[KS] Re: Beyond Dallet

[James H Grayson]

2.6.00

Dear Dr. Pak,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply to my comments of yesterday. 
The issue of the meeting of cultures in the transmission of religions, 
which is an issue I've been interested in for years, is very complex. 

To take the issue of the 19th century Catholic Church, one aspect 
which has been overlooked is the nature of early 19th century 
French Catholicism.  The Church had just recently emerged from 
the suppression of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras and the 
idea of martyrdom was quite strong. There was also a strong 
element of pietism in French Catholicism coupled with an emphasis 
on suffering. Clearly these elements would have resonated with the 
actual circumstances of Korea at that time. Their views of what was 
happening in Korea would have been influenced by the experience 
of the French Church in the previous half-century.

The Protestant missionaries at the end of the century were a more 
mixed group with what we could 'liberals' and 'conservatives' with 
regard to the issue of independent governance and accommodation 
to local (the latter being a problem as old as the differences between 
Sts. Peter and Paul!). A distinction also needs to be drawn  between 
those missionaries who were the very first 'on the scene' and in a 
sense like pioneers and explorers, and those who came later, even 
by a few years, who would be more 'organisational' people because 
they have fitted into an already existing organisation.  A further 
element  which has not been properly explored is the 'home' church 
versus missionaries conflict. In 1908, the missionaries in Korea 
voted for a single, self-governing denomination. The 'home' 
denominations would not have any of it. Acceptance of the a unified 
Church of Christ in Korea would have hastened the whole issue of 
local goverance.

Aspects of ecclesiastical theology come in to play here with 
Catholics having a very high concept of church structure and 
linkage to the centre whilst the Presbyterians have a more loose or 
independent system with the Methodists, being episcopal, falling 
somewhere in between. One can see the effects of this theology on 
the way in which the institutions in Korea developed. The 
Presbyterians achieved notional independence in 1907, the 
Methodists in 1930, and the Catholics in the 1960s. The factor of 
ecclesiology would have had a major effect on the way local 
governance was implemented. 

I suppose one thing which I am saying is that as useful as many 
'theories' are, one needs to be highly empirical in ones examination 
of an issue and try to avoid having theories and concepts constrain 
our understanding of particular situations.

With best wishes,
JH Grayson



-------
Dr. J.H.Grayson, 
Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences

and Director
Centre for Korean Studies       Tel.: +44 114 222-8418
School of East Asian Studies    Fax: +44 114 222-8432
University of Sheffield         
Sheffield     S10 2UJ  UK       email: J.H.Grayson at Sheffield.ac.uk
                                                         


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%