Theological Studies in Japan

We, a project team of Japanese and Chinese researchers, have studied 228 Khara-Khoto manuscripts other than those in Chinese and in Tangut, which were newly found by an Inner-Mongolian archaeological research team in China in 1983-84. Among them, the present author identified one manuscript as Syriac. This is rich in terms of the contents, allowing us to catch a glimpse of the essence of East Syriac (so-called “Nestorian”) thought reaching Inner Mongolia no later than the 14th century, possibly far earlier. This ranges from trinitarianism, the apex of theology, to eschatology. It has something of christology, cosmology, ecclesiology, and soteriology, which this paper focuses on. The core thought in this document derives from early Syriac Christianity. In this paper, practical aspects are dealt with as well. These are approached from charismatic, angelological, demonological, and spiritual points of view.

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The dating and the historical background of the Covenant Code (CC) are much debated. CC has long been regarded as the oldest law code in Israelite history. However, in our view, it would be more appropriate to refrain from using labels such as J, E and JE for the characterization of the pre-priestly Tetrateuch and, accordingly, reconsider the dating and historical background of CC. Regarding the final stage of the composition, our contention is that CC derives from Judean society in Persian era Palestine. The main purpose of this article is to indicate several pieces of evidence that support this hypothesis. The biblical law codes each reflect the specific perspectives of the communal networks in Judean society of Persian era Palestine. Since no subgroup in Palestine occupied an overpowering position, the law codes were simply juxtaposed, under the political pressure of the Persian empire, in order to shape a document of consensus.

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The question this paper asks is whether theology can still claim universality. With the rise of multivalent postmodern theologies and of politically-correct mandates in public space, theology as a discipline ceases to make universal claims. However, a series of recent debates between two radically different thinkers brings a renewed philosophico-theological interest in the universal claim of Christianity. The paper focuses on the debate between Hegelian-Lacanian philosopher Slavoj Žižek and Anglican theologian John Milbank in their attempt to articulate the universal claim of Christianity vis-à-vis the domianant global political economy. The first section discusses the ontological and genealogical bases of their understanding of Christian universality. The fundamentally diverse ontologies of void (Žižek) and of peace (Milbank) are situated in the history of theology. The second section examines the role that the representation of Christ plays in Žižek and Milbank's claim of theological universality in relation to the concept of freedom.

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This paper analyzes Kant's understanding of Christ. Kant manifests his opinion about Jesus Christ in Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, using such expressions as “ the personified idea of the good principle” or “ Son of God” Son of God is given two roles by Kant. One is the image of perfection that a person will reach, through which a person can be inspired to attain his own moral perfection. But, the idea of Son of God is given another role by Kant. That is the role atoning for the human's sin as the Savior and enabling the grace of God. But, Kant's argument about this Savior divides person's ego into two dimensions, that is a priori and a posteriori, and the relation of these two dimensions remains unclear. And this unclear relation between a priori and a posteriori is the most significant problem in Kant's philosophy of religion.

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