Korean Christianity Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Korean Christianity Paper - Essay ExampleHowever, the strength of the determine in the clergy, which was once a driving factor in moving the people, now lay calibrate at the side, and materialism as swell up as influences from other cultures has taken over. Prior to being divided up into the south and the north, Korea was once a single nation, being ruled by s single government. just about the 1880s foreign missionaries started to enter the nation, but was not readily accepted by the people collectable to various conflicts in their teachings as well as the already present traditions in Korea (Lee 117). Moreover, only whatsoever of the educated elite which had the chance to study in Japanese or American universities were successfully reborn to Christianity. Common common people, called minjung were still worshipping their ancestors and offering them food and wine, among others, which has been the norm for more than a thousand years (Oak 1). hence the conversion of Koreans dur ing the start of the 20th century was rather slow and limited. The conversion from the pagan religions of the masses and the Confucian and Buddhist principles in the upper class society of Korea was not an easy task. Foreign missionaries did not choose an idea that deeply-rooted religions associated with ties to families and ancestors would be hard to break, and converts would have to face ostracism from their families or suffer severe hurt or death (Oak 5). Many Koreans also see the conversion as a strong policy-making force that yearns to topple the government, thus many oppose to being born-again. Most of the elite that were sent to Japan, the joined States or any other country either as a diplomat, a scholar, or exiled were advantageously converted to Christianity, but their ideals were not easily accepted by many, and people would rather cling to obsolete traditions than lose their families in the process (6). However, after the great depression of the 1920s and the conti nuing struggle for independence after being annexed by Japan, Protestant Christianity was promulgated by many of the movements leading and revolutions regarding the economic and political reform ensued (118). The association of Korean pride, self-sufficiency and nationalism was spearheaded by a Presbyterian older named Cho Man-sik, which was a man with a lot of experience regarding teachings in Christianity, governing a school, and law (Wells 828). In order to initiate the economic stability of Korea (which was struggling imputable to low wages as well as dependence on Imperial Japan), Cho lived in simple house and worn traditional raiment suited for heavy work, among others. Becoming the symbol for New Korea, Cho held seminars and rallies to push the rest of the nation to become self-directed and self-sufficient (829). Making the people move was something that the socialists were not able to do alone. Protestant Christianity as a religion took its own course and development as well as the integration into the lives of the common folk through the subtle intermingling with pagan traditions. Initially, Korean Protestantism was not iconoclastic and sacral in nature, but due to the strong ties of shamanism and other pagan religions, it eventually evolved as such. Also, since the presence of sacred artifacts, people and places was already being practiced, these influenced how converted people worshipped in their faith (Lee 8). And since the lower classes, or minjung were easily converted into Christianity due to the adaptation of old customs, there was an explosion of