Korean Christian Research Articles

Korean americans: the genesis of diasporic and ethnic identities

Western and domestic researchers admit that ethnic identity is a complex and multifaceted social phenomenon, which is characterized by an individual’s (group’s) awareness of their belonging to a particular ethnic community, understanding, evaluating and experiencing their membership in it. Ethnicity in the United States, depending on what race a person belongs to, can be flexible and voluntary, or it can be something real and imposed by social and political factors. The diaspora community model appears as a real group adaptation strategy. However, not every ethnic group has the ability to create a diaspora, but only an ethnic group which is resistant to assimilation can. The sense of ethnicity for Korean Americans is an important factor that hinders assimilation. Ethnicity is the most significant characteristic of the diaspora. The Korean diaspora in America is represented by first, 1.5, and, to a lesser extent, second generation immigrants. In the diaspora, ethnic identity is manifested in rigidly fixed blood and cultural ties. This is a constant predetermined from birth, and not a result of a choice. Although the family is an important social institution in the formation of the ethnic identity of Koreans, one cannot but agree that the main social institution that plays a significant role in the formation of diaspora identity is the Korean Christian churches. Today, the Korean American community is in the process of diasporaization and has the characteristics of a “new” or “modern” diaspora. Key words: Korean diaspora in the United States, Korean Americans, diaspora, ethnic identity, diasporic identity.

A Study on the Certification System and Applicability of Professional Counselors of the Korean Christian Counseling Psychology Association

한국기독교상담심리학회 전문상담사는 기독교 상담사라는 점으로 인해 일반 상담 영역에서 크게 주목받지 못하고 교회나 기독교 상담과 관련된 임상 현장에 국한된다는 인식이 있었다. 때문에 상담사로서 그 전문성에 대한 연구가 미진하였다. 하지만 코로나19 등으로 인해 급변하는 현대 사회에서는 인간 존재에 대한 깊이 있는 성찰과 인간관을 가진 상담 이론의 확장 및 상담사들의 활동이 더욱 요구되고 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 한기상 전문상담사의 전문성과 특징, 활동가능성을 살펴보고자 활동분야, 타학회 상담사들과의 자격제도를 비교분석, 상담사의 특성과 확장 가능성을 살펴보았다. 이를 통해 상담사로서 전문성을 확보하기 위한 자격제도를 갖추고 있으면서 기독교 정신을 바탕으로 한 영성, 관계성 등의 상담 전문가로서의 역량은 물론, 하나님의 사랑을 바탕으로 한 기독 상담사의 소명 의식과 정체성을 가질 수 있음을 확인할 수 있었다.

Minjung in the Mission House: How Korean Christians in the Democratization Movement Encountered a Theology for the Postcolonial Era

Abstract Minjung theology, developed by Christians involved in the South Korean Democratization Movement, has often been described as a Korean liberation theology but its connections to and significance for the Missionary Enterprise have rarely been explored. Analyzing the archival data related to its development in a Canadian missionary house, this article explores the historical influences that shaped minjung theology, with a focus on its relationship to the Canadian mission in Korea. The history of this Korean expression of the Christian faith sheds light on its postcolonial character and the enduring significance of minjung theology. Seen through a postcolonial historical lens, this article shows the relevance of minjung theology for the present by evaluating its connection to and influence on the Canadian church with which it was closely associated.

한국의 사회 예언자적 성령운동, 카리스마적 성령운동, 그리고 통합적 성령운동에 대한 고찰

Throughout Korean Christian history, scholars have distinguished two patterns in Holy Spirit: ‘Paternal’ and ‘Maternal.’ The former promotes outward socio-political participation based on Confucianism, and the latter emphasizes internal faith and healing under the influence of shamanism. Using these categories, Ryu Tong-Shik classifies Gil Seon-Ju’s Pyongyang Revival in 1907 as the ‘Paternal movement.’ However, in this article, the movement emphasizing socio-political participation is named the ‘Socio-Prophetic movement’ and distinguished from the ‘Charismatic-Pious movement’ that emphasizes internal faith and healing. Moreover, this paper claims that there has been the ‘Holistic Holy Spirit movement’ in Korean history that includes both socio-political and charismatic elements. Gil Seon-Ju’s Pyongyang Revival will be classified as the ‘Holistic movement,’ and Lee Hyun-Phil and Kim Ik-Du’s ministry will be examined as ‘Socio-Prophetic’ and ‘Charismatic-Pious movement,’ respectively.

해방 이전 북간도 개신교 진보 세력의 반공주의 형성과 기구주의적 기원

This study aims to illuminate the origin and characteristics of anticommunism of the progressive Protestant forces in North Chientao during the years from the early 1920s to 1945. Mainline scholarship in Korean Christianity has explained that the birth of Protestant anti-communism was based on its theological conservatism. It is exclusively argued that conservative Korean Protestants and American missionaries in Pyongyang struggled with communist power and its anti-religious movements due to the contradiction between communist ideas and Christian faith. However, that argument ignores that the progressive Protestants who were not inclined to theological conservatism and even criticized it also made a contribution to the formulation and spreading of anti-communism. Thus, it should be noted that there is not only religious factors like particular theology or belief systems, but rather non-religious ones. This research pays more special attention to “institutionalism” by progressive Protestant intellectuals as an non-religious factor which provoked their anticommunism. In conclusion, it suggests three points. First, it reconsiders the current dominant thesis comprehending that the formation and development of anti-communism in a history of Korean Christianity is originated from Protestant conservatism. Second, it investigates the Protestant institutionalism which has been neglected in current studies and attributes the formation of anti-communism by progressive Protestants to it. Last, by exploring the complexity and multiplicity of Protestant anti-communist origin, it suggests broader perspectives in understanding anti-communism in Korean Christianity which affects socio-political dimensions in contemporary Korea.

장공 김재준의 마태복음 5:5 해석에 관한 연구: “범우주적 사랑의 공동체”의 성서 해석학을 위하여

Jang-gong Jae-Joon Kim(1901-1987) established the denomination called ‘the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea(한국기독교장로회).’ He is the root and teacher of Korean Christianity. He led the progressive theology of Korea. Although there are many aspects of Jang-gong theology, this paper focuses on his biblical scholarship, focusing on the biblical interpretation. This article focuses on the interpretation of Matthew 5:5 in the articles “Contemplation of the Beatitudes.” Jang-gong is creating a new biblical interpretation model from ”Contemplation.“ His “Contemplation” is short but holds the possibility of a new interpretation of the Bible. Such a new possibility can be called “the Bible interpretation of the community of cosmic love.” The Biblical Interpretation of the community of cosmic love provides at least three main points in Bible interpretation. Three points can be summed up in terms of society, science and ecology. In today’s situation, we need to interpret the Bible from a new perspective. In this situation, the insight given by Jang-gong is a great inspiration.

Grafting Missionary Infrastructures: Korean Missions to Cambodia in an IT Age

In the late twentieth century, South Korea simultaneously became both one of the world’s foremost Christian missionary-sending countries and a leader in communication technologies. This coincidence has given rise to the notion that South Korea’s emergence as a leader of global Christianity is owing, at least in part, to the technological infrastructures that Korean Christians have developed for missions. But if South Korean Christians are the engineers of new missionary infrastructure, how does this reframe relations between missionary and missionized? This essay draws on field research and interviews with Korean missionaries seeking to design and distribute Christian audio-visual platforms in rural Cambodia, focusing specifically on how these activities reshape inter-Asian mission imaginaries while reinforcing existing inter-Asian infrastructures. Although there have long been Christian missionaries in Cambodia, illiteracy in the countryside has been seen as a major impediment to Christian missionization because it has required missionaries to remain in one place for years. Foreign missionaries had to learn Khmer and also teach Cambodians to read so that they might read and teach the Bible independently. Korean missionaries herald that this has changed with the development and deployment of smart phone applications, which require no reading and, thus, religious messages can be shared without missionaries being physically present. While these missions are seen as transformative from a Korean missionary perspective, these projects operate within terrains of power and access that both enable and direct IT missionary outcomes. Using Tung-Hui Hu’s concept of an infrastructure “graft,” the essay highlights how inter-Asian IT missions are built on pre-existing development and missionary infrastructures, framing both the IT mission interventions and how they are understood by missionaries.

Transcending the Past: Singing and the Lingering Cold War in the Korean Christian Diaspora

AbstractProtestant music in South Korea has received little attention in ethnomusicology despite the fact that Protestant Christianity was one of the most popular religions in twentieth-century Korea. This has meant a missed opportunity to consider the musical impact of a religious institution that mediated translocal experiences between South Korea and the United States during the Cold War period (1950s–1980s). This article explores the politics of music style in South Korean diasporic churches through an ethnography of a church choir in California. I document these singers’ preference for European-style choral music over neotraditional pieces that incorporate the aesthetics of suffering from certain Korean traditional genres. I argue that their musical judgement must be understood in the context of their lived and remembered experience of power inequalities between the United States and South Korea. Based on my interviews with the singers, I show that they understand hymns and related Euro-American genres as healing practices that helped them overcome a difficult past and hear traditional vocal music as sonic icons of Korea's sad past. The article outlines a pervasive South Korean/Korean diasporic historical consciousness that challenges easy conceptions of identity and agency in music studies.

1960-70년대 반애란(Eleanor van Lierop) 선교사의 요보호여성 복지사업과 애란원의 설립 : 『Lord of the Dance』를 중심으로

Missionary Eleanor van Lierop is the founder of Aeranwon, which was established to help prostitutes who have increased rapidly after the Korean War. Based on her Christian perception of women, she tried to overcome the prejudice of Korean society that 'a woman who is once into prostitution cannot be recovered'. She also urged the need for welfare for prostitutes. Through the establishment of the first single mother protection facility in Korea, she was the first to take the lead in respecting the fetus' life and protecting the motherhood of the single mother. Her activities have led to the interests and alliances of various institutions in welfare work for women in need. The values of Aeranwon's founding spirit, such as respect for the life of the fetus, protection of motherhood, and preservation of family, are in line with the social ethics pursued by Korean Christianity. In the end, the establishment and growth of Aeranwon contributed to sharing the value of Christianity in Korean society and led to changes in government policies. This can be seen as a case in which Christianity has established itself as a new standard of the view of women replacing Confucianism. Because of this, it has historical significance in the history of the Korean church.

The Shifting Moral Authority of the Conservative Evangelicals’ Anti-LGBT Movement in South Korea

This paper reports on content analysis of the Korean Christian newspaper Kidok Sinmun (1998-2020) with regard to how conservative evangelical elites (CEs) change their discursive resources to construct persuasive appeals against the global LGBT movement. Our findings demonstrate that the CEs focus on different sources of moral authority in response to changing political ideologies of the Korean government or regardless of such ideologies (scientific research, family value). During the progressive Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations, discursive tactics linked LGBT rights with the existential threat to liberal democracy or constitutional value, while the key words such as national security or military discipline were more frequently employed under the conservative Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments. Moreover, experiences shared by the transnational network of Christian activists appear to influence the construction of local perceptions on homosexuality.

Contextualization of Early Morning Prayer in Korea

Early morning prayer is one of the most prominent characteristics of Korean Christianity. Although the gospel was delivered to Korea by Western missionaries, early morning prayer is a unique tradition in the Korean church. The purpose of this article is to examine the culture and the theology of early morning prayer and to conduct a missiological evaluation from the perspective of contextualization. On the cultural dimension, the practice of early morning prayer is examined in relation to the practice’s historical, religious, and social background. On the theological dimension, dawn prayer was connected to Korean church revival and provided the impetus for evangelism, overcoming a national crisis and world mission. This study discusses its cultural and theological suitability and considers a more appropriate model of contextualization. Appropriate contextualization of early morning prayer also provides implications for mission in other Asian countries.

진산사건에 나타난 제사관에 관한 고찰: 윤지충과 정약용을 중심으로

This study investigates the two contradicting perceptions on the Heaven and ancestral rites held by early Joseon Catholics, Yun Ji-chung and Jeong Yak-yong. As for Yun, he faithfully followed the Catholic prohibition of ancestral rites to the point of sacrificing his life because of his belief seeing his parents’ command and that of the Church equal to God’s command. On the contrary, Jeong viewed the Heaven’s command the same as Sangje(上 帝)’s, which demanded human morality that dictates human mind by actions. For this reason, he publicly renounced Catholicism and continued to perform ancestral worship. Even today in Korea, the issue of ancestral rites still hinders many people from becoming Christians. A more flexible approach in determining Korean Christian attitude toward ancestral rites will be needed to establish a theology that does not lose its Christian identity while respecting Korea’s unique traditional culture.

Mobilising Social Movement for Peace

Abstract Informed by the resource mobilisation theory, this article conducts a case study on Christianity in Korea, in order to explore the nexus between religion and social movements, and how this nexus could contribute to peace, rather than violence. Given its geopolitical dimensions, involving nuclear weapons and the legacy of the Cold War, the role of religion in the Korean conflict has been under-researched. Nonetheless, Christianity has influenced the Korean conflict, with its association with anticommunism, as well as with peace movements. This article argues that Christian ecumenical organisations in the context of the Korean conflict utilised their social resources for peace and reconciliation, when they rediscovered the just peace tradition in Christianity. This article contributes to theoretical and practical discussions surrounding religion, war, and peace, by conceptualising just peace in the Christian tradition, and by adding empirical substance to the nexus between ecumenism and social movement for just peace.

Killing the Competition

Much has been written about the South Korean government’s repression of Shincheonji after the COVID-19 epidemic, which the movement was accused of having contributed to spreading. Less attention has been paid to Shincheonji opposition that started decades before the pandemic, rooted in campaigns by the Korean Christian countercult movement aimed at eradicating “heresies” and fast-growing competitors. This article discusses the history of Christian countercultism in South Korea, the rise of Shincheonji, and why it became a main target of the countercultists who opposed the movement both through deprogramming and by calling for its suppression by the authorities. Finally, this article addresses the countercultists’ hopes that Shincheonji will disappear when its founder, believed to be immortal by devotees (based on their interpretation of the Book of Revelation), will die.

Eine Pastoraltheologische Studie für die Freiheit von der Unterdrückung - Konzentrierung auf die Unterdrückung von Frauen in Koreanischen Kirchengemeinscharft nicht als ‘Geschlechtskonflikt’, sondern als ‘Machtskonflikt’ -

This thesis is the result of a pastoral theology study for the liberation of women who are discriminated against and oppressed in Korean Christianity and churches, which are characterized as patriarchal, and restore their human rights. Most of the previous studies on women's oppression and discrimination so far started with the basic premise of the frame of ‘male who oppress women’, that is, ‘male vs. female’ sex confrontation structure. However, in this thesis, i studied the problem of women's oppression and discrimination in the church, not with the structure of gender confrontation, but with the frame of ‘ruler vs. victim’. Although many efforts have been made for the liberation of women in Korean Christianity and churches from the past to the present, discrimination and oppression against women in them still persists. This, of course, may be due to the misapplication of the methodology or the lack of a will to emancipate women. However, the cause of this problem may have been misdiagnosed from the start. That's why it is worth wondering at least once that this problem is not being solved. I thought that it was necessary to try to approach the cause of this problem from various dimensions, moving away from the simple ‘fixed structure of men and women’ on women's oppression and discrimination. One of them is the structure of ‘ruler vs. victim.’ I hope this thesis contributes to solving the problem of oppression and discrimination against women in the Korean Christianity and in the church.

Interreligous I-Thou Encounter

The lack of communication with the wider social context and the persistent problem of one-sided communication are the challenges facing the church today. To borrow Pual Knitter’s words, this problem may lie on the fact that Korean Christianity is built on the total replacement model. Within this frame of mind, Christians listen to religious others only to replace them with Christianity. However, when we take globalization into our consideration, Korean churches need to be equipped for the new landscape in which their potential congregants live. More religious as well as cultural diversity exists today in South Korea than a generation ago. The possibility of encountering religious others as clients is wide open. When I take globalization into consideration, it becomes a more mind-boggling question as to how I can initiate I-Thou relationships with religious others. In this study, I will look into some ways to bring about transformation within the context of interreligious care and counseling based on my personal experience. What I want to accomplish through this study is to explore ways for spiritual care and counseling to be transformative, particularly in an interreligious care and counseling setting. I attempt to investigate the usefulness of the RCT model for interreligious spiritual care and counseling settings in light of the wisdom of scholars’ endeavors in interreligious dialogue. I am drawn to the RCT model as opposed to traditional Freudian theory, especially for the interreligious care and counseling setting. Here, I would like to expound how the RCT model puts an emphasis on mutuality between counselors and counselees by reconceptualizing the meaning of countertransference. Mutuality within the RCT model will be discussed with Martin Buber’s I-Thou framwork and John Gottman’s relationship theory. In addition, I will look into the necessity of interreligious counselors and those they counsel developing a differentiated self. I wish we Christian counselors and ministers could value and further celebrate the otherness of religious others in our care settings. Then, spiritual care and counseling could be life-giving and transformative.

Unveiling Women's Agency in Early Christian Leadership, Reclaiming It in Korean Christianity Today

This paper aims to unveil women’s agency in ecclesiastical structure and so many Biblical and historical written records in Early Christianity, reclaiming it in Korean Christianity today. It explores women’s leadership issues through historical consciousness of Roman gender ideology impact on early Christian communities. During the formative period of early Christianity (1st - 5th century), women leaders were present, and carried out ministerial and leadership functions. Yet, accounts of Christian history have largely marginalized the presence and contributions of women, often directly reinforcing the suppression of women’s leadership in pastoral ministry through to the contemporary context. Even though early Christianity was grown in part by the contribution of so many women leaders’ commitment, the church intentionally omitted their participation and/or distorted their roles and images as it developed church structures in ways that have limited women’s leadership and authority, excluding women from ordination and some roles in church ministry. The invisibility of women’s leadership in the historical record can be understood through an examination of the socio-theological-philosophical contexts of gender ideology in Roman society. The dualistic gender hierarchy of the Roman gender ideological system strongly influenced and shaped the patriarchalization of the Christian church as the church began to be institutionalized in the early centuries of its development. Many early church fathers from the 2nd to 5th centuries who were uncomfortable with women’s leadership utilized their writings as a platform to oppress women in ministry. The controversy over the apostleship of Mary Magdalene is one of the exemplary cases illustrating how male leaders in early Christianity attempted to exclude women. Additionally, the church has developed its structure in ways to limit women’s authority, excluding women from ordination and roles in pastoral ministry. With this historical consciousness, it is important to recognize that this oppressive gender ideology continues to maintain the unequal treatment of women leaders in current Korean Christian ministry.

South Korean Theology Student Opinions About Xenotransplantation

ABSTRACT Purpose: The major limitation to the progress of allotransplantation has been the limited number of organ donors. One of the options being considered to alleviate this short-fall is xenotransplantation (XTx). Progress in the experimental laboratory and the greater possibility of clinical trials necessitates exploration of the public’s perceptions and attitudes regarding the procedure for individual programs. Such explorations are especially needed for subpopulations that influence public response to major ethical issues. The purpose of the current work was to determine attitudes and perceptions about XTx among South Korean Christian seminary students.Method: After IRB approval, undergraduate and graduate theology students were contacted via text message and invited to participate; a sample of n = 123 agreed and were primarily graduate single males between the ages of 19–39.Findings: They had a highly positive attitude toward human organ transplantation (M = 4.5; 1 to 5 scale), with an overall neutral attitude toward pig organ transplantation (M = 2.9). Multiple Linear Regression found that religious belief was the strongest factor negatively associated with their XTx acceptance level (p = .01), followed by psychosocial concerns (p = .03), and medical results (p = .04).Conclusions: Given the descriptive statistics showing the lack of understanding about transplantation-related issues, the impact of their religious belief should be interpreted cautiously. Acomprehensive overview of the findings suggests. XTx is apublic policy issue, and not just amatter of personal religious beliefs, psychosocial concern, or medical risk. South Korean religious communities have an important role to play in the acceptance of biomedical technology to ensure that greater numbers of society perceive benefit and support its existence.

‘Schools by and for Koreans’: Korean Immigrants’ Private Schooling Initiatives in Territorial Hawai‘i, 1906-1930

ABSTRACT This paper concerns the ‘education fever’ that marked the early Korean immigrant community’s private schooling initiatives in territorial Hawaiʻi (1898–1959). Drawing on the cases of two Korean private schools – the Korean Central School and the Korean Christian Institute – the paper examines the tensions and conflicts between white American missionary educators and Korean immigrant educators surrounding both the operation of the schools and the pedagogical practices deemed appropriate to the education of ‘Oriental’ students in the US imperial space. These two cases demonstrate that Korean immigrants in territorial Hawaiʻi were persistent and innovative in their efforts to appropriate Americanisation for their own national, communal and individual interests. Moreover, educators and parents challenged colonial educational practices by foregrounding how the Christian pedagogy of their private schools served to differentiate them from other (non-Christian) Asian immigrants, thereby legitimising their presence in white Protestant America.

현대 한국교회 청소년의 기독교 신앙 자아정체성을 위한 기독교 교육적 책임

심리 사회적 발달 심리학자 에릭 에릭슨(Erik H. Erikson)은 사람의 인생 사이클을 8단계로 나누고 그중 다섯 번째 단계에 속하는 청소년기를 자아정체성이 정립되는 시 점이면서 동시에 정체성 혼란이 오는 기간으로 설명하였다. 이는 곧 심리적인 위기를 묘사하는 것이지만, 동시에 학자들은 이를 비관적이고 회의적인 관점으로만 보지 않 고 오히려 자아의 성장과 성숙의 변환점을 함축하고 있는 것으로 인식하고 있다. 구 체적으로 표현하자면 정서적인 혼돈과 갈등 가운데서 본인의 정체성을 확정하여 미래 의 자신을 디자인해 나가는 원동력이 될 수 있다는 의미이다. 사람이라면 필히 갖추어져 있어야 하는 요건인 자아정체성은 인간의 발달이 평생 에 걸쳐서 계속된다는 심리적인 발달이론의 근거에 의하면 지속적으로 작용되는 심리 적 요소로 분석된다. 특히 청소년들이 본인들의 현존에 대하여 확고한 자아정체성을 확립하는 것은 미래에 더 나은 건강한 삶을 위해 당연히 필요한 것이다. 현대 사회를 경험하고 있는 교회 성도들이 세상과 차별되는 크리스챤으로서의 기독교 신앙적인 정 체성을 구성하고 계속적인 상태가 될 수 있도록 조치하는 문제는 일반인들의 것보다 심각하고 시급하게 논의되어야 할 것으로 생각한다. 청소년기는 육체적인 성장과 더불어 사회 심리적으로도 변화하는 시기이다. 이 시 기는 자아가 본격적으로 구성되는 때이므로 인생의 여러 과정에서 제일 핵심적인 시 점이라고 할 수 있다. 에릭슨은 청소년기를 되어져야 하는 본인의 형태와 삶의 개념 을 인지하기 위해 몸부림치는 정체성 위기로 규정하였다. 에릭슨이 언급한 것에 기초 하면 청소년기는 단지 성인으로 변화해 가는 불안정한 유형을 가진 단계가 아니라 자 아정체성이 확립되는 시기이다. 현대 청소년을 위한 교육은 전반적으로 인격적인 면을 지향하기보다는, 급속도로 변화하는 산업과 사회 상황에 적응하는 것에 초점이 맞추어져 있어, 교육의 본질이 심하게 훼손된 상태이다. 이로 인해 청소년들은 인간의 생명과 인성을 경시하는 경향 을 보이며, 원래 인간이 지향해야 하는 본연의 의(義)가 사라져 가고 있는 상황에 이 르렀다. 이러한 것을 시정(是正)하여 인간 원래의 모습을 재현하고 근본적으로 인간이 지니고 있어야 하는 근원적인 의를 회복하는 교육이 요구되며, 이를 위해 기독교 청 소년에게 있어서 신앙적인 자아정체성에 대한 기독교 교육의 책임이 절실하다는 것에 대한 인지는 필요하다. 이에 본 연구자는 상기 논문을 통하여 청소년들의 기독교 신 앙적 자아정체성 형성을 위하여 기독교 교육적인 관점에서 논의하려고 하는 목적과 더불어 그들의 건전한 신앙의 정체성을 확립하기 위하여 현대 한국교회가 기독교 교 육적인 책임을 지고 그에 대한 역할수행을 촉구하는 것에 그 중점을 두고 있다.