In Depth:  Roger Stevens

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Letter

First missionaries in Korea
Roger Stevens
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015

Dear Sir,

It was interesting to read the article about Andrea Williams’s recent visit to South Korea in the May issue. However the statement ‘The Koreans recognise that they owe their faith and the flourishing of their nation to the British missionaries who brought the gospel to them’ is misleading.

Buddhism in the UK

Buddhism in the UK
Roger Stevens

A half-day conference in London on October 17, entitled ‘Buddhist thinking in the UK — challenges and opportunities for the church’, encouraged people to become more informed.

Buddhism is now ‘a culture shaper’, said Dr. Hugh Kemp. There are Buddhist ethnic minorities and Buddhist centres in the UK, but there are now also attempts to develop a British style of Buddhism. Even though the numbers of converts — and there are Christians converting — may be low, there are many others, including non-religious people, who are drawn to aspects of Buddhism.

Buddhist priest meets Jesus

Buddhist priest meets Jesus
Roger Stevens

The life of Hirokazu Matsuoka was transformed when he took a trip from Japan to South Korea

Matsuoka was born a son of a Japanese Tendai Buddhist priest in 1962.

Jesus in Japan
Roger Stevens

In May 1859, the first Protestant missionary, Episcopalian John Liggins, set foot in Japan and by the end of the year seven missionaries, all American, had arrived. Catholic missionaries also came.

150 years ago Japan was still a feudal society ruled by a shogun with lords (daimyo) and knights (samurai) as well as peasant farmers, artisans and merchants. The Emperor lived in Kyoto but had minimal political influence. Buddhism and native Shinto (‘the way of the gods’) combined with ancestral veneration to make a unique religious blend, while Confucianism had a strong influence on society. Only five years earlier a treaty had been signed with America to open the doors slightly to the outside world. For over 200 years Japan’s seclusion had been virtually complete; no foreigner could enter Japan, except for a few Dutch and Chinese traders on a tiny island near the city of Nagasaki. Any Japanese who left the shores of his country, even if by accident, was forbidden to return on pain of death.

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