Minjung Theology: Towards a Second Reformation -Overcoming the Oppression, Exploitation, Violence and Globalization of Western Christian CountriesProf. Dr. YIM Taesoo ([email protected])

1. The Crisis of World Christianity The 21 st century has begun and the door of the third millennium has opened. But our situation, including that of the Church, is filled with social, political, economic and environmental problems. Let's consider the problems of the Church. Christianity today is in crisis, European Christianity in particular. A vast majority of people in Europe are Christians or have a Christian background, as is evident from the many beautiful churches we see on the European continent. But if we look into these European churches, we find that the inner reality of the European Church is very different from the outside appearance. Only a few Christians attend Sunday Worship, most of them being old people. Some churches have even been sold because they could not be maintained anymore. The number of Christians in the whole world is estimated at about two billion. But it is said that about 44% of them are nominal Christians who are just registered members of the Church but rarely attend Worship. If this trend continues, it is very likely that many European churches will be closed in the near future. Cardinal Meissner of the German Catholic Church spoke about the situation in Germany which had once been the stronghold of Reformation, "Germany is equal to the waste wilderness which completely forgot God... the dark shadow of death falls on our society "(Sueddeutsche Zeitung, January 1, 1993). The diagnosis of Cardinal Meissner about German Christians corresponds to the situation in all of Europe. Many Islamic countries, especially those in the Middle East, prohibit Christian missionary work by their national laws. Therefore we can hardly expect Christian missionaries to work in these Islamic countries now. Then what about the situation in Asia where more than half of the world's population lives? Asian Christians as a whole account for less than 8.6%.of the total population of Asia. Why do such dismal situations prevail? There must be many reasons. However, I will give two reasons. The first reason relates to the negative influence of European Christian countries. Western Christian countries have been projecting an aggressive, exploitative and anti-minjung image in the world. From the I I th to the 14th centuries they provoked the cnisades and invaded the Middle Eastern Islamic countries and massacred many Muslims. Also, many European Christian countries invaded and colonized African, Asian and South American countries. These countries still remember the bitter experience of their colonial past under the oppressive rule of the European powers. Therefore, they are hostile to Christianity and do not want to accept it. Since 1945, in the era of decolonization they have been showing new forms of aggression, exploitation and suppression in the world through globalization. Second, European Christianity, Protestantism in particular, has emphasized the doctrine of "salvation by faith alone" (solo fide), and in that process has weakened or eliminated Christian works, that is, "the fruit of the Holy Spirit." (1 Cor. 13:4-7; Gal. 5:22-24). However, James says, "faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself' and "you see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone" (Jas. 2:17, 24). Today, we need a new Christianity. In order to accomplish that, the present Christianity which legitimates the ruling class has to be transformed into a Christianity of the Minjung. Christians have to be Christians with "works" along with faith. Now we are in need of a Second Reformation. I hope the third millennium becomes the millennium in which this Second Reformation happens. 2. The History of Suppression and Aggression of the Western Christian Countries 2-1. The Crusades The Crusades, under the auspices of the European Christian countries, used military envoys, violence, and the weapons of this world to plunder. This war was waged nine times spanning 250 years from AD 1096 to 1365. In 1096, the Roman Pope, Urban the second, had reproached the Seljuk Turk for oppressing Christians who had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and called for a holy war to recover the sacred land, and then the Crusade broke out. The Crusade was a war of invasion by the European Christian countries. On July 15, 1099, the Crusaders took Jerusalem after a siege of 40 days. They massacred Muslims and Jews. Jerusalem was flooded with blood. Not a single Muslim or Jew who was in the fortress could survive. The locals were made to furnish the goods that were needed for the Crusaders during the expedition. Therefore, the Christian villages situated along the road to Jerusalem through which the -crusaders passed by, became the target of plunder and destruction. The Crusaders took the crops by force and killed those who resisted. Even children were not spared. The Pope had offered forgiveness of sins to all soldiers and promised a fair booty to those who took part in the crusade, so they could do anything without a hitch. The soldiers, who died during the expedition, became martyrs. Not only knights but also untrained farmers and knaves joined the crusade and went on expeditions. The crusaders in the 4th crusade, in A.D. 1204, were notorious for attacking fellow Christians in the Byzantine Empire. Instead of Jerusalem, the soldiers in the expedition thoroughly plundered and destroyed Constantinople. The Crusaders destroyed the Byzantine Empire and built the Latin Empire there. This 4th expedition was a war manipulated by the Venetian merchants. The crusade was deployed in order to obtain supremacy over [email protected]

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Constantinople's merchants who had a monopoly on Mediterranean trade. Due to this invasion, the Byzantine Empire was unable to recover and started to decline. Eventually it feebly collapsed into the hands of Ottoman Empire in 1453.i The Crusades were vile wars characterized by cruel killing, plundering and destroying cultural heritage. The target of plunder during the expedition was not limited only to Muslims and Jews; Christians were also among them. In a country temporarily built by the crusaders in Asia Minor, aboriginal Christians suffered even harsher treatment than when they were under pagan rule. The crusades left the unchangeable negative impression upon the people of Islam in the Middle East that Western Christians are aggressive and exploitative. 2-2. Colonialism The Western Christian countries started colonialism in the 15th century. Colonialism is a sequel to the crusades. The common features of the crusades and colonialism as executed by the Western Christian countries are: a) they used military forces, and b) one of their important objectives was the expansion of Christianity. The colonialism of the Western Christian countries began from Portugal and Spain in 1415. Later the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the United States of America, and Russia gradually joined in this colonizing exercise. They colonized North and South America, almost the whole of Africa, Australia, and several islands in Pacific Ocean, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and many other Asian countries. These Western Christian countries considered Christian expansion an important duty while they were establishing their colonies. They occupied territories and forcibly proselytized the native folks. Spain, after subjugating Indians in South America and destroying their native culture, introduced European Christianity to all the inhabitants and baptized them. The cruel and coercive missionary work in South America exposed serious moral problems that needed to be addressed. Nevertheless, the Popes issued Bulls, which permitted Portugal and Spain the possession of their colonies. During the period of colonialism, some missionaries sided with the natives and struggled for their interests. However, most missionaries conspired with the colonial governments and cooperated with them. Colonial governments offered outpost and communication facilities to missionaries, and missionaries acted as an outpost of cavalry for colonialism. Missionaries persuaded the Maori in New Zealand that the only way to control the White Mans' exploitation was to recognize Britain's sovereign power over their land. The Crusades and colonization by the Western Christian countries had two things in common: the aim of recovering the holy land and expanding Christianity by means of violence and military might. Stephen Neill speaks about the conduct of the Western Christian countries towards the world since the 15th century thus: "Since the end of the fifteenth century the initiative in World affairs has lain in the hands of the western powers ... All that the West has done tends to be interpreted in terms of aggression. Political aggression has resulted in the disappearance of ancient thrones and kingdoms... Economic aggression has destroyed old and carefully balanced systems of organization, and has resulted in the wholesale disappearance of traditional skills, of arts and crafts which adorned and beautified ancient civilizations. Social aggression has trespassed on the most intimate areas of personal and family life, upsetting the ancient order of the relationship between the sexes, between parents and children. Intellectual aggression has paralyzed the creative powers of great nations by subjecting the rising generation to alien systems of education, and imposing categories of thought in which eastern and African peoples cannot find themselves at home. It was plunder, exploitation and usury that the Western Christian countries came to represent in modern world history. Christianity came to be viewed as the force behind this onslaught. Popes allowed this by Bulls and Protestant Churches either tacitly ignored it or actively supported it. Missionaries acted as governmental agents rather than messengers of the Gospel. Christians in Western countries, whether Catholic or Protestant, did not oppose or resist colonialism. On the contrary, they participated in the process of colonialism and used it to support their cause. 2-3. Globalization Globalization is a new form of colonialism. Globalization is lead by the United States of America and the Western Christian countries that are exclusively holding and controlling all rights and privileges. Africa, South America and Asia, once colonized by Western Christian countries, have once again become targets of exploitation. Transnational and multinational corporations based in Western Christian countries, which have scientific knowledge and cutting edge techniques control the World market for the most part. These corporations have a worldwide network which enables them to dominate the world market. In this process, the so-called third world and the erstwhile communist countries are becoming the victims. The weak, namely the laborers, farmers, the poor in cities, consumers, small entrepreneurs and creatures in the ecosystem are all the victims of globalization.iii Globalization makes the rich top 20% of the population richer by turning the remaining 80% of the population into paupers. Unemployment is increasing, and more and more people are dying because of [email protected]

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starvation and poverty. The direct and indirect cause of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 was neocolonialism and globalization. In this situation, Kim Yong Bock says, "Both capitalism and socialism are insufficient to realize the righteousness which is required by the Minjung." "Neither capitalism nor socialism can be regarded as a 'Christian economic order." He presents the political economy of the reign of God as an alternative.'" The political economy of the reign of God that he mentions is a Minjung economics, which is based on God's covenant that appears in the Old and New Testaments." God's covenant is, "from the beginning to the end of history, to protect and secure safety – socially and economically for God's people who were enthralled and poor. His assertion is based on the Book of the Covenant (Ex. 20:22-23:33), the Sabbatical year, the Jubilee Law (Lev. Chapter 25),"' the early Christian community (Acts 2:42-45; 4:32-35), Jas. 2:19; 5:1-6) and Revelation (21:1-4; 22:1-2). The political economy in the Bible may be summarized as follows: 1. An Economy of Justice: People do not squeeze out or steal others' property (Ex. 20:17) 2. An Economy of Sharing: He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."(Ex. 16:18) 3. An Economy of Service: People look after socially weak persons (Deut. 14:28-9). But, globalization, promoted rapidly by the Western Christian countries, is heading in the opposite direction of the Biblical political economy. The political economy of globalization may be stated briefly as follows: 1. An economy of subtly disguised exploitation and theft 2. An economy of Monopoly: the rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poorer. 3. An economy of the Jungle: only the strongest one survives. In this situation, how should the Church, theology, and Minjung-Dalit theology address the issue of globalization? 3. Minjung Theology: Towards a Second Reformation Minjung theology emerged by voicing anti-Western theology from the beginning. It was because of its association with the western Christian countries, which as colonial powers, instigated violence and the use of armed force against the Minjung. Western theology, as the ruler's theology, supports such colonial governments. Western theology lays its emphasis mainly on words but it lacks action. 3-1. The Theology of the Minjung 3-1-1. A Theology of the Ruled One of the main features of Minjung theology is that it is not a theology of and for the ruler or the ruling class but of the ruled. It is not a theology for the oppressor but for the oppressed. That makes it distinct from Western theology. Since Constantine the Great, Western Christianity has been the theology of the ruler and the religion of the oppressor. There was no room for the ruled or the oppressed, namely, the Minjung, Dalit, Buraku, Aborigines, Women, or the Disabled. Minjung theology, however, is a theology of and for the oppressed and the suffering. Minjung theology and Asian theologies are based on the resolute intention to deny the world powers their way after the bitter experiences of Western and Japanese colonialism. The fact that the theology of the oppressed has a dominant influence in Asia, Africa, and Latin America is a revolutionary phenomenon in the 2000 years of Christian history. The Asian theologians have a confident belief that the theology for the ruled and the oppressed is what true theology should be. 3-1-2. A Reading of the Bible from Below Ever since Constantine the Great officially recognized Christianity in A. D. 313, biblical interpretation in Western Christian countries has mainly developed toward approving and supporting the ruling class. Martin Luther's reformation succeeded in liberating churches from the control of the Roman Catholic Church, but it failed to make churches stand on the side of the peasants and the ruled. 'The historical-critical method' which was developed after the Enlightenment in the 18th century, opened the possibility for biblical interpretation which was not bound by the tradition and doctrine of the churches, but based on unrestricted reason. This made an epochmaking contribution to biblical interpretation. But most biblical interpreters who use this historical-critical method are not above supporting the existing ruling order because they also belong to the classes that have vested interests in Western society. 5Such reading is a reading of the Bible from above. Therefore, biblical interpretation until recently could not clearly show the meaning of the Bible. The Bible is not a book that supports rulers or classes that have vested interests or which oppresses and exploits the ruled, namely, the Minjung in order to maintain their rule. On the contrary, the Bible is a book that describes the acts of God's salvation who releases the ruled who are oppressed and exploited by rulers or classes that have vested interests. If we read the Bible 'from above', we cannot have a [email protected]

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right understanding of it. If we want to have a right understanding of the Bible, we should read it 'from below.' Reading the Bible from the perspective of Asian theology is reading the Bible from below. The Old Testament is the story of the Patriarchs of Israel, the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, Israel which underwent trials by world powers, and those oppressed by the Israelites themselves in their own land. The New Testament is the story of prostitutes, fishermen, the sick, the poor, and the alienated. Asian theologies read the Bible from the viewpoint of the oppressed, that is, the Minjung, Dalit, Buraku, aborigines, women, the poor, the sick, and the disabled. Request more detailed mail me :[email protected]

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