Christian Unification Education of Pentecostal Theology and Juche Ideology

Abstract

This study explores the task of Christian unification education and deals with the political arguments of Juche ideology, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Niccolo Machiavelli to realize its purpose. Luther and Calvin agreed that justification of human beings must be by faith alone, because all acts of humans are depraved. For Luther, spiritual authority and temporal authority, which equates to secular authority, were clearly distinguished and he acknowledged that temporal authority exists under theonomy. On the other hand, Calvin developed the function of secular government further under the guidance of Christianity because he believed that the sovereignty of God is transferred to the government through the law. For Machiavelli, and Juche ideology, political authority is purely a matter of seizing and holding power alone. Juche, which emphasizes human-centered morality, has distorted the meaning of patriotism and independence and manipulated the description of Kim Il Sung as a god in North Korea. Christian education that follows the traditional doctrines of evangelical theology under the name of Pentecostal theology and deals with the unification of Korea should critically examine the ground of traditional Christian understanding of politics. It has to provide object information that reveals the current conditions of both South and North Korea objectively and interprets the current situation with the lens of Christianity. Then, it has to form a public opinion so that it can reflect the insights of Christian education on politics.