강증산의 신종교적 영성과 도덕적 비젼

Abstract

The major purpose of this paper is to elucidate Kang Jeongsan's religious thought in terms of what he called "new religious spirituality and moral vision." Today his thought is considered a reflection of the indigenous religious movements in modern Korea since one of his main aims was to carry out a series of changes ―political, economic, social, and/or religious― in tandem with the large Korean nationalist movement which was also to modernize the decrepit and decadent state and society by removing all these evils that the old traditional Korea faced at the time., To remedy the ills of the traditional Korea, Kang Jeongsan proposed to establish the new mode of religious spirituality and moral vision for the forthcoming new world, into which he intended to introduce the universal value system for all men and women. However, this does not mean to refute or discredit the traditional value system whatsoever. Rather he intended to perpetuate some of the traditional values with constructive criticisms and analyses to buttress the new ones, thus realizing world peace for the benefits of all mankind. In the body of this paper I elucidated Kang Jeongsan's "Prior World" (Seoncheon) in which people suffered a series of problems such as spiritual decay and moral degradation. According to Kang, the solution for these human problems lies in what he called "resolution of grievance for the beneficience of all life (Haewon sangsaeng)" Kang explained his task to resolve all the human problems in terms of " Reordering of the Universe" (Cheonji-Gongsa). But it is only possible for "the Lord of the Ninth Heaven," (Guchoen-sangje), or Kang, to implement or carry out this task for "the Later World" (Hoocheon), or the forthcoming new world. It is also necessary to enlist the aid of what he called "the Tao of the Divine" (Shindo) to teach men and women to embody the ideal of "Human the Majesty" (Injon), or their human dignity. By so doing he believed that people can restore and perfect the essential parts of their religious spirituality and moral values. The ultimate purpose of Kang Jeongsan was to realize the above ideal through his new religious organization today for the benefits of all men and women throughout the world.