남장로교의 전주 신흥학교ㆍ기전여학교 설립과 발전(1901-1937)

Abstract

The primary goal of mission schools established by the Southern Presbyterian Korea Mission in Honam was not to convert the children of non-believers to Christians, but to educate the children of Christian families so that they could become the future leaders of the churches and societies. The motto was to ‘evangelize the heathen and educate the Christians.’ The Sinheung School for Boys and Gijeon School of Girls, which were established in Jeonju(Chunju) in 1901 and 1902 respectively as the first Christian schools in Honam region, were the centers of Christian learning in Honam for each 36 years and 35 years until when they were closed in 1937 because of their refusal of attending the Shinto shrine ceremonies. The representative characteristics of the Southern Presbyterian educational missions exemplified in these two schools in this period were as follows:First, Southern Presbyterian educational missionaries attempted to follow the Nevius principles as faithfully as possible by aiming to help Korean leaders establish their own self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating indigenous Church. Thus, these mission schools were regarded as the spiritual and intellectual seedbeds in which students were able to grow to become the leaders of the nation and the church. Second, despite of this policy emphasizing indigenization and accommodation to the Korean context, Southern Presbyterian educational missionaries in Jeonju intended to keep a certain distance from Korean nationalism. This shows an unavoidable limitation of foreign missionaries who sympathized with Koreans’ suffering to a substantial degree, but could not help give high priority to the administration of their schools without tension with the Japanese Government-General of Korea. In addition, this was a logical result from the official position of the Southern Presbyterian Church, which maintained ‘the doctrine of the spirituality of the church’ prohibiting the church's any engagement with the politics and social issues during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Third, unlike the official position of the Mission, as shown in the examples of the independence movement such as the March First Movement and the Gwangju(Kwangju) Student Movement, Protestant schools in Jeonju were the local centers of national movements for independence. Korean Protestant teachers and students in Honam did not find any factors of conflict between Christian faith and national consciousness. Especially, when the March First Movement failed to lead the nation to ultimate independence, many Korean intellectual leaders and students including those in Honam reached a consensus that the gradual national reform campaigns would be the alternative for radical armed resistance or street protests. For Christians in Jeonju, learning in the mission schools was the right course for this purpose. Finally, in spite of this nationalistic impetus of many Honam Protestants, Sinheung Boy’s School and Gijeon Girl’s School run by the Southern Presbyterian Korea Mission were above all ‘Christian’ institutions. The administrators of these schools made no concessions whatsoever in keeping their schools’ Christian identity, and even they were able to close the schools when the value was fatally threatened. The missionaries and Korean leaders were ready to close the schools when Japanese officials forced them to attend Shinto shrine ceremonies and their many students refused to bow their head to the shrines. Their willingness and resolution were also expressed and succeeded by Pastor Son Yangwon's resistance to the Shrine veneration and other similar events which became the legacy of Honam Christianity.