Priest 1 Colin W. Priest Philosophy of God and Religion Dr.

Idziak Analytical Essay #4: Deep River

The book Deep River by Shusaku Endo portrays the relationship that other-than-Christian religions have with Western Christianity; it shows Christianity as thinking it is superior to all others which causes division with other religions. The book depicts God as having the attributes of love, omnipotence, omnipresence, mercy, and immanence in the universe and Gods nature is maternal in character. Christian and other-than-Christian religious are portrayed as being opposite and conflicting with each other. Otsu remarked to Mitsuko that he could not understand the need that Western Christians have for the exact, measurable answer for everything, I cant help but think of the clarity and logic of the way Europeans think, but it seems to me as an Asian that theres something they have lost sight of with their excessive clarity and their overabundance of logic, and I just cant go along with it. Their lucid logic and their way of explaining everything in such clear-cut terms sometimes even causes me pain, (Deep River, page 117). Otsu cannot seem to grasp the clear boundaries that Western Christianity places on their conception of God. The Christian belief is seen as having a rank for ordering all living things, However lucid and logical it may be, in European Christianity there is a rank ordering of all living things, (Deep River, page 118). Otsu, on the other hand, favors a more personal and relational conception of God. Even though Otsu is studying to be a priest, he brings the other-than-Christian mentality to his understanding of God in Western Christianity. His idea of God causes a tension between him

Priest 2 and the Christianity, and the Christian Church believes that Otsus way of thinking is heretical in nature. One point of contention between Otsu and the Western Christian Church is Otsus lack of distinction for God. Where the Christian Church sees God as having boundaries, Otsu sees God as being known many different ways from other religions. Western Christians attitude towards the other-than-Christian religions are that of looking down on them. While Otsu is being questioned by the authorities in the Church, he says, God has many different faces. I dont think God exists exclusively in the churches and chapels in Europe. I think he is also among the Jews and the Buddhists and the Hindus, (Deep River, page 121). European Christianitys relationship with other-than-Christian religious is portrayed as Christianity believing that all truth lies with it and that other religions must completely conform to their standard conception of who God is and what God does. Christianity is portrayed as demanding all other religions to completely abandon whatever conception they hold of God and to take up the European idea of God instead. Otsu believes that God can be found truthfully in all other religions, not just the Christian religion, Why is it that my brethren have to look down on the followers of other religions and feel a subtle sense of superiority in their hearts? I feel the existence of my Onion with the Jews and the Muslims. He is everywhere, (Deep River, page 124). Otsu sees no religion as being superior to another but sees in the Christians a sense of superiority in their thinking. He believes that Christians believe they are higher in rank than any other religion. But Otsu sees the many faces of God is shown in every religion and culture, not just to one. This leads to a struggle in the relationship between Christian and other-than-Christian religions because the Christian religion sees itself as having the fullest understanding of God while other-than-Christian religions believe that the truth of God can be found everywhere. One concept of Gods nature for other-than-Christian religions is Gods omnipresence.

Priest 3 The omnipresence of God is displayed in Otsus letter, The number of Jews here beside the Sea of Galilee is overpowering, but there is also Christians and Muslims living hereI have found my Onion dwelling amongst them, (Deep River, page 124). Otsu recognizes that God is present to people that are other-than-Christian and he sees that God works in these peoples lives just as God works in the lives of Christians. Again, Otsu writes, I feel the existence of my onion within the Jews and the Muslims. He is everywhere, (Deep River, page 124). He recognizes that God is present to all people and in all places. The differences in the concept of God that Christian and other-than-Christian religions have leads to a different emphasis on the attributes of God and Gods nature. An important characteristic of God is love. Deep River shows God in other-than-Christian religions as being loving and caring in Gods involvement with the universe, This Onion is an entity that performs the labours of love, (Deep River, page 64). The other-than-Christian religions in Japanese culture see God as being an intimately caring Being that is very concerned with the universe. This conception of God is a more maternal in character because it shows the love and tenderness that God shows towards the entities in the universe, My mother told me all about the person you call my Onion, and she taught me that this Onion was a vastly more powerful accumulation of this warmth- in other words, love itselfWhat lay at the source of my mothers warmth was a portion of the love of my Onion, (Deep River, page 119). In addition to being loving, God is also viewed as being a God who suffers with us. Otsu remarks that when he goes through trials and hardships he know that God is with him and knows his suffering, when I suffer alone, I can feel the smiling presence of my Onion, who knows all my trials. And Just as he told the travelers on the road to Emmaus when he walked beside them, he said to me, Come, follow me, (Deep River, page 119). God is not a

Priest 4 distant and uninterested God for Otsu, rather, God is intimately caring and suffers with us in our trials and asks us to follow him for Otsus conception. God is shown to be powerful enough to take evil things and turn them into something good. Gods ability to take something negative and turn it to something positive is an indication of Gods omnipotence since God can turn a bad situation around to something good, I think that evil lurks within good, and that good things lie hidden within evil as well. Thats the very reason God can wield his magic. He made use even of my sins and turned me towards salvation, (Deep River, page 65). Even though Otsu does not know how God can do it, God still has the power to take evil that people do and use it to turn them towards salvation. A characteristic that works with omnipotence is omnipresence for other-than-Christian religions. Otsu sees God as being immanent in the universe, God is not so much an existence as a force. This Onion is an entity that performs the labors of love, (Deep River, page 64). His conception of God is that God is present as an active force in the world which seeks to bring about love. God is not a distant, calculated and clearly defined entity that is transcendent as well as immanent in the universe, You [Otsu] dont make distinctions between anything, they insist. You dont discriminate clearly. Thats not how God is, (Deep River, page 65). Otsus lack of distinction and boundaries for God as compared to the Western conception is also shown in Otsu referring to God as an Onion for Mitsuko, We can call Him Tomato, or even Onion if you prefer, (Deep River, page 63). This idea of God as the Onion highlights the deep layers of God. As one would peel back the layers of an onion to get to the center, one finds more differences and similarities between the layers. Otsus conception of God is that God has many faces, God has many different faces. I dont think God exists exclusively in the churches and the chapels of

Priest 5 Europe, (Deep River, page 121). The many faces of God for Otsu is comparable to the many layers of an onion. In Conclusion, Deep River displays Christianity as believing that it is superior to all other religions and that its conception of God is the only correct way, whereas Otsu sees God everywhere and that God is actively involved with all people and religions. His conception of God is of a loving and caring God who has direct connected with the world. God knows the suffering and pain that people endure and Otsu believes that God suffers with us when we suffer.