2008/05/12 by Dae Young Ryu · 1 citation
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #Educational Systems and Policies #Religious Tourism and Spaces #Diverse Topics in Contemporary Research #Protestantism #Glory #Great Awakening #Religious studies #Phenomenon #History #Competition (biology) #Theology #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1017/s0009640708000589
openalex publication_date 2008/05/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
One peculiar phenomenon in the Korean Protestant churches today is that most churches, regardless of their size and denomination, assert that they are “evangelical.” By claiming to be evangelical, they want to display not simply their conservative theological stance but also continuity with their tradition. Self-acclaimed evangelical churches generally believe that the early Korean church in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was also evangelical, and hence they are its true heirs. Moreover, in the mind of the self-consciously evangelical Korean Christians, “Puritanism” is something to be admired, a lost glory of which evangelicalism is the closest contemporary replica. A few progressive churches would distance themselves from this general tendency, but these churches are more often than not far smaller and less appealing to the average Christian. World-class megachurches and nearly all rank-and-file churches in Korea are “evangelical” churches. The matter in Korean Protestantism is more who is “really” evangelical rather than a competition between evangelicals and non-evangelicals.