기독교 사회주의로서 북한교회의 에큐메니칼적 이해 - 폴 틸리히의 종교사회주의 이론을 중심으로

Abstract

Under the influence of biased research on North Korean Christianity, the Korean church has not recognized the North Korean church as a partner in dialogue and has been mired in occupation-style missions to North Korea. However, relying on biased information to define the identity of the North Korean church without considering the specificities of the North Korean system and religious policies that have been shaped by the history of the division of the Korean peninsula is a fundamental cause of blocking dialogue and cooperation with North Korean Christianity. In today's context of escalating confrontation between North and South Korea and a complete breakdown in dialogue and exchange, the Korean church is called upon to abandon its prejudices against North Korean Christianity and to theologically acknowledge and objectively approach the distinctive characteristics and differences of North Korean Christianity, which a different system and historical experience have shaped. This article will begin with the possibility of a new understanding of North Korean Christianity as a form of Christian socialism shaped by the intersection of Christianity with a unique culture and ideas. To this end, it seeks to find in Paul Tillich's theory of Christian socialism a basis for understanding the North Korean church as a form of indigenous religion that can transform the exclusivity of North Korean Christianity into the possibility of dialogue. Tillich's Christian socialism advocates for an inclusive and dialogical stance that recognizes the stark differences in the historical circumstances experienced by Christianity in the North and South and the resulting differences in theological lines as a matter of theological response to each given situation. To this end, this study examines the historical processes that led to the differences in the experience of Christianity in North and South Korea before and after the division of the country and argues that the relevance of religious socialism to North Korean Christianity is that North Korea's view of religion unfolded under the socialist line, as opposed to South Korea's. Through the lens of North Korean-style Christian socialism, the North Korean church will be seen not as something to be denigrated by the South Korean church, but as a partnership that should be embraced and brought into the realm of the Christian ecumenical movement. In conclusion, it will be shown that the church can contribute to the peace and unification of the Korean peninsula when it moves away from negative perceptions of the North Korean church and unites the churches of the North and South in an ecumenical movement.