19세기 말 시흥지역 개신교 전래 과정 연구

Abstract

This study attempts to re-examine the existing narrative centered on the establishment of the Mujinae Church by Kim Dong-hyun and the rise of Siheung as a Methodist missionary base in the south of Seoul, to better understand the introduction of Protestantism in Siheung at the end of the 19th century. To this end, this paper focuses on the top-down process which includes the Methodist missionary policies and the actual missionary activities, and the bottom-up process of voluntary religious activities of local residents, and then examines how Kim Dong-hyun worked as a medium between the two. In conclusion, it was found that the transmission and spread of Protestantism in Siheung at the end of the 19th century was the result of the interactions of various factors, such as the Methodist missionary policy centered on educational institutions, the rapid growth of the Gongju and Suwon districts established under the Methodist missionary district system, and local residents including the Gyeongju Kim family in Mujinae who helped Kim Dong-hyun establish an indigenous church and nearby Deokgogae and Sammakgol residents who contributed to the Methodist expansion in Siheung in the same period. As a case study of how Protestantism, one of the key elements of Western civilization introduced into Korea in the late 19th century, interacted with Korean society, this study aims to enhance the understanding of the modern history of Siheung. More importantly, it also aims to confirm the possibility of drawing on missionary records, which have long been used primarily by church history researchers.