Tenrikyo theology

The designation kami was broader than the Abrahamic notion of God, as it could be applied to any object that possessed divine power or inspired awe, such as animals, trees, places, and people.

Some Tenrikyo authorities suggest that two of these figures, Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto and Omotari-no-Mikoto, represent tsukihi, or more precisely the duality tsuki-sama and hi-sama.

The historical sources written during Nakayama Miki's lifetime and in the years following her death suggest a number of other appellations of God.

In early attempts to obtain religious sanctions from the Yoshida Administrative Office of Shinto and a Shingon Buddhist temple, the name of God was recorded as Tenrin-Ō-Myōjin (天輪王明神) and Tenrin-Ō-Kōsha (転輪王講社) respectively.

[4] The doctrine claims that the changes in God's names in the Ofudesaki, from kami to tsukihi to oya, were made in accordance with the spiritual growth of the early followers.

[5] The Ofudesaki verses name jūyō (自由) or jūyōjizai (自由自在), translated as "omnipotence" or "free and unlimited workings," as a significant attribute of God.

This omnipotence governs not only the order of the universe, but also events in the natural world, such as rainstorms and earthquakes, and in one's personal life, such as dreams and diseases.

On the other hand, the soul, through the process of denaoshi (出直し, "to make a fresh start"), takes on a new body lent from God the Parent and is reborn into this world.

The recognition of the divine providence at work should lead to an attitude of tannō (たんのう "joyous acceptance" in Tenrikyo gloss), a Japanese word that indicates a state of satisfaction.

Tannō is a way of settling the mind – it is not to merely resign oneself to one's situation, but rather to actively “recognize God’s parental love in all events and be braced by their occurrence into an ever firmer determination to live joyously each day.”[18] In other words, Tenrikyo emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive inner disposition, as opposed to a disposition easily swayed by external circumstance.

[21] The creation narrative of Tenrikyo, which followers refer to as the "Truth of Origin" (元の理 moto no ri), explains Nakayama Miki's understanding of how God created the first prototypes of human beings and developed them over many years.

In the end she never approved any of the manuscripts, so her followers did not regard them as canonical in the same way as the scriptures – namely the Ofudesaki, Mikagura-uta, and Osashizu.

[23] In the latter half of the twentieth century, scholars began to publish interpretations of the creation narrative based on various disciplines such as ethnology, cosmology, philosophy, comparative mythology, psychology, and biology.

In the following decade, others would major in religious studies at Tokyo Imperial University, such as Ueda Yoshinaru (1931), Nakayama Yoshikazu (1932), Nagao Hiroumi (1935), and Moroi Yoshinori (1938).

[29] In the several years following World War II, further research and institutional development allowed for the emergence of Tenrikyo theology.

[33] Moroi Yoshinori (諸井慶徳, 1915–1961)[34] first studied philosophy of religion at Tokyo Imperial University, writing his undergraduate thesis on Max Scheler.

[36] One of his most notable works of academic research is his doctoral dissertation, Shūkyō shinpishugi hassei no kenkyū: toku ni Semu-kei chōetsushinkyō o chūshin to suru shūkyō gakuteki kōsatsu ("A study of the development of religious mysticism: A religious-studies perspective centering on Semitic monotheism"), which was posthumously published by Tenri University in 1966.

[37] Another notable work, Shūkyōteki shutaisei no ronri ("The logic of religious identity"), was left unfinished at his death, but it was completed by younger Tenrikyo scholars and eventually published in 1991.

"Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto" god is the umgreifend Deity, both pantheistic and theistic, both immanent and transcendent.Tenrikyo theologians have focused on subfields of study within Tenrikyo theology.

Scriptural studies is based on contributions of Nakayama Shozen, Moroi Yoshinori, and Fukaya Tadamasa, and more recent contributors to this subfield include Nakajima Hideo, Yamamoto Kunio, Serizawa Shigeru, and Sawai Yuichi.