Page 35 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

they could enjoy freedom, especially religious freedom. Under both the Japanese and the

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Communists, Korean Christianity became severely tempered.

Contemporaneously, there were theological debates raging between conservatives and

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liberals. In addition, a revival movement acted to heal and console the war-torn people. The

characteristics of the preaching during this time, explained Chung, is that there existed

“preaching concerning liberation and freedom,” “preaching emphasizing repentance,” and

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“preaching for a revival.” Eung-Jo Kim, a preacher in the Evangelical Holiness Denomination,
was one of the representative preachers in this time. He preached strongly regarding the

necessity of a revival, forseeing explosive growth in the future. His sermon on Acts 2:43-7

entitled, “Does Korean Church Desire a Revival?” is laudably famous in the history of Korean

preaching. Kim preached other revival sermons such as “Revival of Prayer,” “Revival of the

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Scripture,” “Revival of Evangelism,” and “Revival of Radical Love.” Through the revivalist
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rallies and in spite of an unsettled social situation Korean Christianity grew.

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William J. Danker, Two Worlds or None (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1964),
264. He records that “The Korean Church has steel in its backbone. It has been tempered in the
fires of severe persecutions under the Japanese and under the Communists. Thousands of martyrs,
including many hundreds of pastors, have shed Christian blood for the testimony of Christ.”

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Pyeng-She Oh, “Keeping the Faith Pure,” in Korean Church Growth Explosion:
Centennial of the Protestant Church (1884-1984), eds. Bong-Rin Ro and Marlin L. Nelson
(Seoul: Word of Life Press, 1983), 225-26.
44 Chung, A History of Preaching, 379-93.

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Ibid., 391.
46
Won-Yong Ji, A History of Lutheranism in Korea: A Personal Account (Seoul:
Concordia Sa, 1988), 48-59. Shearer, Wildfire, 208-15, he estimated that Korean Christianity
doubled during this period. Clark, Christianity, 15-19. See also Spencer J. Palmer, Korea and
Christianity (Hollym: Royal Asiatic Society, 1967) and Yang-Sun Kim, A Study of the History in
Korean Christianity (Seoul: Kidok Kyomun Sa, 1971).