Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dutchy pink]

Why did Christianity take off in Korea in the last 50 years or so?

Why here and not other places?
Korea seems to be the fastest, and one of the few, places where Christianity is growing.

What brought all this on?

Any ideas?

[mithridates]

[dutchy pink]

Thanks,
I didn't read the 2nd article yet.

It seems there are two slightly differing reasons for christianity's stronghold.
1- the general disposition of the first missionaries, as being brave, devout, open-minded, stand-up people.

2- this seems to be a bit more open to discussion. Political factors, changing of the old-gaurds, Anti-imperialism sentiment, etc..

My next question is this.. Have you looked into this topic before, or are you just posting a few links after a quick search.
i'm not assuming, but anybody can post a link on the subject.
i wonder, have you read numerous different opinions/takes, and posted these as being good summaries or the general concensus of most people?

[mithridates]

Yes, I'm personally interested in the subject. The first book I typed up by hand from a pdf file, and I've read both of them. These two are especially interesting because of the people that wrote them Isabella Bird was one of the first modern travel writers and describes what Korea used to be like in perfect detail. I don't know how she put up with some of the places she visited then - in other parts of the book she describes staying at these places that would be thrilled to be called hovels, in the winter where warming the room in the slightest brought all sorts of bugs into the room to share the warmth and try to get at their food, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Bird

It's a pretty big subject though and I suspect this thread will get run down like the rest. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about Korea that's caused Christianity to grow so much here while it gets virtually ignored in Japan. There's always the Wikipedia page to look at as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Korea

Oh, there's also the interesting fact that Protestantism has begun to shrink in recent years while Catholicism is growing at a faster rate now, and people cite many of the reasons people here say for disliking churches here: too much focus on quick conversions, making money, annoying people, missing the feeling of being connected to a long tradition, etc.

[Tony_Balony]

There was a religious cleansing episode in the late 1800's where 5,000 French inspired Catholics were killed near Deajon.

[Unposter]

During the Japanese occupation, Japan worked hard to coerce Buddhists as the Japanese thought that if they controlled the Buddhists they would control Korea. So, Buddhism fell into disrepute in Korea as it was seen as pro-Japan.

The anti-Japanese movement in many ways, though not entirely, was often centered around Christian Churches. The Japanese didn't understand Christianity very well and generally left them alone. Also, the Christian Churches had access to the outside world through missionaries and world wide organizations. It was easy for Koreans to get U.S. visas if they were part of a Christian Church.

Christian Churches brought in important hard currencies and were sources of welfare as post-Independence South Korea tried to re-build. It was just one more source to build wealth.

Korean churches play a heavy hand in networking in Korea. Korean Churches try very hard to find jobs for their members and introduces and helps network people so it is seen as "useful" by many Koreans.

Of course, Koreans also like the spiritual message of Christianity.

Many Koreans become Christians (and take English lessons too) because they think Christianity will make them more modern or Western.

Unlike any other country in Asia, Korea's first and predominant understanding of the West (and most of the outside world) came from missionaries and the U.S. military. While I cannot prove it, this has got to have had a powerful impact on post-Independence Korea.

[mithridates]

[swetepete]

I'm looking forward to reading what you posted, mith', but I'm not quite up to it at the moment. Tomorrow, tomorrow...but it's a subject of great interest to me as well, and I've thought about it a lot. I got my own take on it already, and while I don't want to claim it's any good, or accurate, or fair, I want to spit it out before reading somebody else's. I'm (perhaps overly) impressionable, and tend to get swayed easy.
Ok, here it is: 'Why Christians Are Running the Show In Korea'

by Some Atheist Goof.

America won half the war, 50 years ago. Suddenly, a Western-style Christian oriented education became symptomatic of money and political connection; arguably, the Korean elite had enjoyed that style of education for some years already (minus the overt Christian influence). In any case, the folks who'd been running things for the Japanese made a quick switch to running things for these new, apparently Christian, bosses.

It was a bit of a bust at first, but soon enough, South Korea boomed: through the inarguable efficiency of dictatorship, and some exceptionally clever economists, and some significant foreign investment, Korea in the 60s 70s and 80s developed a sizable middle class. Like middle classes all over the world, they wanted more of that good stuff, and emulated the people richer than them; they aimed to plug their kids into the same (obviously successful) system that had created the elites of their time.

Also, the paternalistic, overtly pious (and perhaps, ultimately, elitist) nature of the Christian ruling class wasn't really much of a leap from the Confucian junk they'd been high on for centuries already. The segue was clean and subtle. Who even noticed?

And what was the difference, really? Still the same deal, in the end: send your brightest to whatever the dominant faction says is the best school, and get richer than you were before.

Still the same afterlife-focussed, fear-based interpretation of this life: play it right, and you die fat and become a happy ghost. Do it wrong, and you suck not only in this life, but in the next one as well.

And here we are now!

And where is that, now, exactly?

Christian Koreans seem to me, by and large, a social climbing bunch, and not particularly concerned or dedicated to a 'true' actualization of Christian dogma--much like their counterparts in the northern Americas*. But, I've been lucky ('blessed,' some might say) to have met a great many here who really do live up to the best (IMHO) that Christian thought has to offer: kindness, and charity, and benevolence. If people actually live like that, their motives are irrelevant to me. I count hardcore Christians among the very coolest of the Koreans I've met in my time here.

And also, I'm sorry to say, among the worst.

Right--sorry about that--as I said before, I am looking forward to seeing what the other folks have said about it, but I wanted to get that down before I am convinced by somebody else's (probably better) take on things.

*But what do I know about Christian dogma? I'm an atheist scumbag, after all, burnt out on all those notions already. It's probably impossible for me to give that garbage a fair shake.


PS: I just noticed, replace the word "christian" with the word "communist" in the above dribble and it might be equally applicable to our good friends up in Kim Jong Il Land.

[Hollywoodaction]

Some missionaries gave a lot of support to the Korean independence movement. F.W. Schofield, for example, would lecture his students on the importance of freeing themselves from Japanese rule. He is now known as the the 34th man of the March 1th Independence Movement. He was there with the 33 dissidents who signed the declaration. He had been picked by the leaders as the man who would publicize the movement abroad after they were arrested.

He is the only foreigner buried in the Patriots Section of the National Cemetery in Seoul.

http://www.drschofield.org/

[swetepete]

[RACETRAITOR]

Catholicism established itself in Korea first, and after all the hardships and slaughters developed a close relationship with the Buddhist establishment. These days for Buddhist ceremonies you'll see some of the higher up Korean Catholic clergy present and vice versa.

[Unposter]

Swetepete,

I would say that is pretty close to my opinion as well.

[kimchi story]

[bluelake]

Mith,

I am still working on getting IBB's two volumes up on Project Gutenberg. I received clearance from them last year and had my Korean history students scan original editions and run the image files through a high-end OCR program. Still, they need to have a final proofing, which I'll have a couple history students do this coming semester.

A good book on the subject of this thread is Korea and Christianity, a compilation of articles edited by Yu Chai-shin.

[Ilsanman]

I know their history.


October 1st, 1901...Christian missionaries arrived in Korea and converted a few dozen Koreans.

October 2nd, 1901....They started harrassing people by knocking on doors and passing out flyers on the street.