Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Monograph | A Failing Mission?
Chapter | 4 • Saving Souls in Japan
4 • Saving Souls in Japan
Abstract
This chapter discusses the sixteenth-century Jesuit vocabulary of conversion, in Asia and Europe, in light of the importance attributed to saving one’s own soul through the work of saving other people. It then considers the history of the practice of mass baptism in the Japanese mission, and the tension existing between the expectations of the intervention of divine grace, the catechisation carried out by the missionaries, and the outcomes that the Jesuits could observe in the Christian Japanese communities. By analysing the different attitudes that Cabral had towards the conversion of elite and poor Japanese people, it also shows how he believed less and less that his work as missionary could contribute to his own salvation.
Submitted: June 21, 2023 | Accepted: Sept. 25, 2023 | Published Jan. 31, 2024 | Language: en
Copyright © 2024 Linda Zampol D’Ortia. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-793-7/004
