I am grateful for Shinto, for Buddhism and for Confucianism. I owe much to these faiths. Yet these three faiths utterly failed to minister to my heart’s deepest needs.
I was a pilgrim journeying upon a long road that had no turning. I was weary, I was footsore. I wandered through a dark and dismal world where tragedies were thick.
Buddhism teaches great compassion … but since the beginning of time, who has declared ‘this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins’?”
Islam, of course, proclaims the mercy of God. Each chapter of the Qur’an is introduced by the words “In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.”
But they do not tell of a costly and historic display of God’s mercy as portrayed by the cross and spoken of in each Gospel.
In Islam, Allah is merciful to the meritorious, those who pray, give alms, and fast in Ramadan.
In Christianity God is merciful to sinners not because of their good works but because of Christ’s sacrifice for them on the cross.
–Toyohiko Kagawa
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A brief biography of Kagawa is available at http://www.jimmcguiggan.com/sketches2.asp?id=67.
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Truth, Justice, and All-American Allergen-Free Apple Pie 
cool!
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Thank you!
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Loved this story of the Japanese convert and his comparison of the religions he had experienced. It had so much richness with such few words. I loved his testimony. Where in the world do you find such nuggets? You are good!!
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