Church’s Public Engagement from Abraham Kuyper’s Ecclesiological Perspective and Its Implication in Korean Context

Abstract

In the past decades, the interest in the role of church in public areas is increasing exponentially. However, the research so far has been focused mainly on publicness of church itself from a theoretical and philosophical perspective. This study examines how the church needs to be involved in the public realm from a more practical perspective. As a Dutch Neo-Calvinist pastor, theologian, and politician in the nineteenth century, Abraham Kuyper wrestled with the church’s public engagement. More specifically, his ecclesiology is the basis of his idea regarding this topic. In unpacking his ecclesiology, Kuyper divides the nature of church into the two: church as institution and church as organism. Also, sphere sovereignty is a pivotal concept for grasping his view regarding this topic in that sphere sovereignty deals with the pluralistic structure of society. On the basis of these concepts concerning church and society, Kuyper suggests how Christianity can be engaged in public squares from a practical perspective: indirectly as church as institution and directly as church as organism. In the first step, this article analyzes what the church’s public engagement looks like on Kuyper’s ecclesiology and investigates how it can be practiced in the real life. Then, this article turns to Korean context. Kuyper’s idea regarding church’s public engagement has an implication in the contemporary Korean context. Because Korean church has been strongly entrenched in the privatization of Christian faith, practicing the faith in the public realms is difficult challenge. In this sense, Kuyper’s idea is useful in finding the way the Korean church engages in the public areas. Specifically, Kuyper’s concepts of ecclesiology and sphere sovereignty help Korean church, which tends to go toward Christendom, evade the problem of Christendom.