Page 40 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

this question more accurately, however, it is necessary first to analyze the contemporary socio-

cultural context of the Korean church.

The Korean Church and Contemporary Socio-Cultural Context

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To the ancient world, religion and culture are inextricable. To the modern world their

complex inseparability remains. Aylward Shorter, a Catholic theologian, asserts, “if religion is a

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human phenomenon or human activity, it must affect culture, and be affected by culture.”

Consequently, it is crucial to have an understanding of culture before discussing the current

socio-cultural context of the Korean Church.

An Understanding of Culture

It is impossible to define “culture” in one sentence since it is a concept with multifaceted

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meaning. The term “culture” derives from the Latin colere, which means to cultivate. A

person who can appreciate such things as art, philosophy, and music, or one who has a

sophisticated manner of the genteel classes is called “cultured.” The usage of this concept of

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culture invades English from its French linguistic roots.

60 S. Ananda Kumar, “Culture and the Old Testament,” in Gospel and Culture, eds. John
R. W. Stott and Robert T. Coote (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1979), 47-8. See also C.
Dawson, Religion and Culture (New York: Sheed & Ward Inc., 1948), 47-62.

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Aylward Shorter, Toward a Theology of Enculturation (Maryknoll, NY.: Orbis Books,
1988), 5.

62 Robert Scherer, “Culture,” in Sacramentum Mundi (SM), An Encyclopedia of Theology,
1975 ed.

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Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1979), 45.