1059kanri I think Japanese people have the idea, if not all of them, that any god or religion is something that can only exist if there are people who believe in it. I think, but when I was looking atSakunahime’s foreign impressions, I found something like “What kind of god needs people’s faith? I was impressed to see that this is the only idea of “monotheism”. 1059kanri I guess it means that God is the only absolute, whether people believe in Him or not!
asakawakoushi Article 1 of the “Gojoshiki Shikimoku” says, “Kami︀ increases in power through the respect of mankind, and mankind increases in fortune through the virtue of Kami︀. Gods without virtues are not to be respected. The medieval Japanese recognized that a god without virtue is not worthy of respect. asakawakoushi “A god without virtue” becomes an evil god who disturbs the peaceful life of the people by causing tari and wazawai. I would like you to consider the Yasukuni issue and others from this aspect.
天満宮を連想した
Tenmangu Shrine is dedicated to Sugawara Michizane, widely known in Japan as the god of learning. Sugawara Michizane was an aristocrat who was active in academics and politics, but later became feared as a “grudge spirit” because he was falsely accused of a crime and suffered a series of disasters after his death. Therefore, Tenmangu Shrine was built to appease his anger and honor him, and Michizane came to be revered as “Tenjin”.
The background of the Tenmangu shrine is a uniquely Japanese conception of God, in which “god” is thought to increase in majesty and power through the faith and respect of the people. In the case of Michizane, too, he was worshipped as a god to prevent his spirit from causing harm, and later he came to be revered as a god of learning as well. The idea that the existence of a deity is dependent on people’s faith is also expressed in the beliefs of Tenmangu Shrine.
This idea well illustrates the character of the Japanese Shinto faith, in which a person’s prayers and reverence determine the power of God, unlike the “one and only absolute God” of monotheism, which exists without the need for faith.
This page is auto-translated from /nishio/人の信仰を必要とする神 using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.