William Imbrie: Difference between revisions

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==Missionary in Japan==
==Missionary in Japan==


Imbrie arrived in Japan in 1875, where he became a professor of New Testament Exegesis at the [[Meiji Gakuin University]] in Tokyo.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Alumni William (Miller Kisselman) Imbrie, D.D. | journal=The Princeton Seminary Bulletin | volume=23 | number=2 | year=1929 | page=572}}</ref> He also served as the president of the Japanese Book and Tract Society. Among other things, he translated the [[Westminster Confession]] into Japanese.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Warfield |first=Benjamin |year=1902 |title=The Printing of the Westminster Confession |journal=The Presbyterian and Reformed Review |volume=13 |issue=50 |pages=270|accessdate=January 5, 2012 }}</ref>
Imbrie arrived in Japan in 1875, where he became a professor of New Testament Exegesis at [[Meiji Gakuin University]]<ref>{{cite journal | title=Alumni William (Miller Kisselman) Imbrie, D.D. | journal=The Princeton Seminary Bulletin | volume=23 | number=2 | year=1929 | page=572}}</ref> and later served as senior missionary in Tokyo. He was also the president of the Japanese Book and Tract Society and prepared materials to help Westerners learn the Japanese language. He was instrumental in working for Christian unity in Japan and helped shape what became the Church of Christ in Japan.


In the so-called "Imbrie Affair" of 1890, Japanese students assaulted Imbrie during a baseball game. Imbrie arrived late to a game between students at the First Higher School of Tokyo and Meiji Gakuin University, climbing over a hedge rather than walking through the gate to gain admittance. This action angered the supporters of the First Higher School, some of whom beat him until he fled from the field.<ref>{{cite news |title=Missionaries Assaulted in Japan |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 15, 1890}}</ref> While the press likely exaggerated the severity of the beating, the incident inflamed public opinion in the expatriate community.<ref>Donald Roden (2001). "Baseball and the Quest for National Dignity in Meiji Japan," page 292. In John R. Dreifort (Ed.), ''Baseball History from Outside the Lines: A Reader'', Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001.</ref> The American embassy complained about the incident, leading to an official apology from representatives of the Japanese government. As Robert Whiting relates, "foreign ministry officials, ranking Ichiko representatives, and several of the students involved paid a visit to Professor Imbrie's residence to beg his forgiveness, which the good professor granted."<ref> {{cite book |title=You Gotta Have Wa |last=Whiting |first=Robert |year=2009 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=9780307455970 |page=31 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-hfSgvW6diwC&pg=PA36 |accessdate=January 5, 2012}}</ref>
In the so-called "Imbrie Affair" of 1890, Japanese students assaulted Imbrie during a baseball game. Imbrie arrived late to a game between students at the First Higher School of Tokyo and Meiji Gakuin University, climbing over a hedge rather than walking through the gate to gain admittance. This action angered the supporters of the First Higher School, some of whom beat him until he fled from the field.<ref>{{cite news |title=Missionaries Assaulted in Japan |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 15, 1890}}</ref> While the press likely exaggerated the severity of the beating, the incident inflamed public opinion in the expatriate community.<ref>Donald Roden (2001). "Baseball and the Quest for National Dignity in Meiji Japan," page 292. In John R. Dreifort (Ed.), ''Baseball History from Outside the Lines: A Reader'', Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001.</ref> The American embassy complained about the incident, leading to an official apology from representatives of the Japanese government. As Robert Whiting relates, "foreign ministry officials, ranking Ichiko representatives, and several of the students involved paid a visit to Professor Imbrie's residence to beg his forgiveness, which the good professor granted."<ref> {{cite book |title=You Gotta Have Wa |last=Whiting |first=Robert |year=2009 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=9780307455970 |page=31 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-hfSgvW6diwC&pg=PA36 |accessdate=January 5, 2012}}</ref>

Revision as of 17:48, 9 January 2012

William Imbrie
William (Miller Kisselman) Imbrie
Born1 January 1845 (1845-01)
Rahway, New Jersey
Died4 August 1928(1928-08-04) (aged 83)
Evanston, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Known forChristian Missionary work in Japan

William Imbrie (1 January 1845 - 4 August 1928) was an American missionary to Japan.

Early life

William Imbrie was a 1865 graduate of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and a 1870 graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary. He was ordained as a Presbyterian pastor in 1873.[1]

Missionary in Japan

Imbrie arrived in Japan in 1875, where he became a professor of New Testament Exegesis at Meiji Gakuin University[2] and later served as senior missionary in Tokyo. He was also the president of the Japanese Book and Tract Society and prepared materials to help Westerners learn the Japanese language. He was instrumental in working for Christian unity in Japan and helped shape what became the Church of Christ in Japan.

In the so-called "Imbrie Affair" of 1890, Japanese students assaulted Imbrie during a baseball game. Imbrie arrived late to a game between students at the First Higher School of Tokyo and Meiji Gakuin University, climbing over a hedge rather than walking through the gate to gain admittance. This action angered the supporters of the First Higher School, some of whom beat him until he fled from the field.[3] While the press likely exaggerated the severity of the beating, the incident inflamed public opinion in the expatriate community.[4] The American embassy complained about the incident, leading to an official apology from representatives of the Japanese government. As Robert Whiting relates, "foreign ministry officials, ranking Ichiko representatives, and several of the students involved paid a visit to Professor Imbrie's residence to beg his forgiveness, which the good professor granted."[5]

Imbrie played a minor diplomatic role during the Russo-Japanese War. The commencement of hostilities in 1904 unsettled Christian missionaries. "At the outbreak of the war between Russia and Japan,” reported Galen Fisher, national secretary of the Y.M.C.A. Union of Japan, “fanatical or ignorant Japanese Buddhists started the slogan, ‘Buddhism vs. Christianity,’ which boded no good to missionaries and the Christian cause in Japan.”[6] Later that year, Count Katsura Tarō held an audience with Imbrie to articulate Japan's rationale for the war. In the interview, Katsura denied that any religious motive was at work. "With differences of race or religion…it has nothing to do; and it is carried on in the interests of justice, humanity, and the commerce and civilization of the world."[7] The dissemination of this interview paradoxically cast Japan as a defender of Christian civilization against Russian barbarism.[8]

In 1909, Imbrie was awarded the Fourth Degree of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government.[9] Imbrie also served as the delegate of the American Presbyterian Mission in Japan (along with Ibuka Kajinosuke) at the 1910 World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.[10]

Legacy

Imbrie's former residence at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo has been designated the "Imbrie Pavilion" in his honor.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Alumni William (Miller Kisselman) Imbrie, D.D.". The Princeton Seminary Bulletin. 23 (2): 572. 1929.
  2. ^ "Alumni William (Miller Kisselman) Imbrie, D.D.". The Princeton Seminary Bulletin. 23 (2): 572. 1929.
  3. ^ "Missionaries Assaulted in Japan". The New York Times. July 15, 1890.
  4. ^ Donald Roden (2001). "Baseball and the Quest for National Dignity in Meiji Japan," page 292. In John R. Dreifort (Ed.), Baseball History from Outside the Lines: A Reader, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001.
  5. ^ Whiting, Robert (2009). You Gotta Have Wa. New York: Random House. p. 31. ISBN 9780307455970. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  6. ^ Fisher, Galen (1904). "Religion and the War in Japan". The Union Seminary Magazine. 16 (1). Union Theological Seminary in Virginia: 71. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  7. ^ "The Japanese Prime Minister on the War". The Outlook. July 9, 1904.
  8. ^ Joseph M. Henning (2007). "White Mongols? The war and American discourses on race and religion," page 155. In Rotem Kowner (Ed.), The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War, London: Routledge, 2007.
  9. ^ "Alumni William (Miller Kisselman) Imbrie, D.D.". The Princeton Seminary Bulletin. 23 (2): 572. 1929.
  10. ^ Stanley, Brian (2009). The World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. p. 232. ISBN 9780802863607. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  11. ^ "Imbrie Pavilion". Retrieved January 4, 2012.

Bibliography

Books

Further reading

Monograph
  • Nakajima, Kōji (2012) Kindai nihon no gaikō to senkyōshi. Tōkyō : Yoshikawakōbunkan. ISBN 9784642038096.
Fiction
  • Hunt, Laird (2004). "Imbrie". Bombay Gin. 30. Boulder: Naropa Press.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Imbrie&oldid=470469448"