1. Suffering is Not Beautiful.
Silence follows two17th-century Jesuit priests, Rodrigues and Garrpe, as they travel to Japan to find what became of their mentor, Father Ferreira. Rumor has it that Ferreira apostatized—that is, denied his faith. Given the time, such a thing is not unthinkable: Japan was incredibly hostile toward Christianity then, and to be Christian was a life-threatening decision.
Still, when Rodrigues and Garrpe arrive, they find that the Church, while persecuted, is still alive and quite robust underground. People continue to worship, and Rodrigues and Garrpe—as Catholic priests—are treated almost as gods themselves.
But it’s not long before Japanese authorities come to uproot this fledgling faith community. And when three believers refuse to insult and mock the Virgin Mary, they’re sentenced to a terrible death: They’re tied to crosses and placed on a rocky shore, so their heads will be just above water at high tide. They’ll die like this, battered by the waves and exposed to the elements. In a letter back home, Rodrigues writes, “God heard their prayers as they died. But did He hear their screams?”
It’s a haunting line. I think that sometimes we Christians imagine a martyr’s death is a glorious death. Some in Shūsaku Endō’s original book even seem to relish it. When we suffer for our faith, the thinking goes, we mirror the suffering of Christ. And, as such, suffering must be beautiful, as Christ is beautiful.
But as we watch Silence, watch so many believers choose death over the betrayal of their beliefs, we see those deaths through Rodrigues’ eyes.
“I myself do not quite understand,” Rodrigues says in Endō’s book. “Only that today, when for the glory of God Mokichi and Ichizo moaned, suffered and died, I cannot bear the monotonous sound of the dark sea gnawing at the shore.”
Suffering is not part of God’s design. It is part of the fallen world we live in, yes, and sometimes it is necessary. But it is, perhaps, nothing we should embrace or even desire. While we can celebrate and honor the martyrs of our faith, the fact that they had to suffer and die for that faith is always a tragedy.
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