A theological analysis of Korean fundamentalism

Abstract

This thesis offers a theological analysis of Korean fundamentalism. Chapter One uses various historical sources to trace how Korean society encountered Christianity (particularly fundamentalism) through foreign missionaries in the period 1884-1945 and what features of Korean culture and religions have significant bearing on the development of Korean fundamentalism. It discusses how the Korean church developed during the Japanese colonial period (1905-1945), and why it split between fundamentalism and liberalism after the outbreak of the Second World War. Chapter Two discusses the life and work of Hyung-ryong Park, the most influential fundamentalist theologian in Korea between 1930-1970. It examines a number of primary texts in order to analyse the influence on his work of important Old Princeton theologians (Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, Benjamin Warfield and Gresham Machen), and also examines how his major writings develop the doctrines described in the formative text The Fundamentals: A Testimony to Truth. Chapter Three considers the legacy of Park's fundamentalism to the Korean church today and identifies some of the theological weaknesses of present-day fundamentalism. It makes some positive suggestions regarding theological tasks facing the Korean church today.