@article{oai:icu.repo.nii.ac.jp:00004046,
 author = {柴田, 真希都},
 issue = {46},
 journal = {人文科学研究 : キリスト教と文化},
 month = {Mar},
 note = {Characteristics and Historical Significance of Uchimura Kanzo’s Study
of the Hebrew Prophets: With Aid from Robert N. Bellah

　The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it aims to clarify the
characteristics of the study of the Hebrew Prophets by Uchimura Kanzo,
who is called “a prophet in the modern era” both in Japan and abroad.
Second, this paper also attempts to show the significance of his study on
the Prophets in the history of Japanese thought in the light of Robert N.
Bellah’s concept “prophetic individualism”.
　In Section 1, I examine this concept of Bellah. About half a century ago
he introduced this concept in his discussion on “political loyalty” and “the
resistance to power” in the history of Japan’s modernization. More
attention needs to be paid to the implications of the fact that, at the end of
this discussion, Bellah gives special regard to Uchimura and his role in
Japan’s history of “prophetic individualism”. In Section 2, I turn my
discussion to Uchimura’s study of the Prophets. Its aim is to show that his
presentation of each Prophet’s personality and actions is quite multifaceted
in approach and rich in content. Section 3 presents three notable
images of the Prophets, which are found in Uchimura’s study. Those
images are: Prophets as revolutionaries or progressivists; Prophets as “the
friend of humankind” in the sense that they severely criticized people for
their unmoral behavior; and, Prophets as the instrument of God as a result
of being called by Him against their own will.
　In the following two sections I examine Uchimura’s political and social
thought by focusing upon (1) his critique of patriotism and (2) his pacifist
thought; both of which are closely linked to his study of the Prophets.
Section 4 considers Uchimura’s critique of his contemporaries’ idea of
patriotism and his own alternative to it. My aim is to explain the reasons
why he regarded the patriotism of the Prophets as the best alternative for
leading each nation to a morally right direction. In Section 5, I give the
examples of how Uchimura’s interpretation of the images of the Prophets
in the Old Testament is related to his analysis of peace issues. These
examples prove, I argue, that in his pacifist thought the images of his
Prophets constitute not only the models for him to be followed in order to
show an absolute faith in God, but also the starting points to discover what
human beings must do as their duty in this real world.
　In Section 6, the relation of Uchimura’s study of the Prophets with his
social realism is examined on the basis of my discussion above. Referring
to Bellah’s concept of “prophetic individualism” again, I demonstrate that
Uchimura was well aware of the limits of human nature but, at the same
time, founded his hope on the historical potentials which he detected in
“the courage to stand utterly alone” from the Prophets in his study. This
recognition played a key role, I argue, in Uchimura’s realistic judgment of
social situations in his contemporary period. The virtues shown by the
Prophets as well as their courage to fulfill their own duties led Uchimura
to follow the footsteps of those predecessors in his own public life. This is
one of the most significant legacies that he left in Japan’s history of ethics.},
 pages = {(117)--(163)},
 title = {内村鑑三における預言者研究の特色とその思想史的意義──ロバート・Ｎ・ベラーの議論をてがかりに──},
 year = {2015}
}