KJC Korea
Journal Central

The breakaway of the young adult from the Korean Church is a core aspect ofthe crisis of Korean Churches because the young adult is our future and hope. Korean Protestant Churches are already going off track due to the overbearing hierarchyof the older generation and the young generations are leaving the churchwithout saying a word. In the overall social crisis in Korea, the disappointment ofthe young adults due to distrust and lack of communication is deeper than whatpeople expect. If we do not give enough attention to the declining population ofthese young adults we will not be able to stop the rapid aging of Koreanchurches. Additionally, the problem is that the denominations and churches onlyrespond superficially, when they are supposed to give full attention to solve theongoing crisis for the breakaway of the young adult. This quiet and radical movement of the young adults in relation to Christianityapproach not only Korean churches but also North American and Europeanschurches as an inevitable challenge and task. We have to look back to ourselvesand figure out what has led the young adults to choose a desperate escape ratherthan a internal reform. In this study, we are going to concentrate on the reasonswhy young adults are leaving churches in Korean in a christian ethical perspective,focusing on incarnational humanism.

In this paper, I want to survey the problems of the conflict between liberalismand conservatism of the Church in Korean context. I will especially focus on theWorld Council of Churches (WCC) and Ecumenical movement and then I willpursue the solutions of reconciliation and restoration between Korean churches. Around 2013 WCC in Busan, the Korean church was drawn into conflict again. Even though pursuing reconciliation and restoration of churches, church councilcaused the conflict and disagreement of churches. As a result, the Korean churchis revealed shameful aspects of themselves to the other world's churches. In thisconflict, ecumenical controversies between liberalism and conservatism ofKorean churches involved theological and ideological arguments withhegemony. The issue is that WCC denies inerrancy and inspiration of the Bible, and WCCdisapproves that Jesus is the only intermediate. And also WCC holds religiouspluralism based on false soteriology and ecclesiology. But WCC is not liberalismbecause it pursues the holistic Gospel,Trinity, Ecclesiology, Soteriology,Eschatology based on the movements of faith and work, and seeks to the kingdomof God. Recently, one of the important causes that Korean church has lost confidenceis the conflict between churches. Therefore the primary task of us is the unionand restoration between churches. In order to achieve this goal, church must firstly have the consciousness of anorganism. Church is the body of Christ. Every church is part of an organism consisting of Christ's whole body. Each part must be connected, harmonized andbalance one another. Secondly, church must destroy the obstacles between us,and be reborn toward a community of fence movers. Thirdly, church must get togetherand be the community of worship praying with repentance. Through worship,church must progress toward true accordance and unity. Church is the community of reconciliation and peace. Therefore church mustfulfill the ministry of reconciliation as Jesus Christ who became the intercessorand destroyed the barrier, dividing the wall between God and man.

This writing began by looking into the whole Korean society, in particular,Korean churches, that lost sympathy with pain, suffering from the tragedy ofSewol Ferry Disaster on April 16, 2014. The Author would like to find God whois looking at the tragedy of humanity, feeling like the theologians who shouted,“Is Theology possible after a holocaust?”For this purpose, the Author introduced the theology of Kitamori Kajo whoshe delighted on God's suffering and attempted to reveal that, eventually, itwould be the narrative of pain from which Jesus Christ suffered if Christianity hadsomething truly worthy. In the process, the Author focused on the argument ofSusan Sontag, who was concerned about the limit of sympathy, and that ofMartha C. Nussbaum, who proposed the importance of narrative through Greektragedies and novels. Also, as one way to overcome the limit the Western tragedies and novels mayhave, narrative ethics of Stanley Hauerwas, who proposed narrative of pain in theHoly Bible, that is, the pain of Jesus Christ. This study is a small attempt to propose a way on which the Korean churchshould go now and here, where Christian narrative that originated from God'ssuffering which meets with sufferers’ narratives.

Polarization refers to the phenomenon which appears to disappear the middleclass and to divide into upper and lower classes. Discussions about the polarizationhave been in progress in Korea since the late 1990s. The polarization ofwealth has become more serious owing to the implementation of the neoliberalpolicies which primarily reduce the role of the state and actively expand the freemarket mechanisms. In order to cope with the challenges, the Korean governmentsuggests an alternative of social integration. The aim of this paper is to suggest the criteria on ethical value judgement ofChristian religion for the social integration which aims to tackle the socialpolarization. The criteria is "solidarity" which can be understood through the experiencesof Christians and the general public. In order to achieve this aim, it is very important to understand the current situationsof polarization of the labor market. The uses of the concept of "solidarity"are examined in terms of historical, sociological, philosophical and theologicalcontexts. The use of the concept is examined, in particular, through the guidancebooks of churches in German. To love our neighbors as Jesus taught and activelybind together, our christians need the faith in our life to be willing to donate ourwealths to others, although it costs. Church is one of the small organizations totackle the issue of economic polarization and to move forward to expand thewelfare of the general public. The concept of solidarity is a key to do so.

The Fukushima nuclear explosion served as a catalyst in the reevaluation ofnuclear energy worldwide. After the explosion, governments in European countriessuch as Germany, Switzerland, and Italy announced their decision to stop orreduce their use of nuclear energy. Grounds for these changes in energy policieswere found in environmental friendliness, economical advantages, and safety issuesfor countries with nuclear energy that did not receive high scores. TheGerman government announced that by 2022, they will shut down all workingnuclear plants, replacing them with alternative environmentally friendly energysources. The Protestant Church in Germany spoke of the importance of denuclearizationin both communal and personal level. Furthermore, the churches inGermany emphasized the need for alternative energy sources through churchevents and public hearings. Unfortunately, in contrast to these changes in internationalpolicies, no changes could be found in South Korea. In the perspectiveof Christian ethics, nuclear energy is related to three important theologicalthemes: Preservation of Creation, Technical Utopia, and Christian Ethics &Responsibility for the Next Generation. Looking from such perspective, nuclearenergy holds a number of problems. Christian Ethics acknowledges that nuclearenergy is practical. However, such advantages cannot serve as an excuse for theproblems derived from nuclear energy. The government energy policy must bothreduce its use of nuclear energy and at the same time focus on the developmentof alternative energy sources. The churches in South Korea must serve a positiverole in this process of creating a social common good.

The purpose of this study is to seek a proper answer about whether J. DennyWeaver’s criticism on satisfaction atonement and Joanne Carlson Brown’s “DivineChild Abuse” theme in the atonement is an ethically and theologically soundargument. Weaver and Brown think that the doctrine of atonement (specifically,the satisfaction and penal substitution theory) does permit a separation of theologyand ethics. Weaver holds that since the satisfaction theory merely focuses on“ahistorical” or “abstract” aspects of atonement, it does not address believers’ realmoral life. According to Brown, the atonement image in the penal substitutiontheory has a horrible image of “divine child abuse” and therefore, should be regardedas immoral. However, through this study, it will finally be shown thattheir arguments are ethically and theologically problematic, for (1) Weaver andBrown both confuse the scope of the atonement ethics; (2) Brown not only confusesthe object and subject-matter of the atonement ethics, but also tends to neglector misunderstand the notion of divine intentionality in the atonement; and(3) Weaver fails to see both aspects of atonement (i.e., objective and subjective)with a balanced view.

Today, the issue of increasing youth school violence, has became an object ofthe whole social concern. School violence is a complicated problem that is comprisedof various elements, such as personal characteristics, experience of familyviolence, distorted school education system focused only on college entrance examination,and violent culture and harmful environments of the localcommunities. Therefore, the solutions for school violence should be found in effortsof the whole society including parents, school teachers, the government, localcommunities as well as churches. Realizing ‘non-violent school and happy class’ is a vision for the Christian andchurches that are called to be the peace-maker in a violent society. The tasks ofthe Christianity and the local churches for peace-making in schools are to besummarized as following: Firstly, the prophetic ministry of the churches is to exposethe false peace in the class and of violent reality of the society, and to protectthe fundamental human rights of the victims of school violence. Secondly,the priestly ministry of the churches has to focus on the caring and healing of victimsas well as the assailant of school violence by way of reconciliation and integrationprogram. Thirdly, the ministerial tasks of the churches are the educationof the parent’s role, and Sunday school education for training the students aspeace-makers in the class. Lastly, the tasks of the mission schools are to make arole model of school education by way of holistic education including educationof intelligence, moral character, and spirituality.

This study aims to investigate the risks and the problems of an aged societythat are already with us in Korea, and then, to propose some solutions of thoserisks and problems. The Aged society has reached a peak due to the combinationof a low fertility rate and increased longevityMostly the current social problems that arise as a result of an aging populationare divided into many parts in terms of the social security systems which mightbe a time bomb for the future unless our society was a rigid and right way to facethe coming social phenomenon so called the Aged Society. The government mayhave to take great pains to support and to care for the aged people as well. Since the adoption of the Elderly Welfare Act in 1981, various policies havebeen piled up as the risks and the problems of an aged society get more serious. However, the present enactments for the welfare of the aged are not goodenough to meet all the risks such as income security, medical security, labor security,and social welfare security so that in preparation for the aged society,more various laws and systems are needed to be prepared and put in to place. The problems of an aged society were classified into three main categories. First, the most aged people will suffer from lack of regular income. Second, themost aged people will suffer from illness without sufficient income. Third, theidea that aged parents support is to be changed the private support first principleto a public aid system. In order to meet the above mentioned risks the subject of an aged society andthe problems must be solved by both the governmental and the private sectors. It is not to be pessimistic, provided we coordinate an effort of an aged societyrather it could be far different than what we are thinking in a gloomy way aboutan aged society.