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Wie verhä.lt sich nun das Abendmahl zur unio mystica? Da aber ja dies Mysterium der geheimnisvollen Einbeit Christi mit den Glä.ubigen seinem Wesen nach unbegreiflich ist, erzeigt er eine Gestalt und ein Bild davon in den sichtbaren Zeichen, die unserem Begriffsvermö.gen ganz angepaßt sind. man sieht deutlich beide Linien: Einmal - gegen Luther - die Tendenz zu bestreiten, daß es eine spezifische Abendmahlsgabe gibt, aber ich wiederhole: auch Calvin betont energisch die Realprä.senz Christi - aber es ist dieselbe wirkliche Gegenwart des Herrn wie etwa in der Predigt!, sodann - gegen Zwingli - die Tendenz zu bestreiten, daß das Abendmahl ein im Grunde ü. berflü.ssiges Annex sei, weil dem Glaubenden in seinem Glauben ja sowieso schon alles gegeben sei. Diese Spannung hat er sein Leben lang durchzubalten versucht, und wer ihn recht verstehen will, muß stä.ndig beide Linien sehen. Die Gemeinschaft mit Christus ist immer auch Teilhabe an seinem Fleisch und Blut, und gerade dies wird im Abendmahl besonders deutlich, So wenig Calvin eine spezifische Abendmahlsgabe kennt, deren der Glä.ubige nicht auch ohne das Abendmahl teilhaftig werden kö.nnte, so sehr betont gerade das Abendmahl diese reale unspirituelle Gemeinschaft mit dem ganzen Christus. So gesehen ist also das Proprium des Abendmahls dieses, daß es die Christusgemeinschaft genauer interpretiert und konkretisiert in dem Sinne, daß es sich hier nicht nur um eine Gemeinschaft mit der Gottheit Christi, bzw, seinem Geist handelt, sondern um die Gemeinschaft mit dem, der unser Fleisch eingenommen hat und dessen Fleisch nun auch eine materia spiritualis vitae ist. Wer also Calvin nur eine geistliche oder gar noch schlimmer nur eine geistige Verbindung des Glaubenden mit dem Geist Christi unterschiebt, der hat ihn nicht verstanden.

Die Praktische Theologie hat seit langem die Interpretationsrepertoire immer wieder gewechselt. Die neueste Hilfswissenschaft für die Praktische Theologie bzw. Liturgik ist die Semiotik. Den Gottesdienst semiotisch zu untersuchen heisst, dass die Bedeutung bzw. Wirkung vom Gottesdienst anhand seines Zeichencharakters erklärt und dargelegt wird, inwiefern es (ein Wort, ein Text, eine Handlung, ein Symbol, ein Raumgefuege usw.) von Erkenntnis-und Kommunikationsprozessen bestimmt und von dem kulturellen Kontext, in dem sich diese vollziehen, nach Form und Inhalt geprägt wird. Es geht zuerst nicht um die organisch-geschichtliche orientierte Untersuchung des gottesdienstlichen Geschehens sondern mehr um kommunikativ-aktuelle situative Struckturierung in semiotischer Methodologie. Die semiotische Untersuchung ziehlt nicht darauf, die Einmaligkeit gottesdienstlicher Vorgänge zu beschreiben und zu erklären, sondern ziehlt vielmehr darauf, in den einmaligen und deshalb nicht wiederholbaren Kommunikationsablaufen allgemeinere Gesetzlichkeit zu entdecken, Struktur aufzuzeigen, die für alle Gottesdiensten Gültigkeit haben, sofern sie Zeichenprozess sind, daraus Kriterien für die künftige Gestaltung von Gottesdiensten und Predigten zu gewinnen.

God created male and female according to the image of God. The body as female or male, as well as mind and spirit, reflect God's image. Nevertheless, the bodies of females and their experiences have been often regarded as "imperfect," or "inferior" to those of males in the patriarchal teachings in Christianity. Especially, menstruation has been regarded as a "filthy" and this misunderstanding of societies to which pubescent girls belong hurts them psychologically and emotionally and hinders them from acquiring the appropriate identities. Ritualizing of menstruation is one of the ways in which females rediscover the dignity and value of their bodies and their experiences as God's image. As a rite of passage, the ritual for pubescent girls' menstruation facilitates the change from one stage another, influencing them to build sound identities in regard to their bodies and sexuality. In the ritual, women, especially pubescent girls, should learn the value of women’s menstruation and other women’s bodily experiences. The positive acceptance of bodily experiences is the essence of the feminist ritual spirituality. Ritualizing women’s menstruation is imperative because negative understandings still afflict women’s status and identities as well as their understanding of God as the origin of their identities. Through ritualizing menstruation within women's subjectivity, women can create a new and just pathway for their futures and for the next generations.

French anthropologist René Girard takes very strong stance on the religious legitimization of social violence. Girard argues that mimetic desire gives rise to latent hostility within a group and that mounting aggression is then alleviated by the “scapegoat mechanism,” through which collective anger is displaced onto a random individual, for whom the sacrificial victim is the acknowledged replacement. For theologians, Girard’s theory is significant and evocative in understanding the ambivalent facets of sacrifice because theological debates about sacrifice are naturally directed at the violence inherent in it. Even though Girard is criticized for over-generalizing, his theory is valuable in pointing to how a sacrificial narrative has legitimized sociopolitical violence. The subject of sacrifice has been a scandal in the theological sphere and includes many complicated issues. Contemporary theologians, especially feminists and liberation theologians, have argued that the doctrine of vicarious atonement and sacrifice have cultivated and legitimatized human victimization and our acceptance of abuse. When Jesus took the side of the minorities, marginalized groups drew their ethical strength from the power of sacrifice. However, it is a great irony that they themselves became the victim of this sacrifice narrative. Jesus’ sacrifice became the origin and proto-example of their sacrifice and the very reason to accede to the present unjust social mechanism. This paper argues that the passion story can be misused in a process of self-deception and violence. The sacrifice narrative has been used to legitimize another sacrifice of marginalized groups in our society. We have seen how the same narrative can produce totally different ethics and actions according to who is doing the interpretation. The same narrative can be seen in contradictory ways according to its context and different interpreters’ ideology and theology. This is why the surrogate victim mechanism creates ambivalence in terms of violence. Girard’ theory of sacrifice has ambivalent implications in terms of the legitimization of violence and power in society. Ambivalence arises when people are committed to certain values and convictions related to sociopolitical interests.

The article proposes steps toward a more meaningful Sunday observance. For this purpose we first revisit and perhaps rediscover the concept of Sunday and the meaning of its observance. Sundays ties to "Sungsu Juil" is challenged while its christological, ecclesiological, and sacramental interpretations are reaffirmed to bring to better focus the meaning of Sunday for the Body of Christ. It is concluded that a meaningful Sunday observance does not constitute a ritualistic and duty-bound filling of an "empty day" with religious activities and legalistic devotion. A meaningful Sunday observance is about tasting the fulfilled Sabbath which Sunday points to as its symbol, becoming one in the body of Christ the Church, and participating with anticipation in the baptismal river and Lord's table in which the body of Christ the Church is promised to be raised. There are biblical, historical and theological grounds to justify worship on Sundays; however, mere historical precedence should not determine worship on any fixed day. Practical considerations such as time-scheduling, its rich symbolism, biblical and apostolic tradition, historical authority, and theological justification, do, however, render Sunday as the ideal setting for the weekly service. Yearly cycles with festive seasons immediately divides Sundays to two categories: "festive" Sundays with a specialized topic and "ordinary" Sundays without any focus on issues. Sundays are considered empty days waiting to be filled with educational or spiritual obligations. It is suggested in this article that Sunday services and seasons be separated in their tasks and functions so that the two, rather than becoming rivals for theological meaning, instead complement each other in accomplishing their respective tasks.

This paper aims to explore a common spirituality among believers in the age between “already” and “not yet.” Even though believers live in the presence of God’s divine power, they still experience inner struggles because of their sinful nature. The Apostle Paul presents his view of the struggle using the term “groaning” in Romans Chapter 8. Paul himself experienced the believer’s groan prompted by the tension of two opposing wills: the will to live following the law of God and the will to live following the sinful nature. Creation also participates in this groaning with believers. As a result of the Fall, creation’s dignity and glory was displaced, as is revealed in Genesis Chapter 3. Consequently, creation awaits the appearance of God’s children, but groans in anticipation of freedom from bondage and decay upon this yet-to-be-seen culmination of salvation’s promise. Likewise, the Spirit is another who groans in the midst of this age. The Spirit groans as an intercessor on the behalf of believers. This is because believers sometimes do not understand what they must pray for, as Paul states in the Scripture. In particular, believers hardly discern the will of God regarding their weaknesses in the midst of physical sufferings and myriad dilemmas. The Spirit, however, intercedes for believers with groans that words cannot express. Therefore, groaning is a symbol of the believers’ spirituality in this age between “already” and “not yet.” It is not a negative expression of spirituality, but the groaning chorus of believers with the Spirit—all in anticipation of the final hope, its redemption, and glory.

Healing and wholeness are contemporary spiritual issues in today’s church. In the Bible healing and wholeness are a principal focus: through the history of Israel, God consistently restored the relationship of the Israelites by mean of healing and wholeness processes and in the New Testament era, Jesus showed the kingdom of God through his ministry by healing and wholeness. Healing may thus be seen as a direct act of agape love which brings people uniquely into contact with God the Creator. Jesus healed all who came to him because he knew that God’s will is for each one to live full and complete lives. Today, healing reminds us all that God is not indifferent to human pain and suffering. Jesus heals in order to help us toward transformation. God today uses healing "partners,"particularly in the many fields involving health care including physical, mental, emotional, and relationship recovery. Thus, healing witnesses God’s presence to us. The purpose of this study is to articulate the issues of healing and wholeness in Christianity for contemporary spirituality. First, it will define what healing and wholeness in Christianity mean and will trace for the reader some of the biblical foundations in the Old and New Testaments. Moreover, it will introduce a historical understanding of healing and wholeness based on the book, Healing and Christianity, written by Morton Kelsey and will present its background from biblical times to the present. Secondly, it will elaborate on programs of healing and wholeness beyond the principles suggested by Kelsey in order to apply the theory of healing processes more explicitly in a contemporary church. Finally, it will present major examples of programs such as Meditation, Group Sharing, Bible study, a Workshop, and a Healing service.

John Wesley was a great preacher in England in the eighteenth century. Now he is remembered as the theological and spiritual father of his followers who are both in the Methodist tradition and in the Wesleyan Holiness tradition. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a significant characteristic of John Wesley's preaching ministry, which is his field preaching. The great majority of Wesley's sermons were preached in the fields and the streets rather than in the parish churches. "Why did Wesley go out to the streets and fields in his days?" "Why did he mostly preach out of doors instead of preaching in his parish church?" "What was the result of his field preaching ministry?" These questions will be the main concern of this paper. I will investigate several factors which were directly or indirectly related to the beginning of Wesley's field preaching. They will be Moravian influences, Wesley's Aldersgate Experience, George Whitefield's invitation to Bristol, the social and economic situation at Bristol, and the start of Wesley's field preaching at Bristol. In spite of the official objection of the Anglican Church to Wesley's preaching practice in outdoors, Wesley's field preaching had a great success, establishing the heritage of a great Methodist revival movement in England in the eighteenth century and later in America in the nineteenth century. After experiencing all the despair of the outside world in the time of industrial revolution in England, Wesley put all the priorities into field preaching because of the value, importance, and power of the field preaching, which was spoken to the unchurched and forlorn masses.

Es ist das Verhältnis von Verkündigung und Therapie seelsorgerlich bestimmen zu wollen. In seiner “Lehre von der Seelsorge” hat E. Thurneysen vom Verhältnis zwischen Seelsorge und Psychotherapie im Hinblick auf die Gesprächsmethodik geschrieben. Vor allem geht er vom Verständnis der Seele des Menschen als Gegenstand der Seelsorge aus und dann geht er auch die Verkündigung des Wortes Gottes an den Einzelnen und die Sündenvergebung in Jesus Christus als den Zentralbegriff der Seelsorge zu deuten weiter. Die Seelsorge bedarf darum der Psychologie als einer Hilfswissenschaft, die der Erforschung der inneren Natur des Menschen dient. Thurneysens Beziehung zu Psychologie und Psychotherapie scheint zunächst von einer auffallenden Ambivalenz gezeichnet zu sein. Einerseits war er von Anfang an aufgeschlossen genug, ihren Aufbruch wahrzunehmen und ihren therapeutisch wirksamen Ansatz zu würdigen. Andererseits ist aber auch eine tiefe Aversion Thurneysens gegenüber der Psychologie nicht zu verkennen. Sie findet ihren Ausdruck in nahezu allen seinen Arbeiten. In häufigen Seitenhieben werden Psychologie oder Psychotherapie als “Seelenpflege” apostrophiert, mit Aufklärung, Moral, menschlichem Rat assoziiert und gar als “raffinierte Psycholoie” abgewertet. Alles Freiwerden von Krankheit, also auch im Sinne von jeder Art von Therapie verstanden, in der Sicht echter Seelsorge nichts anderes ist als ein Widerschein jener ganz andern Art von Heilung der Sündenkrankheit durch die Vergebung. Die Vergebung, unter dem in der Seelsorge alles steht, bedeutet eine neue Art von Therapie.

The purpose of this paper is to study the ministry of the pastors who participated in Imago Couple Relationship Therapy and the experiences of their reforming God's image by phenomenological research method. The rapid increase in divorce rate in Korea causes many social problems such as family break down, its subsequent juvenile delinquency, suicide, increase in crime, phenomenon to avoid marriage, low birth rate, aging, and etc. To save broken families and restore healthy couple relationship is biblical teaching and mission for churches and pastors. Therefore, the experiences of the pastors in Korean churches, looking for the alternatives for the couple problems which is the core of family crisis today, participated in the Imago Couple Relationship therapy, which is proven to be the best program of the worldwide couple therapies, were studied. Also, how the experiences influence their ministry and what perceptional change there is in reforming God's image were studied. For this, the change in couple relationship, the influence in the ministry, and the meaning of reforming experience in God's image for six pastors who were educated according to the structured manual by internationally certified Imago Couple Relationship professional were investigated and conceptualized on the basis of interview, voice recording, e-mail, and non-verbal expression during the interview. In order to introduce the theoretical background of couple therapy, internationally widely known leading models of couple education were examined comparing with Imago Couple Relationship education model, and the characteristics of Imago Couple Relationship education and its need were looked into. As a result of the phenomenological research, the experiences in Imago Couple Relationship therapy were categorized into 6 following subjects: 1. Unfinished Imago(wounds in childhood) from relational experience in original family influences the causes of the meeting of couples and their conflict. 2. What is important in couple relationship is not character but their relationship. 3. What is important in ministry is family ministry and restoration of couples. 4. Imago Couple Relationship education is integral and biblical. 5. Men and God are relational beings. 6. Restoration of couples through Imago Couple Relationship education experience reforms God's image. From the result of this study, it was found that formation of pastoral couple relationship is very important and especially its contents greatly affect reformation of God's image.

In light of recent cultural shifts, Korean churches and leaders are discovering that the authoritarian leadership patterns which they have employed are not working as well as they have in the past. These leaders are recognizing a need to change, and are looking for leadership models that can help them to do so. One approach that has recently grown in popularity, and which is particularly attractive to Christian leaders, is that of servant leadership. There is an ever‐increasing amount of literature available on servant leadership, both with respect to its practice in corporate settings and with respect to Christian leadership. However, rather than simply borrowing the latest model of leadership from the corporate world, Christian leaders need to reflect carefully on the biblical and theological appropriateness of this model and consider both points of coherence and disconnect with a Christian worldview. Thus we need to critically examine servant leadership and develop a Christian perspective on servanthood and servant leadership through biblical reflection and critique. Developing such a perspective is a primary aim of this article. To this end, I will first consider various theories of leadership and present some limitations of conventional approaches, before describing the basic premises and characteristics of servant leadership, considering perspectives from business management and Christian leadership. and attempting to lay the groundwork for a specifically Christian perspective on servant leadership. I will explore the philosophical basis of servant leadership as conceptualized by Robert Greenleaf and his followers, and I will then begin to develop a Christian perspective, centered around Jesus. Finally, I will present some theoretical implications and horizons for future research on a Christian understanding of servant leadership.

While it had grown until the 1980s, Korean Protestantism has undergone stagnation or decline since then. Many people point out that it is because there are some problems related to evangelistic activities, which are significant factors of church growth. Based upon this assumption, this paper aims to diagnose the evangelism of the Korean Protestant Churches performed since the 1990s when postmodern cultural trends began to emerge, and to suggest a new paradigm that will meet the demands of contemporary culture. Based on some reliable statistics, Protestants are still doing evangelistic work very vigorously. Their methods of witnessing are mostly restricted to direct evangelism to unknown people on the street or going from house to house. However, it has been researched that non-Protestants responded negatively to such evangelistic activities. One of the problems in the Korean Protestant evangelism is the evangelist-centered and one-way communication style. In a changing cultural environment, individual consciousness is intensified and a two-way communication style is widely liked. In this context, hearers tend to express their opinions actively, while Protestant evangelists tend to be somehow offensive and inconsiderate to others. In this paper, the new paradigm for effective evangelism in Korea is suggested in four ways. The first is that Protestant evangelists should set up their activities with the mind of incarnational service as the essence of the Gospel. The second is that their works should be carried out from a position of weakness as our Lord Jesus revealed on the Cross. The third is that they should focus on not delivering the message itself but practicing a virtuous and warm-hearted evangelism to touch non-believers. The last is that in the communication process there should be stories of life beyond stereotyped repetition.

The socio-political participation of Christians in the world is directly connected with how they think of the world and, specifically, how they view the relationship between the church and state. Now, in Korean Churches, some of Christians have done forming a Christian political part, the issue of pastor's indiscreet declaration, and the role of pastor's leader of NGO, etc. as alternatives about Christian political participation. Most Christians ask that such participation is biblical. And the complication of liberal and conservative in society come from Christian community. Should the church participate in worldly affairs? Does the church reside above or within the state? In an attempt to answer these questions, this paper examines the relationship between the church and state and the problem of social participation from a biblical perspective. The argument presented in the first section is that as long as the individual Christian is a member of the church as well as a constituent of society, the church will always have a social as well as a religious character. As a result, the Christian should have a great deal of interest and concern about things in society and should not isolate himself or show apathy towards it. The second section provides a historical context to the relationship between church and state and also identifies the major ideologies that have shaped Christian views on this issue. The final section presents a methodology to apply the biblical principles of social and political participation to the Korean Church, as well as a review of historical applications and lessons. The biblical conclusion of the issues surrounding the independence and dependence of church and state (both under God’s authority) is active political participation and subordination to the institutions of the state and politicians. However, Christianity must be the nucleus that guides the interaction between the government and society and reforms political activities through biblical principles and evangelization. Therefore, Christian believer who are uncritical of politics must repent as when politics become more difficult they must bear the responsibility of "praying for the state and politicians" and must make greater efforts at evangelization to reform the political system through biblical principles. More importantly, they must not take sides during political turmoil. we must act upon the wisdom imparted in the Bible that says "fighting evil with evil to bring upon change is a slight to God's divine power of intervention." But the separation of church and state does not mean that they have no relations whatsoever. Church and state are mutually related in the normal affairs of life. Quite obviously there are grey areas in the relationship. But one thing is clear, neither church nor state should exercise over the other. History record that a free church in a free state proves a blessing to both.

This paper examined John Wesley's small group movement as a model for the renewal of the Korean church today by observing the founding background and content of Wesley's small groups. Wesley's small group movement brought about a spiritual as well as moral awakening and reform to the Church of England and society. Wesley had already experienced the roots of the small group movement known as "society" within the Church of England through his father Samuel and mother Susanna. Afterwards, the small group movement at Oxford, in Georgia and in London and Bristol were followed. Through the small group movement, Wesley sought to actualize the authentic church found in the New Testament. His small groups were not a method to maintain order of an established church but were living communities of faith. Wesley invited believers who were newly converted through his evangelism into his small groups, maintained personal piety through the mutual care and spiritual formation between members, and by subliming the idea of personal holiness into social sanctification he lead the charge for transformation in the church and society. The Methodist society had rules and regulations, and also involved spiritual discipline which encouraged the individual to obey each rule by fully giving oneself up to the rule with integrity. The societies, which consisted of classes, developed into the band and select societies, both which demanded for a greater dedication of a leader's spirituality, while those who had fallen behind were gathered in the penitent group, thus allowing all members of the Methodist movement community to maintain a living model of spirituality in their lives. Such is Wesley's small group movement, which contains several important messages along with tips on small group structures to the Korean church, a church that has allowed its small groups to become lower organizations kept to mainly maintain an institutionalized church. First, that the small group is not an institution but a place of living spiritual transformation; second, the need for the restoration of a structure of mutual care and discipline between members; third, to be a place of personal holiness - which serves the poor- and social sanctification; fourth, to invite lay leadership as partners in ministry and provide opportunities of discipline.