한국교회 갱신을 위한 한 모색으로서 아나뱁티스트 운동에 관한 고찰

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the main characteristics of the Anabaptist movement, to find out some important lessons for the renewal and transformation of the Korean church, and to apply those findings to the Korean church that has been facing various crises and challenges. To a large extent Various problems related to the contemporary Christianity are connected to dualistic worldview. In fact dualism has been largely discussed in theology today and closely related to the discussions on the public theology. Before the Christendom was established by the Roman emperor Constantine in AD 313, holistic ways of life and faith which can be seen in the Beatitude and the Christian life of the early church. The state church made the Roman citizens to be nominal Christians through inducement and compulsion as the church leaders reduced the process of being Christians as private manners, not the verification process in the Christian community. The result was that conversion was reduced to inner conviction to other world and individual ethics. Medieval Christianity was also influenced by the dualistic ideas in that belief and behavior of Christians disappeared but the process of confirming the belonging to the members of the state church(through infant baptism) as a result of false conversion. So the church largely produced nominal Christians. There was no the concept of the pilgrimage or resident alien in understanding the church. Even though the Protestant Reformation was an attempt of rediscovering the real meaning of belief, grace, and the scripture in overcoming the medieval dualism, it became losing its’ identity and accelerated the process of individualism and secularism produced by the Enlightenment modernism. Since then the church has not been recovering the life and teaching of the early church. As an alternative for the Korean church renewal, the Anabaptist movement suggests call to conversion, rejection of the Christendom mentality, a counter-cultural tendency, the emphasis on peace and reconciliation and Christ-centered lifestyle through radical discipleship and authentic community. First, radical discipleship means that Christians must not be compromise to the world(free market capitalism, consumerism, injustice etc) and follow Jesus with paying cost of self-denial. Second, discipleship can be best practiced in authentic community. The community consisted of the followers of Jesus is called bodyship, not membership. Christian community is characterized by socio-political and economical reality. In this sense, the church is totally different from the state as she pursues the peace and reconciling community. Third, Anabaptist movement has always been seeking to peace and reconciliation through radical discipleship and community. They strongly keep the norm that the way of Christ is the way of shalom and it is “radical revolution.” It is a social reform and new social order as the lifestyle of Christians itself is an instrument of authentic Christian witness. This study suggests a model of the Anabaptist movement, Chuncheon Jesus Village Church that practices the above mentioned characteristics.