Conscience and Personality. a New Understanding of Conscience and Its Inculturation in Japanese Moral Theology | East Asian Pastoral Institute

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rovides much greater latitude for inculturation, and despite the usual caveats, has been generally left to its devices,

with rather interesting results. Sacramental and liturgical theology offer more illustrations, quantitatively and

ualitatively, of the vitality of inculturation as an intellectual movement, although there are official signs of late that

entral authority seems to now regret its past indulgence. Our author does not talk about the theory of inculturation

nd indeed says little about it as a theoretical justification of his project; he is entirely focused on the actual

ealization of a specific instance of inculturation. This is not without its theoretical significance, as in so doing he has

rovided us with a clear test case for measuring theory and method against a real product.

he significance of this book goes beyond that in yet another sense. One would expect that moral theology, being at

he cutting edge of the practical theologies, would have grown at a similar, if not a more accelerated pace. Far

eyond the Asian context there is admittedly little hope that it will move quicker with modern, postmodern, and post-Christian culture as interlocutors. That is to say, if inculturation looks towards contextualization, particularly of moral

raxis, it will gain little ground in the present climate of theology today. Without entering into the merits of that

evelopment, there are other ways for inculturation to pursue its agenda, such as through indigenization, a species

f localized systematization, through the recovery of more autochthonous understandings of key moral concepts or

he identification of footholds for local appropriation of the Christian theological tradition. By giving us a clear

resentation of the Japanese conscience and its potential Christian assimilation, Takeuchi contributes an atypical

Asian piece to the mosaic of the Catholic understanding of Christian conscience which has heretofore been filled,

lmost exclusively, with Western pieces. The contrast could not have been more glaring. Put in other terms,

akeuchi is not merely an essentially Western theologian doing moral theology with a quaint if endearing Oriental

ccent, he is doing Japanese moral theology in much the same way a Western moral theologian is expected to do

moral theology in his own local context. Takeuchi is theologizing on the same subject, without mimicking the

Western theologian, but in an inimitably Japanese fashion. And that, in essence, is what indigenous theologizing is

ll about.

ecause indigenous theology is about a particularly localized theology, this book will evidently be of greatest benefit

o Chinese and Japanese moralists, as it is they who can and will best appreciate the intricacies of the discussion

nd the fine distinctions being made within and among key concepts. It will surely help with the academic analysis of

onscience on its own terms from within Japanese culture, independently of and without reference to the Western

adition. In that sense, the expository chapters of the Western theological discussion serve as convenient reference

oints, reminding us of an intractable problem that authors working on inculturation constantly encounter, which is

hat of engaging multiple audiences at the same time. On one hand, the theologian of culture is writing for his/her

wn people, the majority of whom English is not a readily available medium; on the other hand, one is writing for the

enefit of professional peers for whom the Japanese idiom is inaccessible. Like other literature of this genre, this

ook suffers from a kind of cultural schizophrenia, which should make non-Japanese moralists more appreciative of

he efforts Takeuchi has undertaken to provide English readers this window into Japanese moral theology on the

ne hand, and justifiably cautious as to its reception among Japanese readers themselves who must by right remain

s primary critics.

he latter remark has in view nonprofessional audiences for whom this book may not prove too readable; in fact, a

apanese priest friend invited to be a reader and sounding board, confessed difficulty not only with the concepts as

nfamiliar, but also with the substance of certain arguments. This is not surprising and is in fact to be expected, first

ecause of the unfamiliarity of the laity with the professional discussion, and second because any culture for that

matter presents more than one specific and definitive view of such a basic reality as conscience. The book, this

eviewer is suggesting, can best test its findings against the perceptions of the very people they have been drawn

om and whom they must ultimately serve. The conventional wisdom among practitioners is that inculturation must

e as much a product of professional theologians as it is of ordinary laity. I have no doubt that professional moralists

will welcome this contribution; how it will be received by lay readers is less predictable.

With all that said, we can perhaps allow the author to give us a flavor of his contribution by taking a closer look at

Chapter 4 (Reexamination ofRyoshin in Japan). Traditional ryoshin, Takeuchi explains, was socio-ethical; it had a

ommunitarian reference, an element to be earnestly recovered in view of the collapse of community forms in

modern Japanese society. Not only doesryoshin have potentials for evangelization therewith; its own human

haracter establishes a common base with Western morality. Takeuchi elaborates on how he believes its Christianharacter can then be better appreciated by his fellow Japanese, or how the Word can be embodied through a

onsideration ofryoshin.

irst, ryoshin is an instance ofSitz im Leben. It is the compass by which humans can have an authentically human

xistence, because ryoshin treasures life. Ryoshin too helps us to understand life in dialogue, through its three

unctions: it acts as a norm of judgment of good and evil, it is an experience of remorse after a wrong act, and it has

religious dimension. One must try to be sincere to ryoshin, which is to say, among other things, to be pure and

nnocent. In a line of argument that revisionist and personalist accounts of conscience increasingly underline in

urrent Western theology, Takeuchi says that in a very real senseryoshin is in fact the person itself, as ryoshin is

orn of ones experience of being a person. Integrity is nothing more than knowing truth, loving beauty, willing


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oodness. Love is the ideal embodiment ofryoshin.

econd, Takeuchi continues, ryoshin is a relationship realized and experienced as transcendence and embodiment.

ranscendence is an internal reality, and embodiment of an external reality, ofryoshin; the former constitutes its

ignity, the latter its communality. Where Western transcendence tends to go beyond the personal in an ascending

ense, Eastern transcendence tends to the horizontal and submerging sense. The "knowing with" of conscience lies

n its anthropological transcendence, or relationality, a relationship experienced existentially, in brief as embodied.

ody is indispensable to holistic human maturity; it is part of knowledge in the biblical sense; it is involved in all our

xperiences, such as remorse. Due to its orientation to community, the better formed the ryoshin, the higher its

ense of the common good. Given the affinity of concepts, Takeuchi suggests, the Pauline image of the Church as

he Body of Christ should be readily intelligible even to non-Christians in Japan. Community members understandhat they are related to the center, that these relationships constitute the (moral) "order," and that guilt comes from

iolation or disregard of that communal order. All humans are to realize their worth in relationship to and with others;

n religious terms, they are to unify love of God and love of neighbor. Takeuchi explicitly warns foreigners against

eading the Japanese notions of "anthropological transcendence" as well as "religious transcendence" in reflexively

Western terms.

hird, ryoshin and Christianity can be understood through three aspects ofmakoto, a term which, the author

xplains, denotes more than a concept or value, as it is the process of cultivating the whole self. One realizes

neself, and becomes wise, by practicing makoto. The closest Christian notion that the author finds in order to

endermakoto more intelligible is that of holiness. The individual moral and/or ethical makoto aims to be just and/or

onest, and the goal is the good. The relational or aestheticmakoto aims at living gracefully/readily and aims at

eauty. The "religious" makoto involves purification and aims at participating in the transcendent. Stated

therwise, makoto as sincerity is embodied by simplicity, conviction, and human empathy. Makoto as reality

mbodies the Truth or the Way, in the world of the real, or the world of socio-ethical relationships. Makoto asntegrity is Transcendence or life itself.

One follows Takeuchi trustingly as he moves along the theological terrain. All this, he says, can connect with the

ohannine prologue where transcendence and embodiment become one in Jesus. Jesus becomes the embodiment

f Gods life and sincerity, just as those who reveal the Way in Asian history (for example, Confucius, Mencius, Lao

zu, Chuang Tzu) are the embodiment of the Way. Jesus embodied sincerity by fulfilling his word; he embodied

eality by living out his life with others in the world; he revealed who God is through the whole of his life. He taught

is disciples the same integrity and love through dialogue.

On the critical side Takeuchi points to two questions about makoto. One is about its universality, given that the

nside" (uchi) of the home is distinguished from the "outside" (soto) or other social realms such as company and

chool; makoto restricted to uchiis not universal. The second refers to its objectivity, given the Japanese view that

he offer ofmakoto takes place between the partners; the inclusion of a third party as objective condition of the

ovenant, such as in Christ-ianity, is foreign to Japanesemakoto.

Among the merits of the book as text, at least three can be underlined. Conscious that his audience is both primarily

is own people and secondarily other observers, Takeuchi announces at every step what he is about to do. The

oreign reader is assisted moreover by Takeuchis succinct explanations of terms and the historical contextualization

f thinkers, texts, and ideas, plus a very helpful glossary at the end. Second, the author distinguishes philosophy

nd theology quite sharply, and justifiably so, as inculturation at this point has to do more with philosophy than with

heology, at least in the classical mode. Finally the author connects explicitly with the tradition, in order to emphasize

hat inculturation does not in principle nor uncritically reject it in an ethnocentric way, and in order to highlight the

onvergences and divergences between the traditional and the emergent account. To this reviewer, an alternative

rocedure would have been to make the direct and simple affirmation that ryoshin is the Japanese equivalent of that

uman reality which the West chose to define as conscience, and from there proceed to explain how the Western

ccount differs from it. But that is a preference of presentation, and Takeuchis succeeds just as well. As this work

hows, it is quite possible for Asians to define themselves authentically not so much against the standards and

xpectations of the West as against the common standards of humanity as such. Which is why conscience is the

est starting point for any attempt at moral inculturation as it goes to the very heart of morality.

Well beyond this book, of course, one can anticipate questions about the weaknesses of the virtue approach,

epresented by the stream of conscience rather than that of law, even in the West. What weaknesses would

Orientals find in their moral approach, heavily and almost exclusively marked as it is by the tradition of conscience?

he need for a self-critical attitude is evident here and this reviewer is confident that they (Orientals) will almost

ertainly be addressed by the author in his future researches. Evidence of that can be found in his discreet

ivergence from Mencius position that human beings are good by nature, as this makes the explanation of moral

rror and even moral evil problematic. He poses other questions: how does one critically determinemakoto for

neself and for others? By what tests or criteria does one come to judgment on such issues? How does this

pproach interface with the Western emphasis on justice, especially in social matters?


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We, the Asian theological community, are indebted to Takeuchi for allowing it to glimpse its theological and moral

onnectedness/difference with the Japanese and other Asians as well. We hope that he will not be the last to help

s define the configuration of that elusive characteristic we call "Oriental," dismissed so casually in the past by less

iscerning minds. This text is to be recommended to kindred spirits of inculturation in general, but more specially to

hose in the same field, as it is a truly remarkable contribution to cultural theology. It certainly provides a model of

what can be done in inculturation and how to do so responsibly and well.

Dionisio Miranda, S.V.D
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Conscience and Personality. a New Understanding of Conscience and Its Inculturation in Japanese Moral Theology | East Asian Pastoral Institute