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Theological and Pastoral Tasks of Korean Churches in the Risk Society

  • The Korean Journal of Chiristian Social Ethics
  • Abbr : 기사윤
  • 2019, (43), pp.63-92
  • DOI : 10.21050/CSE.2019.43.03
  • Publisher : The Society Of Korean Christian Social Ethics
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology
  • Received : March 1, 2019
  • Accepted : April 22, 2019
  • Published : April 30, 2019

Yong-Hun Jo 1

1한남대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the theological and pastoral tasks of Korean Churches in the challenges of the risk society resulting from compressed economic growth during modernization. Disasters and its unavoidable sufferings in the risk society ask us to think critically about God from its traditional concepts— omnipotence, good, and justice. Those disasters and sufferings claim our theological transition: from the anti-social and immoral apocalyptic eschatology into the transformative eschatology of the real world based upon the Kingdom of God. The pastoral tasks of the churches can be summarized into two: priestly ministry and prophetic ministry. First, the priestly ministry is relevant to activities of healing the social trauma and recovering its victims. Second, the prophetic ministry is to criticize the materialism which sets a high value on the material rather than on human life and safety. And the churches have to seek the way for reformation of unjust social structure such as the “risk outsourcing” which shifts the dangers on to the weaker. The churches have to strive to build the local community which can promote social safety as well as individual inner peace. Lastly, churches’ remembering and mourning for the victims should go into the socio- political activities, beyond personal emotional dimension, by which fundamental causes of disasters would be removed.

Citation status

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.