Kurasawa, Masanori. Translated by Kelly Malone. "Is Polytheism Really Tolerant?" (多神教は本当に寛容であるのか) Japan Evangelical Association Theological Commission Pamphlet 6 (May 2006): 49-59.
Masanori Kurasawa is president of Tokyo Christian University and pastors the Shounan Christ Church of the Japan Alliance Christ Church.
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IS POLYTHEISM REALLY TOLERANT?
SUMMARY
I examine the proposition, “Polytheism is tolerant, but monotheism is intolerant.” Is the polytheistic world really tolerant? By examining this present day issue from the history the ancient Greco-Roman Empire, India and Japan, we see that polytheism metamorphosized into simple monotheism and religious nationalism, resulting in exclusivist violence. Trinitarian theology (God as Trinity) prepares us for a complex social environment through a freedom in unity that avoids both the confusion that results from polytheism and the absolutism that results from homogeneous theology.
INTRODUCTION
From the “time of terror” on Sept. 11, 2001, in response to radical Islamic terrorism, a military invasion by an U.S.-centered multinational military force (including Japan Self-Defense Forces) has taken place in Afghanistan and Iraq. That is the present uncontrollable situation. The world media and Japanese intelligentsia, which have presented this as a structural confrontation between American Evangelical Christianity and Islamic Fundamentalism, have the presupposition that “monotheism is warlike,” and prescribe, “Polytheism is tolerant, but monotheism is intolerant.” They emphasize the polytheistic religious view and worldview, which emphasizes mutuality and cooperation, could contribute to world peace. This is unlike the monotheistic religious view and worldview that exclude other people in a fundamentalist manner. Is this really appropriate to say? By considering the actual reality of polytheism and the exclusivism of the polytheistic worldview, I want to test the proposition, “Polytheism is tolerant, but monotheism is intolerant.”
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