Unity Lost - Unity to be Regained in Korean Presbyterianism. - book reviews

Ecumenical Review, The, April, 1998 by ChangBok Chung

Hee-Mo Yim, Unity Lost -- Unity to be Regained in Korean Presbyterianism, European University Studies, Frankfurt, Peter Lang, 1996, pp.250, DM79.00.

Korea was known as "The Land of the Morning Calm" until the Christian gospel awakened our country. This was a turning point in Korean history, one which opened a new chapter for Korean culture and faith. When the gospel spread in Korea through Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries, the enthusiasm for the Christian faith which emerged involved both hopes for the nation's independence from Japanese colonialism, and personal salvation through Jesus Christ. During the time of Japanese colonialism, the unity of the church was remarkably strong. There were no church divisions until the liberation of Korea.

Yet the division of the Korean churches, when it did appear right after the liberation of 1945, was extremely serious. In particular the Presbyterian churches, which predominate in Korea, had a serious church split after the Korean war. The original reasons for the church split were two-fold: first, a serious doctrinal argument between fundamentalists and liberals; and second, the factor of regionalism. Since this split, the search for unity is being very actively pursued, particularly through the ecumenical movement. Various processes, involving theological dialogue and common Christian activities, have attempted to unify the churches; but so far these have not succeeded. Finally, the liturgical movement is becoming a focal point for the search for unity (as seen for example in the "Lima liturgy" produced by Faith and Order commission of the World Council of Churches in 1982).

Mr Hee-Mo Yim's book is a good effort to set forth the history of the Korean church in relation to the divisions among the churches, combined with new ideas for realizing church unity through the sacraments. Thus the first part of the book presents the causes for the division of the church in Korea, with Part II describing movements for church union.

Part III attempts to present the sacraments of eucharist and baptism as a unique "channel" for the unity of the Korean church. This idea is both very appropriate and practical: the Korean churches can come together in the sacraments. A deeply inspiring example is the fact that eight Presbyterian churches gathered a few years ago to have a jubilee celebration in which they took the eucharist together.

This book will contribute to the understanding of the history of the church in Korea, and the reality of the divisions within the churches there. Furthermore, the focus on unity in this book will give further impetus to the search for church unity in Korea. It strongly urges Korean church leaders to "open the doors of dialogue" among the different Presbyterian churches; here there is much cause for hope, because there is no fundamental difference in how the sacraments of the Lord's supper and baptism are experienced.

Two critical comments should be made. First, as the writer only touches on many aspects of the story readers will probably feel they have had merely a survey of the Korean church rather than a detailed, in-depth study. Second, the author does not approach the history from a sufficiently critical point of view and thus does not provide the nuanced analysis of the Korean church in which readers would surely be interested.

Despite these criticisms this reviewer, as a former professor of Mr Yim, is delighted to read this very helpful production which will give a new direction and impulse towards the unity of the Korean church.

ChangBok Chung is dean of the graduate school and professor of preaching and worship at Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary, Seoul, Korea.