It was on the Feast of Transfiguration of the Lord, August 6, 1945, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan.
The Transfiguration of the Lord is what Christians place eschatological hope on, as it points to the return of Christ in glory (Revelation 19:11-16; cf. Daniel 7:13-14). However, in 1945, this feast day turned into a day of mass massacre and the beginning of unfolding suffering and death for years to follow.
Some juxtapose the Transfiguration of the Lord to the instantaneous transformation of Hiroshima from a lively city into a man-made hell on earth. It is because both come with light. However, the glorious light of the Transfiguration is divine, while the flashing light of the atomic bomb blast is not. Nevertheless, there are people who believe that the extraordinary light of the atomic bomb is also divine because the destruction of Hiroshima was God’s judgement against Japan, executed through the United States, because Japan did not surrender as demanded by the Potsdam Declaration, issued on July 26, 1945. In the declaration’s last paragraph of the Declaration, it is stated:
We call upon the Government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all the Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.
By July 26, the United States was ready to drop an atomic bomb as its test in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico on July 16, known as the “Trinity”, was successful. The test demonstrated that an atomic bomb’s blast could be brighter than a thousand suns, as Robert Oppenheimer put it. Yet, its effect evokes an image of the end of the world. The location of the Trinity test, Jordana del Muerto seems to bear certain meaning as it means “a dead man’s journey” in Spanish.
The United States’ intention to use of an atomic bomb was coded with the expression “prompt and utter destruction”.
Obviously, Japan did not surrender as the Potsdam Declaration demanded in a timely manner.
President Harry Truman stated on dropping the atomic bomb in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945:
Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese Army base. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British "Grand Slam" which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.
The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold. And the end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present form these bombs are now in production and even more powerful forms are in development.
…….
We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan's power to make war.
It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Potsdam. Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware.
Through these words, Truman told the American people that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima to destroy a major Japanese army base, as to make a manifold revenge of Japan’s attack on the Pearl Harbor US naval base. But the atomic bomb was not aimed an army base but the heart of the city of Hiroshima where ordinary people were living.
According to the above words of his, Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb in Japan because Japan “rejected” the Potsdam Declaration. However, it is not necessarily true – unless you regard “not responding yet” as the same as “rejecting”.
As a matter of fact, the war could have ended peacefully without the use of an atomic bomb, because there was a rising hope to start a diplomatic negotiation to end the war by July 1945. As the Emperor of Japan expressed his desire to find a way to end the war as soon as possible by negotiating with the United States to Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki, and the United States was aware of this move, there was a possibility to end the war through a diplomatic negotiation, regardless of the Potsdam Declaration. For this reason, a prominent US diplomat, Joseph Grew, who was the US ambassador to Japan before the war, was eager to be sent to Tokyo for the negotiation. However, Grew was never given a chance. This may suggest that the United States had another reason to drop an atomic bomb in Japan. Otherwise, Grew could have been negotiating with his Japanese counterpart.
You may have wondered why Japan did not respond to the Potsdam Declaration sooner.
On June 22, 1945, the Emperor of Japan urged Prime Minister, Kantaro Suzuki, to work a way out to end the war, negotiating for peace with the United States. However, Minister of Army, Korechika Anami strongly insisted to fight to death and never to surrender. The cabinet members could not reach consensus to respond to the Potsudam Declaration. It was the situation when Japan received the Potsdam proclamation.
When Japan received the Potsdam Declaration, the cabinet members found it too difficult to accept as it was, as Japan wanted to have some conditions to surrender. However, the Declaration did not allow any room for negotiation as it demands unconditional surrender as the only option for Japan. In response to this, the Army was furious and demanded to reject the Declaration and continue to fight until the last soldier would stand. Even those who were leaning to negotiate to end the war were upset to find no room for negotiation. It was very difficult for Prime Minister Suzuki to steer the cabinet council, which Emperor entrusted. Of course, Suzuki himself wanted to end the war as soon as possible, as Emperor did. However, given the reactions of the cabinet members, he needed more time to respond. So, for the time being, he said, “mokusatsu”, which can mean “not to respond” or “to ignore”. Alas, the United States regarded Japan’s “mokusatsu” to the Declaration as “rejection” of it.
If the Declaration were written differently, allowing a negotiation, it is likely that the atomic bomb was unnecessary. If Minister of Army did not keep demanding to fight but went along with Minister of Navy, who was ready for a negotiation, there could have been a diplomatic meeting before July 26, 1945, and that could have the Declaration unnecessary.
With all these things considered, was the dropping of an atomic bomb in Hiroshima a just act or a divine punishment against Japan? Do these facts make the light of the atomic bomb’s blast comparable to the glorious light of the Transfiguration of the Lord? Or, was it a result of a myriad of human problems, stemming from the dark side of human mind?
If the latter is an answer, then, there is a lesson from the Transfiguration of the Lord.
The fact that Jesus Christ transfigured in the glorious divine light, projecting his eschatological return, calls us to conform ourselves to the likeliness of him (Romans 8:29). This means to transform ourselves to become more like him through conversion (i.e. Romans 12:2), reflecting his glorious light (i.e. 2 Corinthians 3:18). As we let the Transfiguration of the Lord be reflected on us by way of conversion of our hearts and conforming ourselves to his image, the world will be peaceful.
The logic of Truman’s reason to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, as a retaliation to Japan’s Pearl Harbor bombing, will not stand in the divine court where the Lord judges, as Jesus, who transfigured in the glorious light, has taught against lex talionis (i.e. Matthew 5:38-42), as revenge keeps a vicious cycle of anger and hatred. In fact, the problem of Truman’s logic was challenged by Ben Bruce Blakeney, an American defense counsel for Japan during Tokyo Tribunal. He stated:
If the killing of Admiral Kidd by the bombing of Pearl Harbor is murder, we know the name of the very man whose hands loosed the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, we know the chief of staff who planned the act, we know the chief of the responsible state. Is murder on their consciences? We may well doubt it. We may well doubt it, and not because the event of armed conflict has declared their cause just and their enemies unjust, but because the act is not murder. Show us the charge, produce the proof of the killing contrary to the laws and customs of war, name the man whose hand dealt the blow, produce the responsible superior who planned, ordered, permitted or acquiesced in this act, and you have brought a criminal to the bar of justice.
However, the Tribunal did not let this challenge to Truman’s retaliation logic proceed by applying the sovereignty immunity doctrine manipulatively. The side that wins war enjoy this doctrine, and this is how “justice” was carried out and the legality of the use of the atomic bomb was never addressed in the Tribunal. This is another form of “mokusatsu”.
Even it has been 81 years since the atomic bomb blasted on Hiroshima, the war has not ended as many have been still suffering and struggling with various effects from radiation. Not to mention, true justice that can stand in the divine court .. not carried out in a human court in regard to the use of the atomic bomb, the darkness of human mind has not overcome yet.
Let the divine glorious light of the Transfiguration drive the darkness out of our hearts so that we may be transformed into the likelihood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then “Pacem in Terris” and justice shall become reality, prior to the return of Christ in his glory to judge us and the world.
Let us not be fooled by the argument that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima was a divine act just because it occurred on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Such an argument can be a result of evil in human mind. The light of the atomic bomb blast is not even comparable to the glorious divine light of the Transfiguration of the Lord, for the latter was from the darkness of human mind, led to the darkness of death. Let us seek the divine light of the Transfiguration so that we may be true children of the light of the truth and justice (i.e. Ephesians 5:8) so that we may be agents for peace.
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