Suffering and Dr. Yonggi Cho’s Theology of the CrossOpoku Onyinah 22(0) 9-46, 2011
TitleSuffering and Dr. Yonggi Cho’s Theology of the Cross
Opoku Onyinah DOI: Vol.22(No.0) 9-46, 2011 AbstractThis paper examines Dr. Cho’s concept of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ with reference to suffering of people, especially Christians. It shows that Dr. Yonggi Cho’s message of the cross develops from the backdrop of Pentecostals’ preaching about the cross. Pentecostals believe that miracles, healing and deliverance from afflictions are part of the biblical faith, practised by the Lord Jesus and the early church. Christians are, therefore, to continue with these; yet Christianity during the Enlightenment resorted to scientific solutions, neglecting almost completely prayer for divine intervention. The emergence of the Pentecostal movement in the 20th century, of which Yonggi Cho emerged, changed the trend. It is shown that Dr. Cho identifies himself with the suffering that came along with the Japanese occupation and the Korean War. In his early days, he experienced suffering in the forms of poverty and sickness. What took him out of poverty and suffering, he asserts, was the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ into his life as Lord and saviour. Cho believes that the crux of the Christian message-the gospel-is the cross. For him, all the answers to life’s problems can be found in the cross of Christ. However, as he says, believers must appropriate prosperity and deliverance by faith. The paper also briefly touches on Cho’s emphasis on faith which has been criticised by some scholars. It further demonstrates the balance that Cho brings to bear in his writings, as he shows that in his church the bothersome problem of some being healed and others not, occur. The paper ends by pointing to Cho’s paradoxical preaching of the cross, which must be understood in the context of the place of suffering within the biblical concept of the fall. Key WordsPentecostal pastor, Sufferings, The Cross, the Cross of Jesus Christ, Ministry |
The Servant Leadership of David Yonggi ChoStephen Fogarty 22(0) 47-83, 2011
TitleThe Servant Leadership of David Yonggi Cho
Stephen Fogarty DOI: Vol.22(No.0) 47-83, 2011 AbstractDavid Yonggi Cho is one of the most effective church leaders of the twentieth century. While his leadership style has been characterized as charismatic, transcendent, and spiritual, Cho understands himself to be a servant leader emulating the example of Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Servant leadership posits that service to followers is the primary responsibility of leaders and the essence of ethical leadership. Servant leadership can be effective because it inspires followers to engage in servant leadership and to work for the good of the organization. The distinctive construct of servant leadership consists of a natural inclination to serve, having the priorities of followers first, organizations second, and leader last, having spirituality as the source of motivation, and engaging in self-sacrificial behavior. This can be conceptualized in six dimensions of behavior: voluntary subordination; authentic self; covenantal relationship; responsible morality; transcendental spirituality; and transforming influence. When examined through this lens Cho is a servant leader. His servant leadership and his effectiveness as a leader are likely to be enhanced by grounding his self-concept and his methodology in Christian thinking regarding the leadership example of Jesus and the implications of the relational nature of the triune God. Key Wordsservant leadership, followers, charismatic, transcendent, spiritual, the Holy Spirit |
The Cross of Jesus Christ: The Root of Youngsan’s Fifty-year Ministry and SpiritualityLee Young Hoon 22(0) 85-130, 2011
TitleThe Cross of Jesus Christ: The Root of Youngsan’s Fifty-year Ministry and Spirituality
Lee Young Hoon DOI: Vol.22(No.0) 85-130, 2011 AbstractThe core of Youngsan’s ministry and spirituality is “the hope in the cross of Jesus Christ.” Youngsan asserts that we can sing a song of hope in this desperate world only through the cross of Jesus Christ. He has proclaimed the spiritual hope to the people who are living a vacant life, the hope of health to the sick, and the hope of holistic salvation to the poor and the weak both domestically and abroad. For Youngsan, the cross is the place in which we meet God, and have a new life. Moreover, at the cross, we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In addition, thanks to the cross, we are to be healed from diseases, and be released from poverty and curses. Furthermore, the cross is the place of hope anticipating the second coming of Jesus Christ. For Youngsan, the cross is a comprehensive concept which includes resurrection and the second coming of Jesus Christ as well as the suffering of Jesus. As stated earlier, in the theology of Youngsan, the cross is the place (τοπος or topos) in which we meet Jesus Christ again today, who “already” came to this world, forgave the sins of human beings, and provided the hope of resurrection. Furthermore, it is the place in which we meet Jesus Christ now in advance, who will come again - i.e., who has not come yet. We Christians who live in the “present” should live a dynamic present life among the tension between the past of “already” and the future of “not yet.” Christians find the absolute hope in God even among their suffering by voluntarily participating in the suffering of the cross that Jesus Christ bore. For the Christians, the faith in the cross is the faith that makes them deny themselves, and have Jesus Christ live in them. Furthermore, faith in the cross is the faith that sings the hope of resurrection, and that declares the eschatological victory. It also spreads the echo of the sharing of love and happiness all over the world. Those who have experienced the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ, therefore, must go forward singing the hope of God in any situation. Key WordsYonggi Cho, Youngsan, cross, spirituality, ministry of hope, absolute despair, absolute hope, holistic s alvation, personal salvation, social salvation, grace, Fivefold Gospel, Threefold Salvation, Fourth Dimension, righteousness, death, curse, sickness, world, ecological salvation, fullness of the Holy Spirit, regeneration, sanctification, Jesus’ second coming, already, not yet, self-image, suffering, self-denial, discipleship, resurrection, eschatological victory |
Recovery Based on Triple BlessingKo Byung In 22(0) 131-170, 2011
TitleRecovery Based on Triple Blessing
Ko Byung In DOI: Vol.22(No.0) 131-170, 2011 AbstractThe way to understand human in Bible is holistic. Holistic understanding of human is that all of human aspects - body, mind, spirit - are interconnected to each other as one entity. The meaning of that a man is saved and blessed, is to restore spirit, body, and all things as well as circumstances, then to grow. We cannot imagine either spirit without body or man depending on only his body and circumstances. In Old Testament, man is whole being and it is the same in New Testament. Paul’s view on human is the idea of whole person more than Hellenism sees. Fundamentally, Christianity teaches more about the salvation of whole being than the salvation of spirit. Triple blessing of Youngsan is more about worth than fact. The core passage in the Bible for the triple blessing is 3 John 1:2 says, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as our soul is getting along well,” As ‘praying’ tells us a pastoral sense of value to have it for beloved person. Pastoral counseling is to integrate insight of human condition, of psychology and of theology. It needs to stand on holistic view that of pursuing the possibility of healing and growth in all spheres of human; spirit, soul, and body. Pastoral counseling helps to restore the closed relationship with others and makes them have open heart, recover the creativity, by using the conversion as symbol of the presence of God between counselor and client. In addition, pastoral counselor needs to make clients realize the existence everything of healing in the ecosystem that is the order of creation. Awakening of race discrimination, gender discrimination, generation discrimination comes after recovering an intimacy in a social organization. Counselor has to help clients to find the call and divine self in a work and playing. When it comes to realize the organic integrating power of each order and existence in a spirit, it resulted in the holistic personality healing. In this sense, the holistic personality healing rooted in Youngsan’s triple blessings of “going well” has an wholistic and integrating characteristic. Key Wordsholistic, Triple blessing, Youngsan, pastoral counseling, going well |
A Study on Wholistic Mission in Sharing Love and Happiness Foundation Ministry of Youngsan Dr. Yonggi ChoCho Gwi Sam 22(0) 171-208, 2011
TitleA Study on Wholistic Mission in Sharing Love and Happiness Foundation Ministry of Youngsan Dr. Yonggi Cho
Cho Gwi Sam DOI: Vol.22(No.0) 171-208, 2011 AbstractThe ministry of Yonggi Cho, which he began after his retirement, offers important lessons in the context of the modern mission. He work as the wholistic mission is recommended by both traditional and progressive parties. According to this trend, the Sharing of Love and Happiness Foundation can be considered as an example of the wholistic mission, which carries the Great Commission of God by the church. Thus, the writer wants to study the motivation, methods, and influence of “Sharing of Love and Happiness” of Yonggi Cho which belongs to a wholistic mission. The content of this paper is wholistic mission of NGO and “Sharing of Love and Happiness” in the ministry of Yonggi Cho. He made the Three-fold Blessing from the gospel of Jesus. It is a message which confirms that humans have a right to share in salvation of souls, all other matters, and in the well-being of their bodies. The ministry of Cho’s wholistic mission structure is also to change the frame of old traditional dogmatics. He constructed the shape of wholistic mission through three-fold blessings and proved it, through Good People which is a NGO. The writer evaluates that the Sharing of Love and Happiness Foundation is a model of the wholistic mission, presenting the future ministry of the Korean Church. Key WordsMinistry of Yonggi Cho, Sharing of Love and Happiness, Wholistic mission, Socialized Gospel Movement, Three-fold Blessings, “Good People,” Pyungyang Cho Yonggi Heart Special Hospital |
Faith Seeking Empowerment: Youngsan’s Pentecostal Doctrine of ProvidenceKim Han Kyung 22(0) 209-234, 2011
TitleFaith Seeking Empowerment: Youngsan’s Pentecostal Doctrine of Providence
Kim Han Kyung DOI: Vol.22(No.0) 209-234, 2011 AbstractThis essay explicates Youngsan’s view of providence. Youngsan (Dr. Yonggi Cho) presents a doctrine of providence whose primary goal is the transformation rather than an interpretation of the world. Dr. Yonggi Cho pursues a theology that starts with faith and - instead of being satisfied with securing a correct understanding - reaches empowerment. Hence, “faith seeking empowerment,” rather than “faith seeking understanding,” a classical definition of theology. When applied to his doctrine of providence, this theological orientation focuses on the promise and possibility of overcoming evil in the world, which he vividly describes as a “den of fear.” Concerning traditional issues in the doctrine of providence such as the problem of divine and human causation and God’s authorship of sin, Youngsan does not pay much attention. Although Youngsan faithfully follows the Augustinian free-will defense, it still is not the focus of his doctrine of providence. The most important thing for him is to be empowered by God to become victorious in God’s providential world. The belief in the power to overcome evil and sin and the power to realize God’s providence in world occurrences presupposes a biblical and realistic view of God’s agency. Unlike theologians who led the Biblical Theology movement in the mid-twentieth century, Dr. Cho embraces God’s agency and his actions in history without any conflict with his worldview. In his coherently Pentecostal and supernatural worldview, God actually parted the Red Sea and raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead. These salvific actions performed by God promise the continuation of the same sort of actions in every generation and thus serve as the ground for perpetual hope. Key WordsYoungsan (Dr. Yonggi Cho), Providence, Divine Action, Pentecostal Worldview, God’s Governance, History, Evil |
