KJCKorea
Journal Central

This study aims to diagnose the crisis of the public sphere and propose alternatives based on Hartmut Rosa’s acceleration theory. It also presents the legal-ethical tasks that Christians must undertake to realize these alternatives. Acceleration is a widespread phenomenon in late modern society. The public sphere is in crisis. The competitive spirit caused the other person to seem like an enemy. This made public communication difficult. Desynchronization further exacerbated the situation. To overcome it, Rosa emphasized the importance of active listening. This means carefully listening to others’ opinions and expressing one’s own. Christians often engage in a process of listening and responding. Given this, they should carefully consider the opinions of others in the public sphere and thoughtfully present their own views. This leads to constructive dialogue. The result will be better laws.

This study examines the ethics and social responsibilities of Christians through the covenant theology of Puritan pastor Thomas Watson. Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon, who advocates Puritan theology in this era, exemplifies the characteristics of a post-truth era marked by distortions of truth and incitement through fake news. His claims and actions cannot be aligned with Puritan spirituality. Puritan pastors, grounded in covenant theology, emphasized sanctification and guided believers toward a life of sanctification. The norms for the covenant people’s lives are encapsulated in the Ten Commandments, known as the Mosaic Covenant. Watson concluded that what God ultimately desires from the Ten Commandments is not outward actions, but obedience to His commandments through a heartfelt love for Him. Therefore, the commandments encompass more than what is written. The Ninth Commandment not only prescribes abstaining from lying, but also implies actively striving to prevent deception and proclaim the truth. This study demonstrates that Puritan covenant theology remains a useful discipline for us today, and that the Mosaic covenant at its core serves as a standard for the lives of believers.

This study analyzes the “post-truth” phenomenon not merely as an epistemic crisis but as a structural outcome of “techno-feudalism,” a new political-economic order dominated by digital platforms. Big Tech’s control over cloud capital and algorithmic power commodifies truth by privatizing “general intellect” to establish a rent-seeking profit model. In this process, truth degrades into platform-manipulated information products. This structure colludes with mechanisms such as emotional mobilization, echo chambers, and filter bubbles to threaten the public sphere. Consequently, this study proposes a rethinking of truth, liberation, and the common good within Christian social ethics, highlighting the “right of access to truth” as a core ethical mandate. Ultimately, the paper contends that Christian social ethics must evolve into a “critical social ethics” capable of resisting the rentier power structures of techno-feudalism and addressing the structural concealment of truth.