I was not aware that the ROK had become a "Christian Nation". When did this happen? As Korea was not a colony of a western power, was this Christianity self-generated? After the war of the early 1950s? I would be interested in your thoughts on this. Thanks--Gordon in Nebraska.
Christians outnumber Buddhists only slightly, but their churches are much more conspicuous here, and Koreans are second only to Americans in sending Christian missionaries to foreign countries.
In her 1898 book, Korea and Her Neighbors, Isabella Bird Bishop observes:
"There is no national religion. Confucianism is the official cult, and the teachings of Confucius are the rule of Korean morality. Buddhism, once powerful, but " disestablished " three centuries ago, is to be met with chiefly in mountainous districts, and far from the main roads. Spirit worship, a species of shamanism, prevails all over the kingdom, and holds the uneducated masses and the women of all classes in complete bondage.
"Christian missions, chiefly carried on by Americans, are be- ginning to produce both direct and indirect effect."
2 comments:
I was not aware that the ROK had become a "Christian Nation". When did this happen? As Korea was not a colony of a western power, was this Christianity self-generated? After the war of the early 1950s? I would be interested in your thoughts on this. Thanks--Gordon in Nebraska.
Hi Gordon,
Christians outnumber Buddhists only slightly, but their churches are much more conspicuous here, and Koreans are second only to Americans in sending Christian missionaries to foreign countries.
In her 1898 book, Korea and Her Neighbors, Isabella Bird Bishop observes:
"There is no national religion. Confucianism is the official cult, and the teachings of Confucius are the rule of Korean morality. Buddhism, once powerful, but " disestablished " three centuries ago, is to be met with chiefly in mountainous districts, and far from the main roads. Spirit worship, a species of shamanism, prevails all over the kingdom, and holds the uneducated masses and the women of all classes in complete bondage.
"Christian missions, chiefly carried on by Americans, are be- ginning to produce both direct and indirect effect."
Linh
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