Professor from International Christian University in Tokyo to Lecture October 29 at Princeton Seminary on Japanese Christian Reformer Toyohiko Kagawa

Princeton, NJ, October 11, 2007–Dr. Anri Morimoto, professor in the Division of Humanities at the International Christian University in Mitaka, Tokyo, will deliver the Toyohiko Kagawa Lecture at Princeton Seminary. Titled “The Forgotten Prophet: Rediscovering Toyohiko Kagawa for Japan and America Today,” the lecture will take place on Monday, October 29 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Lounge of the Mackay Campus Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Toyohiko Kagawa (1888–1960), a social reformer and Christian convert, was educated at the Presbyterian College in Tokyo and at Princeton Theological Seminary. After his studies he became an evangelist and social worker in the slums of Kobe. He was a leader in the Japanese labor movement, helping found the Federation of Labour (1918), the Farmer’s Union (1921), and the Anti-War League (1928). After the Second World War, Kagawa was a leader in the women's suffrage movement, and helped with the process of the democratization of Japan. He wrote numerous books, including the autobiographical novel Before the Dawn (1920).

In 1979 Morimoto received his B.A. degree from Japan’s International Christian University, where he currently teaches, his Th.M. degree from the Tokyo Union Theological Seminary in 1982, and his Ph.D. degree in systematic theology from Princeton Seminary. Morimoto has since authored six books and coauthored sixteen books. The topics of his writings include interfaith understanding, post-pluralism from a Japanese perspective, soteriology, ecumenism, and the theologian Jonathan Edwards.

Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812, the first seminary established by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. It is the largest Presbyterian Seminary in the country, with more than 700 students in seven graduate degree programs.

For more information about the lecture series, visit http://www.ptsem.edu/lectureships/index.php or call the Communications/Publications Office at 609.497.7760.