Ray Moore, one of America's preeminent Japanologists and professor emeritus of history at Amherst College, has written a highly readable, short popular history on an interesting sidelight of Douglas MacArthur's approach as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers to the task of reforming Occupied Japan: his advocacy of Christianity. The naïve hope of MacArthur and American Christian leaders that Christian principles and values would come to play an important role in Japanese life reveals a gormlessness that is refreshing and stands in sharp contrast to their remorseless prosecution of the war until the Japanese unconditionally surrendered.
Professor Moore points out that MacArthur believed that “democracy could not exist without Christianity” (p. 139) because it was Christian principles coupled with the American experience that formed the “spiritual core [of democracy] that gave meaning to the formal institutions and political processes of a nation” (p. 54). This view, like MacArthur himself, had its roots in nineteenth-century American imperialism and resonated with President McKinley's belief that Christianity was necessary for colonizing the Philippines and civilizing and uplifting its peoples (p. 54). MacArthur was also convinced that “military conquest and control of Asian countries could succeed only if Christian values were an essential part of the effort. . . . Imposing Christianity on the Japanese people, in short, would justify American imperial control over them” (p. 139). In late 1945 MacArthur urged a visiting delegation from the Federal Council of Churches to send out missionaries because Japan suffered from a “spiritual vacuum,” which if it were not filled by Christianity would be filled by communism (pp. 40–41). Christianity was seen as a bulwark against communism.
While some of his subordinates disagreed with his advocacy of Christianity, President Truman expressed support for MacArthur's Christian actions. The president's open conflict with and ultimate dismissal of MacArthur in April 1951 “was caused by the general's insubordination and disrespectful behavior, not because Truman disagreed with MacArthur's policy of Christianizing Japan” (p. 140).
Within the history of Japanese Christianity, the Occupation period under MacArthur was, in fact, one of considerable growth and revival in terms of Christian numbers (even though Christians amounted to no more than 2 percent of the population); it saw increased Christian influence in education, and, at the individual level, some presence in politics—the socialist prime minister, Katayama Tetsu, was a Christian. However, while democracy and parliamentary government was revived, Japan did not become Christian.
Soldier of God is divided into eight chapters. Chapter 1 provides a useful summary of the history of Christianity in Japan. In looking at the impact of the American fire-bombing of Japan during the last stages of the war, Professor Moore concludes that “Americans caused much greater damage to Japan's Christian community than anything the Japanese government did” (p. 20). While the statement might be true in terms of loss of physical property, it must still be remembered that the Japanese government's wartime religious policies after 1937 did enormous harm to the Christian movement.
Chapter 2 deals with the wartime activities and views of American Christian missionary leaders in regard to the resumption of Christian missionary work in Japan after Japan's defeat.
Chapter 3 investigates the visit of a blue-ribbon American Christian delegation to Japan in late 1945 who not only met Japanese Christian leaders and leading secular politicians but also interviewed both MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito. The delegation recognized the need for American Christian help to rebuild destroyed Christian churches and schools in Japan and also the Japanese Christian desire for American missionaries to return.
Chapter 4 looks at MacArthur's support of Christianity and his encouragement of Christian missionary work. Missionaries were the first class of foreign personnel not attached to the Occupation who were allowed entry to Japan—a year and a half before businessmen were given entry (p. 63). By December 1950, 3,180 missionaries had been cleared to enter Japan. To some junior members of the Occupation, MacArthur's support of Christianity was viewed as being unfair to other Japanese religions and counterproductive in terms of giving support to the movement for democracy, as well as being in violation of the Potsdam Declaration. This opposition did not deter MacArthur.
Chapters 5 and 6 detail Christian efforts to save the emperor and the imperial family and Christianity. Professor Moore concludes that the imperial family used the appearance of embracing Christianity as a means of convincing MacArthur to protect the emperor and to ensure the continuation of the imperial institution (p. 141).
Chapter 7 looks at one of the concrete legacies of MacArthur's support for Christianity: the opening in 1953 of the International Christian University, which was created to help foster knowledge about the Christian way of life and democratic ideals.
Chapter 8 is simply a short conclusion. While MacArthur's hope that Japan would become Christian was not realized, Professor Moore does make a very reasonable suggestion that the provisions in Japan's postwar constitution, which made the emperor a symbol of the nation, were motivated in part by MacArthur's hope that the emperor would lead Japan to Christianity.
There are challenges enough for students of modern Japanese history that once in a while, it is pleasant to pick up a book such as Soldier of God that is not overly profound or too deeply researched but still is informative and also enjoyable to read.
