Political insecurity,social chaos, religious void and the rise of Protestantism in late nineteenth-century Korea

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

This study offers a systematic historical sociology of the genesis and initial expansion of Protestant Christianity in Korea, thereby bringing into sharper relief the determinant nexus of social and political circumstances that set the stage for the new religion's subsequent rise to prominence and power in South Korea. It is argued here that structural strains, such as dire poverty, a rigid status system, corrupted officialdom and an oppressive social system, as well as political instability, proved eminently favourable for the initial acceptance of Protestant Christianity in Korea. The article also shows how the prolonged decline of traditional religions served as another contextual factor that facilitated the early success of the imported faith in Korea. What this study confirms is that the early Protestant success in Korea was not solely due to the appeal of the doctrine, nor did it involve an 'intellectualist' conversion or an exclusivist change of religious affiliation, requiring the repudiation of traditionally held beliefs. The impressive initial growth of Protestantism in Korea rested heavily on, among other factors, minimizing the contradiction between the new doctrine and Korean values and reducing the conflict between the new religion and Korean traditional religions.