레이놀즈의 신학: 칼뱅주의와 성서관을 중심으로

Abstract

This study is to investigate the theological tendency of Rev. Dr. William Reynolds, a professor of systematic theology in Pyeongyang Union Theological Seminary, who was sent as a missionary to Korea from the Presbyterian Church of U.S. during the late 19th century. Focusing on his Calvinism and concept of the Bible, it studied his theological backgrounds, including the Protestant Orthodoxy in Geneva of the 17th century, Scottish Realism in the 18th century, American fundamentalism in the 19th century and the theological conflict within the American presbyterians in the 20th century. Reading his articles published in Shin-hak-ji-nam, it critically investigated his thinking of Calvinism, biblical inspiration, historical criticism, modern theologies, biblical inerrancy. Mainly teaching systematic theology, W. Reynolds tried to stay in the theological tendency presented by Old Princeton School, which indicated the theological thought of the American Presbyterianism in the 19th century. Considering it as an Orthodox Protestantism, he believed that Korean Presbyterian church should also follow such inclination. Like Old Princeton theologians, he also argued for the verbal inspiration and authority of the biblical text, even though he recognized that the Bible included some contents different from today's science and history. It means that the contents of the Bible are different in their quality. Reynolds argued that the church should rejected “Higher Criticism” because it destroyed the biblical authority. He also argued that the church should abandoned modern theologies because it supported such criticism and elevated the human beings to the status of God. The theological thinking of Reynolds deeply affected into the Korean Presbyterian Church. Examples are the church's separation through the conflict between conservatist and liberalist, adverse reaction against both biblical criticism and modern theologies, the acceptance of Calvinistic Orthodoxy as a true Christianity, and the preference of biblical literalism. Especially his theological tendency and view of the Bible was used to reenforce the fundamentalism within the Korean Presbyterian Church. The Protestant Orthodox, fundamentalistic tendency of his theology is still being echoed in the Korean Church.