Korea and Christianity

Korea and Christianity (edited by Chai-Shin Yu, Korean Scholar Press, 1996) is a collection of articles about the development of Christianity in South Korea.

Such as the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in 1890. By resorting to intimidation and gangster-like behavior, the Catholics appeared unreasonable, spiteful and thuggish. They sounded like trouble-makers and gave Catholicism a deservedly bad name, especially those who felt that they did not have to obey the laws of the land, since their loyalty was first and foremost to the church. This gave the impression that Catholics were working against the interest of the nation.

The Catholics had also often appeared arrogant. For instance, in the midst of a governmental investigation, a Catholic priest told his believers that he would ask his country (France) to send a warship to Korea and take them to France. The apex of arrogance! In comparison, Protestants appeared more astute by trying to make friends with government officials, and by largely avoiding politics.

But overall, Catholic priests seemed to have a disproportionate influence and power over the civil and criminal justice system of the area that they live in. This was reportedly one of the reasons why many had converted to Catholicism, since Catholic priests were able to protect the interests of the ordinary people, and induced fear among local officials.

Then there were also the mutual criticisms between Catholics and Protestants. Among other things, the Protestants accused Catholics of falsifying the bible, and of not being truthful to the bible's doctrine. Even though there were also similar criticisms by Catholics against Protestants, overall, I felt that the Protestants' case seemed a tad more convincing.

In the discussion about the creation of an indigenous Korean Christianity, apart from the example cited of having hymns sung to traditional Korean melodies and lyrics, I am still unsure what an "indigenous Korean Christianity" entails, both in terms of doctrine and substance.

Overall, the book managed to shed light on the complexities of the development of Christianity, as well as the role of the religion in Korea.

Certainly, Christianity played an important role since the end of the Chosun dynasty, particularly its role in the anti-Japanese resistance movement. The religion had also played a pivotal role in the spread of hangul (the Korean alphabet) and most importantly, the formation of a (mainly South) Korean national identity.

Especially thoughtful, I thought, was the following assertion by one of the writers:

"The development in Korea is the only one in modern missionary history worldwide in which the church acted without advancing the cause of colonialism and imperialism."

Perhaps, just for that, Christianity should be celebrated in Korea?