Many passages in Christian scripture adjure believers to follow God rather than the state, says Miyata (emeritus law, Tohoku U., Sendai, Japan), but most influential has been the passage in Paul's letter to the Romans. He examines the role that the notion and the passage have played in relations between Protestant Christianity and the state in Japan since the modern era was inaugurated by the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789. His topics include the Protestant missionaries, Christianity in the Meiji period, Taisho democracy, Christianity during the establishment of the emperor-system fascism, and in the midst of the Pacific War. No publication data is cited for the original Ken'i to Fukuju. Vanderbilt is an American historian of modern Japan. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)