contemplates." H. S. Nash: "The Nature and Defini-
tion of Religion," Uaroard Theol. Rev., Vol. VI, p. 23.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 55
during this period of retirement, and the mystery of silence profoundly affected not
only my health but also caused a great revolution in my spiritual life. I became
devoted to altruistic causes. An American lady missionary who guided the steps
of my life at this time was a powerful agent in turning my worldly ambition into the
noble purpose of giving my life to the work of the ministry." (Subject S. S.)
The post-conversion experience is by no means characterized by-
uniform peace of mind and happy contentment. Often the battle has
to be fought more than once, after the conventional form of conversion
occurs. This phase of the experience has caused many writers to note
the repetition of conversion. We are in possession of a few cases here:
"After I became a Christian I was conscious of the difference between myself
and other non-Christian people, and this consciousness led me to be extremely careful
in regard to my daily conduct. I attended regularly all the meetings of the church,
and made exhortations and prayed in public. At my first attempt to pray, I did not
know how to conclude a prayer but was very earnest. Next I was made a Sunday
School teacher and later clerk and treasurer of the church. This was in the childhood
days of my spiritual life when the joy of salvation filled my heart. Such a period, how-
ever, was comparatively short. With the progress of the time, I came to experience a
severe battle between good and evil within my mind that I had never experienced
before. I prayed and struggled, but the joys of the former days never returned to me.
Then I began to feel that the church was an uncomfortable place where flattering words
and formal meetings were cherished. I began to know that missionaries and pastors
were not all of noble character, and even the so-called Christians were not any differ-
ent from non-Christian brethren. The church itself seems to be egoistic in endeavoring
to work only for the benefit of its own denomination. These were the factors which
caused my disgust for the church, and I became once more a child of darkness. And
yet I was conscious of the fact that the church was much better than ordinary insti-
tutions and I did not totally desert the church but continued to perform my duties.
In this wise, now on the surface and now on the bottom, I was floating and sinking
meaninglessly almost along the shores of faith. In the meantime, I was a victim
of typhoid fever and for some time unconscious. Everyone thought I would live no
longer and everyone kept aloof from me for fear of infection. But one day one of my
fellow Christians came to visit me from a distant place. A hearty gratitude filled
my heart. After the illness of about four months I fortunately recovered and was
able to attend the Christmas celebration. While I was on the sick-bed, I realized
that the destiny of man was in the hands of God and we humans could not adequately
control it. Thus I concluded to myself that if my life is in His hands, I must commit
everything to Him; and if my life is spared now, it must be because my life is of some
service to Him. I decided to give the remainder of my life to the work of God in a
truly Christian spirit. I had once before been advised by my pastor, but I was unable
to decide definitely until this very moment. This one thing was sufficient to shed a
flood of light upon my darkened heart." (Subject J. K.)
Even a minister of the Gospel must repeat conversions. Rev. T. Koki
says:
"In the evening of March 21, 1884, when I was ministering to the Temma Congre-
gational Church (Osaka), we held a revival service at our church. About that time, my
56 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
heart was aglow with worldly ambitions, and I was beginning to think it a height of
folly to remain in the ministry. I thought of changing my profession into that of law,
and one of my friends was of the same opinion with regard to my choice of future
work. But on that evening, one of the believers stood up and testified of his Christian
experience, and all those present at the service were moved by a wave of great emotion.
One young man, Kususe by name, attempted to fly out of the building because of
the emotional upheaval he experienced and dashed into a screen door. I myself
was filled with a tremendous sense of sin, and my heart was almost paralyzed and I
fell down on the floor. One of the believers approached and urged me to murmur
'Jesus.' I was totally unable to say that word at that moment. I tried hard, how-
ever, and at last succeeded in uttering the word, and as soon as that was done, I felt a
good deal better. It was in this instance that all my worldly ambitions were driven
away and I pledged anew my devotion to the work of the ministry. I myself was
astonished at the momentous change that had occurred in my mind." 134
Subject T. M. has the following post-conversion experience:
"My post-conversion life may be divided into three periods: (1) From 16 to 20
years of age. This period may be called that of religious enthusiasm. Christianity
was conceived to be the highest religion of the world, and this conviction urged me to
join every Christian movement and strive to tell of this religion to everyone I met.
At times I thought that those who did not profess their faith in Christianity were
sure to perish. (2) From 20 to 22 years of age. A reaction had set in, and a hostile
attitude toward all forms of church work dawned in my mind. I did not attend the
church even once. The influence that played upon me at this time was somewhat
obscure, but I lost practically all my Christian faith. (3) From 22 to 24 years.
This was a critical period. The spirit of criticism was prevailing in the study of the
Bible, in my conception of the Christian character, and even in my own personal
attitude. The change hereafter is difficult to be predicted, but I hope to grow stronger
in faith."
The rise of the altruistic sentiment after the conversion experience
is noted in the following case:
"The notable changes that resulted from my conversion are as follows: My
irritable nature became exceedingly restful, my sentiment became optimistic and my
conscience grew to be very keen. The greatest change, however, was the rise of my
altruistic sense. I became desirous of helping, uplifting and comforting my fellow-
men. While I was on the Pacific Coast, I assisted in organizing two Japanese churches,
assumed the duty of a secretary, and sometimes acted as a pulpit supply in one of the
churches. I thought that our work should be first of all for Christ, secondly for the
neighbors, and lastly for ourselves. I am especially interested in the work of social
service and availed myself of every opportunity to study the reformatories, asylums,
hospitals, etc." (Subject K. W.)
The foregoing cases all point to a certain well defined result of con-
version, and the various phases of the post-conversion experience may be
called the state of rebirth. It must be remembered, however, that the
religious development, whether sudden or gradual, can never be a com-
134 Christian World, No. 1180 (April 12, 1906), p. 8.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSION 57
plete process in itself. It has individual variations and is always char-
acterized by a capacity for further growth. It must be viewed primarily
as a process of development and various degrees of maturity are to be
seen among the converts. Starbuck and James have already given us
in full the nature of the new life as well as the lines of growth following
the conversion phenomenon, and it is not necessary to repeat here the
elaboration of these subjects. We have collected and attempted to
classify the materials we have in hand in this chapter. The classification,
however, can never be complete and absolute, for the religious experience
is a psychic complex which defies any attempt of classification. We have
only endeavored to group together the cases as they point to the particu-
lar phase of the religious consciousness which we studied. The following
two chapters are some of the interpretations, as well as the applications
of the principles here deduced from our data.
CHAPTER IV
Theoretical Deductions
1. the psychology of the christian apologetics
In studying the data which we collected in the previous chapter,
there present themselves certain principles which exact our attention
and force us to a fuller discussion from the standpoint of theoretical
and practical psychology. In the present chapter we shall consider only
three of these more important theoretical deductions, and these are:
The psychology of the Christian apologetics, the supernatural element
in conversion and the psychological criterion of morality and religion.
Christian apologetics is generally divided into five departments for
the sake of convenience in the treatment of the subject, one of which is
styled " psychological," and its task is defined somewhat inaccurately
as "the establishment of the religious nature of man and the validity
of his religious sense." 135 Under the psychological arguments, such topics
as the conversion of Paul, the witness of Christian customs and institu-
tions, the success of Christianity, the abiding unity of faith, the psycho-
logical nature of religion, etc., are usually discussed. 136 On a careful
examination, however, of the summaries given either by Warfield or
by Crafer, we are greatly disappointed with their exceedingly loose estima-
tion of the true significance of the psychological or experiential grounds
for belief in the Christian religion. The shortcomings of the so-called
"argument from Christian experience," at least as set forth by the
writers who rely upon this method, have been pointed out by Coe. 137
It is not, therefore, our aim now to review in any extensive degree these
shortcomings of the apologists. There are some writers, however, who
are trained in psychology and their use of the experiential argument
assumes some accuracy, and it may not be amiss to quote here the style
of argument employed by one of these more skilful authors on Christian
evidences.
Ebrard 138 apprehends more clearly, perhaps, than any other apologetic
writer the true import of the psychological point of view, and his pre-
sentation and interpretation of the phenomenon of religious struggle
136 B. B. Warfield: article "Apologetics" in the New Schajf-Ilerzog Rel. Encyc, Vol. I, p. 236.
136 See the article "Apologetics" by T. W. Crafer, in the Encyc. of Rel. and Ethics, Vol. I, pp. 618 fl.
137 G. A. Coe: "What does Modern Psychology permit us to believe in respect to Regeneration?"
Am. Journ. of Theology, Vol. XII, pp. 362 ff.
138 J. H. A. Ebrard: Apologetics; or the Scientific Vindication of Christianity, (Eng. trans.), Edin-
burgh, 1886 3 vols.
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 59
and cognition, quite analogous to our pre-conversion experience, is of
immense significance from our standpoint. The argument based on the
analysis of the religious experience runs as follows:
" Both the premises, which lead to the cognition of God (namely,
the knowledge of the external world and the knowledge of self), are in every human
consciousness, even in that of the simplest peasant or child, immediately given, and
operate directly as an urgent feeling which passes on to the knowledge of God
Every man finds himself as a natural being bound to the body and identifying himself
with it, assigned in his bodily life to conditions of life, set into the order of collective
nature, begotten in an animal manner, born, breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping;
he finds himself in the world as a part of the same. And, nevertheless, every man at
the same time knows himself as an ego, which in perception and thought receives into
itself this world and its relations, makes it, or a part of the same, the contents of its
knowledge, the object of its volition and endeavor, is herein distinguished as a rational
being from animals, and with perfect justice regards it as a disgrace and an insult
when the name of an irrational animal, as a name of his essence, is attributed to him,
the man. The natural man is immediately conscious that he is a being raised above
nature Between both those sides of consciousness an involuntary tension
takes place. As long as man has nothing further than both these facts of immediate
consciousness, he is a mystery to himself, he feels himself rent asunder,
there is an inner contradiction in him; his state of being bound to an animal body
contrasts with his egohood, his intellectual constitution; and if, in order to attain to
unity with himself, he chooses to think and understand and conduct himself altogether
as a mere animal, his egohood, on the contrary, makes energetic opposition, and were
this only that pride, which in one breath denies continuance to the individual and
praises the 'intellectual progress' of the race In short : as long as man is
dragged hither and thither between both these poles of his being, he is rent asunder
and without peace. He does emerge from this inner discord before he composes
himself in God." 139
We admit that the psychology here expounded by Ebrard is an old
faculty psychology, quite contrary to the more recent functional point
of view. The analysis is only of the religious struggle, which since the
time of Paul's skilful description, has ever been the characteristic pre-
conversion experience in the more emotional type of religious devotees.
But the process by which God is attained is well brought out by the
author, and it is quite in accord with the modern interpretation given
by the psychologists.
Many of the psychological treatments, however, of the writers on
Christian apologetics are chiefly concerned to prove inductively the
validity of more important Christian dogmas, together with the general
authority of the Christian religion, as they center around the concept
of and belief in God. Thus they are interested in proving the super-
139 Ibid., Vol. I, pp. 237 ff.
60 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
natural origin of Christianity. In psychology, however, we are not in
the position to discuss, offhand at any rate, the nature of the objective
reality which is ontologically conceived as the supernatural. We are
merely concerned with the objective evidences of the religious experience,
and, therefore, a psychological contribution to the evidences of Christi-
anity must be mainly on the basis of such experiential facts. 140 We
may ask, then, at the outset, whether it is possible to find any valid
psychological or subjective grounds in support of the preference shown
to Christianity by the adherents of Japanese religions. We are not here
interested in the evidences of Christianity as such, and therefore we do
not intend to apply our principles to all the dogmas on the authority
of the Christian religion. We are simply to discover the real value
of the experiential grounds of the Christian belief, as based on the
examination of our data.
In cases where the object of worship in the pre-conversion experience
consisted in the nature gods, we found that the sense of adoration is
grounded almost exclusively upon the ignorance on the part of the
worshippers of the real nature of these gods. Man was, so to speak,
in the grip of natural forces, and his recognition of the struggle for exist-
ence compelled him to offer prayers, invoking these fearful forces of
nature to bestow favors on him, so that he might continue in prosperity
and peace of life. It was the feeling of fear, then, which first excited a
vague sense of worship and devotion in the mind of primitive people. 141
This seems to be precisely the case with the Japanese who have inherited
an unreflective type of religious adherence from time immemorial, as
so truthfully depicted in the Kojiki and other ancient documents.
Even today, some children are reared in an atmosphere which fosters
the customs of worship directed toward these deities. And thus, as
the immediate outcome of the filial duty demanded of every child, this
primitive and traditional form of devotion is guarded with unsparing
enthusiasm, though sometimes decidedly conducive to undesirable reli-
gious revolutions. Modern education too, in conjunction with the rapid
influx of Western thought, has awakened the Japanese youths to feel
the absurdities in many of these age-long practices, however honorable
and dear to their hearts.
140 The objective realities become psychologically valid, only when they begin to serve a definite
function in the mental life of the individual, affording thus a subjective measure of its value. A fuller
consideration of this point will be taken up in the following section.
141 This seems to be the conclusion reached by the majority of workers in the social origins (Tiele,
Hume, Ribot, Avebury, etc.), though there is a tendency among the more recent writers to discredit
the place of fear, which it once held-, on the ground that fear is equally present in any other mental atti-
tude. See Leuba, A Psychological Study of Religion, pp. 1 28 ff.
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 61
All Japanese parents recognize the importance of Western learning,
which is freely taught in all educational institutions, and make special
efforts to have their children participate in the boon of intellectual
enlightenment. While thus the younger generation is receiving a new
education on the intellectual side, their religious practices are still those
of olden days. The result is a conflict between the rational and the
superstitious elements in their experience. The rational demands of
them to find meanings of whatever action they are to perform, while
the superstitious forces them to obey blindly the customs and beliefs
of the bygone ages, simply on the ground that they have been the customs
and beliefs of their much respected ancestors. 142 The superstitious
exists in the diverse forms of practices and observances that are abso-
lutely meaningless to the rationally developed mind. It is comparable
to a mass of sensations and of images which are not properly coordinated
with reference to each other. A great blooming, buzzing confusion,
as James would describe the consciousness of the baby, is the state of
mind which often exists in the pre-conversion period. This state of
conflict and unrest, of paradox and irrationality, is expressed by Uchim-
ura: "With so many gods to satisfy and appease, I was naturally a
fretful, timid child."
The psychological process of the transition from the traditional,
meaningless and superstitious polytheism to the unified, rational and
intelligent monotheism is undoubtedly a complex phenomenon, involving
many forces that are at work in order to bring about the result, as stated
by Stratton. 143 The relatively simple and yet comprehensive form of
interpretation, however, is that of the phenomenon of "the divided
self," of which James makes a full analysis. According to his analysis,
though it is largely due to the hereditary traits of discordancy and
heterogeneity in the native temperament of the subject, yet it is only a
phase in our normal development. He says:
"Now in all of us, however constituted, but to a degree the greater in proportion
as we are intense and subject to diversified temptations, and to greatest possible
degree, if we are decidedly psychopathic, does the normal evolution of character
chiefly consist in the straightening out and unifying of the inner self. The higher
and the lower feelings, the useful and the erring impulses, begin by being a comparative
chaos within us — they must end by forming a stable system of function in right sub-
ordination." 144
142 Here enters the element of ancestor-worship. One Japanese subject remarks: "I do not care
anything about the religious practices that I observe with regularity. They are not vital to me in them-
selves; but they are of my ancestors, and I feel I am duty-bound to continue in them, simply because of
my respect towards my forefathers."
143 G. M. Stratton: Psychology of the Religious Life, 1912, pp. 284 f.
62 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
The case of Uchimura clearly points out the fact that the Japanese
polytheism represents psychologically a chaotic, unreflective and incom-
pletely unified stage in the nation's religious development. When such
systems of superstitious beliefs are combined in one's mind with the
rational elements, a bitter conflict ensues, but the victory follows always
a psychological law of development, and the Christian God which
represents an ideal value is destined to win.
When we examine the case of Buddhism, we discover a similar situa-
tion, though intellectually it is more advanced. In the teachings of the
Gautama, we find no true object of worship, and the entire system remains
pantheistic as Arthur Lloyd says :
"Beneath the outward show of theism, every form of Buddhism remains essentially
pantheistic, and they who look below the surface will find in all sects (though more in
some than in others) the recognition of an underlying Divine thing, identical with the
Universe, with the great Mind of the Universe, with five faculties which constitute
the mind, and the five elements that go to the composition of the world of matter.
For that thing they have two mystic names, the one Abarakakia, which may be found
in philosophic treatises, in general liturgies, and in hymns, the other (written in Sanscrit)
Kharakavaa, which is inscribed on the wooden post that marks a freshly made Buddhist
grave." 145
From such a notion of cosmic belief, the fundamental teaching becomes
the annihilation of the self which represents the world of matter and
therefore of evil, and the union with the great principle of the universe.
The process of attaining this state is by man himself, for Buddha exer-
cised his own self-control and meditation, and finally attained self-
emancipation. 146 "The god of Buddhism is the Buddha himself, the
deified man, who has become an infinite being by entering Nirvana.
To him prayer is addressed, and it is so natural for man to pray, that no
theory can prevent him from doing it." 147 Buddha, indeed, is a person
who is worthy of our hearty adoration, because of his high religious
attainment, but he is only one of many such persons we have in the
history of religions. The superstitious belief in his alleged divinity is
144 W. James: Varieties of Religious Experience, p. 170.
146 Arthur Lloyd: "Religion in Japan," The Times, Japan Edition, 1910, p. 281.
146 The account of the process of self-emancipation is given in the following recital of Buddha: " When
this knowledge, this insight, had arisen within me, my heart was set free from the intoxication of
lusts, set free from the intoxication of becomings, set free from the intoxication of ignorance.
In me, thus emancipated, there arose the certainty of that emancipation. And I came to know: 'Rebirth
is at an end. The higher life has been fulfilled. What had to be done has been accomplished. After this
present life there will be no beyond.' This last insight did I attain to in the last watch of the night. Igno-
rance was beaten down, insight arose, darkness was destroyed, the light came, in as much as I was there
strenuous, aglow, master of myself." T. W. R. Davies: Early Buddhism, pp. 35 ff.
147 J. F. Clarke: Ten Great Religions: An Essay in Comparative Theology, 1899, p. 160.
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 63
still analogous to the case of traditional polytheism and ancestor-worship
of the early Japanese, at least from the point of view of function. The
majority of our converts were reared in the Buddhistic atmosphere, 148
and the common experience of them all is the marked formality in the
practice of religious ceremonies which had been taught by their parents,
devoid of any intelligent understanding of such habits. The fact that
the Buddhistic practice of worship is deprived of rational content may
be seen from the experience of the converts themselves. One subject
says: "When I was in the high school, I studied hard but neglected
my ritual devotion to the Buddha, for modern education made me
think it foolish to worship an idol." Another says: "My parents and
all of my relatives were Buddhists and the type of religious education
I received was distinctly Buddhistic. From my early boyhood, I had
to kneel down before the Buddhist shrine, and read the scriptures;
but these practices were all without any meaning on my part." Still
another thinks: "My parents' conception of the deities was exceedingly
vague and indefinite, and I did not understand them well."
These formal precepts and practices, however, must some day
find their meaning. There is often a voluntary attempt to search for
an interpretation of their practices in the realm of intellect which is
usually regarded as the ultimate tribunal of all moral and religious
sanctions. In this search they meet the religious influence of the West-
ern learning. The form of testimony is usually as follows: "When I
was sent to the home of a foreigner for study, I came in touch with
Christianity for the first time." It is clear that it is a happy coincidence
that Christianity is introduced to the Japanese young men when they
are seeking a rational interpretation of life. And herein lay the reason,
conscious or unconscious on the part of the missionaries, why they
opened English Bible classes for the young intellectual aspirants. The
thirst after knowledge arises in the mind of the native youth about
the time when pubescence passes away and adolescence dawns with all
its characteristics of physiological and psychological needs. At this
crisis, the juvenile mind is searching truth and, tired of all the formalities
and superstitious practices involved in his early training, is yearning for
something real, something which has some emotional response to his
yearning. The mind seems to be exceedingly sensitive to the living
examples of the religious devotees who can show the true effect of their
religious faith in actual dealings with fellow-beings. The desire for the
148 According to the recent statistics, there are in Japan today 140, 208 Christians, 766, 685 Shintoists,
and 28,510,382 Buddhists.
64 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
real the living and the ideal is so intense sometimes that when they
meet with an object which fulfills such qualifications, the religious
crisis in their experience ensues: "I cried out to Buddha for sympathy.
The Great Light of Asia was standing beside me, but my path was still
dim. .... I began to think of Christ of whom I had learned from
the missionary and from the New Testament. I meditated upon His
humble birth, upon His common and yet spotless life, upon His fearless
and "marvellous ministry, and upon His unselfish sufferings. I lifted
my eyes and looked up to this new Savior."
The desire to seek the ideal and the real, and to struggle away from
the formal is the psychological basis for Christian apologetics over
against the Buddhistic teachings. The Buddha furnishes only the
development of intellectual power in more educated minds, and in the
uneducated, only the blind obedience to the practices and habits of
religious devotion. It fails in many cases to give an idealized person,
which is the very core of the highest form of religious experience. Chris-
tianity comes to a Buddhist with a God who is all-mighty, all-wise, all-
loving and in every way a perfect and ideal personality which commands
the devotion and worship of the most highly developed mind. It is
this personal object of worship which Christianity presents that appeals
to the mature mind.
When we come to consider the Confucian teachings in relation to the
Christian religion, the situation is still more evident, and confirms what
has just been emphasized with reference to Buddhism. Confucianism
may be recognized as the most satisfactory religion of the Japanese
from the standpoint of Christianity, for it taught many individual and
social virtues that are essential to the religion of Jesus Christ. It has,
therefore, served more significantly than any other ethnic religion the
function of a propaedeutic for the coming of Christianity. It is not, of
course, our aim here to enumerate all the points of contact between the
Christian ethics and the Confucian morality, for they resemble each
other in ways more numerous than can be recounted. It suffices only
to point out the essential difference, psychologically considered, between
these two religions. The fundamental point of emphasis in Confuscian-
ism is the moral culture by self-examination and meditation. The
standard is man himself, and not God. Thus it corresponds to what
we would call morality which usually signifies the perfect relation between
human individuals, rather than religion. Time comes, however, in the
mind of the adolescent Japanese, when man as such becomes no longer a
sufficient standard of life's ideal. Just as in the case of the Buddhist
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 65
adherent who found it necessary to interpret the practices which had been
superstitiously observed prior to the dawn of intellectual aspiration, so
the Confucian teachings call for idealistic correlates, *. e., the human
virtues must be translated into divine terminologies, in order to derive
true comfort on the part of those who have developed such virtues.
When this time comes, the mind cries for the Infinite, although not
always positively and actively. The mind is especially sensitive during
this period, and any expression of sympathy, enthusiasm, or devotion
makes a deep impression. And we have seen, it is due to this sensi-
tiveness to the emotional reaction that many of our converts have found
the Christian God. The relation of Confucianism to Christianity is
well expressed by J. F. Clarke:
"Jesus says to the Chinese philosopher, as he said to the Jewish law, 'I have come
not to destroy, but to fulfill.' He fulfills the Confucian reverence for the past by
adding hope for the future; he fulfills its stability by progress, its faith in man with
faith in God, its interest in this world with the expectation of another, its sense of
time with that of eternity. Confucius aims at peace, order, outward prosperity,
virtue and good morals. All this belongs also to Christianity, but Christianity adds
a moral enthusiasm, a faith in the spiritual world, a hope of immortal life, a sense of
the Fatherly presence of God." 149
The remark of the President of the Chinese Republic to John R. Mott is
very significant in this connection, namely, "while Confucius teaches
us the truth, you have been giving us a message which tells about the
power to follow the truth." 150
We are, then, in the position to appreciate the psychological grounds
of the faith in the superiority of the Christian religion over against the
ethnic religions of Japan. The Christian religion is superior, i. e.,
more highly developed, because it appeals to the process of idealization
which represents the highest stage in the genetics of the social conscious-
ness, and which lends meaning and produces unification of the conceptual
machinery built up by the social medium. Idealization as we have
repeatedly seen, involves an object, imagined or real, which possesses
the elements demanded of an idealized object, and Christianity succeeds
in giving such an object in its concept of God. It is not necessary, then,
to argue the superiority of Christianity over other religions because
of its supernatural revelation; our psychological analysis has convinced
149 Ten Great Religions, p. 59.
lb0 Students and the World-Wide Expansion of Christianity (Report of Kansas City Convention,
1914), New York, pp. 97 f.
66 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
us that the subjective, experiential grounds are, in fact, much more
scientific than the supernatural. 151
Here also we see the force of the argument, often encountered in the
philosophy of religion, that man is naturally religious and this alone is
sometimes thought to be sufficient to argue for the necessity of religion. 152
We are, however, not satisfied merely to know that man is naturally
religious, and often "incurably religious," but we must be convinced
that we, as developing organisms, long continually for the highest type
of religious development. From a purely psychological point of
view, any person who is seeking the world of the Unseen, who is perform-
ing social and religious obligations, who is true to himself, is a religious
person. Yet our standpoint is more evangelical and humane than merely
psychological. We need to see a person longing for the ideal reality,
but at the same time we must make sure that that ideal reality he is
seeking is of the highest type which truly corresponds to the psycho-
logically most developed object. We see that the converts have aban-
doned their ethnic faiths, not because their religions are false, but because
Christianity affords them a more perfect type of ideal personality which
meets their spiritual longing.
2. THE SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT IN CONVERSION
In the foregoing section we insisted that the supernatural element
in conversion or any other religious experience is not a psychological
necessity in maintaining the proposition that Christianity is the most
highly developed of all other religions, and yet we also emphasized the
fact that our analysis convinces us as to the validity of the concept of
God, the highest type of the ideal object in the social consciousness.
We are now to take up this problem of the supernatural element in
conversion in its psychological setting. The recent method of applying
a psychological point of view in interpreting the religious phenomena
has caused many so-called orthodox thinkers and defenders of the
Christian religion to fear whether the introduction of such a standpoint
would make their religion a godless faith. The fear which is thus engen-
dered is often so serious for some writers that their defensive attitude
151 W. Robertson Smith say.s: "A religion which has endured every possible trial, which has outlived
every vicissitude of human fortunes, and which has never failed to reassert its power unbroken in the
collapse of old environments declares itself by irresistible evidence to be a thing of reality
and power. If the religion of Israel and of Christ answers these tests, the miraculous circumstances of
its promulgation need not be regarded as the inseparable accompaniments of a revelation which has the
historical stamp of reality." The Prophets of Israel, p. 10, quoted by I King, Op. cit., p. 352.
I62 C/. S. S. Colvin: "The Psychological Necessity of Religion." Am. Journ. oj Psychol., Vol. XIII,
pp. 80-87.
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 67
assumes a polemic character. With us, however, it is of little signifi-
cance, since our chief concern has been with reference to the psychology
of the religious consciousness as such, as our delimited field, and there-
fore the introduction of such an ontological category as God into our
discussion is only a useless complication of our problem. 153
The fear here referred to, however, is not entirely without any
significance for a religious psychologist, for the supernatural reality or
God, whatever be its content to the person experiencing it, has a definite
function to serve in human life. We neither deny nor as yet accept in
toto any such metaphysical concept. The objective reality becomes
psychologically relevant as soon as it begins to have a functional rela-
tionship with the individual. We are not in sympathy with the view
as formulated by some writers that "if modern psychology eliminates
the supernatural from regeneration, she denies Christianity; for according
to Christianity's authoritative expounder, the Christian religion can
begin only with regeneration, and regeneration, to be regeneration must be
supernatural." 154 Modern psychology is seemingly indifferent to the
supernatural, because it as such does not properly belong to its field; but
this is far from saying that it eliminates the supernatural from any
religious attitude. Moreover, our notion of the supernatural is now so
advanced that we need not to entertain it simply because of its novelty
or miraculousness ; the supernatural can legitimately remain so if the
grandeur of the natural order of things becomes so impressive as to
excite in the individual the sense of appreciation, and we shall see that
the concept of the supernatural is nothing but the product of this valua-
tional attitude, functioning as a moral and religious stimulus. Thus we
are led to regard the supernatural, not as something altogether foreign
to our subjects, but as a natural paraphernalia to the mature conscious-
ness. How does such a concept arise in the individual and what is
163 In the so-called new theology, the distinction between the natural and the supernatural is begin-
ning to disappear. See the article "The Old Theology and the New," by W. A. Brown, Harvard Theol.
Rev., Vol. IV, pp. 14 ff.
164 W. B. Greene: "Has the Psychology of Religion Desupernaturalized Regeneration?" Biblio-
theca Sacra, Vol. LXVII, p. 203. In contrast to the statement of this dogmatist, compare the conclusion
reached by the psychologist: "What, then, does psychology permit us to believe in respect to regeneration?
First, it permits us to believe anything whatever as to the character of God; anything whatever as to the
significance of the life and death of Jesus for the consciousness of God; anything whatever as to the state
of helplessness that man would be in if God's disposition toward him were different from what it is;
anything whatever as to the ultimate source of human goodness. It permits any hypothesis as to the
power of Jesus to transform a human soul, and the only function of psychology with respect to such
hypothesis is to see that the facts of mind involved are correctly described and related to one another
and to their contemporary and historical conditions." G. A. Coe, Am. Journ. of Theol., Vol. XII, pp.
366 ff.
68 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
its validity in the human experience, are the problems to which we
must now turn.
To the mind of the theological onlooker, the conception of the super-
natural grows not from the gradual development of the religious experi-
ence, but more probably from its sudden and abrupt change, often
witnessed in emotional converts. The notion of the miraculous or
rather the unnatural was, then, the direct progenitor of the' idea of the
supernatural. This vague notion of wonder thus aroused marks the
primitivity of all religious behaviors. In the case of the old Yamato
religion of Japan, it was this notion which gave birth to polytheistic
beliefs. "In the Kojiki, the oldest of the Japanese sacred writings,
'a Kami or deity is anything wonderful, god or man, rock, stream, or
snake, whatever is surprising or sensational.' There were no sharp
dividing lines between men and gods. The Kamis were distinguished
by such qualities as strength, or brute force, not moral traits." 155 To
an unreflective type of mind, a wonderful or surprising phenomenon
arouses a sense of mystery and this sense is personified as a projection
of his own being. Thus the deities come to be created, in one sense at
least, out of that mental context. The discernment of the supernatural
in the emotional subjects is also a creation grounded upon the recognition
of the wonderful and the unnatural.
But upon a more careful examination, we shall discover that the cases
of so-called sudden religious conversion possess no really unnatural
character. In none of the subjects we have collected we can trace an
unnatural sequence of experiences. What seems to be thought unnatural
in a sudden religious awakening is only an illusion due to the unreflective
attitude of the casual observer. When we come to exercise our close
scrutiny over the experiences of our converts, we find a marked .com-
munity of mentality in the pre- and post-conversion life. The case of
K. Uchimura makes this point clear. With reference to his religious
life before he became a Christian, he relates as follows:
"I early learned to honor my nation above all others, and to worship my nation's
gods and no others. I thought I could not be forced even by death itself to avow
my allegiance to any other god than my country's. I should be a traitor to my coun-
try, and an apostate from my national faith by accepting a faith which is exotic in
its origin One afternoon I resorted to a heathen temple in the vicinity,
said to have been authorized by the Government to be the guardian-god of the district.
At some distance from the sacred mirror which represented the invisible presence of
the deity, I prostrated myself upon coarse dried grass, and there burst into a prayer
as sincere and genuine as any I have ever offered to my Christian God since then.
165 Irving King: The Development of Religion, p. 241, footnote.
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 69
I besought that guardian-god to speedily extinguish the new enthusiasm in my college,
and punish those who obstinately refused to disown the strange god, and to help
me in my humble endeavor in the patriotic cause I was upholding then." 156
The man who has had faith in his native guardian-god, when once he
becomes a Christian, carries over the same degree of faith and enthusi-
asm into the newly accepted religion. He now proves to be an ardent
upholder and preacher of Christianity. His aggressiveness is seen in
the conversion of his father occasioned by his untiring enthusiasm,
and the subsequent conversion of all the rest of his family and rela-
tives. 157 In such a case as this, we see a natural sequence of the states of
consciousness at the successive stages of development. The common
element exists in both before and after conversion, namely, the same
degree of loyalty and devotion exercised toward what the subject con-
siders to be the object worthy of his worship and trust. The only
distinctive element in the post-conversion experience is the acquisition
of the Christian God who is far superior to the guardian-god of the
district. This change from the old to the new object of worship repre-
sents psychologically a transition from one level of mentality to another,
and the sequence follows the law of mental growth. The newly acquired
object of faith is thus a product of psychical evolution, determined to a
large extent by the social forces that are at work on the convert.
From such a point of view, it may seem that we are altogether dis-
missing the supernatural element or God from our religious experience.
But this is far from being the case. In fact, no psychology of religion
can be complete without at least attempting to explain the origin and
function of the supernatural in religion. Some critics of the psychology
of religion have advanced a charge that the newly formulated science
has left out its God in an eager search for the concrete in human
experience. 158 While this is true in some cases, the charge as directed
toward the science of religious psychology as a whole cannot be fair,
for we may find some day, when a vast amount of reliable data shall
have been accumulated, that the supernatural is a legitimate category
in our science, as Pratt rightly says:
" while every reference to anything 'supernatural' is barred out from
psychology as a natural science, it might conceivably be found that the facts as col-
lected and described could best be explained and accounted for on some hypothesis
168 K. Uchimura: How I Became a Christian, pp. 11 f. The new enthusiasm here alluded to is the
revival movement of Christianity which caught the upper class by storm.
167 Ibid., pp. 57-59.
168 G. B. Foster: "Concerning the Truths of Religious Ideas," Bib. World, Vol. XLI, p. 65 f. The
criticism as applied to Leuba's position is undoubtedly correct.
70 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
other than the somewhat naive naturalism adopted by the majority of scientists.
It might, for example, turn out that the data in hand point toward some such hypothesis
as that of Professor James — a 'wider self or psychic 'beyond,' in touch with the sub-
conscious portion of our lives. If further investigation continued to point more and
more in this direction, and new evidence for the existence of such a 'beyond' were
forthcoming, new facts which seemed best explicable on such a supposition, this
hypothesis would have to be regarded as a perfectly scientific one, and the 'beyond'
would not be something supernatural but just one of the regular facts of nature,
like the Western hemisphere or the process of digestion or the state of hypnosis." 169
Any student of religious experience will not deny that the core of
religion is always the Supreme Being in whom "we live, move and have
our being." In popular parlance, we may call it God, or the supernatural
or any other appropriate name we may choose, but in psychology, we
are loathe to call it the sw^rnatural, for such a term is a linguistic
paradox which at once defies all scientific treatment. 160 From our
point of view, we merely analyse the religious experience and attempt
to interpret it in terms of the laws already established as natural. There-
fore, if we have any experience indicating the existence of such a reality,
we at once begin to explain the fact by considering its origin, nature and
function. As we examined the religious experience of the group of
Japanese Christians, we discovered just such an objective existence
and noted that it begins to function when the developing youth reaches
the stage of idealization, whether occasioned by a psychological
crisis or built up gradually by a slow intellectual and social process.
It exists only when it becomes a satisfactory explanation of, or a means
of giving meaning to, the facts of human life. The immature mind with
a vast amount of heterogeneous bits of experiences is constantly strug-
gling to find an adequate source of conceptual enlightenment, and this
struggle causes him to interpret life in one way or the other, endeavoring
to attain the most consistent meaning to his experience. The discovery
of an objective existence in his thought world answers just such a craving
of the youthful mind, and as soon as this state is attained, he surrenders
his life, because of the imperiousness of this existence. This vision
of an objective reality dawns upon the growing mind only as a con-
struct or attitude which has a long natural history of its own. It does
159 J. B. Pratt: "The Psychology of Religion," Harvard Tkeol. Rev., Vol. I, pp. 145 f.
160 Irving King says: "In the science of religion, therefore, we do not need to discuss the question
as to whether there may be a connection between the natural and the supernatural. There may be a con-
nection, but the categories of experience are not capable of describing it. The scientific examination of
religion cannot, of course, deny the reality of the supernatural element in the various contents and pro-
cesses of the religious consciousness. It simply holds that the relation of one to the other is such as cannot
be described in phenomenal terms." The Development of Religion, p. 12.
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 71
not come as a disconnected image of the ideal, but as the natural con-
summation of the individual's development.
Such an ontogenetic view of the origin of the concept of the divine
or the supernatural affords much illumination as to the function it
performs in life. We have had occasions to note that the religious
attitude usually arises as a means of overcoming the various ills of life.
To put this fact in the terminology of Christ himself, religions arise as a
means of attaining a fuller and richer development of life itself, as he
says: "I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly."
The concept of God is built up in a way analogous to the rise of the
religious attitude, for it is the very nucleus of religion itself, around which
centers all practices and beliefs.
The function of the divine is to furnish an emotional as well as con-
ceptual outlet in the moment of severe tension generally experienced
at the time of a critical situation in life. It has been advocated, with
much psychological significance, that fear is the direct progenitor of
the notion of the supernatural, especially in primitive life. Faith in
the supernatural gives comfort and assurance on the emotional side
and meaning and reason on the conceptual side. It is the outcome
of an evaluating process of any given act, at first devoid of any such
signification, but the mental effect of such an act, especially when it is
of a critical nature, tends to arouse a tendency to interpret the act.
Therefore, when such an evaluating process comes to a successful close,
the supernatural is thought to be functioning in the life of the experienc-
ing subject as a soothing, relieving and benevolent reality. Such an
attitude is the distinguishing mark of religiosity.
Whether the notion of the supernatural is real or merely imagined,
its validity is psychologically unaltered, for the effect that is produces
in the life of the individual is practically the same. James make,
this point clear, when he says: "All our attitudes, moral, practical, or
emotional, as well as religious, are due to the 'object' of our consciousnesss
the things which we believe to exist, whether really or ideally, along with
ourselves. Such objects may be present to our senses, or they may be
present only to our thought. In either case they elicit from us a reaction;
and the reaction due to things of thought is notoriously in many cases
as strong as that due to sensible presence. It may be even stronger." 161
As to the reality of the object of worship we need not enter into a
minute discussion, for no less eminent a psychologist than James has
161 Varieties of Religious Experience, p. 53.
72 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
given us a complete treatment of the subject, and whatever we have to
say would only amount to an inadequate reproduction of the psychologi-
cal account set forth by him. 162 We close this section by simply stating
a defence of the concept of the supernatural as a legitimate category
of the psychology of religion. Psychology, as we conceive it, neither
denies nor yet blindly accepts the notion of the divine or the supernatural;
it simply endeavors to explain that notion in terms of its own categories.
The fact that it avoids the use of such terms as the supernatural and the
divine is by no means indicative of its insistence either on their spurious-
ness or irrelevancy. Wherever psychology speaks of the appreciative,
evaluative and idealizing process, it has the supernatural and the divine
in those phases of the social consciousness; and whenever it elaborates
on the function of the ideal in human life, it recognizes the validity of
God. 163 Such being our contention, we are not to eliminate the -super-
natural element from the phenomenon of conversion, and yet we are
to do all we can to find a natural cause that can be stated and explained
in experiential and subjective terms, for only by so doing can we hope
to advance the true spirit of the psychology of religion as a branch of
natural science.
3. A PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITERION OF MORALITY AND RELIGION
The problem of this section seems at first irrelevant, for we all agree
that in practical life at least, morality and religion are so blended that
any theoretical distinction between them appears almost an impossibility.
In a closer psychological scrutiny, however, these two apparently identical
states of consciousness do not represent the same phenomena. The fact
that these two are so organically co-active has led many a psychologist
of religious experience into unnecessary misunderstanding, 164 due prima-
rily to the failure to follow out the order of development in the indi-
U -Ibid., Lecture III.
163 Here the entire gamut of the literature on the psychology of mysticism falls in line. One of the
latest works on the subject has the following statement relative to the workings of the subconscious:
" subconsciousness cannot be left to its own resources; it seems rather an instrument in
the hands of a superior power, God. As psychologists, our conclusions cannot affirm God; but we have
not the right to exclude Him, in fact psychology seems to point to Him." Jule Pacheu: L'Expirience
mystique et I'Activite Subconscienle. 1911, reviewed by H. Delacroix, Psychol. Bull., Vol. IX, pp. 470 ff.
164 Compare the statement of this situation by Leuba: "The extent of the literature on the relation
of morality to religion is amazing. Almost every conceivable kind of relation has been attributed to them.
It has been maintained, for instance, that morality has no existence outside of religion; that it is one of the
fruits of religion; that purified religion is morality; and that no connection whatever exists between morality
and religion. But if one accepts the conception of religion offered in this book, the relation to religion of
ethical appreciation and needs does not present a particular problem." A Psychological Study of Religion,
1912, p. 195.
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 73
vidual. We shall endeavor to analyse in this section the ontogenetic
relationship existing between morality and religion.
The conclusions of recent studies in child psychology seem to favor
the view that the child is not, strictly speaking, a religious being. 165
Like all other mental attainments, religious consciousness must come
as the result of a long social process. Up to the dawn of puberty, at
any rate, the child's primary business is, as Dewey has said long ago,
to grow, to develop, and to become a man. He is not even a man;
he is only a candidate for such a title. 166 It is true that there are some
hereditary traits which tend to lead some observers to the view that the
child has a religious instinct and at an early stage its- manifestation is
discernible. 167 The modern view, however, accepts a strictly evolu-
tionary standpoint, and makes little of the hereditary potentialities of
this or that mental trait, but rather believes in the overt character of all
organic behaviors. All mental capacities, be they religious or moral,
are but the outcome of the consciousness following such acts. Therefore,
the child cannot so readily attain the moral or religious consciousness,
if the social environment is devoid of these mental states which have a
long developmental history. The native endowments are serviceable
only when they receive proper forms of stimulus to call them out into
full functions, and this very process of furnishing a right kind of envi-
ronment to the growing child is the psychological justification of all edu-
cative endeavors. The organic endowments are by no means perma-
nent; they die out if no appropriate stimulus is given at a suitable period,
and this is just the reason why some unfavorably situated children grow
to be socially abnormal. It has been discovered that criminals and
subnormals are created largely by the unfavorable environment in which
they were reared, and the charitable, corrective, penal, judicial, and other
benevolent institutions for this class of children are only endeavoring
to restore to them proper surroundings in order to overcome their develop-
mental defects.
Such an intelligent understanding of the causative factors in child
development is directly due to the result of modern investigations in
social psychology in its broad aspect. Social psychology teaches us
156 See E. S. Ames: The Psychology of Religious Experience, p. 209. Also the article by E. D. Star-
buck: "The Child-Mind and Child-Religion," Bib. World, XXXI, (1908), p. 101.
166 This is, of course, true of the adult form also. Compare the discussion given by G. B. Foster:
The Function of Religion in Man's .Struggle for Existence, p. 43.
167 For example, H. R. Marshall: Instinct and Reason, pp. 223 f., footnote. The so-called Child-
Study Movement has led many investigators to adopt this vi'.-.v.
74 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
that the child's development is essentially a social process. Baldwin
has stated this conception in a most suggestive form when he says:
"The 'ego' and the 'alter' are thus born together. Both are crude and unre-
flective, largely organic. And the two get purified and clarified together by this two-
fold reaction between project and subject, and between subject and eject. My sense
of myself grows by imitation of you, and my sense of yourself grows in terms of my
sense of yourself. But ego and alter are thus essentially social; each is a socius and
each is an imitative creation." 168
Such an ontogenetic account of child development is now suggestively
carried over into the realm of the study of religious experience. Recently
there have appeared a number of treatises on the psychology of religion,
which apply the social criterion to the development of the religious
consciousness. 169 This standpoint has, undoubtedly, shed a flood of
light upon the genetic nature of religion, and proved its unusual pro-
ductivity as a standpoint; but it too has fallen into a pitfall always
created by the wholesale adoption of a new method in any science.
The method enabled the science to attain a remarkable development,
but the hilarious emotion generated by such a success sadly blinded the
eyes of the investigators so as to cause a failure to discriminate the
objects so tenaciously awaiting a still further analysis. One glaring
example is found in Ames' elaboration of the relation between morality
and religion from the standpoint of social development in which the
psychological distinction is reduced to its minimum. He says:
" The term moral has been used to designate those ideals which
pertain particularly to human social welfare, in distinction from the claims of religion
which seeks authority and action for conduct in the will of a deity. The contrast
between moral and religious conduct belongs to that conception of the world which
makes a rigid distinction between the natural and supernatural, between the human
and divine. But if religion is identified with the most intimate and vital phases of
the social consciousness, then the distinction between morality and religion is not
real." 170
A similar position is expressed by the author in connection with non-
religious persons:
"With psychologists there is more of a tendency to the view that man possesses
no special instinct or endowment which makes him religious If religion
168 J. M. Baldwin: Mental Development in the Child and the Race (1st ed.), 1894, p. 335. This view
is elaborated in his later work, Social and Ethical Interpretations, 1897.
169 E. g., Irving King: "The Differentiation of the Religious Consciousness," Psychol. Rev. Monog.
Supple., Vol. V, No. 4, and The Development of Religion. 1909; E. S. Ames: The Psychology of Religious
Experience, 1910; J. H. Leuba: A Psychological Study of Religion, 1912; H. M. Stanley: "On the Psy-
chology of Religion," Psychol. Rev., Vol. V, pp. 254-278.
170 Op. cit., p. 285. The statement of Starbuck quoted by the author in support of this point dis-
proves rather than proves the author's contention. Starbuck simply says that moral conduct is the core
of religion, and that it becomes or develops into a religion, as may be seen in the phrase: "
it was this moral life which afterwards constituted the substance of religion." P. 288, (italics mine).
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 75
is viewed as participation in the ideal value of the social consciousness, then those
who do not share in this social consciousness are non-religious. The psychological
criterion of a man's religion is the degree and range of his social consciousness." 171
This statement is no doubt applicable to religion, but it is too general
and indefinite to be a psychological criterion of religion, for it may be
applied with equal fitness to all other forms of consciousness. 172 Con-
sciousness, to whichever variety it belongs, to be consciousness at all,
must needs be social both in origin and in nature. To say, therefore,
that the test of religion is the degree and range of one's social con-
sciousness, is to define religion only in terms of its genus; it needs to be
further differentiated by its species. Religion, to be sure, involves the
totality of psychical life, but in a psychological discussion where we aim
at theoretical accuracy our terminologies must be free from every element
of generality.
The adoption of the social conception of religious development, then,
in the realm of religious psychology, first clearly accentuated perhaps
by Durkheim, is indeed an ingenious project, and certainly illuminating
in many of the intricate aspects of religious experience. It opened up
almost a new field in the study of the phylogeny of religious supersti-
tions, rituals, beliefs and ideas; it added a new method in the analysis
of the personal experiences of religious devotees and made it possible
to formulate a social principle of individual attainment; it even raised
the science of religious psychology itself to the standard of scientific
precision; and it will prove to be the most fruitful method yet discovered
by the investigators in this field. 173 Admitting the feasibility of these
points, the result reached by such a book as that from which we have
quoted only raises a very obstinate question as to the strictly psycho-
logical distinction between morality and religion. Both morality and
religion can legitimately be regarded as the products of social develop-
ment, but there is a marked difference between them if we endeavor to
dissect them more critically with the scalpel of social psychology.
m Ibid., pp. 335 S.
172 This, however, is more in line with popular usage, for in common parlance, religion is a very broad
term, comprising all the way from simple superstitions to highly abstracted philosophies of life. The
criterion suggested here applies more fittingly to morality, for, as McDougall defines, morality is "the
performance of social duty, the duty prescribed by society, as opposed to the mere following of the prompt-
ings of egoistic impulses." Introduction to Social Psychology, p. 3 13.
173 This standpoint has been mildly criticized by Stratton: "The reverence which men have shown
the Highest has usually been, not alone because it fulfilled their social needs, but also because of its satis-
faction to sensuous and aesthetic and causal and logical needs, which grow, it is true, by the mutual friction
and support of men, but seem not to originate in this way nor to be part and parcel of the social feeling
itself." Psychology of the Religious Life, p. 337.
76 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
In what Baldwin calls the "Dialectic of Personal Growth," he points
out very instructively the three stages in the development of self and
social consciousness. 174 In working through such a scheme as this,
however, we are struck with its apparent shortcoming, namely, his failure
to account adequately for the genesis and development of the religious
sentiment which he discusses at length. His genetic account of the
religious sentiment is in the main a psychological truism, expressed in
very enlightening language, and we shall see later that our analysis
also will lead to a somewhat similar conclusion. In the analysis of
the religious consciousness, his "Dialectic of Personal Growth" does not
take into account all the elements mentioned by the author. We
refer to his statement, " as the ethical sense now grows
up, the growing sense of personality becomes the theatre of new and
still more profound mysteries to the child. He now gets within himself
the new thought of personality called the ideal which demands recogni-
tion over and above the rival selves which have hitherto played back
and forth in his mind." 175 In order to explain the genesis of this ideal,
he is forced to make use of his notion of "projection" which he designated
as the first stage in development, comprising anything uncertain, any
group of experiences unstable in its prophetic and historical meaning. 176
It may be possible to see the rise of an ideal in the stage of projection,
but it is not adequate to cover a real ideal, if the term is taken to mean
only what his definition calls for. We feel that one other still higher
step should be added, namely, what, from the lack of a more appro-
priate word and following his Latin derivatives, we may style "super-
jective" stage. It is certainly mysterious to find Baldwin bringing what
he calls the first stage to account for the ideal engendered in the religious
sentiment. We must have a little more adequate terminology to explain
the very highest form of human consciousness. 177 After ejection has
fully come to function, the mind, by means of cognitive development
in the forms of imagination, association, ideation and what not, reaches
still further, finding in the realm of the Unseen the existence of an ideal
being. This ideal need not necessarily be a reality present to the senses,
nor even a supernatural being in its ontological sense. The feeling of
this reality may arouse the sense of dependence and that of reverence,
174 J. M. Baldwin: Mental Development in the Child and the Race, (1st ed.), p. 335.
176 Social and Ethical Interpretations, p. 362.
176 Ibid., p. 13.
177 The word "projection" is strengthened by Baldwin by supplementing it with such terms as
"ethical," "mysterious," "intellectual," etc. It is hard to see, however, how the profound mystery can
beget the ideal being.
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 77
but these are not always the requirements of the religious consciousness.
The very act of grasping such a reality, — not necessarily its objective
manifestations, — is indicative of one's religious development, for the
possibility of reaching that stage assumes the social development
which underlies it.
Frequently this grasping of the ideal personality is a sudden event,
although genetically viewed, it requires a long and patient struggle
for its complete attainment. Our cases of religious development have
given us some proofs for this statement. The training that the native
religions give the Japanese people is more or less representative of the
three stages of Baldwin's dialectic. The old Yamato religion with
Shintoism as its later development corresponds to the "projective"
stage, where the sense of mystery, the feeling of adoration, and the
impression of the fearful deities characterize the primitivity of social
development. Buddhism, as a step in advance, marks the rise of intel-
lectual powers, while Confucianism rapidly rises to the ethical standard,
where perfection of manhood in its social relationships becomes the
ideal to be attained. All these so-called religions are preparatory to
the real religion which presents the true ideal of social development, 178
and we have clearly seen, at least in the experiences of our converts,
that such an ideal is found in the Christian God as described and inter-
preted by Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, when the Christian religion
is presented to the Japanese who are already mature in their social
consciousness and are trained in religious aspiration, it takes often little
effort to make the God of Christianity perfectly intelligible and to con-
vince them of His superiority over the gods of other religions.
The realization of this religious ideal, therefore, is not the wilful
anticipation, nor yet the premeditated imagination that can be experi-
enced voluntarily. There seems to come at the apex of the developing
social consciousness a moment when a new vision bursts forth, which is
the vision of "things which eyes saw not, and ear heard not and which
entered not into the heart of man." 179 It is the vision of spiritual
ideal which blooms into richness of meaning and reality, and imperiously
commands reverence and respect, — a sense of appreciation of this vision
of the invisible reality. It cannot be experienced unless there is a
sufficient degree of social maturity to warrant such a process of valua-
173 yy e ,j not say [ij ese religions are pseudo-religions; they are true religions psychologically, as long
as they exhibit a conduct which involves and is conditioned by the sense of deity. See Baldwin, Op. oil..
p. 366.
179 1 Cor. 2:9.
78 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
tion. 180 The very young child may sometimes manifest the traits of
moral consciousness in his behavior,- although such manifestations
may not be an exact index of the consciousness (they are often the
results of organic adjustment), but he can never be religious because
of the evolutionary limitations set by the immaturity of his mental
life. The appreciation of the godlike character must be the result of
the thorough understanding of human character. This is the reason
why the so-called idea of God often entertained by children, or the
interpretation of deity held by primitive people, is always characterized
by a gross anthropomorphism. 181 This is exactly the argument in favor
of the order of development here advocated, namely, "from morality
to religion." In other words, God is what he is because man is first
what he is. Even in the civilized community, we have persons who are
thoroughly moral, but who are not religious. 182 Man becomes truly
religious only after he is truly moral, for religion, according to our
analysis, represents a higher phase of the superjective stage as com-
pared with morality, and therefore must follow rather than precede
the moral consciousness, merely as a matter of genetic necessity. 183
The writer of the first Epistle of John had made this psychological
distinction clear when he said, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth
his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath
seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen." 184 The vision of God,
then, may be regarded as the consummate flower of the social con-
180 The statement by Hoffding is in point here: "Values must be discovered and produced in a world
of experience before they can be conceived or assumed to exist in a higher world. The other world must
always be derived from this world; it can never be a primary concept The content of religion
always points back to life in the world of experience, and without a knowledge of this, life would be incom-
prehensible. Discussion is always led back by implacable logic to the conceptual priority of ethics over
religion." The Philosophy of Religion, p. 330.
181 Itisnot our contention here that the young child can never idealize. In fact, some children are
highly idealistic and the younger children are merely imaginative while the older ones exercise freely the
sense of hero-worship, as has been observed by Cooley (Human Nature and the Social Order). Stratton
says: "The cravings and appreciations by which the image of the Perfect receives forms, include sensuous
pleasure and the love of action, together with the curiosity for causes, the need of logical sufficiency, the
delight in beauty, the sense of the importance of the family, of larger human unions and the lordship and
magistracy which accompany these, and finally of the golden gifts of friendship." Op cit., p. 332.
182 This is where we differ from Ames' criterion of the religious person, quoted at the outset of this
section.
183 We, therefore, cannot totally agree with Calkins' attitude as expressed in her words: "Any con-
scious relation to God, however low and lifeless, however destitute of moral responsibility, is religion
. . . . It follows, of course, that a bad man may be religious " A First Book in
Psychology, Rev. Ed., 1911, p. 268.
184 1 John 4:20.
THEORETICAL DEDUCTIONS 79
sciousness — the highest stage in the socialization of the individual. 185
From the foregoing discussion it seems now clear that both moral
and religious consciousness may be viewed as belonging to the idealistic
or superjective stage of ontogenetic development, and yet a psychological
distinction is a necessity as a matter of theoretical accuracy. To state
in terms of a complete social process what has already been said, such a
distinction between the two phases of valuational or appreciative con-
sciousness lies in the fact that the moral psychosis is a form of the social
consciousness as it relates and functions itself towards one's fellow beings,
while the religious psychosis is that which reaches out into a still higher,
more perfect and more truly ideal Being, which though not an unnatu-
rally experiencable objective reality, can yet become a spiritual com-
panion and a stimulating object of worship and submission. It is thus
the difference in the object of the social consciousness which differenti-
ates the religious from the moral. In the one, it is the really socialized
person, while in the other it is the ideally socialized person.
185 It is interesting to note in this connection the psychological significance of the following poem
entitled "God," written by a young and comparatively unknown Japanese poet, Soma Gyofu:
"God? Can I paint that which I cannot see
Nor comprehend, — the vaguely Infinite,
Beyond all human ken, or word, or thought?
Yet from the known we figure the unknown,
And shadow forth the shadowless; and thus,
God is the heart that loves, — the lover's heart,
That looks and yearns for sweet return of love;
The husband's heart, that makes companionship
With her whose hand he holds and calls his own;
The father's heart, that careth for his son,
Watching his growth with fond paternal pride.
And lovers, parting, ofttimes interchange
Twin trinklets, tokens of a common love,
And each one, gazing on the thing he wears,
'My love,' says he, 'beyond the cold gray sea,
Wears the twin fellow of this ring I wear,
And, gazing, thinks of me as I of her:
By this I know our absent love holds good.'
Such is the thing that men have christened Faith."
Translated into English by Arthur Lloyd, and published in the Open Court, Feb., 1913, p. 122.
CHAPTER V
Practical Deductions
1 . a problem in christian missions
Of all the departments of what is generally known as Practical
Theology, the subjects which concern us most are the problems of
missionary method and preparation and of religious education. When
we glance at the vast amount of literature on Christian missions, we
discover various standpoints and methods of approach that are often
radically divergent. Some regard the missionary enterprise as more
or less of a revolutionary affair, starting with a hostile attitude towards
everything pertaining to the heathen nations and with only one simple
goal in view, namely, of establishing a particular type of Christianity
which the missionary happens to cherish. This must have been the
case when a writer on foreign missions expressed his attitude in the
following words:
"Out of vanity, ignorance, and despair of the human mind in its proud and helpless
struggle after some satisfying solution of the problems of life and destiny, have come
those great ethnic religions which, by virtue of the distorted and mutilated fragments
of truth which they contain, as well as their concession to weakness and sin, have
held sway for long centuries over so many millions of our human race
They are the corruptions and perversions of a primitive, monotheistic faith which was
directly taught by God to the early progenitors of the race. They are not even after
the pattern of things in the heavens, much less the heavenly things themselves. They
are rather gross caricatures and fragmentary semblances of the true religion, which
have departed so far from the original model as to be in many essential things positive
contradictions and reversals of the truth." 186
The believers in ethnic religions would undoubtedly be provoked and
feel greatly insulted at reading such words of hostility and ridicule,
and doubt at once if such a writer is a typical Christian. Another
example of the same point of view, only in more stylish and oratorical
language, is the following extract from a speech by Sir Monier Williams,
Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford:
"These non-Christian Bibles are all developments in the wrong direction. They
all begin with some flashes of light, and end in utter darkness. Pile them, if you will,
on the left hand of your study table, but place your own Holy Bible on the right
side — all by itself — and with a wide gap between I contend that the
two unparalleled declarations quoted by me from our Holy Bible make a gulf between
it and the so-called sacred books of the East which severs the one from the other
utterly, hopelessly, and forever; not a mere rift which may be easily closed up; not
186 J. S. Dennis: Foreign Missions after a Century, 1903, pp. 249-251. Cf. also his statement in the
Christian Missions and Social Progress, 1897, Vol. II, p. 5.
PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS 81
a mere rift across which the Christian and non-Christian may shake hands and inter-
change similar ideas in regard to essential truths, but a veritable gulf which cannot
be bridged over by any science of religious thought; yes, a bridgeless chasm which
no theory of evolution can ever span. Go forth, then, ye missionaries, in your Mas-
ter's name; go forth into all the world, and after studying all its false religions and
philosophies, go forth and fearlessly proclaim to suffering humanity the plain, the
unchangeable, the eternal facts of the Gospel Be fair, be charitable,
be Christian, but let there be no mistake; let it be made absolutely clear that Christi-
anity cannot, must not, be watered down to suit the palate of either Hindu, Parsee,
Confucianist, Buddhist, or Mohammedan, and that whoever washes to pass from
the false religion to the true can never hope to do so by the rickety planks of com-
promise, " 187
It would be almost an endless task to quote all the references to such an
obsolete point of view, for we are likely to find such a statement almost
anywhere in the books on Christian missions. But there are increas-
ingly others who take a more modern and scientific standpoint, as may
be exemplified in the words of a recent writer:
"As was natural, many mistakes in the nature of the preaching were made at
first. Even when the difficulties, in many cases almost insuperable, of the language
were overcome, the missionary would be sometimes inclined to give the Gospel message
with little knowledge or sympathetic understanding of the religious ideas of his hearers,
and in most cases he imposed upon them not only the Christian teachings, but the
theology and the ecclesiastical ideas which had grown up in Europe to meet the needs
of European thought and conditions. Experience, the study of non-Christian religions,
the deeper understanding of missionary problems, has led by degrees to more enlight-
ened methods At the same time it is recognized that amongst almost
every people there exists some preparation for the Gospel — that is everywhere the
spiritual needs of the human soul that have produced the religions of the East and of
the Animist peoples, and that the task of the missionary is to show how the teaching
that he brings corresponds to those needs, and includes in itself what is true and per-
manent in the religious ideas which he finds amongst his hearers." 188
Such a more enlightened view, however, is by no means new to our age.
Jesus himself was an appreciative student of Judaism, and consequently
his method was to go first to the Jewish teachings and his conclusion
was, "I came not to destroy but to fulfill." There are a number of
writers who follow the footsteps of Jesus in missionary methods, and
they signal the hope of the future. 189
187 Quoted by E. A. Lawrence: Modem Missions in the East; Their Methods, Successes, and Limitations,
1901, pp. 159 f.
188 Louise Creighton: Missions; Their Rise and Development, 1912, (Home University Series, No. 55),
pp. 89 f.
189 It is beyond our power here to quote extensively from these writers. The most prominent of
these have been summarized by R. E. Speer: Christianity and the Nations, 1910, pp. 239 ff., also by F. L.
Lombard: mAm. Jcurn. of Re!. Psychol, and Educ, Vol. I, pp. 115 fif.
82 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
Amid such a confusion of opinions as to the fundamental attitude of
missionary authors, it is but natural to find the practitioners of Christian
missions utterly indifferent to the problem of method. They have
relied, almost excessively, upon their own personal inclinations in this
matter. But a brighter day is dawning. Their sole conviction that
the faith in God was all-sufficient is now being supplemented by another
conclusion that the knowledge of the mission field and the scientific
approach in method are absolutely necessary. This is especially true in
the case of the work in Japan, for, as has been noted, the apperceptive
mass of the people is unusually complex and heterogeneous. The religion
of Jesus must be given to the people not as a disconnected slice of experi-
ence but as something which naturally orients itself in the mental con-
stitution. The mind of the Japanese cannot be made a tabula rasa,
after having built for itself a world of meaning and having inherited
a civilization of its own from time immemorial. A successful missionary
offers Christianity to the people in a way that admits an easy and natural
entrance into the world of concepts already in existence. 190 The fact that
some of the earlier Christian workers in Japan have failed to understand
this point of view is undoubtedly responsible for the slow progress of
Christianity in Japan, as compared with the advance of other phases of
Western thought. Recently this aspect of the problem has received
psychological consideration in the hands of a missionary in Japan, and
he says, in one of his conclusions, that "the duty of a religious teacher is
(1) to discover and sympathetically appreciate the experience of religion
already possessed; (2) to develop that experience along lines native to
it; (3) to supplement such by added elements, made conformable;
(4) to expect and welcome a new growth, characteristic of the people." 191
Such a study by Lombard is an important and helpful attempt for any
missionary to undertake. Our present study has endeavored to dis-
cover a ground upon which an adequate missionary training can base
its principles and methods, and it remains for us now to turn our atten-
tion to this aspect of the subject.
It has been lately contended that in Japan the missionary issue is no
longer between Christianity and the native religions, but between
190 A mental disturbance has occurred in some instances as a result of coming in touch with Christi-
anity, as Clement says: "We are thus able to comprehend clearly the kind of mental pabulum, intellectual
nourishment that the Japanese mind received, particularly during the period of seclusion and crystalliza-
tion and we need not be surprised that, when Christian doctrines were offered as food, a sort of mental
nausea was produced." Christianity in Modern Japan, p. 159.
191 F. L. Lombard: "Notes upon a Study in the Pedagogy of Missions," Am. Journ. of Rel.
Psychol., and Educ, Vol. I, pp. 113-128.
PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS 83
Christianity and nothing. 192 This nothing, however, must be interpreted
to mean not so much the total absence of any belief or idea, for the
educated Japanese have often so many ideas and beliefs that their
attitude towards Christianity is characterized by hostility, indifference
or prejudice. 193 It is rather to be understood in the sense of being in
the state of religious instability. Missionaries will err greatly if they
regard the so-called atheists and agnostics as having nothing in the way
of religious and moral ideas, for the psychology of the situation implies
a real longing and readiness to accept whatever faith truly satisfies
their spiritual needs, presented, however, in the moral and religious
vocabulary of their own. 194 To a careful student of the ethnic religions
and of the moral needs of Japan, the field seems to be a comparatively
fruitful one for missionary enterprise. 195 Undoubtedly there are appar-
ently many ideas in Japan that are directly antagonistic to the teachings
of Christianity, and yet these very ideas indicate a certain level of con-
192 This "is the inference that must be drawn from the figures of a religious census recently taken in
the Imperial University of Tokyo. It classifies more than 4,000 students by religions as follows: Shinto 8,
Buddhist 50, Christians 60, atheist 1,500 and agnostic 3,000. It appears from this that the educated
classes of Japan have practically broken with the old beliefs and are searching for some better basis for
ethics and faith." Bib. World, Vol. XLI, (1913), pp. 128. The figures have been revised more recently.
See an address by the writer "Japanese Students and Christianity," in the report of the Kansas City
Convention, 1914, Students and the World-Wide Expansion of Christianity, p. 53.
193 Cf. E. W. Clement: Christianity in Modern Japan, p. 162.
194 Count Okuma says: "The nation may, perhaps, be characterized, in a word, as guileless or as
spiritually clean. It can be well understood that the contact of a national mind so attuned, with the
Occident's civilization, acted like the introduction of a beautiful pigment into clear water contained in a
crystalline vessel, the brilliant color instantly suffusing the entire volume of water." Fifty Years of New
Japan, Vol. I, p. 10. One of the native Christian teachers makes the following exegesis on some Scriptural
passage: "The life of Christ is an example of the victory of giri (sense of duty) over ninjo (natural feeling).
The temptations of Satan were all directed toward the natural feeling of Christ as a man; but Christ, dis-
cerning clearly what duty demanded, overcame them. Again, when Christ prayed, 'O my father, if it
be possible let this cup pass from me,' he gave expression to his natural feelings; but when he added, 'Never-
theless not as I will but as thou wilt,' he conquered them by his sense of duty. This is an explanation,
which, I think, is readily understood by the Japanese." Rev. T. Harada, quoted by W. E. GrifEs: Dux
Christus, p. 191.
195 The Bishop of Exeter has the following testimony: " If you had been asked to sketch an ideal land,
most suitable for Christian Missions, and when itself Christianized more suited for evangelistic work
among the nations of the Far East, what, I ask, would be the special characteristics of the land and people
that you would have desired? Perhaps, first, as Englishmen or Irishmen, you would have said, 'Give us
islands, inseparably and forever united, give us islands which can hold their sea-girt independence, and yet
near enough to the mainland to exert influence there.' Such is Japan — the land of the Rising Sun. 'Give
us a hardy race, not untrained in war by land and sea; for a nation of soldiers, when won for Christ,
fights best under the banner of the Cross — for we are of the Church militant here on earth; give us brave
men'; and such are the descendants of the old Daimios and two-sworded Samurai of Japan
'But,' you would also have said, 'give us a race whose women are homespun and refined, courteous and win
some, not tottering on tortured feet, nor immured in zenanas and harems, but who freely mingle in social
life, and adorn all they touch,' and such, without controversy, are the women of Japan. Above all, 'give
us a reverent and a religious people, who yet are conscious that the religion of their fathers is unsatisfying
and unreal, and who are therefore ready to welcome the Christ of God,' and such are the thoughtful races
of Japan." Quoted by W. E. GrifEs: Op. tit., pp. 187 f.
84 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
sciousness and to a missionary of insight they are the stepping-stones
to higher development rather than a total hindrance to such a growth.
The psychological study of the religious experience of a group of arbi-
trarily selected Japanese converts has enabled us to find at least a partial
explanation of this comparative productivity as a mission field in the fact
that they had been reared in the atmosphere of ethnic religions with
their characteristic forms of civilization, though sometimes unaccented
and often ill-defined. We can not go into the details of the specific
points of contact between the religions of Japan and that of Jesus Christ ;
such a study has already been attempted by abler hands. The one
fundamental point which is here repeatedly emphasized as a conclusion
of our study is that there can be no impassable chasm between the ethnic
religions of Japan and the Christian religion, and that the method of
missionary procedure must be derived from this essential principle. 196
With this fundamental principle in mind, our next query is with
reference to the essential subjects of study which ought to enter into the
curriculum of missionary training. The World Missionary Conference
of 1910 which met at Edinburgh gave a prolonged consideration to
this matter. 197 A special Commission on this subject generalized the
courses of study under five headings, based upon the questionnaire
returns from the missionaries actually in the field: (1) The science and
history of missions, (2) The study of the religions of the world, (3) The
study of sociology, (4) Pedagogy and (5) The study of languages.
While this generalization was the composite opinion of the missionaries
who probably have not had such a system of training themselves, the
general conclusion of the Commission after actually studying the present
situation in missionary training was expressed in some such phrase
as this: " candidates for ordained work in the foreign
field receive very little special instruction in missionary subjects in the
course of their theological curriculum, whether that curriculum is long
or short." 198 As an attempt to overcome this defect, the Board of
196 G. Stanley Hall has a remarkable passage on this point: "If Christianity is ultimate and is fit
to be a universal religion, it must be shown to be related to Buddhism, Brahmanism. Confucianism, and
other and perhaps all indigenous religions somewhat as it is to Judaism. It must be shown to be prefigured,
anticipated in each, and each must be shown to be fulfilled in it in analogous ways. Those who proclaim
it must be as sympathetic and as instructed in the letter and spirit of the native faith as Jesus was in that of
Hebraism, and have served an apprenticeship like his to it." Adolescence, Vol. II, pp. 745 f. For the
expression of the same fact on the part of the Japanese Christians, see the case of K. Yamamoto as reported
by DeForest: Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom, (rev. ed.), p. 171; also D. Ebina: "The Evangelization of
Japan," Harvard Theol. Rev., Vol. II, p. 197.
197 World Missionary Conference, Vol. V.
198 Ibid., p. 78.
PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS 85
Missionary Preparation was appointed by the Federation of Mission
Boards, immediately after the Edinburgh Conference. This Board
has a special Commission on Japan, which, according to the report of
the Board, is preparing a special report on the training needed for mis-
sionaries appointed to Japan. On examining the tentative statements
of this Commission, we are struck by their unusual insight into the
conditions of Japan as a missionary field. It is neither our purpose
here to review nor our desire to criticise the report in question. While
in some minor matters, criticisms are inevitable, on the whole the vision
of the Commission is commendable. This, we must remember, however,
is only a vision and not yet a reality.
It is not the purpose of the present thesis to elaborate in detail the
various materials which ought to constitute the curriculum of an ideal
missionary training school, for such a task is attempted by the Board of
Missionary Preparation above referred to. Here we are to give three
outstanding aspects which ought to guide the formulation of a mis-
sionary training curriculum. (1) The first is what we may call emotional
preparation. It consists essentially in the true appreciation of Christi-
anity in its practical life and in the genuine enthusiasm for evangelization.
These two aspects of the emotional preparation are fundamental and
primary. This means that a mere intellectual training cannot give
such an emotional content to the religious life of a missionary. He must
experience that life himself in order to show others what it is. In this
respect, James' theory of emotion does not hold good, for a physical
and outward representation of Christianity will not produce a genuine
Christian experience. It ought to come from other sources. (2) But
the sole emphasis upon this aspect has misled many an able missionary,
for it caused them to neglect the second important item which may be
called intellectual preparation. Under this group come such subjects
as comparative religion, history and science of missions, the study of the
Bible, sociology of the mission field, etc. But in studying all these
important subjects, a missionary ought to have a psychological view-
point. The common defect of the missionary training curricula is that
they are too mechanical and merely descriptive. The mere knowledge
of disconnected items of ethnic experience will not remain very long
in the brain of a missionary, but if he acquires such a knowledge with a
psychological interpretation, that will function dynamically in the con-
duct of his work. In other words, what needs to be emphasized in
missionary training is an intelligent correlation of the subjects of study,
86 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
and this can best be accomplished by basing the interpretation upon
the principles of modern functional psychology. (3) This leads to the
third aspect, namely, volitional preparation. Here comes the question
of method, whether evangelistic or educational. The study of the
principles of religious education and the modern methods of evangelism
are in point. Very few missionaries are prepared in this aspect, and the
result is that their good will and enthusiasm are wasted. Very fre-
quently the lack of preparation causes disturbance in social relations
between the missionary and the natives. The fact that many Japanese
Christians are bitterly against foreign missionaries is directly traceable
to the defect here referred to. Again, it is interesting to note that the
Christian church where missionary supremacy is upheld is almost always
weak and inefficient, whereas the church controlled and managed by the
Japanese themselves is usually strong and efficient. All these facts go
to prove that missionaries are really ignorant of their place in the evan-
gelization of Japan, but the more intelligent way of interpretation is
that they lack this fundamental training in method of evangelism and
education. It is usually contended that here comes in the question of
tact but tact as such never exists. It is neither an inspiration nor a
genius; it is a volitional construct, based on the sound knowledge of the
problem and an intelligent reaction to the situation. Proper training will
produce such a quality.
The above consideration of the general deficiency in missionary train-
ing leads us to the very important problem of the standard of missionary
selection. Many Japanese natives discover some missionaries to be
disagreeable and ill-fitted for the field. These missionaries may do
better in some other fields. The fault lies in this case in the Mission
Board and not in the individual missionaries. It frequently happens
that the Board appoints a missionary contrary to the wish of the candi-
date, with the result that his work becomes comparatively inefficient.
The appointment of a missionary by the Board then is a more com-
plicated problem than is usually conceived. Again the matter of test
or examination has to be reconsidered by the Board. The usual requi-
sites of training, Christian character, personal interview, etc., ought
to be supplemented by all means by a social test. This will necessitate
for all missionaries some time spent in the home field before going to
the foreign land, for this will give a chance to test them with reference
to general efficiency. The alleged fear on the part of some Boards
that if such a test is practised, the candidates would be lured to remain
PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS 87
here and lose sight of the foreign work, is more a petty sentiment than
a sound reason. The matter of age does not cut a great figure. The
general problem of selection then will require an expert scrutiny both of
the outgoing missionaries and the missionaries who are already in the
field. It will be necessary in some cases to recall those missionaries
who are obsolete.
The above suggestions as to the psychological qualification of a
missionary and the problem of missionary selection are based on personal
observation in the light of the investigation of the present thesis. The
general emphasis of this entire section has been to point out the need
of the presence of missionaries in Japan, and to plead for a more thorough
and appropriate preparation as well as for the proper selection of the
prospective missionaries. The present thesis does not undertake to
discuss these matters in detail, but merely suggests the fundamental
psychological point of view. 199 It remains for the Board of Missionary
Preparation to elaborate their details.
2. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF THE JAPANESE
The intellectual correlate of evangelism is the educational endeavor.
Religious education arose as a counterpart of the revivalistic procedure,
because of its more permanent and normal effect upon the religious
development of the converts. Its fundamental assumption is that the
individual should be encouraged to build up the religious consciousness
by means of ideational and cognitive processes and pursue a gradual
course of maturity rather than to experience an abrupt change of interests
and ends in the emotional life. The present investigation has amply
demonstrated the truth that educational influence has played a great
part in converting our subjects. The rarer cases of sudden conversion
among the Japanese who have been educated in the morals and religious
principles of the ethnic religions mean not an unnatural turning of
direction in the life process, but rather an experience which adds richness
of meaning to the social consciousness that had already been built.
Suddenness in such cases, therefore, has a different content than is
usually understood. This being the conclusion, what can this con-
tribute to the religious education of the Japanese?
Religious education, whether in Japan or elsewhere, is a much simpler
problem than evangelism, for its point of departure is the child who is
199 Since writing this section, two interesting studies have been published, viz., J. H. Stontemyer:
"Religion and Race-Education," Journ. of Rel. Psychol., Vol. VII, pp. 273-324; McLeod Harvey: "The
Pedagogy of Missions," Ibid., pp. 345-399. James L. Barton's article entitled "The Modern Missionary,"
Harvard. Theol. Rev., Vol. VIII, pp. 1-17, signals the future attitude and policy of the Mission Boards.
88 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
more or less free from the racial habits which often stand in the way of
Christian development, and this fact reduces the apperceptive mass to
its minimum complexity. Although there may be some racial traits
in the Japanese children, yet the social environment can easily counter-
act the transient ethnic instincts. It is undoubtedly impossible to
transform the social environment completely. The introduction of the
Christian religion has already wrought a remarkable change in Japanese
society, and the aim of religious education is to reorganize the envi-
ronmental forces so as to favor the development of Christian personality.
Any such attempt, however, to mould and reconstruct a nation's social
order must be intelligently guided by rational principles based on the
nature of educational influences already in existence.
Of all the educational agencies which contribute to the moral
and religious education of the Japanese, the most important one is the
home. As soon as the little child can talk, he is trained in various
manners and etiquettes which build the foundation of character. The
psychology of the teaching of manners and etiquettes is that it illustrates
the social nature of development in general. The child is taught in
this way the lesson of obedience in its na'ive form by following the cus-
toms of the home and of society, by making the child sensitive
to the opinion of others, and by introducing the peculiar social situation
in which alone etiquette and manners take meaning. It, therefore,
forms the very foundation of social and moral development.
Another important element in home education is found in the lullabies
and folk-tales that are given to the child from early infancy. The
quaint and yet exquisitely charming lullabies that are chanted to lull
the little one to sleep afford a significant material for social development.
The rich and fascinating fairy tales are also powerful in bringing home
to the child a sense of respect, adoration and other humane virtues,
and the child usually takes a deep interest in listening to these stories
as they are told by his parents or grandparents. 200 The majority of
these tales are merely fictitious and contain no definitely moral or
religious sentiments, but their highly imaginative character engenders
a sense of appreciation of the heroic qualities of the component personnae.
Some, however, are designed to emphasize specific religious habits and
practices of olden days and their effect upon the religious development
200 The most popular of these tales is that of "Little Peachling," the full account of which is found
in Baron Kikuchi: Japanese Education, pp. 383 f.
PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS 89
of the child is often remarkable. 201 One of our subjects, K. Y., remem-
bered the Buddhist allegory that had formed a part of his tale-educa-
tion. 202
As to the more expressly religious education of the Japanese child
in the home it may be said that a practice called "Miya-mairi," or
visit to the temple, ushers in the whole curriculum which is to follow.
It roughly corresponds to Western christening. It occurs on the thirty-
first day after the birth in the case of a boy, and on the thirty-third
day in the case of a girl. It consists in taking the child to the temple
and in placing it under the guardianship of a special deity selected by
the parents. The frequent religious festivities too cannot fail to con-
tribute something at least toward the religious growth of the child.
Almost every community has its own representative shrines, temples or
other sacred places, and these usually form spacious playgrounds for
the children of the common people, where various forms of festive
performance take place. These festivities are of nation-wide interest
and especially are they alluring to young children. The psychological
significance of these religious festivities is not difficult to see. They do
not appeal to the child as religiously important incidents, but as an act
in which the entire community participates. These are the occasions
when every child in the community joins in the processions and other
forms of social activities that constitute the essential counterparts
of these festivities. Here also must be included all sorts of games that
are indulged in by Japanese children. These are important not as
religious practices as such but as social activities that are decidedly
educative.
Still another element in home education is the training of the young in
the habit of respecting and obeying the elders and the superiors. This
is the psychological background of ancestor-worship and the loyalty
to the Emperor. While some of the habits are often grotesque from a
rational point of view, the spirit that is fostered by such acts of reverence
is an important asset for the social development of the child. They are
relevant as a means of cultivating a truly social person. 203
As to the moral instruction in schools, which every Japanese child
must go through, it is impossible as well as irrelevant here to go into a full
201 Seee. g., M. F. Nixon-Roulet: Japanese Folk Stories and Fairy Talcs, 1908; K. Iwaya: Fairy Tales;
A. B. Mitford: Tales of Old Japan, 1876; G. James: Green Willow, and Oilier Japanese Fairy Tales, 1912;
F. H. Davis: Myths and Legends of Japan, 1912, W. E. Griffis: Thi Mikado's Empire, Vol. II, Ch. XIII.
202 See supra p. 25.
203 On the subject of horr.e education, all standard works on Japan and education may be referred to.
90 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
discussion. 204 As an elaborate system of moral education, it has no
parallel anywhere. Recently, however, the entire system is being
subjected to a severe scrutiny from a Christian point of view. According
to the report of Galen M. Fisher, the students whom he had interviewed
with regard to the effect of school instruction in morals, agreed without
exception that the "textbooks are lacking in interest and in power
to prick the conscience and the imagination. Their verdict regarding
their teachers is almost as unfavorable." 205 But it is gratifying to note
at least an endeavor on the part of the more successful teachers of morals
to appeal to the sense of hero-worship of the first and second year
pupils. 206 Now and then, attempts are also being made in some of the
government schools to introduce the teaching of morals from a Christian
point of view. The formal teaching of religion as such in the public
schools of Japan is strictly prohibited. It is true that there are chairs
in the history of religions in the universities, but the courses are chiefly
historical and comparative. By some seriously minded teachers of
religion, this condition is felt to be a sad defect, and at least an attempt
was made by a teacher to find relief for this shortcoming. Concerning
this, Thwing says:
"The author of it is Professor Tanamoto, professor of pedagogy in the University
of Kyoto. Professor Tanamoto's method includes these elements: observation of and
communication with nature, reading of the holy scriptures as found in many litera-
tures, including of course the New Testament, the telling of stories regarding religious
duty and devotion, and prayer. In these elements and exercises, he believes, all
children and their teachers of whatever denominational faith, can unite. Prayer
would be an act, or mood, or petition, addressed to the Being whom the petitioner
regards as Supreme." 207
The attempt, however, is not a successful one, for as Thwing rightly
comments, "it lacks the inspiration of personality and the force of
definite conception of truth."
In view of this situation, we must turn naturally to the more con-
sciously directed efforts in religious education. At present, religious
204 See Baron Kikuchi: Op. cit., Chs. XI and XVI. Cf. also G. Spiller: Report on Moral Instruction
and on Moral Training in Eighteen Countries, London, 1909, pp. 267 ff.
206 "Notes on Moral and Religious Influence Surrounding Younger Students in Japan," Christian
Movement in Japan, VII (1909), p. 64. The more enlightened educators are beginning to realize the
futility of merely passive moral education, and a scheme is devised to awaken the moral consciousness
of the pupils by using the biographies of some famous men. Cf. K. Yoshida: "Notes on Methods of
Moral Instruction in Japan," in Moral Instruction and Training in Schools, edited by M. E. Sadler,
1908, Vol. II, pp. 346 f.
206 This is done by Professor Shinji Sasakura of Sendai. The characters used for the textbook are
all Japanese heroes, each of whom represents a type of character to be emphasized and learned. See
article by G. M. Fisher, Loc. cit., pp. 63, 65.
207 C. F. Thwing: Education in the Far East, p. 98.
PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS 91
education in Japan is openly carried out at least in three forms of insti-
tutions: the kindergarten, largely established and maintained by various
Mission Boards, the Sunday School and the so-called mission school.
Both Protestant and Catholic Missions are conducting these institutions,
and the last statistics 208 showed the total number of all these schools
but the Sunday School, to be 244, with an enrollment of perhaps more
than 22,500 students of both sexes. In all Protestant churches, there
are over 1,500 Sunday Schools and 100,000 scholars in all. 209 The
figure is very small when we compare it with the enrollment in non-
Christian schools where no religious instruction is given. The one
great defect of the Christian schools is that they have not succeeded
in securing well trained teachers in religious education. The short-
coming of the Sunday School in this matter is perhaps greater, for here
in this institution we have a mass of volunteer teachers who are well
meaning but poorly qualified to undertake the important task of impart-
ing the knowledge of Christianity to Japanese children. 210 But the
leaders who are engaged directly in the religious education of the Japa-
nese have now awakened to the consciousness that definite steps towards
the scientific solution of the problem must be taken in order to cope with
the increasing demand of the idea of efficiency. The concrete mani-
festation of this consciousness is found in the organization of the National
Sunday School Association of Japan on January 5, 1907, as the result
of the visit to Japan of Mr. Frank L. Brown and of the generous help
of Mr. H. J. Heinz. Following the organization of the Association,
various phases of its activities were actually demonstrated, the more
important of which were the work of the Sunday School Institute and
that of the Sunday School exhibits. The Lesson Committee has planned
for the three series of lessons which came into effect after July 1, 1907 ; 211
a teachers' magazine and a series of practical leaflets are being published
208 Christian Movement in Japan, 1913, pp. 718 ff.
203 World-Wide Sunday School Work, Report of the World's Seventh Sunday School Convention,
1913, p. 239.
210 The defect of the Sunday School education is now being pointed out by the educational experts,
perhaps more vigorously than ever before. As to such important problems as the selection and train-
ing of teachers, practice in teaching methods, the relation of the Sunday School to the public school, the
study of child psychology, school hygiene, etc., no systematic endeavor has been made to place religious
education on a firm scientific basis. These problems become all the more important in view of the increasing
number of young children in recent years. It is reported that at a city Sunday School convention held in
Tokyo, over 10.000 children had gathered for class instruction, — a fact absolutely unprecedented either
in the Sunday School or the public school history. See the editorial in a Japanese religious monthly, Shin-
Jin, edited by Rev. D. Ebina, Feb., 1913, pp. 4 f.
211 They have since prepared and published the graded lessons for eleven years of study. Rev. H.
Kozaki, president of the National Association, pleads for graded lessons very strongly for good reasons.
See his statements in World-Wide Sunday School Work above referred to, pp. 239 and 584.
92 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
and a score of useful books of reference are now being translated. The
Educational Committee is arranging a training course for Sunday School
teachers; a number of workers' circulating libraries and a variety of
modern pedagogical methods are in operation. 212
The work of the kindergartens is very hopeful. It is in this field
that all educational endeavors find their common meeting place and
their common point of departure. The scientific attitude is shown in
the establishment of some important training schools for teachers.
"The organization of the Kindergarten Union of Japan in 1906 has
brought forty-three Christian kindergartens in closer touch with each
other for mutual help, inspiration and the extension of the work." A
prominent kindergarten worker says:
"The Japanese have several societies for their kindergartens, which are most
enthusiastically supported, also several magazines devoted to the cause. The pro-
fessors have lately given themselves to the study of stories for children; kindergarten
material is manufactured in Japan; and while all this is not yet beyond the pale of
criticism, still it is safe to say that the children's hour is striking." 213
Certainly a good beginning in religious education has been made, and
in process of time, we can expect that those who are directly connected
with the task of Christian education in Japan may bring forth results
of their investigations guided by practical experience and scientific
principle and produce an efficient system of religious education for the
Japanese.
In concluding this section, we may well inquire, "What does our
study contribute to the principles of religious education?'' One pre-
eminent result is that the materials found in the ethnic religions and
morality have a peculiarly significant element for Christian religious
education. The examination of our converts has convinced us that the
religious training during early infancy given by the parents was the most
powerful agency in calling out the child's religious response. The school
education in morals seems to have little, if any, influence in awakening
the moral consciousness of the child. Both the home and the school,
however, are important in the social development of the young. They
both have to deal with the universe of relations, which includes the rela-
tion between the elder and the younger, the relation between the members
and the family, and the relation between various individuals. The
home and the school, then, must be utilized in religious education for
212 For a fuller account of the work of the National Sunday School Association of Japan, consult
The Sunday Schools the World Around, 1907, pp. 275 ff.
213 Annie L. Howe, in the Christian Movement in Japan, 1908, p. 296.
PRACTICAL DEDUCTIONS 93
this very purpose. But the content of the ethnic training in religion
and morals is often desirable as a material even directly for Christian
education. We have seen clearly that the process of idealization which
is the basis of religious experience is possible only to those who are
mentally mature, and the immature child is not able to participate in
any sense in this finer and more subtle psychosis. If this is correct to
any extent, we should encourage the child to be reared in a moral atmos-
phere which is capable of provoking the social reactions from him.
In order to create such an atmosphere, the elements that compose it
must be easily suited to the experience of the child, otherwise the alleged
excellence of materials and methods would only be useless. Our con-
tention here, then, is that such materials which are suited to the child's
religious and moral capacity are found in the ethnic religions and morality
and these must be made use of before the Christian training proper may
be introduced. The more highly developed concept of God, for example,
of Christianity is rather a poor lesson to be given to the average Japanese
child. It ought to be preceded by more appropriate and racial concepts
which can prepare for higher concepts, for premature introduction of
religious materials would hinder rather than aid the religious develop-
ment of the Japanese child. The ethnic religions of Japan are rich
enough for the child, and they can be given with advantage, supple-
mented, however, and interpreted by the Christian point of view.
It is beyond our purpose to give the numerous ways in which
our general principle may be applied. We have merely emphasized
the .relative importance of the ethnic religions as the proper materials
for religious training of young children who are mentally incapable of
appreciating the ideal personality which is given by Christianity. In
the case of the Japanese at any rate, then, the religious workers must
thoroughly master the available materials found in these great systems
of thought and utilize them in a pedagogic manner. It is also important
that we should know the nature of the social environment in which
the average Japanese is brought up. When all these elements are
mastered, we shall be able to formulate, backed by the knowledge of
the essentials of the Christian teachings and the psychological under-
standing of the moral and religious development of Japanese children,
some working principles as to the ideals and the methods of religious
education for the Japanese.
CHAPTER VI
Conclusion and Summary
In the foregoing investigation of the typical conversion experiences
of the Japanese Christians, our aim has been to analyse, with the aid
of some valid conclusions of modern psychology, the actual situation
in which the Christian character is given birth and matured. Our
standpoint has been practical rather then theoretical, but practice
without adequate theory is dangerous. Our method has been bio-
graphical and introspective, gathering materials from the experiences
of arbitrarily chosen subjects who have undergone the religious trans-
formation and have been converted to Christianity, and interpreting
them in the light of the results of psychology and of the personal experi-
ence of the writer. Our cases are not those of sudden emotional
alteration of personality, but those where slow regeneration has taken
place by coming in touch with the exotic religion of Jesus Christ. The
conversion experience, however, is not without its due preparation, for
we have discovered that the majority of our converts had some degree
of social and moral maturity. Christianity came to such individuals as
the final stage of the social development in giving them the idealized
personality in the conception of the Christian God, which was decidedly
lacking in the ethnic religions of Japan. Our investigation has made
the following points clear:
(1) The average Japanese youth of the middle class or above usually
receives religious training according to the customs and habits of the
community. The religious atmosphere, however, is never a pure one,
containing all the constituent elements of Japanese religions. These
customs in the religious training of children are more or less social in
nature rather than strictly religious. It is the spirit of the community
in partaking in the religious festivities which has the lasting influence
upon the development of children. This communal or social aspect of
the native religions is more clearly manifest in Shintoism than in others.
(2) The more highly educated class, however, seem to instruct
their children according to the teachings of Confucius, and training of
this kind usually emphasizes the moral aspect of life rather than the
religious. The education in this case is largely intellectual, and often
involves exaggerated discipline in memory and cognitive exercises.
Conversion among this class of people is chiefly in terms of intellect,
endeavoring to relate ideationally the teachings and the logic of Christi-
anity with those which had been received in Confucianism.
CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY 95
(3) Conversion among the Japanese, moreover, assumes often the
social aspect. This involves the process of imitation and suggestion,
as in the case of ordinary revivalistic conversion. The respect for the
Christian character, the influence of the conduct which exhibits a wealth
of affection, of kind-heartedness, of manliness, — the sense of hero-
worship, in other words, forms the stimulus and occasion for conversion
into the religion of Christ. Sometimes the social process takes on a
coercive character, involving often a conventional and formal performance
of decision to accept the new faith. This process is more effective
among emotionally inclined individuals. Conversion in such a case
is a mere introduction to Christianity, and the religious reconstructions
begin at this point with the aid of ideational means. Thus this type
of mind is to be contrasted with the intellectual type, which reaches the
process of conversion after this reconstruction has culminated. This
may account for the fact that the cases of intellectual conversion are
found among the older class of individuals.
(4) Conversion again may be experienced at a critical period of
life. This may not be an evolutionary crisis of the organism, such as
the period of pubescence. The crisis in our case means any serious
incident in one's life, which gives a painful experience to the subject,
such as sickness in the family, failure in business, etc. Religion in
this case becomes largely a means of restoring the comfort to life, of
promoting the welfare of both the individual and the family, and in
this sense, religion may be regarded as a factor in the struggle for exist-
ence.
(5) Conversion brings forth as its fruit the new life, involving often
complete change in the mode of behavior both physiological and psy-
chological. This is due to the fact that the organism has developed
and is capable of adjusting the behavior in such a way as is most bene-
ficial to its highest attainment. The fundamental impulse again is the
perfection of life process. This is the reason that conversion is often
identified with what the theologians would call regeneration.
(6) To be more psychological in our attempt to interpret the con-
version experiences of our subjects, we found first of all that the reason
why they abandoned or rather outgrew the old ethnic religions and
accepted or developed into the exotic religion of Jesus is primarily due
to the fact that they saw in Christianity something bigger and more
satisfactory to the increasing demand of their growing life. This some-
thing was found to be the supremely and perfectly idealized God whom
96 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
Christ had taught and exemplified. This concept of Personal Being
was decidedly lacking in the ethnic religions of Japan.
(7) We have also seen the validity of the concept of the super-
natural element in conversion. It has been argued by some psycholo-
gists that what is functioning in the mental life of a religious devotee
is not the Personal God himself but only the idea of such. This has
been further elaborated by saying that both imaginary and real objects
of worship are psychologically valid, so long as they serve the function
expected of them. By certain theologians, however, this point has been
criticised more or less severely in recent years on the ground that the
psychologists are apt to substitute for the thing itself its idea only, and
that thereby they are denying the existence of God himself. This
charge is not just, for we are concerned mainly with the subjective
evidence of the existence of God, and not with the ontological specula-
tion with reference thereto. As far as psychology is concerned, then,
we are satisfied to see the function which God performs in life, that is,
the actual influence of the belief in the Supreme Being, modifying the
thought process as well as the motor manifestations of fundamental
impulses, and such an evidence of the function of God is sufficient
to convince us of its reality.
(8) This would lead us to the consideration of the psychological
criterion of morality and religion. The confusion and sometimes a
feeble attempt to distinguish these two phases of our higher life on the
part of the religious psychologists, have sadly belittled the true signifi-
cance of the religious consciousness. We have seen that both these
states of consciousness are social in their inherent nature, and, therefore,
a merely social criterion is insufficient. In the examination of our
cases, we were compelled to regard the conversion experience as a process
of development from the vaguely social and from the merely moral to the
definitely religious consciousness, and the essence of the religious con-
sciousness we have seen to consist in the presence of and the belief in the
Supernatural Being who was the product of idealization as far as the
individual's personal experience is concerned. In thus defining the reli-
gious consciousness we were forced to reconstruct the "Dialectic of
Personal Growth" as expounded by Baldwin, and to add a higher stage
which we call the super jective stage. The point of differentiation between
the moral and the religious is reached when the moral comes to its ideal-
izing stage where the object of social interaction is not only the visible
human being, but also the idealized perfect being which is greater and
more satisfying than human personality.
CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY 97
(9) On the practical side of our discussion, we have found that the
more thorough training of missionaries in the science of missions was a
necessity. The ignorance and sometimes the hostility exhibited by
missionaries toward all forms of ethnic religious practices and concepts
account for the apparent tardiness with which the propaganda of the
Christian religion in foreign lands is being carried out. A careful study
of the ethnic religions will give the actual workers a clue to their enter-
prise, and a more economical and desirable effect will be produced. The
training of missionaries must take cognizance of the principle here derived
in order to reap maximum results. It is also necessary to change in
some cases the standard of selection of missionaries on the part of the
Mission Boards.
(10) With reference to the religious education of the Japanese, we
found that the native training in religion and morals has some value
especially for the younger children, although Christian materials must
supplement it by giving fuller meaning and a more wholesome stand-
point. The agencies which now exist in Japan for Christian religious
education are the mission school, the Sunday School and the kinder-
garten. These institutions, though yet unscientific, are beginning to
realize the necessity of carrying out their work in harmony with the
results of modern sciences. Our investigation has emphasized the
situation by pointing out the necessity of studying more psychologically
the apperceptive mass of the Japanese children, and when this is done,
we may be able to devise a helpful plan of religious education for the
Japanese, in the light of all the elements involved in the educational
situation of Japan.
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The references here given are only on the psychology of conversion and its related
subjects. No attempt is made to make the list exhaustive. For bibliography on
the religious life of the Japanese, consult Friedrich von Weckstern : A Bibliography of
the Japanese Empire, Vol. I, Leiden, 1894, and Vol. II, Tokyo, 1907, sections on "Re-
ligion and Philosophy."
Ames, Edward Scribner. The Psychology of Religious Experience, Boston, 1911.
Anonymous. "Conversion". M'Clintock and Strong Biblical, Theological, and Eccle-
siastical Cyclopedia, Vol. II, pp. 494-495.
Baldwin, James Mark. Mental Development in the Child and Race, New York, 1894.
Baldwin, James Mark. Social and Ethical Interpretations, New York, 1897.
Baldwin, James Mark. Fragments in Philosophy and Science, New York, 1907.
Bavinck, Herman. The Philosophy of Revelation, Princeton Seminary, 1909.
Beckwith, C. A. "Conversion." New Schaf-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious
Knowledge, Vol. Ill, pp. 262-263.
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102 THE. PSYCHOLOGY OF ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
VITA
The author of this dissertation, Katsuji Kato, was born in Osaka, Japan,
December 24, 1885. After completing his primary education in the native city, he
studied in Tokyo Gakuin (Duncan Academy), Tokyo, graduating in March, 1903. In
1903-1904 he was a teacher in Wilmina Girls' School, Osaka. Coming to the United
States of America in 1904, he entered Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan, where
he finished his undergraduate work in 1909 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Then
he studied in the Graduate Divinity School of the University of Chicago, 1909-1913
with the major in Religious Education and the minor in Psychology. In 1910, he re-
ceived the degree of Master of Arts with a dissertation on "The Psychology of Sin: Its
Significance to Religious Education"; and in 1911, the degree of Bachelor of Divinity
with a dissertation on "The Socialization of the Child: A Psychological Study." The
present thesis was begun at the suggestion of Professor James Rowland Angell, head
of the Department of Psychology and completed under the wise direction and con-
stant encouragement of Professor Theodore Gerald Soares, head of the Department
of Practical Theology. The author acknowledges his indebtedness to the views of
Professors G. H. Mead and E. S. Ames of the Department of Philosophy, while the
lectures and writings of Professors J. R. Angell and H. A. Carr of the Department of
Psychology and Professors C. H. Judd and F. N. Freeman of the School of Education
had contributed to the general psychological background of the investigation.
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