Here, we shall offer a critical analysis this remarkable situation, illustrated by means of the following figure:
(A)
The influence of American theologies in the Korean Protestant Church in each historical period of Korea
Puritan theology (patriotism)
Positive thinking Self-esteem
The new homiletics
The McDonaldization of Mega-church
(B)
Preaching Political preaching styles in con- Triumphal preaching temporary Experiential preaching Korea
(C)
Numerical growth in Number the Korean Protestant Church
The general public trust of
the Korean Protestant Spiritual growth in and its members the Korean Protestant Church
From the Korean War era An era of military An era of democratized The history to the government of Syng-Man Lee dictatorship government of Korea
(1950 – 1961) (1961 – 1992) (1993 - ) Trends in each historical period of Korea (D)
Anti-communism The pursuit of wealth (Mammonism) Post-modernism Pro-America Individualism Anti-Christianity Pro-conservative (right) political party
The mixture of Korean Shamanism and America’s
positive thinking
The combination the new homiletics and the McDonaldization of the
Mega-church Patriotism Pro-the military government Anti-America The starting point of
political preaching against North Korea, the commu-
nist and the liberal (left) party
The starting point of triumphal preaching
Anti-conservative (right) party The well-being syndrome The starting point of experiential
preaching
Fig. 13 A critical analysis of the remarkable situation of the Korean Protestant Church in contemporary Korea
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Part A shows the influence of American theologies in the Korean Protestant Church in each of Korea’s historical periods. It indicates the fact that American theologies have always had an enormous influence on the Korean Protestant Church. Part A reflects another important character, i.e. in contemporary Korea, although Puritan theology had begun to influence the Korean Protestant Church before the Korean War and positive thinking and self-esteem started influencing it since the 1960s, these theologies still influence this Church in contemporary Korea. The present Korean Protestant Church has proclaimed three American theologies. Therefore, it is inevitable that its preachers continuously preach in three preaching modes to their congregation as part B in the world. The present position of the Korean Protestant Church is illustrated in the following figure:
Fig. 14 The present standing position of the Korean Protestant Church in contemporary Korea
Drawing upon the contribution of Campbell (Campbell 2002c:7) it is argued that many “- isms” has oppressed the Korean Protestant Church and its members and has held them captive. As a result, they cannot fulfil their role and responsibility in contemporary Korea, and this erodes the spirituality of the Korean Protestant Church and its members.
Furthermore, parts, D and A, explain the trends due to the enormous influence of American theology in each historical period of Korea. In 1950 to 1961 (from the Korean War to Syng- Man Lee’s government), the Korean Protestant ministers and members could not but support anti-communism, the pro-conservative (right) party and be pro-America after they had experienced the Korean War. Thus, the Korean Protestant preachers preached political
Puritan theology (Patriotism, Dualism,
Anti-communism) From the 1950s to now
The new homiletics and The Mcdonaldization of Mega-church (Post-modernism, individualism From the 1990s to now Positive thinking
Self-esteem (Materialism, Quantitativism)
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sermons against North Korea and the liberal (left) party, but remain steadfast in their support of America. As a result, this situation led the Korean Protestant Church to become strongly anti-communist and patriotic, as well as the best conservative group in contemporary Korea.
During 196l to 1992 (the era of military dictatorship), the military government and the Korean Protestant Church wished to conquer poverty. They cooperated and created the movement of Sea-Ma-Eul to overcome poverty with a military spirit and positive thinking. In order to develop a strong country with economic power in the world, the government invested heavily in chemical and heavy industries, but ignored human rights and socio-ethical problems to promote economic growth. Moreover, rapid economic growth caused by industrialization and urbanization, inevitably led to the gap between the rich and the poor. As a result of this growth, Mammonism soon influenced the Korean society.
From 1993 until today (An era of democratized government), the Korean Protestant Church not only existed in a post-modern era, but also experienced a decline in the Korean Protestant Church’s attendance from the early 1990s. Furthermore, in Korea’s post-modern society, in order to solve the decline in the Korean Protestant Church’s attendance, the Korean Protestant ministers started importing the new homiletics and the McDonaldization of a mega-church from America, as Korea’s post-modern society and the Korean homiletical field had focused on “individualistic experience,” which these theologies also emphasized. Furthermore, since the mid-1990s, the Korean Protestant preachers tried to combine the new homiletics with the multi-media to fulfil the congregation’s individualistic experience and satisfaction, i.e. they started using the multi-media to display the main points of the sermon and church news, and visual material relevant to the sermon’s content was shown on a screen.
Part C reveals that the Korean Protestant Church has experienced a decline in its attendance since the early 1990s. There are two reasons; 1) the Korean Protestant ministers have not worked towards their congregation’s Christ-like maturity, but have tried to maintain or increase the membership in their Churches. 2) they have always been subordinate to worldly powers, the spirit of the times, and American theologies, and were indifferent to the ethics of Christianity, that is, socio-political problems, loving the lower classes, the benefit of suffering for self-reflection in God, etc.
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During the past approximately 60 years (from the Korean War until today), the Korean Protestant Church has lost its credibility in the Korean society. Thus, this Church cannot but experience a decline in its attendance. In the following section (8.4), we shall carefully examine the above-mentioned problematic phenomenon of the Korean practical theological field in terms of a critical evaluation of the Korean Protestant Church’s ethical situation.