Page 161 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

In a syncretistic religious context, obedience to authority is one of the main

38
characteristics of the ethos of the Korean people. The Confucian hierarchical understanding of

community deeply affects human relationships in the church. The preacher is viewed as an

authority figure in the Korean church. Subsequently, the images of the Korean preachers

mentioned previously are those of authority, such as moral teacher, sage, and shaman. These

portraits of the Korean preacher reflect the authoritarianism of the pulpit. As the one who has

the truth, moral principles, and spiritual charisma, the preachers exercise hegemony over the

people. The authoritarianism of the pulpit is expressed in the dogmatic content and style of

preaching and sermonic language.

Since the end of the 1980s, however, postmodern sinsedae (new generation) culture

became prevalent in Korean society and evidently formed a sub culture in the church. The

resistance to authoritarianism and its dogma spread strongly and widely. Their pursuit of

diversity and openness gained weight in the church, thus challenging the traditional values of

obedience, sacrifice, and endurance. The Korean church now experiences a wide gap between

generations in terms of values, relationship style, social ethics and so on. In light of this social

phenomenon, Korean preachers should reconsider their understanding of authority as a

39
preacher. Positional authority does not work as it did before; and even charismatic authority

and leadership is losing the fervent followers it had previously.

38
Eun Kim, Preaching of Transfiguration,” 44. She lists four characteristics of a particular
religiosity of the Korean people: “a dependency upon spirits, an obedience to authority, a
present-centered worldview, and individual-centered wish-fulfillment.”

39
Roland J. Allen, Barbara Shires Blaisdell, and Scott Black Johnston, Theology for
Preaching: Authority, Truth, and Knowledge of God in a Postmodern Ethos (Nashville, TN:
Abingdon Press, 1997), 35. Allen insists the importance of authority in preaching, saying, “The