Korean Church History : A Religio-comparative Perspective

Abstract

Christianity has long been a mainstream religion in Korea and many scholars have attempted to understand Korean church history in their own respective ways. The author reviews the perspectives of existing church histories in Korea and suggests a new comparative perspective for a more creative and reliable approach to Korean church history. This approach may be summarized as follows: First, if Korean church history is to be truly Korean, scholars should consider it from the wholly diachronic framework of Korean religious history. Secondly, in-depth research of Korean church history should be carried out along with research of comparable phenomena in a systemized Listenwissenschaft. And thirdly, if Korean church history is to be a church history in the truest sense, it should be able to interpret the trans-historical salvational significance implicit in the history of Christianity in Korea. The paper concludes that Korean church history should be mean- ingful not only for Christians in Korea but also for the Koreans in general and even for the population of the world at large.