SOURCE: Wills, Elizabeth. “Christ as Eternal Companion: A Study in the Christology of Shusaku Endo.” Scottish Journal of Theology 45, no. 1 (1992): 85-100.

In the following essay, Wills explores the role of Christ and the theme of suffering in Endō's works.

In his book A Life of Jesus Shusaku Endo talks of Jesus' compassion for those who were suffering in terms of his ‘suffering with them, carrying their burdens with them, becoming an eternal companion for them’.¹ In several of his novels this understanding of Christ as one who suffers alongside humanity is given extraordinary dramatic power. The image of eternal companion is not explicitly discussed but it seems to underlie many of the themes which Endo employs, providing a remarkably versatile vehicle for his creative exploration of how God's power in Christ can transfigure human lives, bringing the possibility of hope and re-creation.

Christ is understood as the...