This year (2015) marks the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed over 200,000 people and the only time in human history nuclear weapons have been used in warfare. Subsequently, on the 15th of August, Japan announced its surrender to the allied forces, and on the 2nd of September, the instrument of surrender was signed, marking the end of World War Two.
The September issue of the Church Gazette in 1945 marked this event by dedicating the issue to peace. They printed a sermon taken by the Rev. D. Stewart Miller at St. Thomas’ Church in Auckland on the 12th of August, a few days after the bombings. The sermon, titled ‘National Self-righteousness and the Atomic Bomb’, is a scathing critique on the use of atomic weapons against Japan and ponders what this means for humanity.
Interestingly, Rev. D. Stewart Miller mentions Toyohiko Kagawa, an outspoken critic of the bombings who was a Christian pacifist as well as a peace and labour activist. He is commemorated by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America on April 23rd in their Calendar of Saints.
The September 1945 issue of the Church Gazette is available to view on Pūmotomoto.