저널3호5-0821_2

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기섭 제
5 years ago
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He is the author of Missional Ecclesiologies in Creative Tension: H. Richard Niebuhr and John H.

Growth Factors The very factors that spurred the growth of Korean Christianity through the early 1990s had inherent

First, it cannot be denied that the Korean church played a major role in the country s opposition against Japanese

Once the country became liberated, however, the church s intimate tie with nationalism metamorphosed into alliance

3 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 2 Adverse Effects of These Growth Factors The very factors that spurred the growth of Korean Christianity through the early 1990s had inherent pitfalls that eventually began to negatively affect the identity and mission of Korean churches. First, it cannot be denied that the Korean church played a major role in the country s opposition against Japanese colonial oppression, providing a crucial impetus for fostering a nationalistic consciousness. Once the country became liberated, however, the church s intimate tie with nationalism metamorphosed into alliance with the state. In the 1970s and 1980s, when the South Korean people were groaning under dictatorial governments, which did not hesitate to use repressive power to maintain their regimes, the majority of Korean churches remained silent. By their apolitical stance they in effect sanc-

4 tioned such regimes. This indifference to the issues of social justice blunted the prophetic mission of the church and resulted in the loss of its credibility in society. It is noteworthy that, by contrast, the Catholic Church in Korea during this time greatly enhanced its social visibility and credibility by its active struggle for democracy, even at the expense of institutional security, and it has grown steadily since then. Second, the early receptivity by Koreans to Christian faith and the ensuing church growth distracted Korean churches from the need to continue working for the conversion of Korean culture. At some point, Korean Protestants stopped pursuing the steady, relentless turning of all the mental and moral processes [of culture] toward Christ. Consequently, the direct Christian influence on Korean society and forms of cultural expression is disproportionately less than one would anticipate. Above all, the persistent influence of a Confucian vision of a harmonious society based on hierarchical relationships has kept the Korean church from overcoming social stratification among its members. The existing hierarchy of the larger society has often been reflected within the church, with the result that those not valued by society have become invisible to the church. The role of the church in enlightening women and elevating their status in Korean society should be recognized. It was the Protestant missionaries who first introduced formal education for women and thereby paved the way for their attaining equal rights with men. However,

5 according to an ethnographic study of Korean Christian women, in particular evangelical women, the church has served a contradictory, double role?liberating as well as oppressing. The Christian faith has certainly contributed to the reconstruction of their self-identity as well as to their self-empowerment and social autonomy, enabling them to cope with the patriarchal environment of the traditional family and gender structure. Yet, most Korean churches have left women subordinated within the church hierarchy and authority structure and been successful in re-domesticating contemporary women for the [existing Confucian] family system and social arrangements. A bitter fruit of Confucianism in Korean Christianity has been the development of clericalism, with clergy exercising excessive power in both the faith and the polity of the church. A kind of Protestant sacerdotalism has limited the participation of laity?whose fervent prayer and passionate evangelism have been a driving force for church growth?in the church s life and ministry as true partners with clergy; it has stifled the enormous potential of the laity as agents of witness and transformation both inside and outside the church. Third, Korean Christianity s accommodation to shamanism, in particular its predominant interest in this-worldly and materialistic aspects of life, has produced a significant presence of nominal Christians. Shamanism has tamed the radical claims of Christianity. Consequently, Christian discipleship has been understood in

6 narrowly individualistic terms, often as a gateway to personal prosperity, while its costly nature, as well as its communal and social dimensions, is ignored or underemphasized. Unfortunately, Korean Christianity has not yet critically reflected on and confronted its predilection for materialistic prosperity. Nominalism has also led to a large number of Protestants leaving the church. According to Gallup Korea s 2004 survey, among those who changed their religion, 45.5 percent had once belonged to a Protestant church, in comparison to 34.4 percent who had left Buddhism, and only 14.9 percent who had left Catholicism. Moreover, both the 1997 and 2004 surveys revealed that, presently in Korea, Protestantism is the religion least likely to be considered for adoption by those without religious affiliation. Finally, the rapid industrialization and urbanization that once created a favorable climate for church growth now adversely affects it. For South Koreans, with the growth of economic stability and upward social mobility, leisure becomes a functional alternative to religions. 24 The church no longer is seen as a place to search for ways to cope with people s social insecurity and emotional anxiety. In fact, economic prosperity has become a snare for Korean churches, holding them in the bondage of materialism. Pastors of large and mega churches now enjoy social prestige and economic privilege, as the nation s economic growth has translated into increased giving by church members. Impressive

7 church buildings and a large membership roll have become symbols of a successful church. Presently, we could say that ecclesiocentrism, or churchism, pervades Korean Protestantism. At its beginning, the Korean Protestant church was a home for the poor and oppressed, and during the industrialization of the country, it provided both moral and social stability to the working class. As the country s economic prosperity began to benefit the church s own life, however, the church unfortunately began to turn its back on the poor and marginalized. With the middle class now composing the largest segment of its membership, the Korean church is no longer able to communicate with the common people; it has become too rich to hear the cry of the needy and powerless. In contrast, to the shame of many of the Protestant churches, the Catholic Church has never lost the memory of its origins among the dispossessed members of society and has made evangelism and ministry among the poor a primary focus of the work of the church. The Korean Protestant Church now needs to remember afresh that evangelism is to be undertaken from below... from the depth of human suffering, where we find both sinners and victims of sin.

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<BFACBCBCC0C7BBE7C7D02831302031203139292E687770> 延世醫史學 제12권 제2호: 29-40, 2009년 12월 Yonsei J Med Hist 12(2): 29-40, 2009 특집논문 3 한국사회의 낙태에 대한 인식변화 이 현 숙 이화여대 한국문화연구원 1. 들어가며 1998년 내가 나이 마흔에 예기치 않은 임신을 하게 되었을 때, 내 주변 사람들은 모두 들 너무나도 쉽게 나에게 임신중절을 권하였다.