ქრისტიანობის გზა კორეის ნახევარკუნძულზე

Abstract

The Korean Republic is quite unique in terms of religion. Despite the high level of ethnic homogeneity, there is not a single dominant religion. Although most Koreans do not profess any religious affiliation, many still engage religious worship. It is Noteworthy that the emergence of Christianity on the Korean Peninsula was initially regarded negatively, although it gained considerable popularity which is still relevant today. Koreans were first introduced to Catholicism in the early seventeenth century through books on “Western learning” that had been translated by Catholic missionaries in China and their Chinese collaborators. Koreans could easily read the classical Chinese these books were written in, and while interested in the technology, science, and maths they contained, they rejected their religious message. This began to 105 change in the late eighteenth century with one Korean scholar, Peter Yi Sŭnghun (1756–1801), traveling to Beijing as part of a tribute mission where he received baptism. In the 19th century Koreans abroad, especially those who were in Manchuria came into contact with Protestantism through Scottish missionaries, such as John Ross (1842–1910), and smuggled Korean translations of the Gospels and then the entire New Testament into Korea before the first resident missionary Methodist Horace Allen (1858–1932), arrived in 1884. Catholics and Protestants face common problems. Korea’s liberal democracy and economic development have led people to become more independent and therefore less willing to fully commit to a religious organization. Moreover, the hypercompetitive nature of Korean society means that people have comparatively little time and are less willing to spend it on religion. Moreover, other worldviews are rising that can compete with religion. Younger non-Protestant Koreans frequently describe Protestant churches as selfish, materialist, and authoritarian, and many feel that Cathedral Church of Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception (Myeongdong Cathedral) is a threat to traditional Eastern religion beliefs. Christianity in Korean Peninsula has overcome a history of persecution, colonial oppression, but Christian vitality in Korea, its ability to change with the times while still remaining itself, means that while transformation is inevitable, Christianity, in both its Catholic and Protestant forms, will likely remain for years to come as a significant part of the Republic of Korea.