Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/348

272 spite of minor differences, they ought to be and are really "one."

Indeed, the Japanese converts are naturally much less sectarian than the missionaries, and can change their denominational affiliations without difficulty. The Japanese Protestants are coming nearer and nearer together by minimizing their differences and emphasizing their correspondences. For instance, the innate courtesy of Japanese Baptists makes them loath to insist on "close communion"; while with the Presbyterians and other Pedobaptists, "infant baptism" is unpopular. The Methodists, in their plan for a single church of all their branches, had to choose an ambiguous term for the title, instead of "Bishop," of their chief official. The Friends cannot emphasize their anti-military doctrine among a people liable to conscription; and though High-Church Episcopal missionaries may be exclusive, their Japanese believers enjoy co-operation with other Christians. There will eventually be developed a "Japonicized Christianity."

Christianity has already made an impression upon the commercial life of New Japan. The tremendous development of industry, trade, and commerce has required new business standards, and especially does it demand honesty and integrity. It is not infrequent, therefore, for companies and corporations to seek out young men trained in Christian schools, because they are most likely to be actuated by high ideals. The Sabbath, too, although Sunday