아동학대 시대의 어린이신학

Abstract

What should Christian theology do for the protection and advancement of the rights of the child in the age of the child abuse and the fundamental violation of children’s rights? Is Christian theology not simply to make the ethical instructions or teaching, but does it especially need to construct theological works that can be done with children? In addition to fundamental transformation of thinking about the children, we should rethink and reorientate what Christian theology has spoken of it. This paper presents theological perspective about children and new theological movements in the German religious education named as ‘Kindertheologie’ (theology of children) since 1990’s, regarding possibilities to accept children as theologian. And then we will go to the next important theme about the nature of the child in the theological perspective by Karl Rahner, in which we will find the childness in the humanity that gives important insights in the theological and practical ways. The child is not the finished past, but the coming and blooming future in the process of humanization and religious salvation. Finally, we will present a dogmatic utterance of God in relation to the concrete situation of the child abuse. This theological thinking of children gives new and another ways of theological construction to the theology of adults. A theology of children accepts children as the subject and dialogue partner of theology and opens the door to horizon that the theology of adult cannot find. A theology of children gives opportunity to listen to a new and strange question that can give an theological insight. The theology of adult must be sensitive to the logos of the children in the verbal and non-verbal forms, which is an important impetus to theology of adults. In the age of child abuse, Christian theology is urgently called into the re-formation of theology with children. A theology of children in this study is a theology by children, with children and for children. We can recognize the possibility of children in the theological construction and realize God in the face of the child, when we as adults meet children as friends to go with.