Editing Japan Ecclesia of Christ

The {{Nihongo|'''Japan Ecclesia of Christ'''|日本キリスト召団|Nihon Kirisuto Shōdan}} is an independent Japanese church that was founded by [[Koike Tasuo]] (小池辰雄) in 1940. Koike Tatsuo was born in 1904 and educated in [[Tokyo Imperial University]]. He became attracted to Christianity as a young man as a result of attending the [[Bible]] lectures of [[Uchimura Kanzo|Uchimura Kanzō]], the well-known founder of the [[Nonchurch movement]]. After his conversion, he attended a Nonchurch [[Bible study (Christian)|Bible study]] group led by Takeshi Fujii, one of Uchimura's disciples, for a period of five years (1925–1930).<ref>The collected works of Koike Tatsuo, 10 volumes (小池辰雄著作集, 全十卷)</ref> in 1940 Koike established his own independent Bible study group based on the Nonchurch tradition. Over the next twelve decades, Koike's circle of influence widened and he eventually organized twelve groups around the country.

Although rooted in the Nonchurch movement, Koike became very critical of Uchimura and the "narrow [[intellectualism]]" of his disciples. He argued that both transplanted churches and nonchurch Christianity were too conceptual in orientation. What people need is ''life'', not just abstract ''teaching''.<ref>Tokyo: The Koike Tatsuo Publications Committee (小池辰雄著刊作会, 1988)</ref> This interpretation of Christianity was deeply influenced by Koike's experience of [[baptism of the Holy Spirit|spirit baptism]] in 1950, while participating in a special evangelistic meeting with [[Teshima Ikuro|Teshima Ikurō]], the charismatic founder of the [[Makuya|Original Gospel movement]].

==Notes and references==
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==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090428203501/http://www.keisenjyuku.com/html/christshoudan.html Nihon Kirisuto Shōdan]

{{Christianity in Japan}}
{{Japanese Churches}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Japan Ecclesia Of Christ}}
[[Category:Christian denominations founded in Japan]]
[[Category:1940 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Christian new religious movements]]