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민석 사
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6 Joon-Sik Park is the E. Stanley Jones Professor of World Evangelism, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, located in Delaware, Ohio. He is the author of Missional Ecclesiologies in Creative Tension: H. Richard Niebuhr and John H. Yoder (Peter Lang, 2007) Korean Protestant Christianity: A Missiological Reflection The first Protestant missionary set foot on the Korea Peninsula in The growth of Korean Protestantism in the past century and a quarter has been extraordinary by any measure. Korean churches experienced rapid numerical growth, in particular from the 1960s through the 1980s. In 1960 the Protestant population was 623,000, and by 1985 it had grown over tenfold to 6,489,000. From the early 1990s, however, the growth rate of the Korean church began to decline. In 1995, according to the Population and Housing Census Report, 8,760,000, or 19.7 percent of the population, were Protestant Christians. During the following decade the number of Protestants declined slightly, to 8,616,000, a 1.6 percent decrease. During the same period, by contrast, Korean Catholics increased by 74.4 percent (from 2,951,000 to 5,146,000), and Buddhists by 3.9 percent (from 10,321,000 to 10,726,000).2 This downward trend has alarmed Korean Protestant churches, forcing them to search for its causes and cures. Their responses thus far, however, have been reactive and shallow; the churches have not yet engaged in the critical theological self-reflection necessary for the renewal of the church at a more fundamental level. Specifically, I believe that Korean Protestant Christianity needs radical transformation at the level of its ecclesiology. In this article I examine the past growth and present decline of the Protestant church in South Korea, identifying major factors in its advancement and

Yoder (Peter Lang, 2007) Korean Protestant Christianity: A Missiological Reflection The first Protestant missionary set foot on the Korea Peninsula in 1884.

7 their role in the current downturn. I then propose an Anabaptist vision of the church as an ecclesiological tradition to be integrated into a new vision of the Korean church, and hospitality as the context for its mission and evangelism. Factors in Korean Protestant Growth It is striking that Korean Christianity began virtually as a selfevangelized church. Even before the arrival of foreign missionaries, Korea had a small number of Protestant communities that arose primarily through the distribution of the New Testament translated into Korean in Manchuria by John Ross and his team of Korean merchant-translators. The first portions were printed and circulated in 1882, and the entire New Testament was available in The translation of the Bible into the Korean vernacular also significantly contributed to cultural revitalization and the formation of national identity. A visit to Korea in 1890 by John L. Nevius, longtime missionary to China, turned out to be missiologically critical, for this was a time when the missionaries were still feeling their way toward an over-all strategy for the evangelization of Korea. 4 The so-called Nevius Plan, which stressed the crucial importance of native leadership for church growth, became the universally accepted policy of Protestant mission in Korea, spurring the Korean church to be independent and selfsupporting.5 Besides the significant role of Nevius and his method, several other factors help explain the rapid growth of the Korean Protestant Church.

evangelism. Factors in Korean Protestant Growth It is striking that Korean Christianity began virtually as a selfevangelized church.

8 Historical and geopolitical factors. The historical and geopolitical situations in and around Korea encouraged Koreans to accept Christianity more readily than in other Asian countries. Korea became forcibly annexed by Japan in 1910, and this tragic loss of independence decisively shaped both the nature of Korean nationalism and the life of the Korean church. 6 By the end of the nineteenth century, the majority of Asian nations had become subjugated by Western powers and turned anti-western; in Korea, however, the nationalism was anti-japanese. Koreans welcomed Christianity as a viable channel for expressing its nationalistic sentiment against the Japanese. 7 Furthermore, Christian education became the nurturing ground of nationalism, political resistance and democracy. 8 The early growth of Korean Christianity thus became inseparably intertwined with Korean nationalism. The nationwide March First Korean Independence Movement of 1919 serves as a telling illustration of this unique partnership. Of the original thirty-three signatories of the Declaration of Independence, remarkably fifteen were Christians, even though Christians at that time represented only 1 percent of the population. Furthermore, Korean Christians became prominent nationalists, even though the missionaries clung to their traditional political neutrality and refused to embrace Korean nationalism.9 In the March First Movement, Korean Protestants?by virtue of their disproportionately large participation and suffering?demonstrated beyond all doubts their commitment to the Korean nation, thus gaining for Christianity its right to be considered a legitimate religion of Korea. 10 Sociological and cultural factors. Confucianism has been an integral part of Korean society and culture since the fifth century. The Chos?n Dynasty ( ) created the most Confucian society in East Asia, even more fully than in China. From the fifteenth century onward, Confucianism penetrated all facets of the society, regulating family life, culture, and politics. Yet it carried certain values that could readily resonate with

6 By the end of the nineteenth century, the majority of Asian nations had become subjugated by Western powers and turned anti-western; in Korea, however, the nationalism was anti-japanese.

9 or complement those of Christianity. James Grayson describes the relationship between them as that of dynamic complementarity rather than of confrontation. 11 For instance, the early missionaries pioneering work in modern education was in tune with Confucianism s profound reverence for learning, and the missionaries strict moral teaching was seen as consistent with the austere moral code of Neo- Confucianism. Another element of Christianity attractive to Confucians was its stress on filial piety, which was one of the five relationships considered by Confucius to be the centerpiece of a harmonious society. It would not be an overstatement to say that, in a very real sense, Protestant Christianity was built on the foundation laid by the moral concerns of Neo- Confucianism. 12 This complementarity, however, did not mean the absence of conflict. It was Christian rejection of social hierarchy which appealed to many, but it was also a hindrance to the spread of Christianity. 13 On the whole, the vision of society heralded by Christianity did not seem necessarily to be in irreconcilable conflict with the Confucian social ideal. The initial complementarity between Korean Confucianism and Christianity provided a favorable setting for the rapid growth of the Korean church. Eventually, however, Confucianism came to have a negative influence on the development and maturation of Korean Christianity. Religious factors. Like most Asian countries, over the course of its history Korea has been deeply suffused

consistent with the austere moral code of Neo- Confucianism.

10 with diverse religious traditions. According to David Chung, The religious tradition of Korea had in a substantial way such congenial elements as the monotheistic concept of God, longing for salvation, messianic hope, [and] eternal life, all of which were conducive to the acceptance of Christianity.14 In other words, some affinity between traditional Korean religions and Christianity made it easier for Koreans to adopt the Christian faith. As Samuel Moffett aptly described it, Christianity did not deny much that people had loved in the old beliefs. Like Confucianism, it taught righteousness and revered learning; like Buddhism, it sought purity and promised a future life; like shamanists, Christians believed in answered prayer and miracles. 15 Conversely, it could be argued that Christian conversions in Korea did not necessarily involve radically disowning formerly held beliefs, in particular those of shamanism. As the oldest religion in Korea, shamanism had taken deep root in the religious beliefs and the worldview of the Korean people. Because of shamanism s enduring and permeating influence, it was typical as well as inevitable for religions later introduced to Korea to assimilate certain of shamanism s beliefs and practices? in particular, its predominant focus on thisworldly and materialistic aspects of life. Christianity was not an exception. It could be safely stated that the phenomenal growth of Korean Christianity in part depended on mitigating possible conflicts between Christian faith and traditional religious values. Economic factors. From the 1960s through the 1980s South Korea realized extraordinary economic growth, rebuilding itself from the rubble of war and

life, all of which were conducive to the acceptance of Christianity.

11 rapidly becoming an industrialized and urbanized country. In 1990, in a little over a generation from the devastating Korean War, its economy became the fifteenth largest in the world. This swift transition from a ruralagricultural to an urban-industrial society resulted in a mass migration of rural villagers to urban areas, causing a widespread sense of intense dislocation and disorientation. Social instability was inevitable, as well as a steady erosion of long-held values and norms, including the breakdown of the traditional extended family. A deep sense of alienation and uprootedness spread throughout the country. It should be noted that the period of the most explosive growth of the Korean church coincided with that of Korea s rapid industrialization, and that the numerical increase of the church mostly occurred in urban areas.16 Seeking to alleviate their enormous physical and emotional dislocation and alienation, and searching for an alternative community to the close-knit rural social networks, many Koreans turned to churches. The churches in Korea were, however, not merely a passive receptor of newcomers; they actively helped sustain the moral and spiritual values of the nation in the midst of the country s rapid economic transition. According to Grayson, Without the spiritual support of Christianity... the Korean nation would have lacked the moral and social coherence to survive the massive pressures imposed upon it by the radical social and economic changes. 17

disorientation. Social instability was inevitable, as well as a steady erosion of long-held values and norms, including the breakdown of the traditional extended family.

새천년복음화연구소 논문집 제 5 권 [특별 기고] 說敎 의 危機 와 展望 조재형 신부 한국천주교회의 새로운 복음화에 대한 小考 정치우 복음화학교 설립자, 교장 [심포지엄] 한국 초기 교회와 순교영성 한반도 평화통일과 한국 교회의 과제 교황 방한의 메시지와 복음의

새천년복음화연구소 논문집 제 5 권 [특별 기고] 說敎 의 危機 와 展望 조재형 신부 한국천주교회의 새로운 복음화에 대한 小考 정치우 복음화학교 설립자, 교장 [심포지엄] 한국 초기 교회와 순교영성 한반도 평화통일과 한국 교회의 과제 교황 방한의 메시지와 복음의 새천년복음화연구소 논문집 제 5 권 [특별기고] 說敎 의 危機 와 展望 조재형 신부 한국천주교회의 새로운 복음화에 대한 小考 정치우 복음화학교 설립자, 교장 [심포지엄] 한국 초기 교회와 순교영성 한반도 평화통일과 한국 교회의 과제 교황 방한의 메시지와 복음의 기쁨 에 나타난 한국 교회의 쇄신과 변화 복음의 기쁨 과 사회복음화 과제 새천년복음화연구소