A Study on the Encounter of the Christian Faith with Korean Society from the Perspective of Cultural Engagement

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 장로회신학대학교 기독교사상과문화연구원
· 수록지 정보 : 장신논단 / 44권 / 3호 / 37 ~ 63페이지
· 저자명 : 임성빈

초록

Why should we concern ourselves with culture? It is because we share and meet each other through a limited time and space called Korean society and its culture. In this viewpoint the importance of culture in the missional as well as communicative level is crucial. It is necessary as Christians to focus our concern on what the Bible has to say about culture. According to the testimony of the Bible beginning from Genesis, culture is simultaneously the result of God’s grace and the fruit of the freedom and creativity of human beings. Therefore culture is in essence neither good nor bad; only it has the potential of becoming both. Therefore culture always contains ambiguity. Actually, many different positions concerning culture can be found in the Bible.
For instance, wisdom literature understands culture very affirmatively, whereas the books of prophecy mostly disapprove. Such various standpoints concerning culture are typologically well arranged in Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture. In this respect there is a need to give attention to Niebuhr’s typology in concretely discussing the relation between the Korean Church and culture.
It is being demanded of the Korean Church of today that it authenticates the identity of the Gospel, and at the same time maintain a constructive encounter with culture. The main purpose of this paper is to seek a more constructive encounter between the Gospel and culture through the study of various types of encounters between the Gospel and Korean culture using three of Niebuhr’s typological classifications.
Furthermore a theological view on culture will be established in order for the Church to be more responsible and carry out its missional responsibility in the new cultural context of the 21st century, followed by a theologically constructive cultural view and methodology in order to put this into practice.
This paper argues that the aspect of Christian cultural engagement in Korean society will unfold as follows.
First, the change of the major agents of forming culture should be noticed. The various spiritual desires of the public will be solved not through worship or small groups, but through various cultural production and participation. Therefore while the main agents of the Christian cultural engagement were limited to a minority of Christian intellectuals and leading churches until now, it is now anticipated that the smart Christian public will participate as the critical mass. Second, various Christian activities with cultural points of contact should be flourish. If social movements in the Korean society gradually become more interested in various realms of culture, all Christian activities with a missional intention will be able to find cultural contact points. While cultural engagement will be significantly accelerated, the more considerate theological discretion and transformation according to the standard of the Kingdom of God will be demanded. Thirdly, the formation of positive Christian alternative culture communities should be increased. Alternative communities which are free from the cultural industry and consumerism will develop. These communities will be alternative communities which reject the culture production mechanism based on capitals and pursue Christian spirituality. Fourthly, the proposal of transforming the ethos of social culture should be intensified. Although the acceptance and acculturation of culture and the production of cultural contents are important, there is a responsibility to propose a healthy ethos to the producers of culture. This is a more fundamental role, forming positive values and manufacturing the language of the Kingdom of God.

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