The rise and growth of the Christian church in Korea has been one of the great success stories of missionary history. Samuel Moffatt, writing in the October 2 Christianity Today, informs us that Korea’s Christian grow four times as fast as the population, that six out of seven of them are Protestants and half of those are Presbyterians. He observes that under God’s blessing one of the important reasons for that growth was the conviction of t’he pioneer missionaries that they must build Christian leadership by training the whole body of believers in the study of the Bible. Dr. John Kim, pastor of the Korean Christian Reformed Church of Los Angeles, California, provides The Outlook with this study of some of the reasons for Korean church growth.

The spectacular growth of the Christian church in Korea has prompted many to inquire about the reasons for it. First of all, it must be answered that God gave the growth through the operation of the Holy Spirit. God used and directed human agents and circumstances for the growth of His church.

What are these human factors which contribute to this rapid growth? In order to explain it, both the socio-political conditions of the country and the activities within the church enterprise must be taken into consideration.

A. The External Factors

(1) The Weakening of the People’s Faith in Their Traditional Religions

Both Confucianism and Buddhism had their day in Korea, but their influence had waned at the time of the entry of Protestant Christianity. Buddhism in Korea was disestablished in 1392, and since then, Buddhist temples retreated deep into the mountains and the Buddhist priesthood had degenerated and become despised. Even Confucianism, as state cult, was disestablished when the Yi dynasty collapsed at the turn of the century. Shammanism also, in the wake of increasing scientific knowledge among the Koreans after the opening of the country to outside influence, became impotent and gradually disappeared.

Thus the Korean church never had to contend with any militant religion such as Islam in Arabic countries and Buddhism in Japan. The absence of native and national religions that could hold the people’s confidence, and the lack of any satisfying spiritual experience among the people left them with an inner craving in a spiritual vacuum. The minds of the people, therefore, were the more receptive to the Christian message. The scientific knowledge introduced through Western missionaries made their Christian message more attractive to the nation which was just opening up to the rest of the world.

(2) The External Difficulties

The history of the Korean people is troubled by constant foreign invasions. Humiliated by repeated political failures and by the impotence of their country in dealing with other nations, suffering from incompetence and corruption of their own officials, the distraught Koreans experienced a sense of external hopelessness which smoothed the road to the internal hope which Christianity promised. Prolonged Japanese occupation and exploitation before the Second World War, partitioning of the country by the great powers, and the subsequent devastating Korean War between North and South from 1950 to 1955—all of this contributed to a realization of the helplessness of human beings apart from God’s special blessing. The prolonged tragedy of a divided nation, a constant threat of invasion from North Korea and chronic internal political unrest caused the Korean to be humble. People’s hearts, bruised by the external miseries of the country, found the consolation and comfort of the Gospel in the church.

(3) The Emancipation of Woman

The Christian Gospel has been a large factor in liberating women in Korea. By joining the church their circle of social contacts was immediately widened and enriched. Traditionally, the Korean woman was similar to the Moslem woman in her status and home life. She was regarded as inferior to man and almost considered to be a possession of her husband. She must be confined to her home and must not be much seen, if at all, by any man outside of her immediate family.

To such a down-trodden woman, the Gospel meant liberty a~d love. The Christian church gave an opportunity to the woman to come into her own as an individual person. Christianity taught a higher status for woman than what she had known. If her husband became a Christian, he must give up his drinking and other bad habits, and his attitude to his wife changed from that of an absolute master to that of a loving partner. Korean women were greatly blessed m this, as many gladly accepted Christianity. It is not surprising that there have been far more women than men in attendance in the Korean church. Presently most of the women’s movements in the country are led by church women.

(4) The Strong Desire for Western Education

Koreans had witnessed from afar the transformation that was taking place in China and Japan through the introduction of Christianity, and already gleams of the new light had filtered into the darkness of their own country. Many early national leaders including Syngman Rhe, the first president of the Republic of Korea, and Yoon BoSun, the second president, entered Christian schools in order to obtain a Western education and then later were converted to Christianity.

Thus the leaders of the people became champions of the West and identified themselves with the Christian causes. The introduction of Western education by the church not only tended to give the nation a new mental outlook, but made an opening for Wide acceptance of the Gospel among the intellectuals. Christian influence in every sector of the society far exceeds that of any other religions in the country.

   

B. The Ecclesiastical Enterprise

So far we .have sought some possible explanations for the rapid growth of the church in the socio-politico-religious aspects of the nation. Certainly no one who knows Korea will deny that these factors are helpful to account for the amazing receptivity of the Korean people to the Christian Gospel. However, any theory of the miracle of the Korean church that leaves the Holy Spirit out of account utterly falls to explain the real cause and result. Unmistakably, God Himself has been at work through His own church. In order to understand the underlying causes, therefore, it is necessary to search one step further than the subjective desire of the Korean people or the objective circumstance surrounding them.

There have been three main factors within the ecclesiastical enterprise which should not be overlooked in uncovering the cause of this signal triumph of Christianity.

(1) The Great Revival

The occurrence of a great revival at a critical time in the growth of the church and its permeating influence throughout the later history of the Korean church require special consideration. This “Spirit-outpouring” event was so explosive and powerful, sweeping not only through the Korea peninsula, but even to Manchuria from 1903 to 1907, that the Korean.church has ever since been characterized by revivalistic fervor and ardor. This revival began in 1903 when a group of missionaries met for a week of prayer and Bible study in Wonsan. One of the leaders of this movement was R.A. Hardie. In the course of his sincere Bible study and prayer, he felt compelled to go to the missionary group and later to the Korean congregation to confess his past failure. Without delaying, the next Sunday morning he went before the Korean congregation and, to use his own word, “with shame and confusion of face confessed my pride, hardness of heart and lack of faith and also much these had led to.”

Being greatly impressed with the radical change that happened to Dr. Hardie, Koreans soon held daily meetings for Bible study and prayer and they were also by the Spirit compelled to make confessions. The first confession was made by a young man who stood up and “read from a sheet of paper a list of sins, on account of which he said he had for several days been so troubled that he could no longer keep the matter to himself.”

Following this, confession of sins in public continued to be the outstanding feature of the meeting! During these revival meetings Bible study was conducted during the daytime. Out of this week-long Bible study, quite often the need of a Bible school was envisioned.

As a result, many Bible Institutes were established in many towns, thus paving the way for the mass provision of full–time evangelists and ministers. Theological conservatism prevailed in these institutions and the authority of the Bible as the Word of God was firmly maintained. This beginning of revivalism soon began to spread from Wonsan and finally reached its climax at a great evening meeting in Pyeng Yang, in 1907.

The public confession of sins characterized the intensity of the revival and the fervor of the prayer in unison indicated the depth of the spiritual experience. The revival spread like an inflaming storm to Seoul and. all other parts of the land. The experience of the revival among the Korean Christians remained as a moral and spiritual force. Surely it marked “the spiritual rebirth” and “gave to the Christian church in Korea a character which is its own.” Since then Korean Christians go to the church for pre–dawn prayer meetings and emphasize the power of prayer along with fasting.

(2) Evangelistic Campaigns

1. The Million Movement

The spiritual awakening which was brought about by the revival gave to the Korean church a more zealous and passionate driving power for winning new converts. A new vision of a nation-wide evangelistic campaign began to grip the hearts of the Korean Christians. A daring step toward the realization of the vision was launched in the name of “Million Movement” in 1909 and 1910.

A special revival song, “A million souls for Jesus,” was composed and used throughout the country. Thus the campaign for the million souls was launched on a high tide of enthusiasm and with vigorous determination. The whole Korean Christian church joined in this campaign of personal evangelism. This first national-scale evangelistic campaign shook the whole nation.

Although there were no complete statistics made of the result of this movement, no one claimed that during the campaign a million converts were made. However, it goes without saying that the Million Movement was tremendously beneficial. No doubt the church was strengthened by the active members who had the experience of witnessing, and it increased numerically through the new converts.

2. The Post-War Campaigns

Soon after the “Million Movement” Korea was annexed to Japan. During the Japanese occupation the Korean church underwent severe persecution. It was only after the Second World War that the Korean church was able to launch evangelistic campaigns again. This time the means of most effective evangelism was, first, through multiplication of seminaries.

During the Korean War 600 pastors and 10,000 leaders of the church had been killed.

Because of this loss, the church for a short while was handicapped by a lack of strong indigenous leadership. Before the war there were only four seminaries in the country. But soon after the war, many seminaries were established in many cities and the seminaries became crowded with students. Now there are more than 120 seminaries in Korea. We now have more than two thousand seminary graduates each year and all go out to plant churches. In the capital city of Seoul alone there are more than 2,500 churches. Before the World War II, there were less than 50 churches. Thus rapidity of church growth in Korea is phenomenal.

Secondly, several nation:wide Evangelistic Crusades culminating in the Yoido Mass meeting helped to boost the evangelistic zeal to the Christians and to show the power of the Gospel to the non-Christians. In May, 1973, at the Billy Graham Gospel Crusade in Seoul, more than a million Christians crowded one meeting. In the Aug., 1974, “Explo 74” more than a million and a half, in 1977, close to two million, and in 1980, more than two million. Never before in church history has this kind of mass meeting taken place as a single event.

(3) The Nevius Method

In the spring of 1890, Dr. Nevius paid a visit to Korea and proposed a new system of mission work, the so-called “Nevius Plan.” This method of mission work was adopted by missionaries in Korea for the planting of the Korean church “after careful and prayerful consideration.”

According to this plan, “the old method” which depends largely on a paid native agency and strives by the use of foreign funds to foster and stimulate the growth of the native churches was to be replaced by the “new method” which depreciates and seeks to minimize the use of such an agency and believes in the principle of independence and self–reliance from the beginning with the aim of establishing a self-reliant and aggressive native church.

Applying the principle of self-support taught the Korean Christians the spirit of independence and the habit of systematic and sacrificial giving, and thus made self–propagation of the faith possible. This spirit of independence, strengthened by practicing the principle of self-support, not only helped the rapid naturalization of Christianity, but also hastened self-government. By becoming a self-supporting and self–governing church, the Korean church was not only able to prevent in part the impression that the Christian church was a mere foreign institution, but also to implant a sense of responsibility for its growth in the minds of the Korean Christians. Thus the Nevius Plan produced wholesome effects in the establishment of the Christian church in Korea.

(4) The Army–Evangelization Program

The Korean army now has the policy of “Chungoon Shinja Wha,” “Faith Planting Movement,” to combat the ideological assault of communism. All soldiers are urged to have faith at their own choice. Even though this is done to equip all soldiers out of military necessity, the chaplains are taking full advantage of this offered opportunity for evangelization. Being supported by the civilian churches, the chaplains’ effort to evangelize the army proved to be a great success. Statistically, more than 38% of the soldiers are registered as Christians. The prospect for further increase is brighter than ever.

After discharge from the army most of the soldier converts join their home churches, thus providing new flesh and blood to the local body of Christ. Through this “Faith Planting Movement” every soldier is exposed to and urged to hear the Gospel at government expense. In a country where every youth is required to spend at least three years in military service, this means that there is eventually an opportunity to preach the Gospel to the whole nation of South Korea.

The rapid development of the church today eight new churches per day—is not entirely due to the causes which have just been summarized. It is to be attributed also, in part, to the martyr blood of unknown saints and the countless sacrifices of pastors and committed lay Christians. The story of Christian expansion in Korea is nothing but the story of one nation, battered by wars and oppressions, through the work of the Holy Spirit, determined to share with neighbors the new-found faith in Christ.