Confucian-Christian Dialogue Revisited(I) - A Contemporary Korean and Comparative Inquiry

Abstract

This paper examines "Confucian-Christian dialogue," one of the significant topics in the advancing area of comparative religion and interreligious dialogue. Its dual purpose is to raise certain questions about Westem scholarship on the topic and my own comparative reflections on the phenomenon of Confucian-Christian interaction in Korea and its crosscultural implications for interreligious dialogue. One major reason for my interest in this topic is that Confucianism continues to remain a living tradition of moral-spiritual, educational and social inspiration in East Asian. Confucianism has also been interacting with Christianity in Korea, therefore, modem Confucianism in East Asia is not only significant in itself, but also embodies certain implications for the growing topic of interreligious dialogue. Furthermore, during the past several decades, Christianity grew into an influential and popular religion especially in South Korea. We also cannot ignore the central role of Vatican II and the World Council of Churches in making the issue of "ecumenical movement" and "interfaith dialogue" a globally legitimate one. In other words, all of these facts compel us to consider Confucianism in contemporary Korea as a significant paradigm for interreligious dialogue in the twenty-first century.