[KS] most Christian city in Asia

[T.N. Park]

Wayne Patterson <wayne.patterson at snc.edu> wrote:

>Dear Ruediger --
>
>	I too have seen this quote somewhere but, like you, cannot 
>remember where I saw it.  But, the fact of the matter is that 
>the statement is not true.  Manila would qualify as the most 
>Christian (Catholic) city in Asia.

You have touched upon a key problem one encounters when studying religion in Korea: 'kidokkyo,' the word for Protestant, is probably more often than not translated as 'Christian.' This, in turn, leads to a reverse translation of 'Christian' being translated, often inappropriately, as 'kidokkyo.'

This is often self-reinforced, even by Korean Catholics, who might say in English, "I'm not Christian, I'm Catholic."

Certainly it is sometimes useful to differentiate between Catholics on the one hand and Protestants on the other, but not to the point of labeling Catholics and Orthodox, both of whom have a notable historic presence in Korea, as non-Christian. Catholics make up a fairly significant minority in this country (former President Kim Daejung is Catholic), and the combined numbers of Catholics and Protestants make South Korea one of the most Christian countries in all of Asia, not just East Asia.

I'm not sure when/where the kidokkyo="Christian" label came into being in Korea, or how it ended up sticking so well, but I speculate it may have come from Protestant missionaries themselves, though I have nothing to back that up with. Does anybody know for sure?

A few years ago when I was a master's candidate at Yonsei, I took a class called "History of Christianity in Korea," and the professor was baffled when I and another student expressed interest in also knowing about the history of Catholicism in Korea, not just Protestantism. He had prepared nothing on Catholics, telling us they weren't "Christian." I think they have since renamed the course or changed the curriculum, though I'm not sure.

T'NP