current theological issues in korea
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TF-Dec98ahn
Theological Forum Issue
Vol. XXVI, No. 3 & 4, December 1998
Contemporary Theological
Issues
Current Theological Issues in
Korea
Myung Jun Ahn
Christianity in Korea began with the arrival of
American, Canadian, and Australian missionaries in the late 19th century at a
time when the dominant religion, Buddhism, was being repressed by Korea's last
dynasty. Today about one-fourth of South Korea's 44 million people have become
Christians. There are 60,000 Christian churches in South Korea in 1998. In spite
of the rapid growth of Korean Christianity, recently the external growth of
Korean churches has declined. Theology in Korea has developed in the various
forms for one hundred years. In this paper I deal with current theological
issues in Korea.
Minjung theology is universally recognized as a
genuine Korean theology. But it did not receive the entire support from all
Korean churches because it was first initiated by a few liberal theologians. It
is not easy to clarify the meaning of the word 'minjung'. Generally speaking, it
means "the masses or the people who are politically oppressed, economically
exploited, socially alienated and kept uneducated in cultural and intellectual
matters."1
Minjung theology has grown out of the
socio-political situation of Korean society in the middle of 1970s, specially
the dictatorship of Jung Hee Park and his repression.2
But many evangelical theologians attacked Minjung
theology because it had many problems in the interpretation of Scripture and was
against Korea's orthodoxy theology. Although there has been this negative
aspect, Minjung theology's influences appear in many areas. Specifically, many
conservative Korean churches now pay attention to Christian ethics and society
and polity. Minjung theology's influence has let Korean Christians, who had
emphasized the salvation of an individual, play a greater role in Korea's
society.
Minjung theologians recently announced the
popularization of Minjung theology. In the commemoration of death of Bung Moo
Ahn, the father of Minjung theology, they had a seminar and decided to
popularize it. They concluded that the first generation of Minjung theology was
that of witness, and that the second generation of Minjung theology was that of
movement. They as the third generation proposed to theorize the social movement
of Christianity to apply Minjung theology to Korean churches through
spirituality. Lately, younger Minjung theologians are investigating the plurally
actual problems in theory and Sitz im Leben, and rework them from the
interpretation of the national horizon of the first and second generations into
the whole global horizon. The main interests of the young generation are not
only these points of dispute, but also the new media, the network of
information, culture, sexual discrimination, and public culture. They attempt to
present the new model of church, the shift of paradigm of theology, and the role
of church in society.
The economic situation in the early
nineteen-seventies helped Pentecostal/Charismatic churches emphasize the work of
the Holy Spirit. By accepting the theology of prosperity and the charismatic
works of the Holy Spirit as a standard of true Christian faith, Pentecostal
churches have grown remarkably. For example, the Yoido Full Gospel Church, the
world's largest church, has a congregation of 700,000 members. This movement was
criticized strongly by Presbyterian Churches. Even many pastors recognized this
charismatic movement of the Holy Spirit as heretical because the followers of
this movement insisted on the baptism in the Holy Spirit for receiving the power
and the charisma of the Holy Spirit. Many theologians pointed out that in order
to receive the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, pentecostalism emphasized
a human skill rather than the sovereign grace of God. However Pentecostal
churches have had a great influence on the importance of prayer for all
believers in Korea. This movement gave rise to debates among the conservative
Presbyterian theologians and brought a few foreign scholars to Korea. In 1996
Harvey Cox, who wrote Fire under Heaven, visited Korea and debated about
the doctrine of the Holy Spirit with a few Korean scholars and 1000 pastors. In
the conference with the theme of "The Holy Spirit and Church Renewal," he said,
"We are living in the times of the global movement of the Holy Spirit." He
diagnosed today's religious situation as the rebirth of the Holy Spirit and the
return of the repressed. He maintained, "When the Holy Spirit as the Savior and
the Giver of life has an important role in the world, the Holy Spirit movement
becomes sound and suitable." However, he pointed out that the Holy Spirit
movement of Korean churches, including Pentecostal churches, was rooted in
Shamanism. Many Korean theologians defended the fact that generally Korean
theology was not Shamanistic, but biblical and sound. Most Korean theologians
and congregations, although they do not hold the Pentecostal doctrine of the
Holy Spirit, believe that the Holy Spirit works in their lives here and now, and
can heal sickness and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They have a flexible
perspective on the work of the Holy Spirit.
Indigenization theology has been developed by
radical theologians of Korea. In the 1960s a movement of liberal theology has
began to understand the Gospel by means of the Korean situation rather than by
means of the Western tradition,3
and called it indigenization theology. Methodist
theologians started to develop this theology through studies of the traditional
culture of Korea. One of the pioneers of indigenization theology was Sun Whan
Pyun, who insisted on the need for Christian-Buddhist dialogue and religious
pluralism.4
But prof. Pyun was accused of heresy by many
Methodist evangelists in 1982 and was expelled from the Methodist church in
1993.5
Indigenization theology means to koreanize Western
Christianity by means of the cultural soil of Korea. A few theologians point out
that how far Korean churches should practice indigenization theology in the
culture of Confucianism and Buddhism will be found through the unavoidable grace
of God. Korean churches have as a future task doing indigenization
theology.
Theology of church growth has caused Korean
theologians considerable debate today. The fast growth and the mammoth size of
Korean churches have impacted the pastoral consciousness of Korean theologians
and some pastors. They thought that the success of ministry was related to the
visible work of church rather than the invisible work of church. There are three
aspects on this issue. First, the shamanistic orientation of Korean Christianity
offered this wrong perspective.6
Generally speaking, Koreans have the shamanistic
consciousness in the inner mind because Koreans as descendants of Altai, the
father of Shamanism in Asia, have had shamanic culture for five thousand years.
In Korea shamanism connects with material blessings and healing for the sick.
Therefore Korean Christians who have been accustomed to this tradition have
looked for visible blessings from God. Secondly, Robert Schuller's positive
thinking influenced Korean pastors in their poverty. Many pastors under the
influence of this thinking said, "we can do everything with having positive
thinking." This thought led Korean pastors to use all the nonbiblical and
secular ways for the growth of church. Thirdly, Donald A. McGavran's pragmatism
of the church-growth challenged them.7
This church-growth strategy has had a great
influence on Korean pastors. The result of their emphasis on the outward growth
of church have made Korean churches weak.
Recently there was a big meeting on spiritualism.
About 500 pastors attended it and realized the importance of spirituality in
this time. Korean pastors and theologians think that in order to overcome the
crisis of Korean church lately, they should recover the spiritual power of
Christianity. They emphasize that Korean theology should develop spiritual
theology for Korean church. But a few presbyterian theologians reject the
movement of spirituality in Korea.
Feminist theology is a hot issue in Korea. The two
representative Korean Presbyterian denominations oppositely expressed their
strong positions on the ordination of women. One of them, the Tonghap, has
supported this issue and has produced the women pastors. In this side feminist
theology also has been accepted naturally and positively. But Hapdong side
rejects the ordinance of women and deals with feminist theology
negatively.
Now Korean theologians start to deal with religious
pluralism, New Age movement, theology of ecology, and theology of the
unification of South Korea and North Korea. Korean theology will be diversified
in postmodernism.
1 Jung Young Lee, "Korean
Christian Thought," in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian
Thought, ed. Alister E. McGrath (Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1993), p. 312.
2 Heung Soo Kim, "Is
Christianity a Korean Religion?: One Hundred Years of Christianity in Korea,"
Theology and Field (1997), p. 124. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid . 6 Ibid., p. 125. 7 Ibid.
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