earticle

영어

Since the liberation in 1945, the unity of the Korean Presbyterian Church(KPC) has faced the challenges of failure of church reconstruction after WWII, theological conflicts, overreliance on missionaries, and church politics. Concerning the underlying issues of the divisions of the KPC, many historians have viewed the nature of these conflicts through the denomination perspective. Such an emphasis on denominations may have resulted in misinterpretations of the reasons and effects of the evolution of the Korean Presbyterian Church, even in missing the true larger picture of the significance of these events. Thus, revisiting and reconsideration of factors contributing to the divisions and reunion attempts of the KPC may be revealing and warranted in order to strive to gain an newfound and perhaps more accurate understanding of fundamental issues.
It is undeniable that the conflicts between the Hapdong and Tonghap groups contributed to the division of the Korean Presbyterian Church in 1959. These two groups held different views regarding the World Council of Churches(WCC) as well as its theological stances. The tension between these groups were notorious, as noted during the General Assembly of Korean Presbyterian Church. Though conflicting denominations may have also added to the schism between the Hapdong and Tonghap groups, controversy regarding the WCC in the role of the Korean Church also deserves attention in its role. Missionaries from the Presbyterian Church of U.S.A. (PCUSA) strongly favored the ecumenical movement and aided largely the Tonghap group. Had the missionaries of the PCUSA had not been harsh towards the opposing Hapdong group and strove to resolve the theological tension over the WCC from a neutral standpoint, the unproductive and damaging consequence of the division of the KPC may not have happened. Without resolution of the theological conflicts between the Hapdong and Tonghap groups, a true ecumenical spirit cannot be nurtured to serve the unity of the Korean Presbyterian Church and evidently, following attempts at reunions were not successful. Thus, this paper calls attention to the division of the KPC, especially major controversy of the WCC, an object of mixed feelings and views, and its implications for the division and unity of the Korean Presbyterian Church.

한국어

1959년 한국 장로교회의 분열, 즉 합동과 통합의 교단 분열은 다양한 요인들을 염두에 두면서 구체적이고도 포괄적인 접근이 필요함을 부인할 수 없다. 단지 특정 인물에 관련된 사건이나 WCC 문제로만 국한시킬 것이 아니라, 당시 교계의 전반적인 상황과 선교사들과의 관계 등을 고려하면서, 역사적 사건과 사실에 대한 공정하고도 거시적인 안목으로 교파적 시각을 넘어서서 분열의 요인과 전개 과정, 그리고 결과에 대해 심도 있게 조명하고 평가해야 할 것이다. 또한 기존의 연구들을 참고하면서도 그동안 왜곡되었거나 밝혀지지 않았던 자료들에도 지대한 관심을 갖고 공정한 시각을 견지하려고 노력해야 할 것이다.