‘핵 없는 세상을 위한 신학’을 향하여- 고든 카우프만의 ‘핵 시대의 신학’을 넘어서

Abstract

When the nuclear threat was at its peak in 1985 during the Cold War era, Gordon D. Kaufman proposed a "theology for a nuclear age." Even though almost 30 years have passed, we still live under the severe threat of nuclear weapons. The humanity is also under the threat of radiation poisoning that has emanated from the numerous nuclear reactors built on many part of the world over the past fifty years. The Fukushima nuclear catastrophe that occurred in March 2011 was a clarion call alerting entire humanity to the urgency for transformation away from our nuclear-based civilization that we have enslaved ourselves. However, how can Christian theology talk about divine sovereignty, life, and peace in this context of nuclear age in which the power that can destroy the whole life community of the earth is at the and of human beings? The author reviews and criticizes the "theology for a nuclear age" by Gordon D. Kaufman and Sallie McFague and proposes to move to a "theology for a nuclear-free world." For its methodology, the author proposes that we view this issue not from the perspective of nuclear power, but from the standpoint of the victims of radiation poisoning, not from the perspective of science and technology, but from the perspective of life, not just from the interest of present generation but from the interest of many generations yet to come, and furthermore, not from an anthropocentric perspective but from the perspective of the cosmic life community that encompasses all of creation. And dismantling the false myths regarding the nuclear weapons and power plants - the myth that they can coexist with peace, that nuclear energy is green energy that can help to overcome global warming, that nuclear power is safe, and that the humanity needs electricity endlessly, the author affirms that nuclear weapons and power plants cannot coexist with the Christian faith itself. In the context where the Korean peninsula and North East Asia have become the most dangerous nuclear minefield in the world today, the author suggests that the "theology for a nuclear-free world" will become the most essential substance for the theology of life and peace not only for Korea and North East Asia but for the whole world.