I am not too fond of Kichijiro, but he makes a good point when he says, "Why has Deus Sama imposed this suffering upon us". He also looks at Rodrigues and says, "Father, what evil have we done". Kichijiro is a coward, but he pleads a good case. Why are you silent God? Rodrigues describes that it has been twenty years since the persecution against Christians broke out, so where are you God? Christians are being tortured by being boiled, hung upside down over a pit, and far worse. The people are dying as martyrs for the faith, so why is God silent through this?
I am interested to see how this all plays out. Will Rodrigues end up denying his faith like father Ferreira? One cannot say what one would do until faced with the consequences before them. The priests have endured a lot to arrive in Japan, but will they have the faith it takes to endure endless torture until they apostatize? Would I?
I responded to Abbie George's post.
I definitely agree about not liking Kichijiro too much and about not knowing what we would do if we were faced with these situations, but I find myself thinking about that a lot as I read this book... I like to think my faith would be strong enough to endure anything, but this book definitely makes me think harder and more explicitly about what exactly that could mean.
ReplyDeleteI was noticing these same things as well - the Japanese Christians and missionaries are questioning the promised presence of God. The way Rodrigues describes his grief and lack of comfort through the persecution confuses me, because we are to be comforted through the faithfulness of God. So why is His presence not seen or acknowledged through it all?
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