일제 말 ‘일본기독교조선교단’ 형성과정

Abstract

Abstract The Formation of the “Korean Union Church (Ilbon Gi Dok Gyo Joseon Gyo Dan)” during the Late Japanese Colonial Period Suh Jeong-Min From the beginning, Korean protestant churches were established as denominational churches. But, there had been attempts to establish a single-unified church beyond denominational distinctions. From this point of view, the Korean Union Church formed in August, 1945 can be understood as an achievement of Korean churches' goal. However, due to the lack of source material, so far we were not able to investigate its formation process in detail. Based on the facts drawn from newly discovered “Ilbon Ki Dok Kyo Chosun Kyo Dan-The Korean Church Group of the Japanese Christianity,” this paper reconstructs the formation process of the Korean Union Church in the late Japanese colonial period and interprets its historical meaning. In so doing it deals with the Union Church's role in the reshuffling of Korean churches during the time and thereafter. The Union Church was, in some real sense, a single-unified church in Korea that overcame denominational interests. The question, then, is, why has it been historically undervalued and failed to maintain itself? There were two fundamental reasons. First, the intervention of Japanese colonial power in its forming process seriously damaged its legitimacy. Secondly, mature consideration about denominations' theological differences was lacking for a successful unification.