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Presbyterian Church of Korea
Historical Christian denomination From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK; Korean: 대한예수교장로회; Hanja: 大韓예수敎長老會), also known as Yejang (예장), is a Protestant denomination based in South Korea that adheres to Calvinist theology and the Westminster Confession of Faith.
The origins of Korean Presbyterianism date back to the 1880s. Seo Sang-ryun, one of the first Koreans converted by Scottish Presbyterian missionaries, returned to Korea from Manchuria and established the Sorae Church in 1884.
The expansion of the Presbyterian mission led to increased demand for Korean pastors. In 1907, Presbyterians from the United States, Australia, and Canada established the first theological seminary in Korea, located in Pyongyang. That same year, the PCK organized its first presbytery.[1]
Since the 1950s, the PCK has split into several denominations due to theological and political disputes. As of 2019, there were 286 branches in South Korea, with approximately Four million church attendees.[2] Many of these branches still use the title "Presbyterian Church of Korea."[3]
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History
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Early Missionaries
Horace Newton Allen
Horance Grant Underwood
Calvinism first arrived in Korea in 1865, when pastor Robert Jermain Thomas was captured and martyred during the General Sherman incident.[4] The first Korean Presbyterian church was founded by Seo Sang-ryun in Hwanghae Province in 1884.[5] Sang-ryun had been converted to Christianity by Scottish pastor John McIntyre during his time in Manchuria.[6]
Full-scale missions began 20 years later, when Horace Newton Allen of the Northern Presbyterian Church was admitted into the royal court of Joseon as a physician.[7] In 1885, Horace Underwood and John W. Heron arrived and established the Korean mission for the Northern Presbyterian Church. Notably, although the first Korean Bible was translated by John Ross in the 1870s, this edition was printed and published by the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Scottish Bible Society in 1886.[8]
Shortly thereafter, more Western missionaries began arriving in Korea, including Canadian missionary James Scarth Gale and Australian Joseph Henry Davies in 1889, followed by American missionary Samuel Austin Moffett in 1890. In 1891, female teachers such as Isabella Menzies, Jean Perry, and Mary Fawcett arrived from Australia. Dr. James MacKenzie landed in 1893, and in 1898, Dr. Robert Grierson, pastor W. R. Foote, and Duncan MacRae of the Presbyterian Church in Canada arrived to serve as missionaries.[9]
McKenzie died a year and a half after his arrival while working in evangelism and medical care at Sorae Church, Hwanghae Province. His efforts led to the organization of the Korean mission church for the Presbyterian Church in Canada (캐나다장로회조선선교회) in Wonsan. In the Southern Presbyterian Church, pastors William D. Reynolds and Lewis B. Tate arrived in 1892 and organized the Korean mission church for the Southern Presbyterian Church (남장로회조선선교회) in Jeolla Province.[9]
In 1889, the Northern Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of Victoria created The United Council of Presbyterian Missions (장로교선교연합공의회; 長老敎宣敎聯合公議會), with John W. Heron as chairman, to settle issues over the unification of churches. In 1893, the United Council of Presbyterian Missions became the Council of Missions Holding the Presbyterian Form of Government[10] (장로교선교공의회, also known as the Council of Missions). Both councils consisted solely of foreign missionaries.[9]
Birth of the PCK
Elections for the first Korean presbyters for the council began in 1900. Sŏ Kyŏng-cho (Hwanghae), Kim Chong-sŏp, and I Yŏng-ŭn (both South Pyongan) were elected as elders that year.[a] In 1901, Kil Sŏn-chu and Pang Kich'ang were elected as elders. On September 20 of the same year, three Korean presbyters and six ministers along with 25 missionaries organized the Council of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Chosun)[spelling?] (조선예수교장로회공의회; 朝鮮예수敎長老會公議會) at a missionary council held at the Saemoonan Church in Seoul. Missionary William L. Swallen was inaugurated as the first chairman. However, because the Council of Missions retained jurisdiction over church affairs, the Presbyterian Church of Korea initially functioned only as a fraternal organization. In 1902, Yang Chŏn-paek was appointed as an elder, and additional elders were elected in 1903.[11]
In 1901, Samuel Moffett established the Pyongyang Theological Seminary and became its first principal. The spread of Presbyterianism was further intensified by the Great Pyongyang Revival of 1907. On June 20, 1907, Kil Sŏn-chu, Yang Chŏn-paek, Han Sŏk-chin, I Kip'ung, Sŏ Kyŏng-cho, Song In-sŏ, and Pang Kich'ang became the first graduates of the Pyongyang Theological Seminary. That same year, the United Council decided to appoint a party committee member to oversee church affairs for the five local councils of Pyeongan, Gyeongseong, Jeolla, Gyeongsang, and Hamgyeong.[12]
On September 17, 1907, with the approval of four presbyters from the Mission Council, 33 missionaries and 38 presbyters organized the Presbyterian Church of Korea into an independent church. The five local councils were reorganized into the seven sub-presbyteries (대리회; 代理會; Daeri-hoe)[13] of Pyongbuk, Pyongnam, Hwanghae, Chungcheong, Jeolla, Hamgyong, and Gyeongsang.[12][14] The PCK was also known during this era as the "Independent Council" (독노회; 獨老會; Dongnohoe). On September 17, 1911, during an assembly at Nammoon Church, Daegu, the Independent Council agreed to create a General Assembly, and converting the seven sub-presbyteries into official presbyteries. On September 1, 1912, the first General Assembly of the PCK took place in Pyongyang.[11][15] In 1916, the Presbytery of Gyeongsang was divided into the presbyteries of Gyeongnam and Gyeongbuk, and the presbytery of Pyongseo (west Pyongan) was separated from the presbytery of Pyongbuk.[12]
The Colonial Period
Korean Presbyterians were advised to remain uninvolved in any political cause, even after the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910. As a result, initial relationships between the colonial government and the Presbyterians were peaceful. Missionaries accepted Japanese rule as "the powers that be" and asserted a position of "loyal recognition" of the occupation.[16] Nevertheless, many Korean Presbyterians were suspected by the colonial government of being political agents and were arrested, often without proper explanation or trial. In one incident, a group of Presbyterians was accused of plotting to assassinate then-Governor-General of Korea Terauchi Masatake in Sonchon. Missionaries were also accused of distributing firearms for the alleged assassination plot.[17]
The Government-General of Chōsen actively pursued policies that suppressed Christianity. A set of restrictions established in 1915 limited evangelist activities and placed sermons under police scrutiny. The same year, the colonial government further demanded that all schools in Korea discontinue all courses on Bible studies within ten years.[18] Tensions between Christians and the colonial government led many Korean Presbyterians, such as Kil Sŏn-chu, to become closely involved in the March First Movement of 1919.[18][19] Of the thirty-three representatives of the movement, sixteen were Christians,[20] and seven were Presbyterians.[citation needed]
The persecution of Christians intensified as a result of the movement. Presbyterians properties were frequently destroyed by police forces, and many missionaries were placed under scrutiny. By the end of June 1919, 1,461 Presbyterians had been arrested by Japanese police; within less than four months, the total number of Presbyterian arrests increased to 3,804. Forty-one Presbyterian leaders were killed, and twelve churches were destroyed.[21] Horace Underwood made detailed accounts of the Jeam-ni Massacre[22] during a trip to Suwon with his colleagues.[21] The March First Movement did not end in complete vain, however, as it led to the resignation of Governor-General Hasegawa Yoshimichi on August 4, 1919, and the appointment of Saitō Makoto as his successor. Saitō accepted the Korean representatives' demands and agreed to alleviate restrictions on protests and the press.[18] In September, a complaint documenting the requests of the church to the colonial government, which included an end to the ban on Bible study courses, was drafted among six missionary councils. The complaint was submitted to the Government-General, which accepted the requests.[18]
By 1937, the Presbyterian churches were largely independent of financial support from the United States.[23] Presbyterianism in Korea was reconstructed after World War II in 1947, when the church adopted the name Reformed Church in Korea.[citation needed]
Schisms in the 1950s
In the 1950s, the Presbyterian Church of Korea suffered from a series of schisms over issues of theology, ecumenism, and worship.[24]
The first of these divisions was connected to a controversy that began in the 1930s, when Korea was still under Japanese rule. At that time, university students were instructed to bow to the Shinto shrine in worship, which was theologically and politically controversial for Christians. While many complied, some Christians at Pyongyang Theological Seminary who adamantly opposed it, holding that the Bible prohibited such actions. After Korea's liberation from Japanese rule and subsequent division, many northern Koreans relocated to the south. Those who formerly opposed the Shinto shrine worship established a new seminary, Koryo Theological Seminary (now Kosin University) in 1946, and eventually formed a new denomination, Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin) in 1951.[25]
The second division occurred in 1953, when progressives separated to form the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea (KiJang). In the 1970s, the KiJang Presbyterians would produce some of the key leaders of minjung theology, a movement advocating social justice under the dictatorship of Park Chung Hee.[26]
In 1959, at the 44th General Assembly, a third schism divided of the Presbyterian Church of Korea into two equal branches: the Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap) and the Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong). The main issue was whether the Church should be a part of the ecumenical organization, the World Council of Churches (WCC). Park Hyun-nyon, president of the Presbyterian Seminary of the General Assembly, led the formation of the evangelical "HapDong" (the union body), whereas those who supported relations with the WCC formed the ecumenical "TongHap" (the united body). Today, TongHap and HapDong represent the largest factions of Korean Presbyterianism.[24]
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General assembly
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Branches of the PCK
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All of these churches have the same confessional basis the Apostle Creed and the Westminster Confession.
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See also
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
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