Suffering is a human universal experienced within distinct historical contexts that poses an especially serious theological challenge to Christians: how does one reconcile suffering with belief in an omniscient, omnipotent, and just God? This article will explore how Korean Christians have developed theodicies, attempts to explain this apparent contradiction, that speak to their particular historical contexts by surveying the thought and actions of six Korean Christians (three Catholics and three Protestants): scholar and catechist Augustine Chŏng Yak-chong (1760–1801), author of the Silk Letter Alexius Hwang Sa-yŏng (1775–1801), assassin of Itō Hirobumi Thomas An Chung-gŭn (1879–1910), nationalist preacher Kil Sŏn-ju (1869–1935), miracle worker Kim Ik-tu (1874–1950), and pacifist and historian Ham Sŏk-hŏn (1901– 1989). By bringing together Koreans from different Christian traditions and times, this article will reveal the similarities and differences in Catholic and Protestant theodicies, how those theodicies developed in response to the particular historical contexts Koreans faced, and how they helped shape the historical choices made by their authors and their audiences. In particular, this article will show that while Korean Christians were willing to passively accept individual suffering, they could be driven to take direct, even violent action, when their communities were faced with this-worldly existential threats.
목차
Abstract INTRODUCING A CHRISTIAN NARRATIVE OF SUFFERING INTO KOREA SUFFERING AND THE THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY SUFFERING AND THE NATION ALLEGORY OF A SUFFERING NATION MIRACLES: SIGNS OF NATIONAL HOPE HAM SŎK-HŎN AND QUEEN OF SUFFERING CONCLUSION REFERENCES
키워드
TheodicySufferingProblem of EvilChristianityReligion
저자
FRANKLIN RAUSCH [ an assistant professor in the Department of History and Philosophy, Lander University, USA. ]
한국연구원은 1970년 5월 한국 민속의 각 분야에 걸친 자료의 수집과 학술적 연구를 목적으로 '한국민속연구소'로 출발하였다. 그 후 1973년 5월 연구 분야를 확대하며 민속뿐만 아니라 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 위해 '한국학연구소'로 개편하였고, 다시 1989년 3월 한국의 국제적 위상의 부상과 함께 한국학 연구의 중요성이 높아짐에 따라 '한국학연구원'으로 확대, 개편하였다. 한국학연구원은 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 통해 지역과 민족문화 발전에 기여하며 한국학의 세계화를 위해서 학술활동을 강화하고 나아가 내·외국인에 대한 한국문화 교육을 담당하고자 한다.